The Burning River

by Lawrence Patchett

In a radically changed Aotearoa New Zealand, Van’s life in the swamp is hazardous. Sheltered by Rau and Matewai, he mines plastic and trades to survive. When a young visitor summons him to the fenced settlement on the hill, he is offered a new and frightening responsibility—a perilous inland journey that leads to a tense confrontation and the prospect of a rebuilt world.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2020

Reviews

[Andi C Buchanan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Burning River is a thoughtful and and original exploration of what Aotearoa could look like in the far aftermath of significant climate change. I feel a little torn writing this - for most of the book I found it interesting but it didn't quite grab me either story or character wise. And then in the last fifty pages or so it really came into its own in terms of characters and ideas, and sucked me in both emotionally and intellectually, to the point where if I had time I'd almost want to go back and reread with a newfound sense of attachment.

As a side note: the use of te reo Māori was far more than in any other book I'd read - definitely more than the occasional word - and yet as a non-speaker it didn't put me off. I'm sure there were layers I missed, but I gained far more from seeing it in context and recognising what I knew from my extremely limited vocabulary in new contexts.

[olethalee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very unenjoyable. I had to read this book for an assignment and was pained by how slow and boring it was. Characters had very little depth, plot was uninteresting and in general the writing was a bit sub-par. Not to mention the sheer amount of times the main character's "groin" was pointlessly mentioned! The idea of characters using te reo Maori was cool, even if it felt forced at times. Overall would never recommend this book to anyone.

[Theo]

this was so difficult to get through that when it came time to write my final essay in a uni class about it, i ended up not doing the assignment because i would have been incapable of writing about it without touching on at least three separate major flaws and working myself into a fit of rage. i really wasn’t looking for that sort of vibe in the end of my first semester and took the L and likely also the D-

[Angelique Simonsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very imaginable distopian New Zealand. I loved the way tikanga Māori and te reo Māori have been made important and a main theme of this story

[ns510reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in a climate-ravaged Aotearoa, much different from the Aotearoa of today, is a story of how a Pākehā man whāngai-ed into a Māori family at a young age when his parents died, forms a family/alliance with a highborn Māori woman from the Whaea settlement, and then helps her people find a new home after their still lush fenced-off dwelling, protected from pollution and effects of climate change, is set to be razed by invaders.

Beyond this propulsive (if potentially very slightly trope-y) narrative arc, the true tension lies in the anxiety and existential dread of being a human on this planet right now, as it is and as it may grimly become. Truly, I felt like the author was present in this story and it read to me like a tale born of the desire of a parent who so very much wants this world, this country, to be better than it is for the sake of his children and loved ones. He is a father to daughters and it shows. There are people who mindfully choose not to have children with carbon credits in mind, but equally, children/the next generation can be a force for change. If the stakes were painfully high before/now, it’s desperately more so when it becomes even more personal. When you’re not just thinking about yourself and fellow humans, but for the sake of the ones you love more than you can bear.

Without being too preachy, this reads to me as a story of someone fervently wanting a better, kinder Aotearoa, a better and kinder world. It reads like an urging for us to be better humans and Kiwis: to mindfully decolonize and interrogate what it could mean to be Pākehā New Zealanders, to acknowledge and know history’s truth, to embrace the melding of all cultures, to value and nurture the indigenous language and tikanga, to protect and respect this earth. To focus on the ways we are all connected and come together in that knowledge, our similarities not differences, for the sake of ourselves and even more so, for our future generations.

[MH · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow. Dull. Just not very exciting. Very obviously New Zealand literature, but unfortunately in the bad sense of awful boring stuff I was forced to read at school. There is basicly an entire chapter where the chief "action" is two people getting the shits, and TBH that's just not very interesting to me. On the positive side, there was a lot of te reo integrated into the dialogue, which made it sound like New Zealand even to a barbarian with only fragments. But that's massively outweighed by the sheer dullness of the thing. Not recommended.

