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Centuries of human abuse of nature have brought Earth into an environmental crisis. The TREEZZ of the forest recruit MIT-hopeful Jeremiah Simpson and another sensitive potential scientist, Becca Carlsbad, to help the TREEZZ save the forests and, ultimately, the Earth. The trees communicate with the young people telepathically, filling Jeremiah's and Becca's heads with information about the forests and their needs. The young humans respond with awe, as well as a sense of privilege, to their commissions.
Siblings Robert and Elaine McAlister grow from foundlings to billionaire philanthropists. Some years pass, and Robert, who has developed an interest in herbal remedies from a book kept by his former foster mother, offers a job in further research and development of the potential of herbal benefits to Jeremiah. The new scientist has graduated from MIT (his tuition has been paid, anonymously, by Robert). With help and inspiration from the TREEZZ, the young man has become a plant biologist. Robert also recruits Becca and her sister, Deborah, to work for his company.
This eco-lit fantasy is a delight for its concepts of how nature and man may work in harmony. Its warning via sensitive, non-human beings is reminiscent of The Day the Earth Stood Still. The multitude of characters is well-developed, and the years of the narrative pass seamlessly. The author weaves the joy and awe of nature around the economic and social realities of the world of humans. Good and bad are represented in corporate practices by those working on behalf of the natural world and those who are not. Competition, greed, and cooperation all come into play in this thoroughly good story.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review