I really was hoping for much more to this. While it was a solid book i found that some of the characters just weren't clicking with me.

I did enjoy the writing style as it had a lot of wonderful descriptions. I think that a little shorter the book would have been better as it is a longer book and it is not what one would call and easy read.

As a dystopian style of book this didn't have the full measure for me of the style. It was a great take on dystopian style but just wasn't what I expected.

The story itself was interesting and I think that this could easily be a fan favourite. For me I prefer it a bit more dark in regards to my dystopian or post apocalyptic style.

What a gripping, original tale that hits your emotions right a hard punch. Claire North has created a raw story following a character who loves texts more than life, and what he will do to do the right thing. Mysterious, full of twists and turns... I adored this.

Notes from the Burning Age is an interesting and wonderful addition to contemporary dystopian novels with strong philosophical musings about ecology/climate change, individualism, capitalism, and religion. (My summary is necessarily short as it is very difficult to say more without giving away best parts).

Overall, Burning Age is an excellent read. It is thoughtful, thrilling, full of fantastic twists and turns, and underpinned with a dry wit that works perfectly with the tone of the book. It is also a rare example of a novel where the protagonist manages to keep secrets from the reader without feeling cheap or contrived by the author—and is used to great effect in keeping the mystery alive.

The world North has built within provides enough distance from our own to feel fantastic, rich, and magical without losing track of its connection to the real world. Though some of the references are bit cringe-y (the music of "Beyondsee," for example), more frequently the joy of an anthropological study of contemporary times eases the awkwardness.

My biggest complaint for this novel is that occasionally the protagonists penchant for philosophical musing gets away from him and devolves into ramblings. It wasn't always necessary for the prose to be quite so purple and long-winded and it undercut the tensions of spy/thriller plot. Though each time the novel eventually got back on track, it broke up an otherwise smooth reading experience.

I Would Recommend To: Fans of classic dystopia (1984, Clockwork Orange, etc) and/or fans of atmospheric spy novels (George Smiley Novels, etc).

Review to be cross-posted to Amazon upon publication.

Notes from the Burning Age by Claire North is both an exciting story of spies and traitors in a post-apocalyptic Europe and a powerful study of trauma and belief.

It is, above all, the story of Ven Marzouki, who survived a traumatic childhood when he witnessed the great burning of the old civilization and the loss of a friend, Vae, for which he blames himself. Though damaged and emotionally distanced from all belief, he came to accept the Temple faith that emerged after vast destruction of the Burning Age. The great burning of the world took down the civilization that saw humans as masters of the world, free to exploit its wealth with brilliant but dangerous technologies.
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Notes from the Burning Age is never overly philosophical or polemical work. The detail of belief is made real through the personal experiences of its two main characters, Ven and the mastermind of the Brotherhood, Georg Mestri. Mestri may be the brutal embodiment of the rising power of the Brotherhood, but he is a carefully drawn character who reveals his own history of how he came to despise the Temple beliefs and worked his way into a behind-the-scenes leadership position.

Ven survives childhood trauma with permanent scars and an emotional reserve that leaves him feeling always like an observer of life rather then a participant in his life. Yet at crucial times, the horror of early trauma haunts him and requires all his energy to keep any trace of his guilt and terror from showing on the surface.
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Notes from the Burning Age is at once an exciting story and a book of ideas that repays close reading. It made a much deeper impression on me than any other book by Claire North. Don’t miss it.

4.5 stars.

An interesting take on a post-apocalyptic story. Centuries after ecological collapse and war led to the emergence of the vengeful "kakuy" -- think the Deer God from Princess Mononoke -- and the subsequent disintegration of human society, artifacts and information from before "the burning" are tightly controlled by Temple and what passes for government, with high technology mostly being considered "heresy." An early glimpse of a genuine kakuy misdirects the reader into thinking that they will be the focus of the novel; in fact, they are only a very minor component of the plot and indeed of society, with many people thinking they are myth entirely. (The main character himself is a little ambivalent on this, despite having seen a kakuy in the flesh -- he repeatedly blurs the lines between the consequences of environmental abuse and the retaliation of a kakuy in defense of nature.) A faction of people in favor of greater human embrace of technology and domination of nature is on the verge of starting a civil war, and what follows is more gripping spy-counterspy politicking than it is Princess Mononoke. The interplay between the protagonist and primary antagonist is a ton of fun, and North actually has some really excellent prose style at times -- not something I usually expect from SFF, but always very welcome.

