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Notes from the Burning Age
The award-winning Claire North returns with her most powerful and imaginative novel yet - a spellbinding tale set in a future utopian society that is thrilling, moving and thought-provoking in equal measure.
THE GREAT FOREST WAS BURNING. BUT FROM THE ASHES OF THE OLD WORLD, NEW LIFE GROWS.
Once, the spirits of the mountain, sea and sky rose against humankind. They punished us for the heresies of the Burning Age - the time when we cared so little for the world that it went up in flames. We learned to fear them, honour them, and in the centuries of peace which followed, the spirits slept.
Ven used to be a holy man, studying texts from the ashes of the past, sorting secrets from heresies. But when he gets caught up in the political scheming of the Brotherhood, he finds himself in the middle of a war, fuelled by old knowledge and forbidden ambition. And as the land burns again, the great spirits stir . . .
Notes from the Burning Age is a captivating and visionary new novel from Claire North, author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and 84K. Set in an age after the world has fallen, this masterfully imaginative story asks whether humankind can change the paths we seem fated to follow.
THE GREAT FOREST WAS BURNING. BUT FROM THE ASHES OF THE OLD WORLD, NEW LIFE GROWS.
Once, the spirits of the mountain, sea and sky rose against humankind. They punished us for the heresies of the Burning Age - the time when we cared so little for the world that it went up in flames. We learned to fear them, honour them, and in the centuries of peace which followed, the spirits slept.
Ven used to be a holy man, studying texts from the ashes of the past, sorting secrets from heresies. But when he gets caught up in the political scheming of the Brotherhood, he finds himself in the middle of a war, fuelled by old knowledge and forbidden ambition. And as the land burns again, the great spirits stir . . .
Notes from the Burning Age is a captivating and visionary new novel from Claire North, author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and 84K. Set in an age after the world has fallen, this masterfully imaginative story asks whether humankind can change the paths we seem fated to follow.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published July 20, 2021
277 people are currently reading
8950 people want to read
About the author
Claire North
29 books4,155 followersClaire North is actually Catherine Webb, a Carnegie Medal-nominated young-adult novel author whose first book, Mirror Dreams, was written when she was just 14 years old. She went on to write seven more successful YA novels.
Claire North is a pseudonym for adult fantasy books written by Catherine Webb, who also writes under the pseudonym Kate Griffin.
Claire North is a pseudonym for adult fantasy books written by Catherine Webb, who also writes under the pseudonym Kate Griffin.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 572 reviews
June 16, 2021
On the surface, Notes from the Burning Age appears to be a post-apocalyptic tale of survival on a future Earth ravaged centuries earlier by war and man's poisoning of the environment. Yet it develops into something else - a bittersweet dystopian tale of intrigue and espionage, where the central question becomes one of man's place in the world. Whether humanity can stay humble in the face of the environmental devastation it once wrought, or is doomed to repeat the cycle and again become a victim of its own arrogance. Does man stand above and apart from nature, destined to control it, or is he just a part of the larger whole?
The story is told through the eyes of one man, a scholar and priest of sorts whose torments and trials mirror the strife of his world. He is an inquisitor, a member of Temple dedicated to uncovering and deciphering ancient knowledge, but only that which is deemed safe. Anything potentially too dangerous, violent or profane is considered heretical. He is buoyed by his beliefs in the "kakuy", the mythical spirits that centuries ago "crushed the cities and scoured humanity from the plains". These spirits manifest physically as monstrosities that threaten to rise up again and wipe away the pestilence of humanity with their wrath, yet have begun to fade from memory into legend.
Claire North has an incredible talent for pairing intriguing speculative settings with thought provoking stories full of dynamism and suspense, and told with evocative prose that's always rich with emotional resonance. Notes from the Burning Age deftly mixes tropes and motifs of a suspenseful spy thriller, a mystical fantasy and a dystopian society, woven together over an intriguing post-apocalyptic landscape. It proves a gripping tale of both personal resilience and mankind's ultimate capacity (or lack thereof) to live in harmony with himself and his environment.
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy for review.
The story is told through the eyes of one man, a scholar and priest of sorts whose torments and trials mirror the strife of his world. He is an inquisitor, a member of Temple dedicated to uncovering and deciphering ancient knowledge, but only that which is deemed safe. Anything potentially too dangerous, violent or profane is considered heretical. He is buoyed by his beliefs in the "kakuy", the mythical spirits that centuries ago "crushed the cities and scoured humanity from the plains". These spirits manifest physically as monstrosities that threaten to rise up again and wipe away the pestilence of humanity with their wrath, yet have begun to fade from memory into legend.
Claire North has an incredible talent for pairing intriguing speculative settings with thought provoking stories full of dynamism and suspense, and told with evocative prose that's always rich with emotional resonance. Notes from the Burning Age deftly mixes tropes and motifs of a suspenseful spy thriller, a mystical fantasy and a dystopian society, woven together over an intriguing post-apocalyptic landscape. It proves a gripping tale of both personal resilience and mankind's ultimate capacity (or lack thereof) to live in harmony with himself and his environment.
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy for review.
November 29, 2021
Giving this book only three stars hurts a little because I usually love everything this author writes under all of her pseudonyms. In fact I liked Notes from the Burning Age too but just not as much.
North has an amazing imagination and this is certainly fully displayed in this dystopian tale of our world in the distant future after it has been ruined by the way we treat it. Most technology has been discarded and even reading about its history is heresy. Energy sources are renewable and unreliable. Of course politics are just the same and are really the basis for the whole story.
I enjoyed the main character, Ven, very much especially when he suddenly shows who and what he really is. I liked the story too and of course it was beautifully written as I would expect from this author. My problem was that I am not interested enough in politics and the middle section of the book does become slow and bogged down by discussion and argument.
Nevertheless this was an interesting book with some really good bits in it and I look forward to seeing what this author comes up with next.
North has an amazing imagination and this is certainly fully displayed in this dystopian tale of our world in the distant future after it has been ruined by the way we treat it. Most technology has been discarded and even reading about its history is heresy. Energy sources are renewable and unreliable. Of course politics are just the same and are really the basis for the whole story.
I enjoyed the main character, Ven, very much especially when he suddenly shows who and what he really is. I liked the story too and of course it was beautifully written as I would expect from this author. My problem was that I am not interested enough in politics and the middle section of the book does become slow and bogged down by discussion and argument.
Nevertheless this was an interesting book with some really good bits in it and I look forward to seeing what this author comes up with next.
February 1, 2022
4 stars for literary merit, 2 stars for actual enjoyment. Intriguing setup and clever mystery bogged down by 200+ pages of running away, getting caught, being tortured/injured/nearly killed, repeat. Claire North writes brilliantly and bitingly, but Notes from the Burning Age is a hard book to read.
Humanity has been forced into ecological sustainability and social justice due to cataclysmic fires and flooding attributed to nature spirits called kakuy. (Miyazaki would approve, I think.) Centuries later, a tentative peace holds amongst the survivors that is based on the need to avoid re-angering the kakuy. But too much time has passed since the kakuy last stirred, and in that time, a new movement has arisen: the Brotherhood, determined to reclaim the Earth for humanity and revive fossil fuels, conspicuous consumption, populism, toxic masculinity, nuclear warfare, and all that good stuff.
It turns out that knowing history just makes it easier to repeat it. (I mean, could you recreate a nuclear reactor without detailed documentation?) Ven, a former priest of the nature-loving Temple, is recruited by the Brotherhood to translate these heresies stolen from the archives by an unknown and very clever spy. And from here - to say much more would be a spoiler - begins an intricate game of cat-and-mouse, spies and traitors, and a world on the brink of destruction. Yes, again.
So. It also turns out that the one thing more depressing than being an ecologist working during times of anthropogenic climate change is watching humans who figured out a better way begin to fuck it up again. Claire North's grimly cyclical future is the anathema of Becky Chambers's sunny ecotopias, and what I hate most about it is that North is probably right.
