The great Mothertrees, home to tree dwellers for thousands of years, are dying. The only ones who can restore them are those known as Reachers, who also have the power to commune with Thara, an enigmatic being that lives deep in the earth. But Reachers, despite their crucial abilities, are condemned as dangerous by the elders and are executed for them.
When Walde learns he has become a Reacher, he keeps his gift a secret—until the day when a change in his own Mothertree sees him and his father tested by the elders.
Using all his control, Walde is able to pass the test, but his father fails and is sentenced to death. All is not as it seems, however, and when Walde discovers that the execution was staged, he sets out on a mission to find his father and uncover the truth. On the way he meets Brite, a woman on the run after killing a wealthy man in self-defense, and a group of ageless children who had been stolen from Reacher parents and are now living in a dead Mothertree.
But the greatest challenge is still before him when he discovers that the path the elders have set his people on threatens to end their way of life forever.
Can Walde protect the ones he loves, rescue his father, and save a world from disaster?
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