North puts a good bit of effort into future worldbuilding, but this is one of the more uneven areas of the book. An example of the good: a character proudly shows the protagonist (an archaic linguist and scholar) an artifact from the burning that his family has passed down for generations, which the protagonist is able to translate for him: it's a no-parking sign. An example of the bad: the book takes place mostly in southeastern Europe, with place names suitably changed over the post-burning dark ages. The problem is, the linguistics of this don't make a lot of sense, the worst offender being the river Ube. About halfway through the book it clicked that that was supposed to be the Danube. But, none of the countries the story takes place in, or that the Danube passes through, call it the Danube, and given the insularity one would expect from (especially early) post-apocalyptic society it's nonsensical for the river to now be called a corruption of its English name. Many other places in the story are called by their names in local language (e.g. Praha, Beograd, Budapesht)... rather than "Ube" it should be a corruption of Donau (German), Duna (Hungarian), Dunarea (Romanian), Dunaj or Dunav (various slavic languages). I imagine most people won't care about this but it itched at the linguist in me every time it came up. Aside from that, it's a great book.

Notes From The Burning Age is at times a political spy thriller, at times a futuristic, dystopian epic, at times a fantasy, and at times a tragedy. Claire North writes fluidly from the haunting and poetic style in one paragraph to the blunt and harsh style in the next. A powerful novel questioning what it means to be human in the era that, hypothetically, follows the anthropocene.

The novel follows Ven, first as a child and then as an adult, who is shaped by a tragic wildfire-made worse by climate change-that swept through the forest where he grew up. The fantastical element is at play here because society as we knew it was destroyed when the "kakuy," god-like, indestructible beasts, awoke when humanity went too far in its destruction of the earth. Now, the kakuy are asleep, and humanity has started to forget, and a philosophical battle carries on between the Temple that Ven is a part of, which teaches that humanity must be humble before the earth and not live in excess, and the Brotherhood, a group of extremists that desire to return to the age of the "Burning Ones," the age of humanity's control over the world and the wealthy were at the top and men were men and women were women. Ven becomes entangled with the Brotherhood, and is forced to choose sides as the humans of the new age decide whether they will wage war with the earth itself and start the destructive cycle anew.

This is a thought-provoking book, and although at times it felt slow in pacing, at other times it was completely gripping. The novel raises, and addresses with poignancy, painful questions of humanity's place on the planet, of the suffering we inflict, and the guilt and shame we carry with us every day as part of our existence. What duty do we owe to each other? What duty do we owe to this world? I highly recommend this book.

"The river does not run because we thank it. The wind does not blow to be heroic. The leaves of the fresh green buds do not uncurl before the sun for any story, or to serve any purpose other than to reach, to live, to flower and to die. All these things will change. We are children of the wind."

4.5/5

Claire North has the incredible ability to make even the most violent of scenes seem languid and calm, casting a meditative tone over it all. This story is one of politics, espionage, and war, but none of that seems to matter more than thematic pulsing of it all. North's unique, beautiful writing style (I've read only one other of her novels, but I feel like I'd immediately be able to identify this as being written by her if I had not known beforehand) tells a complex, thoughtful epic with thematic and story elements reminiscent of something from Hayao Miyazaki (particularly Princess Mononoke: The kakuy are similar to that film's Forest Spirit, both being god-like beings that humans are split between wanting to honor or kill, but on neither side do they truly understand the beings or their intentions); a main character that seems almost Dostoevskian, complete with paranoia, a muddled identity, and shifting morals; extended dialogue scenes that might remind one of Shakespeare (though the dialogue itself is distinctly North's in its pleasingly naturalistic and free-flowing way); and assuredly a host of other inspirations, literary and otherwise. The combination of literary, fantasy, and science-fiction sensibilities works very well here, avoiding the traps that many new fantasy works fall into.

Much like the other novel of North's I have read, The End of the Day, this is a novel to slowly consume, and to think about even after the last page has turned.

"You wants gods, and all you get are people."

Ven is an inquisitor, a member of the Temple tasked with translating archaic texts. However, when an underground organization called The Brotherhood ropes him into translating documents that contain dangerous heretical material, he’s torn between his faith and protecting those he holds dear.

Notes from the Burning Age by Claire North is a genre-bending dystopian that imagines a world where kakuy—nature gods—rose up in response to climate devastation and struck human civilization with natural catastrophe. Thereafter humans lived in fear of their wrath and worshipped them. However, as the years pass and the kakuy were seldom seen again, there are some groups that begin to question whether humans should still fear them.

First off, the writing itself is gorgeous. North is a wordsmith and I’m envious of her ability to craft similes and metaphors. I especially adore the story’s almost fairytale-esque opening with Ven as a young boy in the forest. That was an incredible hook!