North is a skilled and thoughtful writer, and maybe it's because her prose is so lush that this book is so hard to read, especially when the topic is torture, PTSD, or other forms of suffering. It took me a long time to really get into this book - over a hundred pages, which is usually the point at which I give up on a book - and I often wanted to put it down even after the pace picked up and I could hardly complain that there was nothing happening.
In a nutshell: poetic, pessimistic, and unrelentingly grim. I have no desire to ever reread this one, nor anything else by Claire North, but I don't regret reading it.
Humanity has been forced into ecological sustainability and social justice due to cataclysmic fires and flooding attributed to nature spirits called kakuy. (Miyazaki would approve, I think.) Centuries later, a tentative peace holds amongst the survivors that is based on the need to avoid re-angering the kakuy. But too much time has passed since the kakuy last stirred, and in that time, a new movement has arisen: the Brotherhood, determined to reclaim the Earth for humanity and revive fossil fuels, conspicuous consumption, populism, toxic masculinity, nuclear warfare, and all that good stuff.
It turns out that knowing history just makes it easier to repeat it. (I mean, could you recreate a nuclear reactor without detailed documentation?) Ven, a former priest of the nature-loving Temple, is recruited by the Brotherhood to translate these heresies stolen from the archives by an unknown and very clever spy. And from here - to say much more would be a spoiler - begins an intricate game of cat-and-mouse, spies and traitors, and a world on the brink of destruction. Yes, again.
So. It also turns out that the one thing more depressing than being an ecologist working during times of anthropogenic climate change is watching humans who figured out a better way begin to fuck it up again. Claire North's grimly cyclical future is the anathema of Becky Chambers's sunny ecotopias, and what I hate most about it is that North is probably right.
"When things are good, we find ourselves wondering - what more? And what will I lose if I do not get more now? It is a trait that pushed mankind across the oceans and out into space - what is out there, what else? It is one of our most beautiful qualities and has for millennia served us well in finding new ways to live better. But like all things, it is neither good nor bad, but what we make of it."
North is a skilled and thoughtful writer, and maybe it's because her prose is so lush that this book is so hard to read, especially when the topic is torture, PTSD, or other forms of suffering. It took me a long time to really get into this book - over a hundred pages, which is usually the point at which I give up on a book - and I often wanted to put it down even after the pace picked up and I could hardly complain that there was nothing happening.
Those whose bowels didn't immediately open caught the cough that spread on the backs of the teeming, roaring, hungry flies that now rose up from the beds of mud that slathered the city, commuters flapping their way through the translucent swarm which fluffed into their hair and nibbled at the moist edges of blinking eyes
In a nutshell: poetic, pessimistic, and unrelentingly grim. I have no desire to ever reread this one, nor anything else by Claire North, but I don't regret reading it.
July 19, 2021
Claire North's new SF is climate-punk without as QUITE an uber-bleak outlook as usually comes with such cli-punk SF. Lots of intrigue, repressed societies, quasi-religious cultural restrictions that summon up the monsters that burned the old world, but still enough technology going around to make this world quite interesting and believable.
I mean, inquisitors, people.
What imagery!
But what we've got here is spycraft, a tightly plotted novel, characters that are quite memorable, and enough twists and turns and harrowing situations that amount to all-out war to fill any kind of cold-war thriller. Only this one revolves around old technologies plummed from the old internet, making a wild combination of translation issues, research espionage, and knowledge-is-power inquisition versus humanist revolutionary thugs... all during a post-climate disaster where most people have died.
It is not only believable but it's wonderfully described and rich enough to make me live there.
I've always been impressed by Claire North and this one doesn't disappoint.
I mean, inquisitors, people.
What imagery!
But what we've got here is spycraft, a tightly plotted novel, characters that are quite memorable, and enough twists and turns and harrowing situations that amount to all-out war to fill any kind of cold-war thriller. Only this one revolves around old technologies plummed from the old internet, making a wild combination of translation issues, research espionage, and knowledge-is-power inquisition versus humanist revolutionary thugs... all during a post-climate disaster where most people have died.
It is not only believable but it's wonderfully described and rich enough to make me live there.
I've always been impressed by Claire North and this one doesn't disappoint.
December 30, 2022
Some necessary context for my reading experience: This isn't the first journey I've been taken on by Claire North. I've loved, on more than one occasion, both The Sudden Appearance of Hope and The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. I've read Touch too but merely liked it. All these stories have an element of the superhuman to them and that reading history set me up with expectations for Notes From The Burning Age that affected my enjoyment of this story.
a story set in an age after the world has burned, which explores whether humankind can change the paths we seem fated to follow.
The book description speaks of Notes From The Burning Age being a post apocalyptic story of humanity trying to find itself, but more than that this is a spy novel. It is first and foremost a spy novel worthy of comparison to the work of John Le Carré as opposed to any post apocalyptic novel I've read. But typical of North that doesn't summarise what the story is either.
We're introduced to the Kakuy, Gods of the Earth awakened by humanities hubris and disregard for nonhuman earthlings, in the very first sentence and I was eager to learn more about them. It was about 200 pages later that I accepted that they weren't the story. If my expectations weren't what they were I would likely have thoroughly enjoyed what became a grimly engaging spy story sooner. As it was, I merely enjoyed it. At least on my first read. I look forward to coming back to Notes From The Burning Age and its engaging cast of characters again.
There's enough in NFTBA to satisfy SFF fans but I hope that when NFTBA is officially released that its also marketed to entice fans of spy thrillers as they'd be best pleased with this offering from Claire North.
My thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a dishonest review.
a story set in an age after the world has burned, which explores whether humankind can change the paths we seem fated to follow.
The book description speaks of Notes From The Burning Age being a post apocalyptic story of humanity trying to find itself, but more than that this is a spy novel. It is first and foremost a spy novel worthy of comparison to the work of John Le Carré as opposed to any post apocalyptic novel I've read. But typical of North that doesn't summarise what the story is either.
We're introduced to the Kakuy, Gods of the Earth awakened by humanities hubris and disregard for nonhuman earthlings, in the very first sentence and I was eager to learn more about them. It was about 200 pages later that I accepted that they weren't the story. If my expectations weren't what they were I would likely have thoroughly enjoyed what became a grimly engaging spy story sooner. As it was, I merely enjoyed it. At least on my first read. I look forward to coming back to Notes From The Burning Age and its engaging cast of characters again.
There's enough in NFTBA to satisfy SFF fans but I hope that when NFTBA is officially released that its also marketed to entice fans of spy thrillers as they'd be best pleased with this offering from Claire North.
My thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a dishonest review.
September 30, 2021
4.5★s
Notes From The Burning Age is the eighth novel by best-selling, award-winning British author, Claire North. Thirty-one-year-old Ven Marzouki, sometimes Kadri Tarrad, freely admits he is a traitor. He trained to be a priest for the Temple, translating documents in archaic languages salvaged from the Burning Age to be assessed for heresy but, unappreciated for his hard work and expertise, he begins illegally selling classified information. This might be true…
By the time Brotherhood operative, Georg Mestri finds him, he’s working in a cellar bar. Vien’s Justice and Equality Brotherhood is opposed to the Council, believing that humanity can best be served by reviving the fuels, the resources, the industry of the Burning Age. Temple, on the other hand, recommends giving thanks for the land, the sea, the sky, espouses being in harmony with the earth, doing nothing to rouse the kakuy, whose wrath spares none.
When Ven is recruited, the Brotherhood is gaining ground in the Assembly. Translating forbidden texts for Georg, Ven realises he must have a spy in the Council supplying these, and it begins to look like war between the provinces is inevitable.
North sets her tale in a futuristic dystopia, a vaguely-recognisable Europe where the predicted environmental destruction is in full swing. The politics is initially a little convoluted, but patience is rewarded with some rather good action once the groundwork is laid. The pronouns used for those of undefined gender do, at times, cause a little confusion.
