What do you think?
Rate this book
Giants
Elizabeth Burnett and her retinue set out to find larger-than-life creatures that appear in the chronicles of Magellan’s circumnavigation. The explorers are beset with danger and tribulations as they traverse Patagonia in search of the elusive creatures, their arrival presaged by a fateful prophesy. An engaging and suspenseful tale of adventure, of quest and discovery, of encounters with the unknown and what they reveal about the undergirding of our humanity.
179 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 5, 2024
16 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
About the author
James W. White
25 books5 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
(1)Japan
(1)Japan
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 14, 2024
I found James W. White’s novel Giants, set in the first five years of the 1750s, to be a rousing adventure yarn in the best tradition of Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe. A prologue provides the historical context for the story, which is based on reports from Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan’s assistant of their encountering a race of giants along the southern coast of South America, in a place that became known as Patagonia.
Chapter One opens in medias res with the wreck of a longboat, and we’re off! We soon learn that the people cast upon the seemingly uninhabited shore are members of a scientific expedition from Scotland in search of evidence that the purported giants actually exist. The expedition is led by a young woman, Elizabeth Burnett, unusual for the time, but believable. Right from the beginning, she is portrayed as a commanding presence.
There is plenty of action over the course of five years to keep the story moving at a good clip, including injuries and deaths, a narrow escape from cannibals, a massive explosion, and Elizabeth’s disappearance.
The South American setting is used to good effect to show that the castaways are strangers in a strange land. I was also impressed by the dialog, which suggests a Scottish brogue without going the fully spelled out dialect route, which would have been distracting and difficult to read. The author strikes just the right balance.
The book is narrated in first person by John Hempstead, a man older than the others who joined the expedition as a botany expert. It took me a while to get a sense of who he was as character separate from the other three men on the expedition. However, as the book progresses, he emerges as a fully developed character. By the end, it becomes clear to whom he is telling his story and why, which brings the book full circle in a rewarding way for the reader.
At key intervals, we enter the collective consciousness of mysterious beings watching the castaways. They turn out to be the giants in question. Seeing the action from their point of view provides knowledge of their current goal and insight into their telepathic thinking at the same time it ramps up the narrative tension. While the giants are legendary creatures to the Europeans, the giants have their own legend, based on the Epic of Gilgamesh.
The story of castaways is archetypal throughout world literature, often told to draw comparisons with the present day. In the case of Giants, I would say that the thematic parallels are racism, marginalism, and empire-building with little thought to the consequences, as well as gender roles and sexuality.
About three-quarters of the way through the novel, it took a turn for the poignant and as a result was my favorite part, when narrator John’s character became the most real for me. As a traveler returning from a strange adventure in a strange land, he feels compelled to tell his story, all the while knowing that it probably won’t be believed. John’s return to Edinburgh is particularly poignant: “It made me realize how transitory we are, how quickly we are forgotten.”
Chapter One opens in medias res with the wreck of a longboat, and we’re off! We soon learn that the people cast upon the seemingly uninhabited shore are members of a scientific expedition from Scotland in search of evidence that the purported giants actually exist. The expedition is led by a young woman, Elizabeth Burnett, unusual for the time, but believable. Right from the beginning, she is portrayed as a commanding presence.
There is plenty of action over the course of five years to keep the story moving at a good clip, including injuries and deaths, a narrow escape from cannibals, a massive explosion, and Elizabeth’s disappearance.
The South American setting is used to good effect to show that the castaways are strangers in a strange land. I was also impressed by the dialog, which suggests a Scottish brogue without going the fully spelled out dialect route, which would have been distracting and difficult to read. The author strikes just the right balance.
The book is narrated in first person by John Hempstead, a man older than the others who joined the expedition as a botany expert. It took me a while to get a sense of who he was as character separate from the other three men on the expedition. However, as the book progresses, he emerges as a fully developed character. By the end, it becomes clear to whom he is telling his story and why, which brings the book full circle in a rewarding way for the reader.
At key intervals, we enter the collective consciousness of mysterious beings watching the castaways. They turn out to be the giants in question. Seeing the action from their point of view provides knowledge of their current goal and insight into their telepathic thinking at the same time it ramps up the narrative tension. While the giants are legendary creatures to the Europeans, the giants have their own legend, based on the Epic of Gilgamesh.
The story of castaways is archetypal throughout world literature, often told to draw comparisons with the present day. In the case of Giants, I would say that the thematic parallels are racism, marginalism, and empire-building with little thought to the consequences, as well as gender roles and sexuality.
