The Follower / Tree Ring Anthology

Reviews so far of these two stories:

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THE FOLLOWER by Tony Lovell

In The Follower, Tony Lovell invites us to follow the life of his protagonist Dorothy through well chosen moments stretching from her early childhood to a time when she is a grownup and a parent to her son Kevin. Books and readings of particular books, at certain points in time have different consequences, consequences that Dorothy herself comes to terms with- or fails to come to terms with- on various levels. The sections depicting the young Dorothy were effectively done, and the echoes and repercussions of those experiences later in her life are well handled as well, the scenes between Dorothy and Kevin particularly effective towards the end of the tale.

“The Follower” by Tony Lovell traces the melancholy connection between a woman and the stories of “her” anthology from youth to old age.

Other favourites include The Follower by Tony Lovell a moving tale focusing on one woman’s life and the emotional power of books.

The Follower by Tony Lovell,  charts the power and consequences of reading through the life of Dorothy, from her childhood to that of a grown up mother reading to her son Kevin.  This story works very well, and I liked how the events of passed had repercussions in the future.

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Lovell’s story “The Follower” more closely resembles a piece of psychological realism. Lovell uses a beautiful, involving style to detail several isolated moments in the long life of a book-haunted character. The anthology element is at its most subtle, and contributes unobtrusively to a portrait that inextricably weaves horror and haunting with more familiar emotions – loss, regret, fear for one’s children and oneself – to create an example of that delicate beauty to which the best of horror fiction has unique access.

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The Follower by Tony Lovell, charts the power and consequences of reading through the life of Dorothy, from her childhood to that of a grown up mother reading to her son Kevin. This story works very well, and I liked how the events of passed had repercussions in the future.

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But what of the bleak, careful beauty of “The Follower”? 

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…more as a study of the totemic power of books, than as a straight ‘horror’ story.  Yet, there is definitely something unsettling in the idea of books, especially those read in childhood, which influence our lives, almost as if they had been the blueprint for the way we react to others, shaping our actions and  defining our prejudices.  The story consists of little more than episodes from a woman’s life – as a young girl, a mother and later as a dementing old woman.  Apparently minor details acquire a mesmerising significance as her life concertinas itself, folds in with the precision of origami, so as to make her life seem very short indeed.  Perhaps this is Lovell’s horror; I was unsure, but entranced nevertheless.

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“Tony Lovell, who provided the book’s distinctive cover art, also delivers one of its most memorable stories in ‘The Follower’…” (Black Static #25 – TTA Press)

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TREE RING ANTHOLOGY by Daniel Ausema

Daniel Ausema uses the cross-section of a tree to show us a map of its history, drawing us far back in time beginning at the tree’s heartwood pith and tracing an unsettling line all the way to the present day at the very outer edge of the cambium, and in a final twist- beyond. The story is densely packed with rich, suggestive imagery. The original variation on the theme is refreshing, and the tale’s fantastical elements are also aptly employed to highlight environmental concerns.

Second up is my favourite story in the book. “Tree Ring Anthology” by Daniel Ausema is one of those unique and wonderful curiosities that always pop up in DF Lewis publications. The extraordinary account of a tree’s life, it is told through an analysis of its rings that map out the residual scars of disease, fire and human intervention. Anthropomorphic, dark and strangely moving, this is a superb piece of unconventional storytelling and a great twist on the theme.

Perhaps the most interesting of these interpretations is Tree Ring Anthology by Daniel Ausema that uses the pattern of rings in a tree trunk to chart significant events over the course of many years – including a nuclear holocaust and what appears to be the appearance of extra-terrestrial life forms. It’s a clever story, beautifully written and even manages a sting in the tail.

Daniel Ausema’s “Tree Ring Anthology” uses the description of the rings on a tree stump to recount a range of ecological nightmares with a science fiction edge, demonstrating again that perspective and voice can lend any subject a strange and disturbing atmosphere.

There’s environmental awareness in Tree Ring Anthology by Daniel Ausema a powerful, at times poetic, piece which uses the rings of a tree as an anthology of the impact of man on the environment.

Next up is Tree Ring Anthology by Daniel Ausema , an unusual tale, where the life story of a tree, and the history of the world around it is told by reading the anthology of secrets held within it’s rings. I’ll be honest I haven’t read a story like this before, and it was a joy to read such a different tale. I never thought I would be moved by the story of a tree.

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Daniel Ausema’s  “Tree Ring Anthology” is possibly the most original of the contributions, an offbeat piece where a tree’s life and the horrors surrounding it,  are reconstructed by means of the analysis of its rings.

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Splendidly original, this is an epic tale of a post apocalyptic world, told over several decades of environmental turmoil. We are given a few key facts, but much more is hinted at, and the implication that brutalized flora might eventually turn on us is a chilling one. An excellent and thought-provoking piece of work – it’s worth buying the book just for this story.

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“Tree Ring Anthology” by Daniel Ausema subverts the tree’s image as a thing of beauty, usefulness, permanence and shelter.   The story cleverly uses the concentric pattern of the tree’s rings to document the aftermath of an environmental catastrophe.  Subverting symbols of innocence, transforming them into objects of corruption and decay is a common technique used by writers of horror, but Ausema’s story is perfectly original in its execution.

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“Anthologies are books and books (except for their digital counterparts) are made out of paper, which in turn derives from trees, a fact that is central to Daniel Ausema’s ‘Tree Ring Anthology’, one of the most original variations on the theme of this collection.” (Black Static #25 – TTA Press)

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Any further reviews of these two stories after 20 Jan 12 will appear in the comments below.