Ven is, eventually. a likeable protagonist whom North subjects to all manner of challenges: he is beaten, tortured mentally and physically, spends quite a bit of time captive or on the run, almost drowns yet recovers to return to his mission. At one stage, one of his mentors comments that he will present a danger to anyone who gives him shelter.
North explores many topical sociological themes in the dialogue that Ven shares with Georg and others, none of which moderates Georg’s fervour to win. She does give Ven wise words, for example: “Your mistake is imagining that in understanding the size and majesty of creation, the wonder of this world and the richness within it, you become small. A tiny, scuttling thing without centre, without identity and form. You fail to see how, in grasping your small place within this life, you become part of something that is so much bigger than you could ever be when you were being a hero alone.” A thought-provoking and perhaps prescient read.
Notes From The Burning Age is the eighth novel by best-selling, award-winning British author, Claire North. Thirty-one-year-old Ven Marzouki, sometimes Kadri Tarrad, freely admits he is a traitor. He trained to be a priest for the Temple, translating documents in archaic languages salvaged from the Burning Age to be assessed for heresy but, unappreciated for his hard work and expertise, he begins illegally selling classified information. This might be true…
By the time Brotherhood operative, Georg Mestri finds him, he’s working in a cellar bar. Vien’s Justice and Equality Brotherhood is opposed to the Council, believing that humanity can best be served by reviving the fuels, the resources, the industry of the Burning Age. Temple, on the other hand, recommends giving thanks for the land, the sea, the sky, espouses being in harmony with the earth, doing nothing to rouse the kakuy, whose wrath spares none.
When Ven is recruited, the Brotherhood is gaining ground in the Assembly. Translating forbidden texts for Georg, Ven realises he must have a spy in the Council supplying these, and it begins to look like war between the provinces is inevitable.
North sets her tale in a futuristic dystopia, a vaguely-recognisable Europe where the predicted environmental destruction is in full swing. The politics is initially a little convoluted, but patience is rewarded with some rather good action once the groundwork is laid. The pronouns used for those of undefined gender do, at times, cause a little confusion.
Ven is, eventually. a likeable protagonist whom North subjects to all manner of challenges: he is beaten, tortured mentally and physically, spends quite a bit of time captive or on the run, almost drowns yet recovers to return to his mission. At one stage, one of his mentors comments that he will present a danger to anyone who gives him shelter.
North explores many topical sociological themes in the dialogue that Ven shares with Georg and others, none of which moderates Georg’s fervour to win. She does give Ven wise words, for example: “Your mistake is imagining that in understanding the size and majesty of creation, the wonder of this world and the richness within it, you become small. A tiny, scuttling thing without centre, without identity and form. You fail to see how, in grasping your small place within this life, you become part of something that is so much bigger than you could ever be when you were being a hero alone.” A thought-provoking and perhaps prescient read.
July 26, 2021
I usually love Claire North's books. I've read many and have really enjoyed all of them. The writing in this book was really good and the details of the dystopian world were very intriguing. What ended up holding me back was that I couldn't get attached to any of the characters enough to care and much of this story required the reader to really root for the main character (at least in my opinion.)
Parts of the story was very interesting and then parts dragged, for me. This is very unusual for a Claire North novel and I can't wait for her next one because I am confident I will enjoy it.
with gratitude to netgalley and Hachette Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Parts of the story was very interesting and then parts dragged, for me. This is very unusual for a Claire North novel and I can't wait for her next one because I am confident I will enjoy it.
with gratitude to netgalley and Hachette Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
July 11, 2021
Claire North has written somewhat of an epic here, the trademark quirky writing style bringing to life a plethora of engaging characters living in a world that once burned and in war may do so again..
Venn is our main viewpoint into this world, as two factions head towards a war of principles that may turn bloody..I don't want to give anything away actually, as usual with this author the plot is sprawling and unexpected on so many levels, it is best not to know too much going in.
The intricacy of character and relationship, the vibrant spiritual and technological worlds colliding, the often exciting mental battles and the mythology created all add up to a fantastic read that I'm very sad to leave behind me.
Highly recommended.
Venn is our main viewpoint into this world, as two factions head towards a war of principles that may turn bloody..I don't want to give anything away actually, as usual with this author the plot is sprawling and unexpected on so many levels, it is best not to know too much going in.
The intricacy of character and relationship, the vibrant spiritual and technological worlds colliding, the often exciting mental battles and the mythology created all add up to a fantastic read that I'm very sad to leave behind me.
Highly recommended.
April 19, 2025
Beautifully written, timely high fantasy. It's a commitment because there's so much to think about as you read, but it's well worth it.
November 5, 2021
This is an interesting take on post-apoc environmental collapse and rebuilding story. I’ve read two other novels by the author – The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and Touch, and I liked both. This one is in somewhat different vein, but still quite good.
People destroyed their own habitat with uncaring exploitation of finite resources, which belong to all life, and the planet stroke back: kakuy, a version of genus loci, spirits of place and nature’s servants stopped the destruction
It was about the time of the great migrations, when all the nations began to splinter like the burning bough and the wars of water and grain came upon the lands, that the kakuy woke. First they rose from the skeletons of the ocean reefs, glistening bone and acid breath. Then they climbed from the shattered mines, and their eyes were embers of coal and their feet broke the towns beneath their feet. Then they came from the sky itself, upon thunder and lightning they blazed, tearing down the monuments of man and bidding the earth swallow whole the sacrileges of the Burning Age.
Now centuries passed and a new church of kakuy, ‘Temple’ is collecting old knowledge and decides whether to re-introduce it to the new world. However, populists hungry for the old, more luxurious way of life are on the rise, demanding less censorship from the Temple, on things from internal combustion engines to nuclear weapons.
The protagonist is named Ven and we first encounter him as a boy from a peaceful post-apoc community – no Mad Max or stone men, but a group living near/within a forest, using hi-tech but renewable energy and materials. He, with two others, accidently happens in the forest fire, and witnesses a kakuy. Here it is important that ‘true’ reality of these spirits is not a 100% definite – they are definitely true within his (mythological?) worldview and what is vital – they are new gods, not caring about humans, they don’t answer preys or grant wishes to their worshippers.
Then fast forward, he as a full-grown man, after getting some learning at the Temple, lives his life migrating to a large city, meeting one of the populists, the brain behind Brotherhood and starts to work for him. Here we get some mystery – both Brotherhood and their opponents backed by Temple have their spies in opponents camps and finding one is a part of the story.
So, an interesting and unusual hi-tech post apoc setting, geographically in the central Europe – Vien, Bukarest, Budapesht – a nice diversion from US centered.
People destroyed their own habitat with uncaring exploitation of finite resources, which belong to all life, and the planet stroke back: kakuy, a version of genus loci, spirits of place and nature’s servants stopped the destruction
It was about the time of the great migrations, when all the nations began to splinter like the burning bough and the wars of water and grain came upon the lands, that the kakuy woke. First they rose from the skeletons of the ocean reefs, glistening bone and acid breath. Then they climbed from the shattered mines, and their eyes were embers of coal and their feet broke the towns beneath their feet. Then they came from the sky itself, upon thunder and lightning they blazed, tearing down the monuments of man and bidding the earth swallow whole the sacrileges of the Burning Age.
Now centuries passed and a new church of kakuy, ‘Temple’ is collecting old knowledge and decides whether to re-introduce it to the new world. However, populists hungry for the old, more luxurious way of life are on the rise, demanding less censorship from the Temple, on things from internal combustion engines to nuclear weapons.
The protagonist is named Ven and we first encounter him as a boy from a peaceful post-apoc community – no Mad Max or stone men, but a group living near/within a forest, using hi-tech but renewable energy and materials. He, with two others, accidently happens in the forest fire, and witnesses a kakuy. Here it is important that ‘true’ reality of these spirits is not a 100% definite – they are definitely true within his (mythological?) worldview and what is vital – they are new gods, not caring about humans, they don’t answer preys or grant wishes to their worshippers.