About three-quarters of the way through the novel, it took a turn for the poignant and as a result was my favorite part, when narrator John’s character became the most real for me. As a traveler returning from a strange adventure in a strange land, he feels compelled to tell his story, all the while knowing that it probably won’t be believed. John’s return to Edinburgh is particularly poignant: “It made me realize how transitory we are, how quickly we are forgotten.”
July 4, 2024
What a ride! I knew nothing about this story and didn't know it was an adventure novel before I started. But what fun reading along as the unusual story unfolded. I enjoyed all the different twists and turns and having all (yes, all!) of my expectations upended. No spoilers, but I'll just say that Giants doesn't follow typical narratives, which is a good thing. It's shorter, more of a novella when I wouldn't have minded a bit more writing, mostly descriptions and backstory about the discoveries, but that may be the author's style. Overall an enjoyable, albeit shorter, read.
January 29, 2024
I had to buckle in when I read James W. White’s latest novel, GIANTS. From the very first page, it was a thrill ride of historical fiction, science fiction, mixed with a touch of fantasy. The journey White took me on was an unpredictable blend of early European ship adventures, the Age of Enlightenment and the legendary, mythological tales of super-giant beings that have existed in the annals of civilization. The characters immediately grabbed my attention; I connected with their self-identities, motivations – not always as portrayed – and survival instincts. The cast was varied indeed, from the European nobleman, James Burnett of Edinburgh, his daughter, Elizabeth, to the astonishing inhabitants of a lost shore. Against her father’s objection, Elizabeth enlisted a group of scientists to sail off in search of a population of mysterious giant beings, reported centuries earlier from Ferdinand Magellan’s first circumnavigation around the world. However, greed led to the expedition’s downfall, leaving Elizabeth and her four surviving colleagues, John, Henry, Roger, and Jacob stranded. They faced numerous horrific challenges, including previous castaways, coarse local tribes and, finally, the enigmatic giant creatures. In the end, the narrative was a focus on John, the oldest and lone survivor, and his surprising adaptations, which aided him physically and mentally. Ultimately, he was the lone expedition survivor, returning home to Edinburgh with secrets – about the journey and himself – that he could never reveal. This was a concise, well-written tale with exhilarating twists and turns that shocked, amazed, and left open the possibilities of my imagination.
January 24, 2024
James White’s newest novel, Giants gave me an exhilarating thrill that I haven’t felt since I was a young, reading adventure classics like Swiss Family Robinson. Set in 1750, with the Age of The Enlightenment in full thrust, Elizabeth Burnett sets sail with her crew, determined to investigate claims of giant apes in the area that later became known as Patagonia. The story opens after a mutiny that left Elizabeth and her fellow explorers adrift on a longboat.
Now shipwrecked on an unknown shore, one of the survivors, John Hempstead narrates the story. From the first pages, the reader is there with the group, founded in time and place by use of vivid descriptions and dialect-rich dialogue. As the group starts its journey, it faces immense challenges, starting with the land itself, especially without food, water, or first aid kit. Even the reality of worn clothing and shoes require solutions to enable continued journey.
But there are internal group issues as well. Elizabeth faces her own challenges, with individual perceptions of gender roles, and the influx of possible disinformation by one of the members.
The story continues at an excellent pace, with continued challenges and discoveries along the way.
With White’s masterful writing, strong character development, and attention to authenticity, Giants is the perfect long weekend read to whisk you away from the rigors of reality and drop you into a new world.
Now shipwrecked on an unknown shore, one of the survivors, John Hempstead narrates the story. From the first pages, the reader is there with the group, founded in time and place by use of vivid descriptions and dialect-rich dialogue. As the group starts its journey, it faces immense challenges, starting with the land itself, especially without food, water, or first aid kit. Even the reality of worn clothing and shoes require solutions to enable continued journey.
But there are internal group issues as well. Elizabeth faces her own challenges, with individual perceptions of gender roles, and the influx of possible disinformation by one of the members.
The story continues at an excellent pace, with continued challenges and discoveries along the way.
With White’s masterful writing, strong character development, and attention to authenticity, Giants is the perfect long weekend read to whisk you away from the rigors of reality and drop you into a new world.
March 11, 2024
I was granted the opportunity to read Giants before publication and the more I read, the more captivated I became. White’s fantastical, adventurous tale of mutiny, shipwreck, cannibals, and an isolated tribe of Patagonian titans who are “every bit as human as we are” is an extraordinary story deftly infused with prophecy, pain, love, death, and life.
