Dreamwood

Dreamwood by Heather Mackey

The world of Dreamwood is a fantasy version of 20th century Pacific Northwest. Logging is the big industry. Trains and boats are the primary means of travel. Electricity is starting to come out. The relationship between the natives and the white settlers are strained.

In this setting a bit of magic is set. The protagonist's father is an old time "ghost buster". Unlike others that focus on "magic", he uses science and engineering to help find and remove ghosts. As part of his work he has also encountered some situations with objects that have special powers. He has gone on a trip and left his daughter in a "finishing school". She doesn't like the school and decides to go out to find him. Alas, he is missing, and finding him is not easy.

Then the quest begins. She teams with a boy that helped her out previously. The timber barron helps fund them. He plays an ambiguous role in between good and bad. The forest is being decimated by "rust" and the Dreamwood can help resolve this. However, when they set off on the quest, they are warned to not take anything not offered to them. In the quest, they encounter numerous riches. However, all that focus on taking them meat gruesome fates. Eventually they find her father and the solution to the problems.

The book uses fantasy to bring out the environmental message. We should be careful what we extract in order to live in harmony with the natural environment. Nature may have ways to impact us that we cannot easily understand.