Then fast forward, he as a full-grown man, after getting some learning at the Temple, lives his life migrating to a large city, meeting one of the populists, the brain behind Brotherhood and starts to work for him. Here we get some mystery – both Brotherhood and their opponents backed by Temple have their spies in opponents camps and finding one is a part of the story.
So, an interesting and unusual hi-tech post apoc setting, geographically in the central Europe – Vien, Bukarest, Budapesht – a nice diversion from US centered.
July 21, 2021
Notes From the Burning Age marks the return of award-winning writer Claire North and her most powerful and imaginative novel yet - a spellbinding tale set in a future utopian society that is thrilling, moving and thought-provoking in equal measure. Once, the spirits of the mountain, sea and sky rose against humankind. They punished us for the heresies of the Burning Age - the time when we cared so little for the world that it went up in flames. We learned to fear them, honour them, and in the centuries of peace which followed, the spirits slept. Ven Marzouki used to be a holy man, studying texts from the ashes of the past, sorting secrets from heresies. But when he gets caught up in the political scheming of the Brotherhood, he finds himself in the middle of a war, fuelled by old knowledge and forbidden ambition. And as the land burns again, the great spirits stir. This is a visionary, richly imaginative set in an age after the world has fallen (and burned), this masterfully imaginative story asks whether humankind can change the paths we seem fated to follow.
This captivating tale puts an utterly original new spin on speculative fiction; North continues to amaze with the scope of her imagination and I was wowed by its sheer brilliance and uniqueness. It is a story that mostly defies categorisation but it's part prescient thriller, part political, part post-apocalyptic yarn and a compulsive tale of subterfuge and dark indulgences. The luscious prose paints a picture of juxtaposition between the massive overconsumption from which the Burning Age resulted and the close to utopian present. Ven becomes trapped between two worlds and two increasingly incompatible ideologies: the Temple’s teachings on worshipping Mother Nature and the Brotherhood’s political manoeuvres and proclivity to favour human political and military might over all else. A compelling, palpably tense and unsettling read from beginning to end. When it comes to making the decision, humanity must choose between continuing to destroy the earth, the environment and the climate or rein in its destructive tendencies so dawn can break on a better and brighter day.
This captivating tale puts an utterly original new spin on speculative fiction; North continues to amaze with the scope of her imagination and I was wowed by its sheer brilliance and uniqueness. It is a story that mostly defies categorisation but it's part prescient thriller, part political, part post-apocalyptic yarn and a compulsive tale of subterfuge and dark indulgences. The luscious prose paints a picture of juxtaposition between the massive overconsumption from which the Burning Age resulted and the close to utopian present. Ven becomes trapped between two worlds and two increasingly incompatible ideologies: the Temple’s teachings on worshipping Mother Nature and the Brotherhood’s political manoeuvres and proclivity to favour human political and military might over all else. A compelling, palpably tense and unsettling read from beginning to end. When it comes to making the decision, humanity must choose between continuing to destroy the earth, the environment and the climate or rein in its destructive tendencies so dawn can break on a better and brighter day.
January 9, 2024
There are many things to like about this book. The prose is absolutely gorgeous, the concept is very intriguing and has a lot of palpable details to speak for it, there are plenty of human moments dotted about and I actually really enjoyed the spycraft and political elements (I wouldn't read a spy novel about our actual history, but slap a speculative sheen on it and I'm in!). It had all the spy tropes.
And yet, the project of it started to fall apart for me after a certain point. The problem for me is, weirdly (and paradoxically since a lot of what the Temple preaches is the here and now), if I had to diagnose it, that the book is stuck in the present. Our present. So I guess the future's past? Not only the villains' politics are extremely similar to current-day right-wingers, but also the human relationships seem extremely similar. This is a gripe I have often when it comes to depictions of the future. It feels almost like essentializing human nature to what we are now, when what we are now is actually quite different from all the things we used to be, in various ways.
And actually, even though there are myriad worldbuilding elements, I feel like I don't understand all that well how that world works! For instance, we find out very tangentially that healthcare is free, but we know next to nothing about how healthcare is conducted. In a world where a bunch of medical knowledge (and most other knowledge) has been labeled heresy and locked away, we have no idea what has been kept - how are surgeries done? how are chronically ill people treated? I think it would have been fascinating to know. And I could say that about a lot more areas of life that are not really covered in this book, but would have made it believe it more.
Because another thing that it doesn't engage with, and honestly I was very surprised it didn't, is exploring the idea of all this harmful knowledge being locked away, treating it as forbidden fruit, hiding away the shameful past instead of teaching new generations about it and spreading better values. As it stands, the vibe I got from the book is that the religion of being one with nature and just a part of it is not really understood/ felt, by most, but it's doing what other religions do, aka using fear to make you comply. Maybe if we understood the education system a bit better, it would be clear why?!?! It feels like there's a different way of going about things, but this book is not that interested in the future (the better way), because it's supposed to be about our present. And I personally find that frustrating.
I also found it extremely frustrating that in a book with A TON of descriptions, the one place that isn't described is Bukarest (my city, man!). I grasped at straws and memories when a park with music playing was lightly mentioned (reminding me of living across the street from Cișmigiu Park, hearing music every day from the Conservatory also there). And yeah, this is nitpicky and personal for me, but most cities in the area have names modified according to how they would be pronounced in their own languages (Budapesht, Beograd, Vien, etc), but Bukarest was nowhere near București. Since I'm on the topic of real places in the book, I liked the little tidbits we found out about Anglaes (even more Brexited) and Amerika (wasteland, makes sense). And I enjoyed remembering my own road trip from Vienna to Bratislava to Bucharest as Ven was having his.
And then there's the spy plot!
The last thing I want to mention is that I don't think a lot of thing makes sense... Like, let's say a lot of knowledge has been buried away. Some people get ahold of it - I do not find it credible that they would be able to extrapolate extremely technical elements like weapons and tanks from tidbits, because one of the reasons our world is so complicated to fix is how every area is interconnected - you need trained people, you need to get the resources, you need to create assembly lines and so on. And I think this happens way too quickly in the book and that was irksome.
I would like to end on a good note and say that I do think the book has something valuable to say about how to live. About meritocracies and wanting to be a hero and to conquer and to create hierarchies of 'worth'.
You misunderstand. Your mistake is imagining that in understanding the size and majesty of creation, the wonder of this world and the richness within it, you become small. A tiny scuttling thing without centre, without identity and form. You fail to see how, in grasping your small place within this life, you become part of something that is so much bigger than you could ever be when you were being a hero alone.”
And yet, the project of it started to fall apart for me after a certain point. The problem for me is, weirdly (and paradoxically since a lot of what the Temple preaches is the here and now), if I had to diagnose it, that the book is stuck in the present. Our present. So I guess the future's past? Not only the villains' politics are extremely similar to current-day right-wingers, but also the human relationships seem extremely similar. This is a gripe I have often when it comes to depictions of the future. It feels almost like essentializing human nature to what we are now, when what we are now is actually quite different from all the things we used to be, in various ways.
And actually, even though there are myriad worldbuilding elements, I feel like I don't understand all that well how that world works! For instance, we find out very tangentially that healthcare is free, but we know next to nothing about how healthcare is conducted. In a world where a bunch of medical knowledge (and most other knowledge) has been labeled heresy and locked away, we have no idea what has been kept - how are surgeries done? how are chronically ill people treated? I think it would have been fascinating to know. And I could say that about a lot more areas of life that are not really covered in this book, but would have made it believe it more.
Because another thing that it doesn't engage with, and honestly I was very surprised it didn't, is exploring the idea of all this harmful knowledge being locked away, treating it as forbidden fruit, hiding away the shameful past instead of teaching new generations about it and spreading better values. As it stands, the vibe I got from the book is that the religion of being one with nature and just a part of it is not really understood/ felt, by most, but it's doing what other religions do, aka using fear to make you comply. Maybe if we understood the education system a bit better, it would be clear why?!?! It feels like there's a different way of going about things, but this book is not that interested in the future (the better way), because it's supposed to be about our present. And I personally find that frustrating.
