The Trellence by A.T. Nartey / Buy on Amazon UK / Buy on Amazon US

The Trellence Synopsis

It is generally known amongst the Trellencers that girls are not admitted into warrior school. Their roles are relegated to house duties and nurturing. Only one girl, Ula Delmor, has quite literally fought her way in. To be a Quillin is all the girls her age want, but Ula is sure no eligible bachelor in her village will pick her.

But when she falls from the top of the mutant trees to Crawlers level, one of the most dangerous places on earth, a countdown begins to save her people from an ambush of fearsome Quarden warriors. To survive she joins forces with a sworn enemy. In a race against time, they must face slavers, zombies, faeries, and vicious mermaids on their journey up the five perilous levels.
On this dangerous adventure unfamiliar feelings emerge but can she tame her heart, defy the odds, and free her people?

The Trellence will please fans of Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi and The Cruel Prince by Holly Black.

In such a fast-moving society, creativity and writing discipline isn’t as appreciated as it once was. But I’m always fascinated by how authors come up with the concepts behind their works. That’s why I had to ask author, A.T. Nartey about how she came up with such a layered story concept. Here is her response.

I don’t remember how the idea of The Trellence occurred to me. I just remember reading the second Harry Potter book in my late teens and suddenly I had the idea of mutant trees.

Ula, the protagonist occurred to me fully formed. All I knew was that it would be a fantasy romance, even though I didn’t know about genres and reader expectations. 

I started writing it immediately. I had no idea what I was doing. I’m revealing my age now, but at that time the only way to back up your work was with a floppy disc. I distinctly remember it: a red floppy disc with silver hardware. Well, long story short, I was dedicated and wrote half the book but one day I went to use the floppy disc – it was corrupted, and I lost everything.

In hindsight, I’m happy that happened. My writing has improved tenfold since then and I finally know how to piece together a story. At the time, however, I was heartbroken and abandoned writing it.

It wasn’t until fifteen years later after that first draft did I have the confidence to go back and attempt the book once more. The story flowed out of me. I wrote it in six months and overcame the sticky middle which always trips me up. Thankfully, my efforts led to this moment. I’m just so happy to have the book coming out soon. I hope readers love it as much as I do.

I share in the joy of A.T. Nartey finally getting her story out to the world. It’s such a liberating feeling when a story you’ve carried at the back of your mind for so many years, finally makes its way out into the wilds.

The Trellence is out now. You can order both the ebook and print versions from Amazon.

The Trellence by A.T. Nartey / Buy on Amazon UK / Buy on Amazon US

The official website of A.T. Nartey.

In Men Without Women: Stories, Japanese author Haruki Murakami highlights different men with different kinds of relationships with women. Some of these men are widowed, married, divorced, or single. Each story is completely disconnected from the last, with the only reoccurring theme being their relationships (or friendships) with women.

What Murakami is a master of, is creating subtext. With such short stories, you begin to feel like you know a decent amount about these characters, even though the author is pretty ambiguous when writing about them. We typically get some kind of background about the characters, but there are also many things about them that are merely hinted at. It’s reading through the story that really fills in the blanks in your mind, and allows you to understand the meaning based on your own life experiences.

The types of relationships featured in these stories include a male widow who confesses to his female driver about his dead wives’ lovers on the side. A young student who allows his friend to go on a date with his girlfriend, knowing that something may happen between them. A cosmetic surgeon who sleeps with multiple married women. A disabled man who enjoys hearing stories from his female care worker and more.

Before reading this, the book can sound simple in concept, but the amount of depth in each story will play on your emotions. Sure, the male to female connections are the forefront of the book’s theme, but beyond that theme, there’s so much substance about life in Japan itself.

Men Without Women: Stories is written so beautifully that it flows like water. Even as a slow reader, I found myself able to fly through the stories without exerting much reading effort. The translators Philip Gabriel and Ted Goossen really did a superb job.

Men Without Women: Stories may also shred any enthusiasm you had about the concept of marriage. The book is full of infidelity and the author normalizes it to the point you begin to think marriage is simply about committing adultery and trying to get away with it. It makes me wonder if this is the common marital experience for Japanese people, or whether it’s merely based on human nature and the basic sexual desires all people have.

The book’s final passage contains an incredible quote that stings the soul of any single male reading the book. “Losing one woman means losing all women.” This quote resonates because it sums up the empty feeling that one can feel after losing someone they love. Your life begins to feel hopeless, like you’ll never experience the joys of sharing life with a female companion again.

Buy on Amazon UK | Buy on Amazon US

On Goodreads, I initially scored Men Without Women: Stories 4/5, but this book has left such a lasting impression on me that I’m tempted to bump it up to a 5. It’s one of those books I’m going to remember for a long time and I would recommend it to anyone.