After being ostracized by his community, Henryk travels to the town where his Uncle lives, but they've reacted to the climate apocalypse by becoming more and more insular, and Henryk struggles to find his place on his own and so different from his home.

I was very frustrated at Henryk throughout the early part of the book for the choices he made, but overall I thought this was a good conclusion of the trilogy where both Reid and Henryk leave home and find understanding about how to live in the aftermath of apocalypse.

There's just something so immersive about these novellas-- I feel part of this dark, post-apocalyptic world for the time I spend in them. This one feels dark in a different way as we follow Henryk instead, as he tries to find a place for himself after the earlier disaster.
This is one of my favorite authors at this point, just for taking me on these adventures and showing me these different worlds.

"Henryk Mandrusiak, finding nothing left for him in his community following his best friend Reid's departure, travels through the devastated land in search of a new place to call home.

After making a grievous mistake that ended in death, Henryk Mandrusiak feels increasingly ostracized within his own community, and after the passing on of his parents and the departure of his best friend, Reid, there is little left to tie him to the place he calls home. Henryk does something he never expected: he sets out into the harsh wilds alone, in search of far-flung family. He finds his uncle's village, but making a life for himself in this unfriendly new place - rougher and more impoverished than the campus where he grew up - isn't easy. Henryk strives to carve out a place of his own but learns that some corners of his broken world are darker than he could have imagined.

This stunning novella concludes the story Mohamed started in The Annual Migration of Clouds and continued in We Speak Through the Mountain, bleaker than ever but still in search of a spark of hope in the climate apocalypse."

I am obsessed with the work of Premee Mohamed.

This is the last of three books that began with The Annual Migration of Clouds (2022), introducing Reid and a post-environmental collapse Edmonton, that I admired for its lyrical yet edgy prose, and interesting vision of the future. It was followed by We Speak Through the Mountain (2024), which saw Reid travelling to distant Howse University, and addressed the sharp wealth and privilege divide between those raised under the Howse environmental “dome” and those living in the wilderness. I liked it, but not as much.

The First Thousand Trees is a really great end to the series. It follows Henryk, best friend to Reid in Edmonton, as he is shunned by the community for his cowardice during a hunt that resulted in the death and injury of fellow villagers. He arrives in Sparwood where his Uncle lives, a community run autocratically but otherwise surviving with silviculture and agriculture.

This is another novella (all three books are) and here, Mohamed manages to focus on a straightforward story from Henryk’s point of view, which allows her to probe Henryk’s psyche and give us an intimate glimpse into this character. For me, this worked, and I like the approach better than in book two. Henryk is relatable in his balance of courage and challenges. He’s able to set out to new places, survive alone, and really try to work hard in this new, somewhat harsh community.

However, the part that I especially liked was how he’s a sensitive soul, a thinker, and a person just not quite cut out for this difficult, grubby, hard-edged and sometimes bloody world. He’s a young man out of his time. He struggles with how to fit in, and engages in self-denegration to the point of occasional suicidal ideation. In the end, he rises to the challenge, somewhat, and has to make imperfect choices about his future.

The book is also commenting on the best way to re-form society in this post-collapse world. There are no clear answers, only possibilities.

I’d recommend this trilogy for some good Canadian sci-fi. They are short books, and introduced a world I was happy to spend some time in!

Thanks to NetGalley and ECW Press for a gifted copy!

I had some trouble being in Henry's POV. I much prefer Reids. This made the novella not as good as I thought the other books in the series were.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this free eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

In a surprising shift, the final installment of this fungal fiction, post-apocalyptic series centers not on Reid, but on Henryk. Left behind when Reid departs for Howse University, Henryk is adrift—isolated from the community, haunted by the guilt of the pig hunt gone wrong, and desperate for connection. He does the one thing he thought he would never do, and sets out on his own with a hand drawn map to visit his uncle Dex, his last surviving relative.

But Sprucedown offers little solace. Henryk’s awkward, anxious nature only deepens his sense of alienation, and his attempts to fit in seem to push others further away. That is, until a routine “fire drill” leaves him stranded in the woods—where he encounters a group of raiders with their sights set on breaking in.

Forget Cad, the fungal parasite embedded in most survivors. Forget Reid, the friend who once shielded him from bullies and chaos. If Henryk wants to survive, he’ll have to find the fight within himself.

Mohamed conjures a world that feels both refreshingly original and steeped in familiar post-apocalyptic resonance. There are shades of Earth Abides in its quiet devastation, and yes, the Walking Dead parallels surface—mostly in the bleak terrain and isolated communities—but trust me when I say... this series stands firmly on its own.