Elizabeth Burnett and her cohorts set off to South America in search of a giant species of man hinted at in records of Magellan’s travels. Nothing goes as planned except the giants’ own foretelling of their arrival and ultimately, the preternatural role Elizabeth was envisioned by them to fulfill. She does so, but not without tragedy. While misfortune seems to plague them at every turn, this is balanced by positive, metaphysical messaging, woven in throughout: “Spirits that transcend logic and science, time and space. The spiritual essence o giants is deep-seated in our imaginations — a legacy mankind inherited from our ancestors long ago.” The end of the book takes a turn the reader may not expect, which is uncomfortably perfect.
“Atmospheric and captivating…strongly reminiscent of Nordhoff & Norman’s epic Bounty trilogy and infused with a healthy dose of Indiana Jones…” This was my first thought after reading the pre-release version of Giants. You will find my quote on the back cover of the book, as the publisher, Between the Lines Publishing, agrees wholeheartedly with this sentiment.
Elizabeth Burnett and her cohorts set off to South America in search of a giant species of man hinted at in records of Magellan’s travels. Nothing goes as planned except the giants’ own foretelling of their arrival and ultimately, the preternatural role Elizabeth was envisioned by them to fulfill. She does so, but not without tragedy. While misfortune seems to plague them at every turn, this is balanced by positive, metaphysical messaging, woven in throughout: “Spirits that transcend logic and science, time and space. The spiritual essence o giants is deep-seated in our imaginations — a legacy mankind inherited from our ancestors long ago.” The end of the book takes a turn the reader may not expect, which is uncomfortably perfect.
“Atmospheric and captivating…strongly reminiscent of Nordhoff & Norman’s epic Bounty trilogy and infused with a healthy dose of Indiana Jones…” This was my first thought after reading the pre-release version of Giants. You will find my quote on the back cover of the book, as the publisher, Between the Lines Publishing, agrees wholeheartedly with this sentiment.
July 1, 2024
GIANTS by James W. White is a historical fiction adventure novel with some elements of fantasy a la GULLIVERS TRAVELS. A scientific expedition is funded by an Eighteenth-Century Scottish laird to verify the existence of giant humans reported by the earlier Ferdinand Magellan expedition. On the voyage south, its leaders are overcome by mutinous members of their crew and set adrift off Patagonia. Their small boat crashes against the rocky shore, but they make their way to land and begin an arduous trek through unknown country for the planned rendezvous with their supply ship. Deadly obstacles and terrors confront them along the way, and life becomes strange and potentially short. They do encounter humans several feet taller than they, but height is not the others only difference from Europeans.
James W. White has written an absorbing tale of people the reader learns to care for. You wonder what on earth is going to happen to them next and hope they will survive it. That this is a Scottish expedition, with some Gaelic words and pronunciations, adds to the creation of a different time and place. The encounter with supersized humans brings to mind moral questions. For one, why wouldn’t the “giants” want to keep their existence hidden from explorers? After explorers come the colonists, followed by subjugation or extinction.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
James W. White has written an absorbing tale of people the reader learns to care for. You wonder what on earth is going to happen to them next and hope they will survive it. That this is a Scottish expedition, with some Gaelic words and pronunciations, adds to the creation of a different time and place. The encounter with supersized humans brings to mind moral questions. For one, why wouldn’t the “giants” want to keep their existence hidden from explorers? After explorers come the colonists, followed by subjugation or extinction.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
February 12, 2024
Are there or have there been giants on the earth, that is, people much like us but larger? Stories of such creatures have abounded but do they have any basis in fact?
White, in his novel, Giants, explores this question in the setting of the 1400s, from certain documents of voyages to South America during that period, when such creatures were said to be seen.
The daughter of a wealthy man sets out to find out. It’s unusual for any woman to go exploring, but Elizabeth, a bright and beautiful woman with red hair, undertakes the voyage. As most such trips went in those days, they go on for years and most of the people in the initial sailing die. We do however get to know the eclectic travelers. We want to keep turning the pages to see what happens and who survives.
White sets the scene with the passengers of the fatal ship adrift on a raft with little but their lives. Who knows how long that will last? They have encounters with the inhabitants and believe that giants live in the area.
You’ll love this page-turner and be surprised at what happens as you turn those pages.
By Lois Requist
White, in his novel, Giants, explores this question in the setting of the 1400s, from certain documents of voyages to South America during that period, when such creatures were said to be seen.
The daughter of a wealthy man sets out to find out. It’s unusual for any woman to go exploring, but Elizabeth, a bright and beautiful woman with red hair, undertakes the voyage. As most such trips went in those days, they go on for years and most of the people in the initial sailing die. We do however get to know the eclectic travelers. We want to keep turning the pages to see what happens and who survives.
