Review by Ian Keogh

Adapted from a 1994 novel by by prolific French SF author Laurent Genefort, Sap Hunters occurs on a world hosting a tree so vast it’s never been entirely mapped, and around which myths and legends have grown. A single branch can be home to an entire community, and even the well travelled only know a little about the communities beyond theirs. Pierig is a Diviner, attuned somehow to the ways of the World Tree, and so knows better than most that it’s ailing, the rivers of sap entirely absent from some areas, which is also a concern to the more warlike Sap Hunters, who slaughter Pierig’s tribe just to acquire his talent.

Genefort’s story is an allegory about the condition of our world as it is today, and he sees the only hope as being people putting aside their differences to work toward a common solution. In Pierig’s case this means joining with representatives from the Sap Hunters to explore further down the tree and toward the trunk to discover what might be the cause of decay. As such the plot concerns exploration and gradual bonding through understanding of other cultures, not just between the group, but through meeting new tribes and considering their imaginative beliefs. The group coming together is intelligently extrapolated as boundaries blur, Pierig at first seeming smart, yet having some laughably arcane views.

Were Genefort not credited, Alexandre Ristorcelli’s adaptation could have passed as his own story as at no point does it read as if contracted from a 215 page novel. In addition to a credible transfer to a graphic novel, Ristorcelli sumptuously designs a green world along with those populating it, not just humanoid, over an incredible variety of environments. An astute use of colour supplies both beauty and mood.

Perhaps readers of the original novel may have a few quibbles about omissions, but as Genefort’s work isn’t widely available in English their number will be few. For everyone else this is a stirring journey with a thoughtful ending.