This is a story of outcasts carving out space in a fractured world. A story of rebuilding, even when redemption feels out of reach. And it brings this series to a satisfying, unexpectedly subtle close.

In my review for the second book, I wrote "I have no doubt that the plot points will be addressed in the next book", in reference to the incomplete feel and cliff-hangers left by We Speak Through the Mountain. Well - I should have had doubts, because the mysteries and unanswered questions posed in book two were completely abandoned and never referred to in this final instalment of the series. This is the main reason for my rating not being higher - if this had been a standalone novella, I'd probably have enjoyed it more.

In this final part of the trilogy, we follow Henryk a short time after the boar hunt which went tragically awry due to lack of action on Henryk's part. This poor guy is just not built for the post-apocalyptic lifestyle, fucking up at pretty much every turn. It's actually kind of a refreshing change from the competence shown by most main characters in dystopian/apocalyptic fiction, but I can definitely see that it could be a frustrating read for people who have less patience with helpless characters.

In the whole series, but this book in particular, I felt that Cad was underutilised - in fact, in this final part of the series the disease may as well not have existed at all and you pretty much could have read the whole book and completely forgotten about it.

This novella was an interesting exploration of the dynamics of this authoritarian post-apocalyptic community, and on its own was wrapped up satisfactorily. However, I can't really say the same about the trilogy as a whole, due to the unresolved threads from book two.

I'll get the bad news out of the way immediately, The First Thousand Trees did not work for me at all. After liking book 1 and really liking book 2 I was severely disappointed by this concluding novella. We are put into Henryk's head instead of Reid's and I despised him as a character. He was so grating and pathetic and I struggled so much to see this through to the end.

I recommend reading the first two and leaving this series behind from then on. 1 star and even that feels generous.

Premee Mohamed's writing is as brilliant and competent as ever. But not gonna lie, this one took me awhile to get through because it is bleak.

As relatable as I find the anxious bean that is Henryk, it's also very difficult to be in his head for long periods of time as he spirals and spirals. And while the series's hope for the future is definitely still alight at the end, the journey to get there in this novella is quite long.

This novella is full of action throughout and maintains a fast pace. If there's a discussion it's normally about something monumental like life and death, as these characters are always on the move and Henryk is always reacting to a recent sequence of events.

So overall this novella feels tonally very different from its two predecessors, almost switches genres to more of a Walking Dead style apocalypse of survival and cutthroat communities, and has a very different protagonist with very different thoughts to be in. I think you can probably stick to just the first two books if you'd like, but I do feel like this final installment nicely rounds out some experiences and ultimately has a lot to contribute to the characters' final conclusion.

Does the dog die?:
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Ada's got a limp by the end but she's the best girl and still going strong.

This was a great third installment to this series that showed us yet another kind of community within this world. One of my favorite parts of this series has been seeing it through the eyes of a character with cad, so I'm not sure I'm totally sold on Henryk's perspective, but I can appreciate getting a fresh narrator and Henryk definitely had some impressive character growth here.

I loved this. Reading the trilogy was completely worth it to get to this installment. This novella follows Henryk instead of Reid, and as a result is much more introspective.

I loved Henryk as the protagonist. He is soft and capable but imperfect in ways many protagonists are not allowed to be. He's a really interesting foil to Reid, who is brave and principled despite the Cad that actively works against her. In Henryk we find a character whose actions have been dominated by a fear not imposed by disease like his friend, but inherent to himself and having led to disastrous consequences. Throughout the novella he deals with the shame and ostracization he experiences as the result of his mistakes and explores self worth and community when society places so much emphasis on pulling your own weight.

I felt much more emotionally invested in this story than the previous two, in part because of the way his failures subvert the expectations of the selfless hero we've come to expect. Premee Mohamed's writing is lovely and really shines in the interactions between Henryk and his cousin Dane. If you're a fan of climate or dystopian fiction, definitely give this series a shot.

4.5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and ECW Press for an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

I read this novella courtesy of NetGalley, but I loved it so much, I'll need to get it on paper.

These are absolute gems of novellas. In a post climate-disaster world, communities are rising and falling, sustaining and exploiting, and people live lives of desparation that isn't quiet, and dignity that is. They fail, and get up again.

The first novella takes a new perspective - while 1 and 2 followed Reid, a desparately brave young woman fighting to make her life better while coping with a disability that would one day brutally kill her, the third novella switches POV to her best friend, Henryk, the walking disaster. Henryk is the opposite of a fantasy of competence - he is afraid, and he doesn't trust in himself. He runs away. He's utterly relatable, and terribly smart, and for me, his perspective brought to mind nothing less than Marilynne Robinson's characters.