I also found it extremely frustrating that in a book with A TON of descriptions, the one place that isn't described is Bukarest (my city, man!). I grasped at straws and memories when a park with music playing was lightly mentioned (reminding me of living across the street from Cișmigiu Park, hearing music every day from the Conservatory also there). And yeah, this is nitpicky and personal for me, but most cities in the area have names modified according to how they would be pronounced in their own languages (Budapesht, Beograd, Vien, etc), but Bukarest was nowhere near București. Since I'm on the topic of real places in the book, I liked the little tidbits we found out about Anglaes (even more Brexited) and Amerika (wasteland, makes sense). And I enjoyed remembering my own road trip from Vienna to Bratislava to Bucharest as Ven was having his.
And then there's the spy plot!
The last thing I want to mention is that I don't think a lot of thing makes sense... Like, let's say a lot of knowledge has been buried away. Some people get ahold of it - I do not find it credible that they would be able to extrapolate extremely technical elements like weapons and tanks from tidbits, because one of the reasons our world is so complicated to fix is how every area is interconnected - you need trained people, you need to get the resources, you need to create assembly lines and so on. And I think this happens way too quickly in the book and that was irksome.
I would like to end on a good note and say that I do think the book has something valuable to say about how to live. About meritocracies and wanting to be a hero and to conquer and to create hierarchies of 'worth'.
You misunderstand. Your mistake is imagining that in understanding the size and majesty of creation, the wonder of this world and the richness within it, you become small. A tiny scuttling thing without centre, without identity and form. You fail to see how, in grasping your small place within this life, you become part of something that is so much bigger than you could ever be when you were being a hero alone.”
January 11, 2023
My first Claire North I did not love. Reading this involved some drudgery which I think no one likes. There were several sections where nothing happened and internal head musings occurred. I enjoyed the premise and North's usual 2 person frenemy setup but it wasn't as charming or thought provoking as her other stuff.
October 26, 2021
Putting a pin in this at 64%. The MC and the world are very interesting but the story is just not working for me. Maybe it's just bad timing, but I am not interested in continuing the read. I will still read other Claire North in the future though.
July 5, 2021
This one just isn't for me. I was trudging through this and only got to 25% before I had to tell my self it was okay to put it down. The premise was promising and I even found the first chapter very interesting, but the writing is not for me. It is unnecessarily dense in my opinion, and it's to the point where I have no idea what's going on. I felt no connection to the characters or story because of this. I know there are people out there who will love this, but I'm just not one of them.
February 10, 2022
Synopsis: The “Burning Age” is our near future when the Earth itself rebels, using mystical nature spirits called the Kakuy “angels, or devils, guardian voi or djinn of fire and sea” to wipe away humanity by fire, plague, or simple physical stomping at bodies.
The novel is set some centuries in the post-apocalyptical future when the sins of our time, the greed, the climate crisis, most of the technology, are carefully redacted and tended by a monk like order called the “Temple” in precious vaults of data.
Some technology like solar panels, wind turbines, or information technology have survived. People might have heard of combustion engines, but fear to use them because the Kakuy could wake up from their slumber at any time. Instead, they use bicycles mostly.
The novel follows Middle-European Ven who is one of a few people of his time to have spotted a Kakuy. He becomes a priest, learns dead languages like English or German to translate the Notes of the Burning Age. Many are forgeries, most contain silly content like WhatsApp conversations, or porn. But here and there are valuable “heretical” information about technology. Ven goes rogue and sells the information outside of his monastery, ends up disgraced. He works as a bartender in the city of Vien at the beautiful river Ube.
Ok, you’ve got that probably: all those Middle-European names are a little bit twisted, just like the Danube got the “Ube”. The stories touches many of the Middle-European cities like Vienna, Budapest, Bukarest, or Belgrad, finally reaching Istanbul.
There is an organization called the “Brotherhood” who wants to break free from the reclusive rule of the monasteries, who want to return to humanity’s former state of knowledge, including the atomic bomb, strip mining, and sub-prime mortgages. They want to free humanity from the Kakuy. Their leader Georg has access to heretical data passed to him by a spy. Here Ven comes into play, because Georg needs him to validate and translate the data.
If Georg only knew that Ven is really a spy, passing everything what he does to the Temple. Soon enough, a game of spy vs spy comes up, Ven has to start a reckless flight through half of Europe, diving from one ugly situation to the next one.
Review: I so much wanted to like this. A book spy! Magical Futurism! My home river, the Danube! Many places where I’ve been like Vienna, or Budapest!
Why didn’t it work for me? I nearly DNFed it after 20% in, because it dragged on and on. I soldiered through, because I loved other works from the author. And indeed, the middle-part was a breathless action plot. Only, that it was too much: Too many recurring situations where I thought “yet another XYZ”. Half of it would have perfectly well transported the needs and situation without giving up anything. The plot really wasn’t driven forward by yet another flight to yet another station.
The Who’sTheSpy mystery was resolved in a single exposition within the last 10% of the novel which I didn’t like at all.
It remembers me too much of Miller’s “Canticle for Leibowitz” (review), and not in a good way. I’d recommend rather to read that one.
2.5 stars, rounded up.
The novel is set some centuries in the post-apocalyptical future when the sins of our time, the greed, the climate crisis, most of the technology, are carefully redacted and tended by a monk like order called the “Temple” in precious vaults of data.
Some technology like solar panels, wind turbines, or information technology have survived. People might have heard of combustion engines, but fear to use them because the Kakuy could wake up from their slumber at any time. Instead, they use bicycles mostly.
The novel follows Middle-European Ven who is one of a few people of his time to have spotted a Kakuy. He becomes a priest, learns dead languages like English or German to translate the Notes of the Burning Age. Many are forgeries, most contain silly content like WhatsApp conversations, or porn. But here and there are valuable “heretical” information about technology. Ven goes rogue and sells the information outside of his monastery, ends up disgraced. He works as a bartender in the city of Vien at the beautiful river Ube.
Ok, you’ve got that probably: all those Middle-European names are a little bit twisted, just like the Danube got the “Ube”. The stories touches many of the Middle-European cities like Vienna, Budapest, Bukarest, or Belgrad, finally reaching Istanbul.
There is an organization called the “Brotherhood” who wants to break free from the reclusive rule of the monasteries, who want to return to humanity’s former state of knowledge, including the atomic bomb, strip mining, and sub-prime mortgages. They want to free humanity from the Kakuy. Their leader Georg has access to heretical data passed to him by a spy. Here Ven comes into play, because Georg needs him to validate and translate the data.
If Georg only knew that Ven is really a spy, passing everything what he does to the Temple. Soon enough, a game of spy vs spy comes up, Ven has to start a reckless flight through half of Europe, diving from one ugly situation to the next one.
Review: I so much wanted to like this. A book spy! Magical Futurism! My home river, the Danube! Many places where I’ve been like Vienna, or Budapest!
Why didn’t it work for me? I nearly DNFed it after 20% in, because it dragged on and on. I soldiered through, because I loved other works from the author. And indeed, the middle-part was a breathless action plot. Only, that it was too much: Too many recurring situations where I thought “yet another XYZ”. Half of it would have perfectly well transported the needs and situation without giving up anything. The plot really wasn’t driven forward by yet another flight to yet another station.
The Who’sTheSpy mystery was resolved in a single exposition within the last 10% of the novel which I didn’t like at all.
It remembers me too much of Miller’s “Canticle for Leibowitz” (review), and not in a good way. I’d recommend rather to read that one.
2.5 stars, rounded up.
January 25, 2023
What does the mountain feel, when the seasons turn? Rain, sun, snow, the slow indentation of the river down its back, the pitter-patter of a thousand creatures scuttling across its chest, the moon rises and sets, he seasons turn and turn again, and only the mountain remembers. P358
Memory does not hold truth, only stories. P209
Notes from a Burning Age is a stunning achievement. The stories included clash, intersect, conflict, and betray each other for precedence. The sheer lyricism of CN's writing softens somewhat the harshness of the dystopian narrative of subversion and betrayal in a future jostling to organize itself after the great burnings.