White sets the scene with the passengers of the fatal ship adrift on a raft with little but their lives. Who knows how long that will last? They have encounters with the inhabitants and believe that giants live in the area.
You’ll love this page-turner and be surprised at what happens as you turn those pages.
By Lois Requist
February 16, 2024
The inspiration for the tale, Giants (by James White), is based upon a journal entry by a member of Magellan’s crew during their historic circumnavigation of the Americas. It records the sighting of giants along the Patagonian coast of South America.
White’s fictional story of adventure is based on the author’s premise: What If?
What if Magellan really saw a race of giant men? And what if a young head-strong Scottish noblewoman had the intelligence, financial backing, and strength of character to lead a scientific expedition to discover and prove the existence of such a race?
This is a tale of determination, bravery, survival, and treachery set in 1750.
I found the book to be well written, populated with distinct personalities, and firmly set on plausible ground. It entertained me, answered my questions, and gave me a satisfying and unexpected ending.
I recommend settling into a comfortable overstuffed wing chair, a favorite whiskey or Scotch, and a fire in the study, for a night of immersive reading.
Keith Ory
White’s fictional story of adventure is based on the author’s premise: What If?
What if Magellan really saw a race of giant men? And what if a young head-strong Scottish noblewoman had the intelligence, financial backing, and strength of character to lead a scientific expedition to discover and prove the existence of such a race?
This is a tale of determination, bravery, survival, and treachery set in 1750.
I found the book to be well written, populated with distinct personalities, and firmly set on plausible ground. It entertained me, answered my questions, and gave me a satisfying and unexpected ending.
I recommend settling into a comfortable overstuffed wing chair, a favorite whiskey or Scotch, and a fire in the study, for a night of immersive reading.
Keith Ory
January 16, 2024
In the late 18th century, when the world seemed infinitely large, a group of Scottish explorers, led by an intrepid woman, search for a race of giants referred to in the journal of one of Magellan's men. Their expedition, ill-fated from the start, begins with a shipwreck and leads to a series of adventures and encounters far from anything they ever expected to find. James W. White's intriguing approach to the myth of the "giant" is based on mythology and on historical "eyewitness" encounters with giant species of human, or near-human, creatures during the Age of Exploration.
With elements of both historical and speculative fiction, "Giants" provides a fascinating treatment of a mythological trope common to many cultures combined with a compelling adventure story.
With elements of both historical and speculative fiction, "Giants" provides a fascinating treatment of a mythological trope common to many cultures combined with a compelling adventure story.
February 11, 2025
Gave me a very HG Wells vibe with its first person scientifically driven narrator, though with a bit more Dr. Moreau horror compared to Time Machine. Solidly written. A lot of Scottish mannerisms in the dialogue that I appreciated, though those less familiar with the lingo may find flummoxing. I appreciated the ending. Tis a fun historical fiction adventure story. There was a point where the story could have turned into a 600 page epic from various implications. I am honestly happy it contained itself to a less fairy tale construct. A couple time jumps and POV breaks threw me off a bit, but were brief and clarified enough later to where I was not bothered.
Overall solid. Kudos to the author.
Overall solid. Kudos to the author.
February 13, 2024
It took me a long time to write this review. Because when something is truly excellent, you want to get it exactly right. And you want to be sure not to give anything away. I loved “Giants.” It is a wonderful historical novel with many, many, many surprise twists. I had not anticipated heroes crossing social boundaries. I hadn’t anticipated interactions with different groups of natives of all kinds. There was a heroic quest, love, violence, tenderness, brutality, and wonderful writing... Everything you could want in a historical adventure novel.
February 4, 2024
Gripping! Thanks to James White’s engaging style of writing, he brought to life, Elizabeth Burnett, daughter of a Scottish lord whose dogged spirit and sense of adventure had her lead a treacherous voyage to the other end of the world in 1750. Narrated by a botanist, accompanying Elizabeth on this adventure, this book ensnared me with its rich descriptions, humor, and surprising twists. The author’s disarming portrayals and attention to detail held me captive to the very end.
March 16, 2024
Good start, but took a nose dive into nonsense about half way.
April 15, 2024
Interesting tale
Not sure what to say about this tale, it was interesting & not what I expected, which kept me engaged & curious. Thought the same-sex twist was a bit weird & unnecessary though.
Not sure what to say about this tale, it was interesting & not what I expected, which kept me engaged & curious. Thought the same-sex twist was a bit weird & unnecessary though.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews