I hate to write this review because based on the synopsis of this book and the amount of four and five star reviews, I should have loved this, but unfortunately I did not.

I don't know what went wrong for me here. I didn't connect to any of the characters and as a result, the entire middle of this book dragged for me quite a bit. Also, while I cannot deny that it is well written, it failed to fully immerse me in the story. The set up was there, but maybe that was the problem. On one hand, the world building was definitely there, but I was being TOLD everything and never seeing it for myself. Also, while I can appreciate slow starts and detail heavy writing, the pacing often times felt off and made descriptions really heavy and hard to get through. I don't typically skim paragraphs but I found myself doing it here A LOT and had to constantly go back and reread.

This is only the second Claire North book that I have tried, and I hate to say that neither have worked for me personally yet, but I do plan on continuing to try their books because I feel like based on things I've heard and hype, I'm bound to find one I love eventually.

The premises of the book sounded cool and I got to 28% of the book but I just couldn't get into it. In defense of the author and the book, I do not really read sci-fi books so this may be enjoyable to someone who is really into sci-fi. I just couldn't get into any of the characters and I got to the point where I just can't continue on. Maybe I will pick it up again later on but for right now it is a DNF.

Gratitude to Netgalley for the arch.

Not posting in Goodreads - I did NOT like this, it meandered, wonky prose... I don't mean to be mean, but it wasn't for me.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

DNF - Did not finish. I did not connect with the writing style or plot and will not be finishing this title. Thank you, NetGalley and Publisher for the early copy!

Ven has lived through the Burning. He lived in the monastery, not as a priest but as an archivist who preserved the knowledge of previous ages. He had the ability to translate these texts that had been largely lost in the populace. The monastery was very protective of this knowledge, holding it secret so that those who brought about the Burning can't do so again.

But knowledge has a charisma and serves as a lure to those who want power. In Ven's case, that is The Brotherhood who is determined that Ven will translate every document and give them the tools that will allow them to rule over all. Ven gives them snippets and becomes a spy against them. Over the years, he will be held in respect, imprisoned and threatened with torture and degraded daily as the personal slave of a cruel ruler. With help from his network he manages to escape and raise resistance to The Brotherhood. Which side will win?

This novel feels like it is set in medieval times. It is an intricate retelling of how the world almost ended and how it may yet if those who are power hungry gain the secrets of the world before. I listened to this novel and the narrator has the perfect voice to bring Ven to life. Ven is a fascinating character as are those he encounters both those who are horrific and those who provide care and love. The author has written many novels and uses several pen names. Readers will remember her 2014 novel, The First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August, which made the Washington Post Books Of The Year list. This book is recommended for science fiction fans who enjoy dystopian novels.

Much more than I had expected from the description. The main character was observant, thoughtful, calculating and introspective. Claire North has some amazing turns of phrase. Amazing writing.

Ven is a holy man turned heretical linguist translation expert for the Brotherhood, an organization that is hellbent on returning to a time where man was supreme. But Ven, who's faith is built on learning from humanities past mistakes and living in balance with nature is stuck in a precarious role in the organization.

Unfortunately, this was not my favorite. The concept was interesting, a society that was rebuilt after the climate apocalypse, but that has become ancient history and many in humanity are tired of worshiping nature and instead want to bring back a world of hierarchy, war, and generally all bad things. It's very contemplative and somewhat lecturey, which I didn't totally mind and I liked Ven. But utimately, it was too long and ended up dragging for me. There was a nice twist about a third of the way through and after the the fallout of that was resolved, the book turned totally different and mostly I didn't love it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for the e-copy.

“Notes from the Burning Age”
By: Claire North

A Poetically Told Morality Tale on Mankind's Reluctance to Learn


Lushly descriptive and intriguingly narrated, Claire North’s “Notes from the Burning Age” challenges readers for personal introspection in their daily lives in this often charming and frequently terrifying glimpse of a possible geopolitical world-scape if current nonchalant global habits aren’t altered dramatically.

“…For their children, they laboured, to make a better world, and that world would be of man’s making. Yet their children did not give thanks for the labours of their elders, and lo: the skies turned yellow, the air too dark to breathe from the workings of their industry. The cracked earth bled poisons. The sea rose and salted the land, and no wall of man could restrain it. In winter, the ice melted; in summer, the world burned. ‘What shall we do?’ asked the wisest…”

“Notes from the Burning Age” envisions a future decades past a grand destruction when those surviving generations have made peace with nature and live in harmony with it's abundance and fruitful gifts of survival.

However, can selfish and greedy humans learn from past mistakes? Must vicious cycles of destruction continue in it's evolutionary cycle? Must Earth’s precious limited resources be constantly used, abused and exhausted because of man’s unwillingness to change?

Claire North’s powerful tour de force, “Notes from the Burning Age,” addressees these tough questions with grace and humility. This is a novel for right now. It's a literary powerhouse that each of us need to take to heart while our Earth still has an opportunity for survival.


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The Book Maven’s Journal—Reviews for Word Connoisseurs

REVIEWER: J.Hunt
STAR RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Notes from the Burning Age”
Author: Claire North
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Sci Fi & Fantasy |
Publication Date: 20 July 2021
Publisher: Orbit, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, trademarks of Little, Brown Book Group Limited

With Sincerest Appreciation to NetGalley, Author Claire North, and Publisher Orbit, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, trademarks of Little, Brown Book Group Limited for Providing this Advance Reader’s Copy for Review.