However, the book loses its magic for me once it fast-forwards to Ven living in the city and he gets caught up in political intrigue that wasn’t … well, intriguing. There’s something about the story’s flowery writing style and nature gods that feels oddly disjointed and ill-suited towards its technologically-advanced setting and thriller premise. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think the story would have felt for cohesive to me if it had integrated arcanepunk elements or more naturalistic technology into its worldbuilding.

All and all, I love the story’s beginning and the concept behind the kakuy, but the rest of the story fell apart for me.

I really really enjoyed Notes from the Burning Age! I love a good dystopian book and while this may seem like a just another post-apocalyptic novel Notes examines human nature and the power of one person when faced with climate disaster and survival in the remnants of Earth. Nots is really thought provoking and intriguing. I feel like it's a crime to classify this book as only one genre as it features lots of elements from different genres to create a really intriguing story. I was skeptical when I initially read the synopsis but the plot being told from the POV of a holy man actually really works.

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.

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.

Actual Rating = 2.5

I am do sure there are readers who will live every second of this, I'm just not one of them.

I've never read anything by Claire North before, though I have had her other works recommended to me, particularly "The First 15 Lives of Harry August." I was really excited to check this ARC out as my introduction to the author.

Unfortunately, I had a really hard time connecting with the writing style and found myself just plain old bored while I was reading. I do plan on trying another work by the author as this could just be a random disconnect.

If nature was to rise up against mankind and destroy everything that we have built, what will we rebuild? What aspects of our current technology and knowledge would be considered off-limits, in the hope that we will not repeat our mistakes again? And which aspects of mankind, no matter how hard we try to suppress them, will break all chains that hold them back and thrive again?

Notes from the Burning Age by Claire North is about a utopian society built from the ashes of a burning world. Scholars and archivists of the Temple have long searched and collected artifacts from our present age, preserving the knowledge so it may not fall into the wrong hands. The world has been at peace, keeping these spirits (“kakuy”) at bay. But man is bound to get greedy and want more. There will always be people for whom equality and equity are not enough, people who need praise and power, and that will be the downfall of utopia.

Thoughts on Notes from the Burning Age
This book has a lot to offer. Through the story, the author looks at our present age with a critical lens, often condensing complex ideas into succinct beliefs. Our protagonist is a man named Ven who has seen the kakuy and was there when destruction took place in his hometown. His thirst for knowledge and influence leads him to leave the Temple and start working for an ambitious man who will stop at nothing to gather the knowledge he needs. There are three things that have stuck with me since I finished this book.

On World Building
Notes from The Burning Age is set in a future post-apocalyptic time and there are subtle links to our existing geography. Most of the book takes place around a city called Budapesht, which resembles the spelling of present-world Budapest. The establishment of the Temple and their priests for conserving knowledge points to religious beliefs in the area and I found the commentary around the kakuy not being gods interesting.

Worldbuilding isn’t purely about the place either. The culture of the people has to be depicted well for the world to seem real. There are lots of natural spots and towns, and few larger cities. Technology is not abundant. Political tensions are high as political groups that want access to information are gaining momentum and voice. In the midst of all this, we have Georg who seems like the orchestrator of a number of things that go on in the city. Ven ultimately ends up working as his assistant.

On Strong Characters
I admired Ven as the protagonist. He is knowledgeable and sharp. He has a high intellect and the best way to describe him would be that he has spunk. He knows what he brings to the table with his knowledge of multiple extinct languages, everything he learned when he was at the Temple about the artifacts and archives, and he is willing to bargain for it. He is the perfect example of someone who might repeatedly be called a coward for not taking action but is truly very observant and looking for the right opportunity to make his move.

On the other hand, Georg is a powerful entity in and of himself. He is resourceful, secretive and manipulative. He is a puppet master and most people don’t even know what he is making them do. He is the perfect mafia warlord.

I loved reading about the relationship between Ven and Georg. They are bound together by destiny and even when they separate, they continue to cross paths. For me, a good political thriller has contrasting people and continuous tension. The political landscape and struggles set up in Notes from the Burning Age is fascinating to observe, and the interplay between Ven and Georg is very well written.

On the Burning Age (our present)
We have developed so much in the last few centuries, with advances in medicine and warfare, and it does make sense that knowing how this knowledge may be used, for bad or worse, and having the option to start over, people might not want it to fall in the wrong hands.

One of my observations was that for a utopia to function, there still has to be a hierarchy and structure. Everyone had agreed that the Temple had the power to limit the circulation of material. People cannot just live happily and in harmony without standards and law to abide by. While this does not come off as an imbalance of power to someone who has always lived in that world by those very rules, Georg and the Brotherhood saw it as such and are willing to do anything to get a hold of the information being kept from them.

Reading Experience Summary
Notes from the Burning Age had me intrigued from start to end. It is not an average-length book so it is important to be patient with it. I found the cover simple and beautiful – it had me curious to read the book. The characters were mostly well done and as I mentioned above, the relationship between Ven and Georg was what held the book together for me. The world building was vivid and detailed and since it is a post-apocalyptic scenario, there were times when I found the writing quite atmospheric. The lack of particulars over the course of time over which these events took place added an additional suspenseful element to the story. Sometimes I found the book hard to follow because it is ingrained in ideology, often conflicting sides of it. At the same time, it is a thoughtful read that made me question my reality and how the same can be viewed with multiple lenses and have polar interpretations.

There is no doubt that Claire North is an exceptional writer with a brilliant imagination and eloquent storytelling. If you are looking for a unique fantasy with an espionage driven plot and descriptive writing, pick up this one!

This book had an interesting premise and very detailed world building. I found it very difficult to get into, and I did not finish it, but I was able to get through enough to know which type of readers would like this book—those who like detailed world building, complicated relationships and moral dilemmas, and a bit of espionage intrigue.

Notes from the Burning Age is a gripping story that I stayed up until the wee hours of the night to finish. At first, I wasn't sure what to make of it. The story is partly a post-apocalyptic survival tale that questions whether humanity is doomed to repeat its mistakes but it also has a bit of fantasy and spy thriller mixed in, too. The world is gritty and complex and richly imagined. Just when I thought the story was getting too grim, there were moments of wonder. The narrator Ven is imperfect, smart, and not always completely reliable, I think, but I was always rooting for him. I also liked his relationship with Georg. The story is action packed but asks a lot of questions about man's place in the world, about what it will take to prevent humanity from repeating the same mistakes, humanity's relationship with nature, about what brings forgiveness and peace. Highly recommend. It's an engaging story filled with action but with a lot to think about, too.

I have to say, this book was hard for me to rate. This dystopian civilization was grueling and horrid, but nevertheless I really enjoyed reading. The plot and the characters really made this book into what it is. Great novel.

A real stay up all night plot with a believable post apocalyptic civilization. The characters are vivid with all occupying an ambiguous place between virtue and sin. My only criticism is that at times I wanted to rush ahead to see what happened to be slowed by long descriptions.

This was a hard book to read. Humanity was almost killed by creatures called kakuy who used environmental disasters. Humanity decides to learn from its mistakes and live in harmony with nature. This doesn't last long. People are quickly relearning buried knowledge regarding how to kill each other and rule nature. Ven, who has seen kakuy and is very cynical, spies on the side who has no problem ruining the world again.

At its heart, this is a spy novel. As the book progresses, humanity regresses. This was painful to read, and I had to take a couple of breaks.

I really like Ven. No matter how much people have done wrong by him, he doesn't think lowly of them. It helps that he doesn't have a high opinion of people in general, so he can't be disappointed when they try to kill him. It also helps that Claire North tends to write multi-dimensional characters.

Review based on an ARC from Netgalley I received to write an honest review

An interesting dystopian view of the society of the world post “kakuy” a sort of legend that haunts the world. The story encompasses the trials and tribulations of our hero, Ven, as he navigates “The Temple” and other interesting posts he is asked to take as a plant or a spy. Very interestingly written, the prose was much more flowery than I had originally expected. It took a while to get into as well as some fortitude to stay engaged, but i liked the premise quite a bit. Nice story.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by Claire North + it won’t be my last. Notes from the Burning Age is set after human-caused environmental catastrophe and grapples with the question of whether humans are destined to repeat themselves. The story follows a single POV, that of Ven, a member of the Temple dedicated to kakuy (a kind of land/place/animal spirit who are believed to have been awakened from sleep by humans’ destructive actions). His job is first to sift through remnants of writings from the ‘burning age,’ sorting them as safe or heretical, ensuring anything deemed to dangerous is not made available. He ultimately ends up entangled in the political manoeuvrings of various groups with different attitudes towards the kakuy, the ‘heretical’ knowledge, and how human societies should live. A compelling blend of spy thriller, environmentalist dystopia, and character-driven story about ethical commitment and faith which includes a diverse cast of characters, and very well written.
Content warning: war, violence, blood, explosion (people killed, gore), confinement, fire, torture
Thank you to NetGalley & Orbit for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a review.