DK Mok

Hunt for Valamon was recommended to me by a friend, and it is the first novel I’ve ever read from Australian fantasy author D.K. Mok. I didn’t know much about the book when I picked it up so I had no idea what to expect, but I have to say, I came out of it feeling quite impressed.

Valamon is the oldest son of King Delmar but was never meant to inherit the throne, due to the fact most people consider him to be a simpleton. However, that doesn’t stop all hell from breaking loose when the prince is kidnapped, sparking a frantic search for a noble champion to help rescue him. They end up with Elhan, a spirited and strong young woman whose skills are unparalleled when it comes to the deadly arts of combat. Unfortunately, she’s also cursed and very likely insane.

As if that weren’t enough, accompanying Elhan on the quest to find Valamon is Seris, a humble priest and healer with absolutely no fighting or survival skills whatsoever. Oh, and he’s also hindered by a ton of ridiculous rules imposed on him by his religious order. Despite being polar opposites, Seris and Elhan must nonetheless learn to cooperate as they set out together for the wilderness, embarking on a long and unpredictable journey to bring home a lost prince and prevent a bloody war.

It’s probably safe to categorize this novel as epic fantasy, but I was also pleasantly surprised to discover how different it felt from most books in that subgenre. The language is perhaps the most obvious thing that sets it apart. At times the narrative will feel decidedly modern, and characters will frequently use phrases and terms common in our everyday parlance. It is completely at odds with the fantasy setting, but there’s also no doubt at all this was done intentionally. The stylistic choice might not be for everyone, that’s true; but it does mean a lot of opportunities for humor, more so than you would find in other high fantasy works. So if you like a funny side to your epic fantasy, this just might be the book for you.

The characters are another factor which makes this book so enjoyable. Seris and Elhan are the main focus of the story, of course. Friendship eventually blossoms between them, but their differences in the beginning are marked by clashes and thorny interactions, giving rise to no small number of amusing scenes. But Valamon, the kidnapped prince and objective of their quest, is also a point-of-view character whose perspective adds much to the tale. It is interesting to me that Valamon’s personality and demeanor, along with how others in the book see him, strongly suggests Asperger’s or a similar kind of autism spectrum disorder, and one of the major themes is how everyone feels he is unfit to rule when in reality, the troubled prince is actually much wiser and more perceptive than he lets on.

Other side characters include Valamon’s younger brother Falon, who is the one actually being groomed to rule, as well as Qara, the princes’ childhood playmate who grew up to become a royal confidante and protector. The so-called villains of the novel, the ones who stole Valamon away, also played a big role. The tension created by this balance in perspectives was a good way to show all sides of the conflict and make the book exciting. The story was reasonably well-paced and quite engaging.

The plot and dialogue could probably benefit from a bit of fine polishing, but otherwise I thought this was a fun read that offered quite a few surprises. Hunt for Valamon is refreshing and unique, highly recommended for fantasy readers looking for an adventurous journey. I had a lovely time with D.K. Mok’s humorous and down-to-earth style. It’s also worth mentioning that this was my first introduction Spence City Books and it is great being able to put both a new author and an independent publisher on my list to check out in the future.… (más)

The Other Tree by author D.K. Mok is kind of like Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the DaVinci Code. Chris, a cryptobotanist who is suffering from a lack of respect and job prospects, joins with Luke, a priest who is suffering from a crisis of faith, to beat an evil corporation to the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life. Their adventure takes them from Europe to Australia to the Middle East and they meet some interesting folks along the way including the owner of a mysterious castle in Romania who isn’t exactly what he seems and some radical cryptozoologists who are opposed to the mistreatment of mythical creatures.

