The White Tree by Edward W Robertson
I have to admit that this book seemed a little slow for me. But, being one who does not like to give up on a book, I trudged through and was quite happy in doing so.
The beginning felt a bit too quick story-wise. Dante had heard of a special book all his life and went out to search for it. He eventually reaches the place where it was said to be and finds it, taking it with him. Now, the rest of the book, or at least until about halfway, is him being chased by people he does not know trying to get the book back and him also trying to figure out why the book is so special. But wait...first he has to figure out how to read the book...That is where it kind of gets slow and the action, apart from a few assassination attempts and skirmishes with some foes, gets few and far between.
Where it starts to get good is when he and a boy he hired to help protect him reach a town and the boy is caught and sentenced to hang. That is where the real fun begins. Because Dante, before that, begins to realize that the book has activated something in him. A power that he had only read about. In the days that follow his friend's sentencing, Dante has to figure out a way to save him. But how? ENTER CALLY! A strange man who decides he is going to teach Dante some of the ways of the power he has so recently found an affinity for.
Cally is the initial driving force behind the rest of the book, because he tells Dante something that ultimately leads him to those who had been seemingly trying to kill him in order to get the book back.
While yes it did run a bit slow and I did ultimately have to work my way through it until the good part, it is a story worth reading. The ending in itself is actually quite good, and if given the opportunity, which I have since I own the book (haha), I would trudge through it again.
