The Other Tree

Publisher: Spence City

It's been four years since Chris Arlin graduated with a degree in cryptobotany, 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 lethally fashionable 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 an incurable illness, Chris sees only one solution. Vowing to find the Tree of Life before SinaCorp's mercenaries, Chris recruits Luke, a sardonic campus priest undergoing a crisis of faith. Together, they embark on a desperate, wondrous race to find the lost garden of Eden.

DK Mok is a fantasy and science fiction author whose novels include Squid’s Grief, Hunt for Valamon and The Other Tree. DK has been shortlisted for three Aurealis Awards, a Ditmar, and a Washington Science Fiction Association Small Press Award. DK graduated from UNSW with a degree in Psychology, pursuing her interests in both social justice and scientist humour. DK lives in Sydney, Australia, and her favourite fossil deposit is the Burgess Shale.