Claire North has brought something quite beautiful to the dystopian genre. The characters and the world she created are intricate, complex, and present a shocking look at what the future might hold for humans. Although this is fiction there are some aspects to it that feel more real than I would have liked, but that also helped make this read that much more thrilling.

Fans of Margaret Atwood's MaddAdam trilogy will love this book.

I’ve given this book several tries because it’s an ARC, but at 39% in, I’m still failing to connect with this book. I’m interested in the world building and the ideas under discussion, but… not in the characters or the plot. I’m sure some readers will love this book and I’d be willing to give it another chance at a future date.

I tried several times to get into this book and it just wasn’t for me. Because of this, I will not be reviewing this book on goodreads as it is not fair to review a book that I could not finish.

Great book about a post apocalyptic society after climate change. An interesting perspective and the first I’ve read from this author. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this early.

Notes from the Burning Age by Claire North
Publishing date: July 20, 2021

Date read: October 6, 2021



Set sometime after the present day, humans have done so much damage to the Earth that kakuy (basically powerful nature spirits) have sent fires to destroy everything. Those who are left after the Burning rebuild the world using what technology remains, although anything destructive or war-related is deemed heretical and hidden away by the Temple. Eventually, a group called The Brotherhood becomes determined to bring that technology back, by any means necessary. But there are spies on both sides; some trying to leak the technology to The Brotherhood, and others trying to prevent war and destruction at all costs. Because just because the kakuy have been silent, doesn’t mean they won’t step in again.

This is one of the hardest books to classify that I have ever read. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic time period, but not really science fiction. There are vengeful nature gods, but it’s not a fantasy either. The best classification I can give it is spy novel, in the vein of John le Carre. Slow-paced, with a lot of secrets and wondering who can be trusted. Perfectly enjoyable if that’s what you’re looking for. (Based on the NetGalley description, I was expecting something a little more sci-fi, so was thrown off a bit.)

The main characters in this book are very well done. I liked Ven (our protagonist) and Georg (the leader of The Brotherhood) quite a lot, and found their scenes together memorable. A lot of the other characters, though, especially the government figures, I had a really hard time keeping track of and falling apart. But Ven, who we spend the most time with, I found to be an enjoyable character.

My biggest complaint is just about pacing. The writing is beautiful - North really has a way with words that is evocative without being pretentious. But the pacing was just much to slow for my tastes. The book seemed very long and drawn out; a slow burn to a big climactic event would happen and I’d look down and notice that I was only 35% of the way into the book. I don’t even know that the book was too long - it’s only a little over 400 pages - but the pacing made it feel longer, at least to me. Note: I actually switched to the audiobook at about the 60% mark, and found that a better format for keeping my interest.

Overall, this book was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I think the author really has a way with words, and found the book beautifully written. I just had a hard time with the pacing and keeping the minor characters straight in my head. If you’re big into spy novels, I think this one might be for you. Otherwise, probably give it a pass. Or try it on audiobook.

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Trigger warning: murder, torture (mostly off page)

This was my first Claire north book and I enjoyed it immensely! She weaves a tale of a post apocalyptic-climate disaster-epic that resonated so deeply with me! Her writing style is descriptive and flowing, and while the book took me awhile to get through, and did feel like it dragged at times, the overall story was poignant and beautiful!

I had a really hard time connecting to anything in this novel. I don’t think I like first person present tense with a male protagonist. I think the world held some intriguing promise but because I’m mainly a character based reader I just couldn’t get myself to connect with what I was reading.

The guardians of the earth are also cool and normally I would eat stuff like this up, so maybe I’ll give this another reread later on in life when my mood is a bit different and see how I feel about this story then.

it's strange, this book. it should be alienating and difficult to read, but it isn't. its modern and relatable and entirely whole. really compelling stuff

Notes from the Burning age is a haunting yet approachable novel about the end of the world. It isn't quite satire, and it barely read as dystopian given how close the events in the books are to modern-day life. I had a difficult time getting past the existential dread that this book inspired, but I think it was written well. North had a lot of very insightful views, but to me none felt so deep that they could offset the dread spiral the book sent me into about the future of humanity and the world. If you enjoy this kind of thing and think you can handle it, Notes is a beautiful book with an interesting main character. If you regularly find yourself paralyzed by fear of the climate crisis and humanity's inherent goodness, read with caution.

I wasn't quite able to finish this book, but what I did read was engaging and the world was very unusual in an intriguing way. Would definitely recommend this book to a friend!

I really liked this post-apocalyptic (or maybe far-future post-post-apocalyptic) climate fiction novel. It’s like if a gritty spy thriller met an optimistic worldbuilding experiment. What happens when the Earth is almost destroyed? Well, kaiju-esque local guardians rip humanity apart even further as punishment, but a few centuries on a newly ecological city is ticking right along. Except that a new technofascist group is popping up (here I roll my eyes a little because apparently social evils perfectly align such that the pro-industry, pro-inequality people also hate gay/trans people and want to restrict abortions, which, sure, whatever, allegory is allegory) and the question is what’s to be done about it. I love that this book is fairly unstinting about the psychological costs of war especially when one side would prefer pacifism, and I also love that the monsters are real (probably, unless the narrator is insane) but they don’t have to be for the ecowarrior side to believe what they’re doing is right, and I love the subtle misdirections where the love plot and the spy-vs.-spy plots intersect.