[Maddi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to read this for an assignment.

Was okay but quite boring a lot of the time. not much happens throughout large portions of the book which makes it drag out longer than it should.

[Bronwyn Hegarty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the concept of this story. A dystopian post-apocalyptic world in the NZ bush where Maori and Europeans peoples tried to survive alongside each other. It appears that no-one has learnt much at all about how to get on with others. I guess utopian intentions are not as exciting as burning peoples' settlements.

It is well written, and the author uses a lot of te reo throughout. I struggled to understand a lot of the phrases but gathered up some smatterings of meaning. For readers without any te reo at all, this would become frustrating.

The story has great momentum as we travel with a small group of people looking for a new settlement. The voices are reasonably authentic. The most amazing scene, and I've never come across this before, was the description of the gastro-intestinal event. Well worth reading the book just for that. It was so vivid and well done.
Bronwyn

[HanReadsShtuff · Rating 1 out of 5]

This could have been a good book. I suppose that is what frustrates me about it. This book had SO MUCH potential but was so poorly executed.

I was forced to read this for university. If I had to take a shot every time the main character's groin was mentioned, very unnecessarily, I would have been drunk by the third chapter. There is also an ENTIRE CHAPTER dedicated to everyone having diarrhoea. Nothing happens, no character development, nothing, just them getting "the runs".

The female characters are so poorly written it almost feels insulting, and the writer's fixation on the main character's groin did not help with that.

Kahu, the younger girl, is a much more compelling and interesting character. The book could have been far better if it was written from her perspective.

[Ella Harris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found it very confusing and difficult to understand the context and timing of this book, and couldn't imagine the setting very well. There was mention of people coming from the North and going to the South through the Dry Way along with the Whaea hill, Swamp land, valleys, and inland camps, and I couldn't work out in my mind how it all went together. It's only when I read other reviews, that I realise it is supposed to be dystopian. There was also a lot of terminology that took a while to comprehend the meaning of, and that's not including the Maori language (which was an interesting addition). Other people might find it easier to understand, but most of it went over my head.

[Kate Fortes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had to read this for uni. It confused me sm at first but I starting getting into it. The te reo in it was such a cool addition and done really well as the reader and main character are in the same boat with not understanding very well.
I loved how they made pakeha the minority it was a very cool concept. Probs wouldn’t of picked it up myself tho and wouldn’t of finished it if it wasn’t for uni cuz I got bored

[Caitlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Had to read for an assignment. Book drove me to tears; not because anything emotionally moving happened, rather I was seeing the A grade average slip away before my eyes. Spent the vast majority of it mentally drafting an email to our (lovely) professor, suggesting that no student should ever be subjected to this particular form of torture again.

Character interiority was a distant dream, prose lacked any and all function, and by the third mention of his “groin” I’d started begging for death.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was like a Kiwi “The Road”.

Van lives in New Zealand in the future after some sort of climatic disaster. He mines and restores plastic which is viewed either as poisonous or extreme treasure. Life is harsh with “biters” from the swamp killing you if you leave your skin uncovered or don’t have access to medicine. Maori culture is once more ascendant as people are forced to live off the land.

Van is invited to join the rich Whaea people who live enfenced up on a hill. He is needed because they are being chased out by “the burners” and need his lineage to request shelter from a neighbouring tribe. This is the story of how he, Hana and Kahu forge together as a family on their journey.

[Susan Pearce · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterful, beautifully written, well-paced novel. It's beyond me why this hasn't been more widely read. Terrific premise, engaging characters, evocative descriptions of this parallel universe (or maybe a few hundred years in the future) Aotearoa. Don't be put off by the reo - it's all in context and you won't miss out on story if you don't understand it. Or use a dictionary. I was hooked, and it haunted my dreams.

[Corey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly engaging read, although the plot doesn't stand up to much scrutiny (but neither does the plot of The Wall, and that was great!).