I enjoyed The Other Tree quite a bit. There’s plenty of action and interesting characters and not a little humour. I especially liked the banter between Chris and Luke. The bad guys are really really bad and the Garden of Eden is definitely not what you would expect. I also liked that, although there is a hint at past romance between Chris and one other character, the author didn't bog the story down with it. I did find the last part of the adventure when they are entering Eden to be a bit too reminiscent of Raiders to be as heart-pounding as it should have been but, that aside, I found this an entertaining read and would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun tale of adventure.… (más)

The Other Tree by DK Mok is the author's first novel and the second thing I've read of hers, the other being a story in One Small Step. The Other Tree is an amusing adventure story that takes our Australian protagonists around the world (well, to Europe and the Middle East anyway).

It’s been four years since Chris Arlin graduated with a degree that most people think she made up, and she’s still no closer to scraping up funding for her research into rare plants. Instead, she’s stacking shelves at the campus library, until a suspiciously well-dressed man offers her a lucrative position on a scientific expedition.

For Chris, the problem isn’t the fact that they’re searching for the Biblical Tree of Life. Nor is it the fact that most of the individuals on the expedition seem to be fashionably lethal mercenaries. The problem is that the mission is being backed by SinaCorp, the corporation responsible for a similar, failed expedition on which her mother died eleven years ago.

However, when Chris’s father is unexpectedly diagnosed with inoperable cancer, Chris sees only one solution. Vowing to find the Tree of Life before SinaCorp’s mercenaries, Chris recruits Luke, an antisocial campus priest undergoing a crisis of faith. Together, they embark on a desperate race to find Eden. However, as the hunt intensifies, Chris discovers growing evidence of her mother’s strange behaviour before her death, and she begins to realise that SinaCorp isn’t the only one with secrets they want to stay buried.

The story follows Chris, a cryptobotanist, and Luke, the hapless priest she drags into her mission. With a few starting advantages, they race against the big corporation's cronies to locate and get to the Tree of Life first. I would have been more sceptical about their ability to even come close to competing with the corporation if it weren't for the fact that Chris and Luke generally took different paths and different approaches (and to some extent were lucky). After three intercontinental flights I was pretty sceptical about their finances, however...

The Other Tree was a mostly entertaining read with quite a bit of humour thrown in throughout. I'm not sure I'd go so far as to call it a comedy, but it was definitely light hearted most of the time (basically, apart from the bits with high body counts or weird creatures trying to eat the protagonists). As an adventure tale, I thought it dragged a bit in the second half. They got pretty close to their goal not far past the half-way mark — which made me sceptical about how the climax would play out, but the climax climaxed as it should — and then a lot of words were spent getting from just outside Eden to the inner part where the climax happened. I suspect it didn't help that there were fewer jokes (because there was more almost dying) in the latter half also. I wouldn't go quite so far as to say it was boring, but the writing could have been tighter.

I was also half-expecting Luke to have some kind of mysterious secret — since there was a definite mysterious past vibe about him — and maybe turn out to be a vampire or something vaguely supernatural. (Especially after a bit implying that the power had a tendency to flicker in his presence, but maybe I misinterpreted that.) Alas the only supernatural things that made an appearance were plants and animals. And sort of Eden, but Eden turned out to be really damned weird.

While I enjoyed reading about Chris and Luke I wasn't that attached to the premise. I suspect that's why I didn't like that so many words were given over to the goal (or well, the bits close to the goal) and I think it's similar to my dislike of angel books, ie personal preference. I thought the best bits were Chris and Luke's banter and random high jinks along the way. There were a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. Also, Mok's approach to some of the players on the corporation side was refreshing and somewhat plausible, especially in the case of Emir, the most important fleshed-out lackey.

I should also mention the setting. Chris and Luke are based in Australia and, although there's a significant amount of travel, there's also a significant amount of Australian setting. The Australian locations are all fictional and yet feel very familiar. I always enjoy reading Aussie settings and, despite its fictitiousness, The Other Tree did not disappoint in that department.

I would recommend The Other Tree to fans of contemporary-set fantasy looking for something different to most urban fantasy or paranormal romance books. At it's heart it's an adventure story, following two adventuring laypeople in their quest to find the Tree of Life (or, well, on their quest to find out what happened to Chris's mother and also to see what happens next). A fairly enjoyable read.

3.5 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog.… (más)