Prayers are for gifts.They are for blessed things, bestowed with mercy, compassion. They are raised up in exaltation...and cry out for special attention, for the world to be something other than what it is....p214
Things that seemed real were only stories....p348
Alas, the illusions that present themselves to us often confound what we perceive as what is, usually with our collusion. CN examines the building blocks of society with special emphasis on the role of myth and the religious impulse to organize spirituality; and the impact of environment on ideology and ideology on environment.
Why do we trick ourselves into thinking we can control anything about our lives, have any power over our fates? P207
Is the mountain a living thing? Does the Kakay slumber in the stone? Is the world a breathing, conscious thing? Or is it madness, humanism run wild, to say that sentience can only be defined by humans, that a network of neurons surpasses in value an ecosystem....? As if the mountains could ever be "merely" rock; as if the sky could be "merely" air.... p181
Stay alive. Hope is a trap. Sorrow is self-pity and unproductive. P303
Lost in a forest... you are not alone. All around you, life is living. P313
Memory does not hold truth, only stories. P209
Notes from a Burning Age is a stunning achievement. The stories included clash, intersect, conflict, and betray each other for precedence. The sheer lyricism of CN's writing softens somewhat the harshness of the dystopian narrative of subversion and betrayal in a future jostling to organize itself after the great burnings.
Prayers are for gifts.They are for blessed things, bestowed with mercy, compassion. They are raised up in exaltation...and cry out for special attention, for the world to be something other than what it is....p214
Things that seemed real were only stories....p348
Alas, the illusions that present themselves to us often confound what we perceive as what is, usually with our collusion. CN examines the building blocks of society with special emphasis on the role of myth and the religious impulse to organize spirituality; and the impact of environment on ideology and ideology on environment.
Why do we trick ourselves into thinking we can control anything about our lives, have any power over our fates? P207
Is the mountain a living thing? Does the Kakay slumber in the stone? Is the world a breathing, conscious thing? Or is it madness, humanism run wild, to say that sentience can only be defined by humans, that a network of neurons surpasses in value an ecosystem....? As if the mountains could ever be "merely" rock; as if the sky could be "merely" air.... p181
Stay alive. Hope is a trap. Sorrow is self-pity and unproductive. P303
Lost in a forest... you are not alone. All around you, life is living. P313
July 25, 2023
4.5 stars. I think this book was a little too grim for me to reach the full enthusiasm of 5 stars, but I don't know! I could change my mind, because I thought it was pretty phenomenal. It's essentially a spy thriller set in a post-climate disaster world where humans have managed to pull through by going back to respecting nature and living within our means - except now some humans want to "be great again" ahem. And how far will those who want to keep the world in balance go to stop them?
The story is told through the perspective of Ven, who's a priest / keeper of restricted "Burning Age" texts - stuff from our time about all the technologies and philosophies that we developed that spurred atrocities against the environment and people. I started this book thinking we would go way deeper into Ven's job and how each piece of forbidden knowledge that's revealed impacts the society, but surprisingly it's not about that.
Instead, this story switched it up on me several times, including pretty quickly at the beginning. It's a twisty little bitch, and I think best to go in not knowing much at all. It's far more action-y than I expected! (And that's a good thing.)
What is worth mentioning is that over the course of the book North develops an amazing character study around the three main characters: Ven, Yue - Ven's childhood friend and a colleague of sorts, and Georg - the main proponent of "let's bring all the technology" back. I could almost see the actors that would play them in the streaming series. (PS: there should be a streaming series.)
This was my first Claire North book, though I've always been drawn to her books conceptually. After my positive experience with this one, I am bumping some of her others up on my TBR list.
I know I opened this review saying this book was grim, and yes it is, no doubt, but it's also kind of about finding the humanity of small moments, and connections between people, even in the most appalling of circumstances. And that's something worth remembering, and reading a story about.
The story is told through the perspective of Ven, who's a priest / keeper of restricted "Burning Age" texts - stuff from our time about all the technologies and philosophies that we developed that spurred atrocities against the environment and people. I started this book thinking we would go way deeper into Ven's job and how each piece of forbidden knowledge that's revealed impacts the society, but surprisingly it's not about that.
Instead, this story switched it up on me several times, including pretty quickly at the beginning. It's a twisty little bitch, and I think best to go in not knowing much at all. It's far more action-y than I expected! (And that's a good thing.)
What is worth mentioning is that over the course of the book North develops an amazing character study around the three main characters: Ven, Yue - Ven's childhood friend and a colleague of sorts, and Georg - the main proponent of "let's bring all the technology" back. I could almost see the actors that would play them in the streaming series. (PS: there should be a streaming series.)
This was my first Claire North book, though I've always been drawn to her books conceptually. After my positive experience with this one, I am bumping some of her others up on my TBR list.
I know I opened this review saying this book was grim, and yes it is, no doubt, but it's also kind of about finding the humanity of small moments, and connections between people, even in the most appalling of circumstances. And that's something worth remembering, and reading a story about.
December 18, 2021
Mostly, this book was just not for me.
I absolutely loved the prose, which was definitely flowery. I found it to be incredibly immersive, and the prose combined with the post-apocalyptic setting and the kakuy—fantastical nature spirits/gods—made for a setting reminiscent of a Studio Ghibli movie.
Due to the beautiful prose, I kept reading through a story that felt very shallow. We only got to know a few characters well, which muddled the political intrigue of the story. Additionally, the story covered such a long period of time that it often felt like it was “telling” rather than “showing” the story.
I think the audience of this book is those who enjoy flowery prose and like to sit back and watch a story unfold.
Thank you to NetGalley to providing this ARC in exchange for a review.
I absolutely loved the prose, which was definitely flowery. I found it to be incredibly immersive, and the prose combined with the post-apocalyptic setting and the kakuy—fantastical nature spirits/gods—made for a setting reminiscent of a Studio Ghibli movie.
Due to the beautiful prose, I kept reading through a story that felt very shallow. We only got to know a few characters well, which muddled the political intrigue of the story. Additionally, the story covered such a long period of time that it often felt like it was “telling” rather than “showing” the story.
I think the audience of this book is those who enjoy flowery prose and like to sit back and watch a story unfold.
Thank you to NetGalley to providing this ARC in exchange for a review.
July 11, 2023
This book broadened not only my horizon to imagine a possible (not bleak) future after global climate disaster, Claire North also renewed my sense of what is possible in writing speculative fiction. It's a thriller. It's literary. It's science fiction. It's fantasy. It's a political commentary. It's tense. It is absolutely beautifully written. The whole time I was reading I was like: she can just...do that?! Yes she can!
March 14, 2023
This is a difficult book to rate and review. On one hand, I absolutely adored Claire North’s writing and was transfixed within the first chapter. On the other hand, this type of climate fiction is always a little bit of a miss for me with how they create both sides to the story. The two sides felt very black and white with their being next to nothing redeeming about the brotherhood and with the council and temple feeling underdeveloped despite their inherent correctness. The whole concept of the kakuy as well was very interesting but also felt entirely lackluster throughout the story. Pontus and the twist with that plot line was tremendously obvious (though I did appreciate the inkstone call back to the first chapter during the revelation toward the end). All in all I thought this was a beautifully written book with some really interesting relationship dynamics between Ven and the rest of the characters, but the story itself and the world it’s set in fell flat much of the time.
January 4, 2024
it was too much of espionage and politics and too lit of science- fiction for me 🥲
July 19, 2021
…The forest grows. And the kakuy are watching….
There’s something vast and implacable about the legendary kakuy in this post-apocalyptic world, which is many years after the collapse of the environment, after refugees sought dry, safe land, and after the deaths of millions, possibly billions.
