Addressing a couple of comments others reviewers made. The only person I saw that disliked the book complains that its sci fi is not complete, that it is more fantasy than sci fi. Well, shucks, mate, if the story is incredible and the characters are deeper than deep, I don't really care if we aren't subjected to long treatises of speculative science. I like hard sci fi, but to castigate the book for *not* being hard sci fi is like castigating classical music because it isn't jazz. And anyway, I don't agree with the criticism, the sci fi is more anthropological, a la LeGuin, with completely believable worlds and races.

Someone else asks to *please* tell us what other books touched us like this one, other than Dune. Here is my little list, in no particular order: Songmaster (Card), Ender's Game (Card), Kindred (Butler), Stranger in a Strange Land (Heinlein), The Dispossessed (LeGuin), Beggars in Spain (Kress), The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien), Childhood's End (Arthur C. Clarke), The Mote in God's Eye (Larry Niven)

At another level, Waitman's done something very special, beyond just a good story, here. One of my lit teachers refers to it as the balance of profit and prophet: storytelling and preaching. She's managed to create a balance where preaching doesn't interfere with storytelling--but if you're looking for a message, you'll find one, and if even if you analyze literature as well as read it, you won't find anything to complain about.

This is one of the best books I've ever read, hands down. And the others are _Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land_, _The_Summer_Queen_, and _Nineteen_Eight-Four_, if that means anything to you.

For the non-artists, this might give an insight into an artist's mind. It's also, plain and simple, a good story, a love story, a multi-world space opera. There are millions of interesting characters, from Maya to Hom to Ahvi to Thissizz; as well as interesting alien races: the Vyzanians, the Droos, the Somalites, the Kekoi, the Freen . . .

Every time I read this book (I've read it five or six times) I become hooked first by the characters, the world-building, the plot, then the deeper implications of everything. A wonderful read. I also heard that she might come out with a sequel. One can only hope . . .

The novel generates a terrific amount of suspense, even though you learn at the outset that Mikk has been taken into custody for having performed a forbidden dance routine. The suspense is all in what got him into the predicament in the first place. You'll probably have the tendency to read rapidly just to see what will happen next, but the advice here is to slow down, because Waitman, a skilled wordsmith, makes every one of her words count. Skim over a passage and you're sure to miss something.

Since the publisher herself makes reference on Amazon's boards to sex with a snake, it gives nothing away to say that Waitman renders the impossible plausible, thus adding a stratum of Freud to a work that already has layers enough.

I just finished reading this book for the fourth time. The Merro Treeis amazing! It's completely cohesive; the plot and the flashbacksfit together in a seamless succession. Every mention connects with the big picture. The labels and titles that Waitman fabricates for alien names and things create a terrific visual image. There's nothing to nitpick about. The story is totally fulfilling and her structure and presentation are flawless.

You might be disoriented reading through the novel for the first time because you're placed right in the thick of things and then transported to Mikk's very beginning on Vyzania -- which is confusing in itself because they have a different culture, social structure, and way of thinking as us. But everything falls together as you read further. You'll pick up on more and more subtleties and cross-references in the text if you read through again. And again. . .

I have looked for another book by this author every single time I have been in a book store since, hoping to find another gem like this one. Thank you, Katie.. and I hope your writing the next one now!

This book works well because the characters are well defined, and they relate to each other in a believable way. The plot is well structured, moving seamlessly between different times. Rather like the main character in the Fountainhead, Rikk triumphs because he remains true to his art and himself.

This is real science fiction, although there is little in the way of fancy gadgets. But there is no end of strange tribes and creatures, and interplanetary travel. This is a book that I like to re-read (it takes me about 2 hours), and recommend to my friends.

Very few take the sf/fantasy genres as a legitimate platform for any serious issue--especially not censorship, love transcending the physical. Mikk is wonderful, and The Merro Tree was so satisfying I hope there's something left for the next installment!

I also have (as those who've read my own novels know) an affinity for human/alien love stories, and this book contains one of the best I've seen in a very long time.

Much of the enjoyment of this 'good read' depends on the suspense developed so don't read too many reviews before you read the book.

If you like Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake novels, I think you'll probably like Katie Waitman's work -- but for entirely different reasons. Ostensibly, they're complete opposites, but they carry much the same kind of appeal for me. (and Waitman has no vampire or supernatural elements at all here!)

Live Long and Prosper, Jacqueline Lichtenberg

Yes, this book deals with personal freedoms, censorship, and same-sex love, but it deals with those subjects in a shallow, inadequate way. The good is a bit too good, and the evil, instead of being ambiguous, is definitely, outrageously evil. Even the book's centerpiece same-sex (but different species) romance is contrived and artificial. Ms. Waitman seems convinced that the success of such relationships lies in two things: constant mutual gratification and a knack for femininity.

"The Merro Tree" is about the blossoming talent of a young prodigy, told in parallel with our now-aged hero's struggle against a galactic ban on his unique art. An entertaining concept, certainly. But the characters are almost entirely two-dimensional and the prose tends to be flowery and melodramatic. Mikk is not entertaining in his role as the main character. As the book starts out, his personality seems shifting and impermanent. For a good deal of time, his young aspect is shy and clumsy, but that goes away within several pages with little or no explanation. Which is really a pity, since two-thirds of the way in, Ms. Waitman wakes up and takes advantage of the reader's pent-up jealousy for Mikk's apparently inborn talents. Soon, she starts pulling on other strings, and the book gains a surprisingly effective amount of drama and pathos, but nevertheless manages to end on a flat and mystifying note.

Ms. Waitman has definite talent. Unfortunately, her characters in "The Merro Tree" take a great deal of time to take shape, and most of the dialog is either stunted or predictable. In her next work, "The Divided", Ms. Waitman fixes some of her errors, but some are still there. Watch for her upcoming works.

The organization of the book involves the story skipping from Mikk's trial to the story behind the trial. The trial of Mikk is for him breaking a ban involving the Somalites, a race that was made extinct by a freak star explosion. Mikk had performed Songdance, which was banned to him by the Council, a tryannical band of dictators who control all the actors in the galaxy.

The book is a delightful change from the repetitive shoot-em-up sci-fi books that have been appearing recently. This book will become a classic.

For a start, there is next to no science in this book. Apparently there is extensive space travel, yet most of the worlds described in this book appear to possess little in the way of industry. This brings me to my second beef. The settings for the action are very poorly described. The worlds that are the basis for science fiction novels should be fantastic, but they should be described in a way that enables the reader to suspend reality and actually start believing that they could be real. There was nothing about the Merro Tree that was believable. It is pure fantasy, and IMHO, the fairy floss kind.

Okay. Some pretty big issues are dealt with - censorship, racial tolerance and homosexuality - but are we really expected to take these issues seriously when the settings and the characters are just so silly.

Allan Cole