The voice is wonderful. The worldbuilding - well, it's simply great. The attention to detail. The loving care. I could have read another five hundred pages of this.

If this is not on all kinds of award shortlists, then I don't know what we're even doing in the sff reading world, because this is where it's at. These novellas are fresh, and literary, and gripping, and I want to force everyone to read them.

[The last sentence this time is not as perfect as in the previous volume, but in context, it comes close. It's beautiful, just not iconic.]

Luscious world-building and gorgeous prose, earmarks of a Premee Mohamed book are absolutely on display here. Highly recommended!

This story isn’t the type I’d usually read or be drawn to but it’s a testament to author that I enjoyed it regardless. I find her writing style visceral and unique, but it also feels real. You don’t simply read the story you experience it.
(Thank you to net-galley for the arc)

Beautifully written, but I didn’t realise this was the third book in a trilogy... and it shows. I struggled to connect emotionally, especially with Henryk, whose arc felt repetitive. Things improve in the second half, with thoughtful themes around community and failure, but overall it didn’t fully land for me. Would probably hit harder with the full context.

This third installment was a bit disappointing for me. I don't mind a POV switch, but almost everything built in the second book is gone and never touched on in this one. All possible roads left by the cliffhanger ending of the second book just thrown out, and instead, we follow Henryk.

Henryk's story is slow, and honestly, like 50% of the novella is Henryk learning and failing to do most tasks in this town he ran away to. Which would probably be fine if he was a more interesting MC. During these failures, there are some solid side characters and love a story where the dog isn't just something to kill for "emotional stakes."

The novella is only around 150 pages, and not much happened outside of the above-mentioned tasks until page 82. Once things get real, the story picks up, but even things falling apart are the result of Henryk failing again. I was really hoping he would have some sort of grand redemption or epiphany, but (while he does sort of get his shit together briefly), he falls right back to his old self and runs away. Also, no one is pissed that he mostly caused all that?

The writing is still really well done, and there is a solid amount to like. Good messaging on change and how we are always better together than alone. On making a home vs. finding a home. The action was action-ing, again solid characters, and the bringing of the story full circle in the end was nice and hopeful. Just wish there was either one more book or that this one would have tied to the second more.

Thanks to ECW and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A fitting conclusion to this novella trilogy. Books one and two take a more hopeful approach to life after a modern apocalypse, but this book takes a more somber look at contribution, selfishness, and a group with a stricter view of community. While the previous books examined shiny attempts at utopias that reveal a darker undercurrent, The First Thousand Trees takes a more rustic and rough-around-the-edges approach and the nuances captured here were well done. I liked Henryk as a character, and the character development he wrestles through. The ending was a true fit for the trilogy, and I'm very thankful to have read them! A huge thank you to ECW Press for accepting my Netgalley request and to Kriti for the buddy read!

This was not the sequel I expected, given how the last book ended. This third book follows a different character than the previous two books. This shift in perspective is an interesting and irregular choice, but I do believe that it did help make the story feel more complete plot-wise. While I do wish this had been another Reid-centred book (or that this wasn't the final book in the trilogy), I still did enjoy following Henryk as he tried to find a new home.

My only real criticism is that everything that was built up and left off in the second book pace-wise was left behind in that book. This third installment was as slow as the first book. which isn't necessarily bad, but it is jarring.

Definitely recommend this series for literary fiction fans who want something swift to read.

It's great to see how Mohamed decided to wrap these characters' stories, while also exploring all the various ways that communities can go wrong, what regime change actually looks like (not great, but frankly, it's all you've got sometimes), and being able to bring a wrap to Reid's individual story. I ended up tearing through this, but that was mainly because Mohamed has become an author I will ready anything I can find from, and there are some absolutely stunning passages here around the feeling of the world falling apart around you. Absolutely pick this up this fall.

I've been quickly devouring all of the parts of The Annual Migration of Clouds series, so was delighted to get an ARC of its conclusion, The First Thousand Trees. At times, especially in the first half of the book, I wasn't sure that I found this installment to be as emotionally resonant as its predecessors - Henryck can be less easy to "click" with than Reid in a lot of ways. His pessimistic outlook, especially in terms of his self image, could be quite hard to read sometimes, and I found myself wanting to join in with all of the people "parenting" him and saying to just engage more! That said, I still greatly enjoyed learning more about this world, and especially other areas we hadn't previously gotten to see. The character growth throughout is also really effective - and the ending was very moving. I found the conclusion to work on both a personal scale and in the grander scheme of the world, whilst maintaining the quiet and rugged hope that's present throughout this series. Basically: I adore all of Premee Mohamed's work that I've read so far and, even if at earlier points The First Thousand Trees took a while to get going, this is no exception.