People survived and reestablished towns and cities, and developed new technologies that were less damaging to world. Along with the rebuilding, people developed a stronger sense of the interdependence of everything, personified by the planet’s earth, sky and water spirits, who had become fed up with our heedless destruction of the very things keeping us and every other thing alive and poisoned us, drowned us and burnt us to teach us a lesson. Those left behind became more careful of their use of planetary resources and of cautious of repeating old, climate destroying mistakes, and gave thanks to the kakuy.
There is an entire religious order who function as priests and archivists of the ancient, unearthed and spotty records about old technologies and beliefs and practices, such as selfies, the internal combustion engine, submarines, and other things. Temple also has inquisitors, who control the spread of dangerous information, such as missiles, radiation, gasoline, strip-mining, and other things.
Ven, the main character, saw a kakuy of the forest of his hometown die when he was a child, during a terrible and traumatic flight away from a massive forest fire. This event remains a singular, indelible event in his life, and forests are a recurring motif in his mind, and in this terrific book.
Though most people are happy to accept what they have so as not to anger the kakuy, there are others eager to regain the many ancient technologies, however destructive, and the power and gender structures of a strong man, and subservient others, including the earth, from the pre-Burning days.
This conflict fuels the action of the book, of those feeling only a few deserve the best of technologies, comforts and opportunities, as exemplified by the Brotherhood, and many others have a strong belief in community, of being mindful of one’s affect on the land and on others.
Ven came from the Temple, and spends years in dialogue with a mastermind of the Brotherhood. Their discussions veer from practicalities to philosophies, with Ven’s acerbic voice taking us through them and a world very different from ours, but sadly the same, as the Brotherhood eagerly takes advantage of unearthed information about old tech.
The differences in mindset and world views ensure that despite the fears of a world that could bite back, some people will always want to take advantage of others and of resources, leading this post-Burning age to war.
The plot is big and covers a lot, but I never felt my interest flagging. Claire North combines a tale of espionage with philosophy; North’s world is vivid, and Ven’s life and interactions are full of tension, and many times suddenly violent. At the same time the text is frequently beautiful, and has scenes full of sound and wonder.
This is a complex, complicated book dealing in ideas and beliefs. It’s absorbing and thought provoking, and very good.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for a review.
There’s something vast and implacable about the legendary kakuy in this post-apocalyptic world, which is many years after the collapse of the environment, after refugees sought dry, safe land, and after the deaths of millions, possibly billions.
People survived and reestablished towns and cities, and developed new technologies that were less damaging to world. Along with the rebuilding, people developed a stronger sense of the interdependence of everything, personified by the planet’s earth, sky and water spirits, who had become fed up with our heedless destruction of the very things keeping us and every other thing alive and poisoned us, drowned us and burnt us to teach us a lesson. Those left behind became more careful of their use of planetary resources and of cautious of repeating old, climate destroying mistakes, and gave thanks to the kakuy.
There is an entire religious order who function as priests and archivists of the ancient, unearthed and spotty records about old technologies and beliefs and practices, such as selfies, the internal combustion engine, submarines, and other things. Temple also has inquisitors, who control the spread of dangerous information, such as missiles, radiation, gasoline, strip-mining, and other things.
Ven, the main character, saw a kakuy of the forest of his hometown die when he was a child, during a terrible and traumatic flight away from a massive forest fire. This event remains a singular, indelible event in his life, and forests are a recurring motif in his mind, and in this terrific book.
Though most people are happy to accept what they have so as not to anger the kakuy, there are others eager to regain the many ancient technologies, however destructive, and the power and gender structures of a strong man, and subservient others, including the earth, from the pre-Burning days.
This conflict fuels the action of the book, of those feeling only a few deserve the best of technologies, comforts and opportunities, as exemplified by the Brotherhood, and many others have a strong belief in community, of being mindful of one’s affect on the land and on others.
Ven came from the Temple, and spends years in dialogue with a mastermind of the Brotherhood. Their discussions veer from practicalities to philosophies, with Ven’s acerbic voice taking us through them and a world very different from ours, but sadly the same, as the Brotherhood eagerly takes advantage of unearthed information about old tech.
The differences in mindset and world views ensure that despite the fears of a world that could bite back, some people will always want to take advantage of others and of resources, leading this post-Burning age to war.
The plot is big and covers a lot, but I never felt my interest flagging. Claire North combines a tale of espionage with philosophy; North’s world is vivid, and Ven’s life and interactions are full of tension, and many times suddenly violent. At the same time the text is frequently beautiful, and has scenes full of sound and wonder.
This is a complex, complicated book dealing in ideas and beliefs. It’s absorbing and thought provoking, and very good.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for a review.
August 19, 2021
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 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.
March 8, 2025
A "Notes de l'edat ardent" hi trobem un thriller d'espies al futur.
La part més interessant és la imatge que té la societat de l'època, en relació amb la nostra, la que anomenen edat ardent. Tota la informació els hi arriba de forma arqueològica a través d'arxius digitals fragmentats i restes materials que han anat trobant. Els documents més cotitzats i traficats són arxius que parlen d'armes de destrucció massiva, de control de la societat... Aquest tipus d'informació es considera heretgia segons la "religió" predominant que basa les seves teories en el manteniment correcte de la terra. I aquí hi entra el protagonista que és un inquisidor. I per fer bé la seva feina s'ha s'infiltrar en un partit que ja no creu en la religió predominant i creu que cal utilitzar la informació del passat per tornar a fer que els humans siguin els que dictin les normes de la natura sense pensar en les conseqüències.
Em sembla brillant com la Claire North mira la nostra societat des de "fora", a través dels ulls d'una societat que ja ha vist la devastació del canvi climàtic. I ja no en parlem de la crítica ferotge als populismes i als estats feixistes. Quants moments d'angoixa he passat veient un futur que s'està esdevenint en aquests instants!
Hi ha un però que és que el protagonista està constantment en caça i captura i a certs moments se'm feia una mica feixuc. He de dir però que estic en un moment complicat i llegir no em resulta tant fàcil com m'és habitualment per tant, potser és una impressió només meva.
En definitiva, un llibre d'acció, poètic i amb mil frases per citar i emmarcar, i un llibre que genera reflexió constant. El recomano.
La part més interessant és la imatge que té la societat de l'època, en relació amb la nostra, la que anomenen edat ardent. Tota la informació els hi arriba de forma arqueològica a través d'arxius digitals fragmentats i restes materials que han anat trobant. Els documents més cotitzats i traficats són arxius que parlen d'armes de destrucció massiva, de control de la societat... Aquest tipus d'informació es considera heretgia segons la "religió" predominant que basa les seves teories en el manteniment correcte de la terra. I aquí hi entra el protagonista que és un inquisidor. I per fer bé la seva feina s'ha s'infiltrar en un partit que ja no creu en la religió predominant i creu que cal utilitzar la informació del passat per tornar a fer que els humans siguin els que dictin les normes de la natura sense pensar en les conseqüències.
Em sembla brillant com la Claire North mira la nostra societat des de "fora", a través dels ulls d'una societat que ja ha vist la devastació del canvi climàtic. I ja no en parlem de la crítica ferotge als populismes i als estats feixistes. Quants moments d'angoixa he passat veient un futur que s'està esdevenint en aquests instants!
Hi ha un però que és que el protagonista està constantment en caça i captura i a certs moments se'm feia una mica feixuc. He de dir però que estic en un moment complicat i llegir no em resulta tant fàcil com m'és habitualment per tant, potser és una impressió només meva.
En definitiva, un llibre d'acció, poètic i amb mil frases per citar i emmarcar, i un llibre que genera reflexió constant. El recomano.
July 21, 2021
OUT TOMORROW 5⭐
This was my third book by Claire North, my favourite being The Fifteen Lives of Henry August.
She is undoubtely a fenomenal writer, highly imaginative and a superb storyteller.
Notes from the Burning Age is set in a future post apocalyptic world, in a utopian society born from the ashes of the ancient times (our present time), when people spoke the ancient languages (our current languages) and nature rebelled to mankind and destroyed everything they had built (makes you think, eh?).
