Tolipothy
Literary Fantasy · The Amazon
It is a fungus. It is beginning to think.
About Tolipothy: The Root Awakens
In the deepest hollow of the Amazon, something wakes beneath the soil. It has no name for itself yet—only hunger, preference, and the slow dawning that it is separate from the earth that made it. It is a fungus. It is beginning to think. And when the ants come to devour it, its own pain tears loose the first of five limb-children, who rise from the mud and walk.
They call her Tolipothy. Through her children she learns to fight, to build, to heal—and to love, which the forest’s oldest powers know is the most dangerous force of all. For the law beneath every root is simple: a thing that grows does not move. The trees remember what happened to the last things that broke it.
As bees, termites, and an ancient jaguar circle her, and a stranger threat gathers at the forest’s edge, Tolipothy must decide what she is willing to become to protect the family she made from her own body—and whether the laws that bind the living world are laws at all, or only habits waiting to be broken.
A thing that grows does not move. The trees remember what happened to the last things that broke it.
What the book is about
- A mind waking in the soil, and learning it is separate from the earth that made it
- The family she made from her own body
- Love, which the forest’s oldest powers know is the most dangerous force of all
- Whether the laws that bind the living world are laws at all, or only habits waiting to be broken
About the authors
Christian Ruff is a carpenter in Las Vegas, where he specializes in remodeling bathrooms. Tolipothy: The Root Awakens is his debut novel. It began as a way to coax his wife back to her art—he figured that if he could write a good enough story, it might inspire her to paint more often. As he wrote, it grew into a wild, living world where he and his siblings stand together against everything. The novel’s five Limbs are drawn from Christian and his brothers and sisters.
Nikki Woods is the publisher of Maroon House Press, a national on-air personality, and the former executive producer of The Tom Joyner Morning Show. She is also the author of Easier Said Than Done. More from Nikki Woods.
Editions
- Paperback: ISBN 978-1-971058-23-8. Buy on Amazon
- Ebook: ISBN 978-1-971058-24-5. Buy on Kindle
Who this book is for
Readers who want fantasy rooted in the living world: a story told from beneath the forest floor, about a family made from one body and the forest’s oldest laws.
Browse literary fictionFrequently asked questions
What is Tolipothy about?
A fungus wakes beneath the soil in the deepest hollow of the Amazon and begins to think. When ants come to devour it, its pain tears loose the first of five limb-children, who rise from the mud and walk. They call her Tolipothy, and she must decide what she is willing to become to protect the family she made from her own body.
Where is Tolipothy set?
In the deepest hollow of the Amazon, beneath the soil.
Who are the five Limbs?
The Limbs are Tolipothy’s children, torn loose from her own body. Christian Ruff drew them from himself and his brothers and sisters.
Who wrote Tolipothy: The Root Awakens?
Christian Ruff and Nikki Woods. It is Christian Ruff’s debut novel. Nikki Woods is the publisher of Maroon House Press, a national on-air personality, and the former executive producer of The Tom Joyner Morning Show.
What genre is Tolipothy?
Literary fantasy: a novel told from inside the forest, about family, love and the laws that bind the living world.
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