The trees...they're shiny

Imagine a world without plants.  Well, that sucks.  Oh, and no animals either.  Yep, Really sucks.  Oh, and you only get to eat popcorn because genetically modified corn is the only thing that the flesh-eating locusts can't devour.  Oh, and there are flesh-eating locusts.  You've got the setting for Rootless by Chris Howard, now you need a story and, let's face it, it had better be pretty darn good 'cuz that future is sounding pretty bleak.  NEVER FEAR!!!  Enter Banyan, our fearless hero...well, our fearless artists who creates metalwork forests for the rich.  He's got a real gift for it, especially considering that he's never seen a real tree.  But he hears that trees may still exist somewhere, so the quest begins!  There's a tattoo involved that kept giving me a strong Waterworld feeling, but that wasn't too distracting.  The action sometimes was a little slow for me, but the author was ready with a number of surprises to keep me reading.  The ending was great.  Unsettling, yes, but still so interesting.  I give this story 4 out of 5 golden leaves.  I think there is a book 2 in the works.  I'm not upset by that, but I don't need to read it.  Rootless stood very well on its own.