Which knowledge from the ancient times must be kept from the new humans in order not to make the same mistakes again? And is it right to keep it secret in order not to destroy the world again?
Very thought provoking, definitely not an easy read, political, ideologistic, suspenseful and evocative: a must read!
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.
This was my third book by Claire North, my favourite being The Fifteen Lives of Henry August.
She is undoubtely a fenomenal writer, highly imaginative and a superb storyteller.
Notes from the Burning Age is set in a future post apocalyptic world, in a utopian society born from the ashes of the ancient times (our present time), when people spoke the ancient languages (our current languages) and nature rebelled to mankind and destroyed everything they had built (makes you think, eh?).
Which knowledge from the ancient times must be kept from the new humans in order not to make the same mistakes again? And is it right to keep it secret in order not to destroy the world again?
Very thought provoking, definitely not an easy read, political, ideologistic, suspenseful and evocative: a must read!
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.
January 9, 2024
I was completely on board with the first part of this book: non-specified future after war and climate crises destroy much of civilization, mystical beings that may or may not punish humans for destructive behavior (and may or may not exist), a new religion dedicated to appeasing these beings by hiding “heretical” knowledge that enables these destructive acts, all very solid.
But most of the book was focused on a spy thriller storyline that was completely lacking complexity, which combined with wooden characters and gimmicky reveals left me mostly disappointed.
But most of the book was focused on a spy thriller storyline that was completely lacking complexity, which combined with wooden characters and gimmicky reveals left me mostly disappointed.
August 21, 2021
TL;DR: Dystopian cli-fi that oddly reads more like a twentieth century WWII Europe spy novel. Interesting premise, but deeply pessimistic. Pick up for beautiful prose (but slow pacing) and philosophizing on whether there’s any hope for humanity to live in harmony with nature (and one another). My rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
Generations before North’s story begins, human civilization wrought havoc on the Earth through burning fossil fuels, unsustainable land use, pollution, nuclear weapons, etc. We readers are living through it, so we know the drill. This is the Burning Age. Right now. In North’s imagination, our current era of humanity arrogantly seeking to control and dominate nature comes to an end in a great apocalypse when kakuy, dangerous and vengeful spirits of nature, fight back. They burn and flood and destroy the cities and societies of the Burning Age. The survivors are set back to an earlier stage of human civilization and adopt a religion marked by reverence and appeasement of nature, in hopes of keeping the kakuy from returning. A religious order of monks--the Temple--dredge up documents and relics from the past, labeling those that describe ecologically harmful science and technology as “heretical” and ensuring they remain secret and guarded from the public.
But human historical memory is tragically short, and the mistakes of past generations are bound to be repeated. The ruling Council government is slowly losing ground electorally and in public opinion to a rival faction called the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood believes in the superiority of humanity over nature and calls for a return to the glory of the Burning Age, kakuy be damned.
The two main characters--Ven and Yue--grew up in the same small village and are united by a shared childhood tragedy. A forest fire claimed the life of Ven’s best friend, Yue’s younger sister. Ven and Yue meet again as adults, when they’re both deeply ensnared in the political and ideological battle between the Council, the Temple, and the Brotherhood.
With that summary out of the way, I really didn’t know what to make of Notes from the Burning Age. Despite being set hundreds of years in the future, it read like a twentieth century historical spy novel set in Europe in the years leading up to WWII. The Brotherhood is not dissimilar to the fascist, pronatalist, and technologically deterministic political parties of that period. Tbh, the idea that human society will be trapped in the same fucked up cycle generations from now, even after nature strikes back and repairs itself, is pretty damn depressing.
I could have gotten over that, though, had I been drawn in by the plot and characters. But unfortunately, I found the pacing rather slow. While the writing is beautiful, I also found the naturalistic descriptions and political and moral philosophizing somewhat tedious to plod through. Ven and Yue are interesting foils, and North delivers some unexpected and affecting twists in their interweaving story lines. But I still didn’t feel much attachment to them. Both are rather guarded--attributable to their childhood trauma, espionage activities, and likely, North’s desire not to blow their covers (i.e. her plot twists) too early.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for giving me advance access to this book in exchange for an honest review.
Generations before North’s story begins, human civilization wrought havoc on the Earth through burning fossil fuels, unsustainable land use, pollution, nuclear weapons, etc. We readers are living through it, so we know the drill. This is the Burning Age. Right now. In North’s imagination, our current era of humanity arrogantly seeking to control and dominate nature comes to an end in a great apocalypse when kakuy, dangerous and vengeful spirits of nature, fight back. They burn and flood and destroy the cities and societies of the Burning Age. The survivors are set back to an earlier stage of human civilization and adopt a religion marked by reverence and appeasement of nature, in hopes of keeping the kakuy from returning. A religious order of monks--the Temple--dredge up documents and relics from the past, labeling those that describe ecologically harmful science and technology as “heretical” and ensuring they remain secret and guarded from the public.
But human historical memory is tragically short, and the mistakes of past generations are bound to be repeated. The ruling Council government is slowly losing ground electorally and in public opinion to a rival faction called the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood believes in the superiority of humanity over nature and calls for a return to the glory of the Burning Age, kakuy be damned.
The two main characters--Ven and Yue--grew up in the same small village and are united by a shared childhood tragedy. A forest fire claimed the life of Ven’s best friend, Yue’s younger sister. Ven and Yue meet again as adults, when they’re both deeply ensnared in the political and ideological battle between the Council, the Temple, and the Brotherhood.
With that summary out of the way, I really didn’t know what to make of Notes from the Burning Age. Despite being set hundreds of years in the future, it read like a twentieth century historical spy novel set in Europe in the years leading up to WWII. The Brotherhood is not dissimilar to the fascist, pronatalist, and technologically deterministic political parties of that period. Tbh, the idea that human society will be trapped in the same fucked up cycle generations from now, even after nature strikes back and repairs itself, is pretty damn depressing.
I could have gotten over that, though, had I been drawn in by the plot and characters. But unfortunately, I found the pacing rather slow. While the writing is beautiful, I also found the naturalistic descriptions and political and moral philosophizing somewhat tedious to plod through. Ven and Yue are interesting foils, and North delivers some unexpected and affecting twists in their interweaving story lines. But I still didn’t feel much attachment to them. Both are rather guarded--attributable to their childhood trauma, espionage activities, and likely, North’s desire not to blow their covers (i.e. her plot twists) too early.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for giving me advance access to this book in exchange for an honest review.
July 6, 2021
Thanks to Goodreads I was able to get a free copy of this book in exchange for my review. Although I enjoyed the writing style, I still felt a bit lost at times during my read. Following the main character Ven in this post apocalyptic story, many twists and turns occurred where Ven had to question his faith… very thought provoking, perhaps I’m going to give it a second read to see if I could follow along better.
July 7, 2021
This is a book of loss and devastation, what remains, and what grows from the ashes of a broken world. North brings this plausible dystopian world to life with stark imagery and elegant prose. Although the premise has the components of a spy thriller, the story is definitely a slower burn.
The overarching narrative never quite grabbed me, but the cat and mouse interplay between Ven and his on-again, off-again adversary/captor was really intriguing.
I had not read any of Claire North’s work prior to this novel, but I’ve come away impressed and excited to see what she writes next.
As an aside, I hope Orbit sticks with Leo Nickolls and Siobhan Hooper for the cover art/design on future books. They did an outstanding job with this one.
My thanks to NetGalley and Orbit for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.
The overarching narrative never quite grabbed me, but the cat and mouse interplay between Ven and his on-again, off-again adversary/captor was really intriguing.
I had not read any of Claire North’s work prior to this novel, but I’ve come away impressed and excited to see what she writes next.
As an aside, I hope Orbit sticks with Leo Nickolls and Siobhan Hooper for the cover art/design on future books. They did an outstanding job with this one.
My thanks to NetGalley and Orbit for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.
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