Ratings16
Average rating3.5
'ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I'VE READ IN RECENT YEARS . . . PACKS A HELL OF AN EMOTIONAL PUNCH' Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of Time From one of the most imaginative writers of her generation comes an extraordinary vision of the future. Ven was once a holy man, a keeper of ancient archives. It was his duty to interpret archaic texts, sorting useful knowledge from the heretical ideas of the Burning Age - a time of excess and climate disaster. For in Ven's world, such material must be closely guarded, so that the ills that led to that cataclysmic era can never be repeated. But when the revolutionary Brotherhood approaches Ven, pressuring him to translate stolen writings that threaten everything he once held dear, his life will be turned upside down. Torn between friendship and faith, Ven must decide how far he's willing to go to save this new world, and how much he is willing to lose. Notes from the Burning Age is the remarkable and captivating new novel from the award-winning Claire North that puts dystopian fiction in a whole new light. 'Beautiful and riveting' Buzzfeed 'Will keep readers hooked right up until the explosive close' Publishers Weekly 'A gripping, utterly involving, dystopian eco-thriller that balances the intimacies of betrayal against global climate collapse' Daily Mail 'An impassioned, urgent and compelling new work that burns as bright as the fires of our own burning age. This is not to be missed' Lavie Tidhar, World Fantasy Award-winning author 'North's talent shines out' Sunday Times 'An original and even dazzling writer' Kirkus 'North goes from strength to strength' Guardian 'Claire North's writing is terrific, smart and entertaining' Patrick Ness
Reviews with the most likes.
Probably more of a 3.5.
I think it's been a long while since I've read a proper dystopian novel, so this one took me some time to finish. Not that it wasn't interesting, but I couldn't find the pacing engaging enough. But I really did find the themes of climate change as well as the whole idea of future generations trying to piece together details about their ancestors' technologies very fascinating. There is also a lot of translation, researching and archiving that goes on here and that was cool, because these are some fields which are very underrated despite being important and it's quite rare that we find characters with these occupations in fiction. The plot was also interesting but what left the most impression on me was the question it leaves in our mind throughout - are we as humanity capable enough to learn from our mistakes, not let capitalist greed drive our decisions, and do something substantial to prevent our planet from further destruction. It's definitely a very timely novel in this aspect, and I think anyone who enjoys the dystopian/ cli-fi sub genre would surely enjoy this one.
I entered this novel expecting a dystopian adventure. What did I find but a dystopian spy novel that John Le Carre would be proud of. It was a surprise but a very welcome one. I loved the way the author just kind of slid you into that reality, introducing different elements along the way, and really made you feel the main character's pov, his sense of alienation, his self-doubt. It just gets better from there.