In three connected stories set across time, this daringly imaginative cli-fi (climate-fiction) epic from Matt Bell (In the House Upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods) delves into the bonds between story and identity, the past and present, and humanity and nature.
A human named Nathaniel and his younger brother, a faun called Chapman, clear forested land and cultivate apple orchards for settlers in the 18th-century Ohio Territory, "an earth giving up its treasure for the good of mankind." Nathaniel hopes the work will make their fortunes, but Chapman only wants to grow a "Tree of Forgetting" that will turn him human.
In a not-too-distant future, a climate apocalypse ravages the remains of civilizations, and inventor-turned-scavenger John is recruited to stop a catastrophic terraforming initiative led by his former lover, CEO of a company they founded together.
In the far future, a 3D-printed faun named C, currently in his 432nd body, travels a land remade by a new ice age, looking for biomass. When he finds new life against all odds, he sets out for humanity's last refuge but will face an impossible choice.
The three narratives form concentric rings around the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and the American tall tale of Johnny Appleseed. Each timeline raises challenging questions about interconnection, complicity and ecological stewardship. Appleseed's mix of hard sci-fi, folkloric elements and ethical issues make it appealing for Neal Stephenson fans and readers who long to safeguard the wild. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads