This was a very interesting read. Im not quite sure how I feel about it as I just finished it an hour ago. My initial thought is that I really enjoyed it but wished that more time was spent just enjoying the world that Claire North created. At its core, the story is very similar to a spy novel. Which is fine, but the world was so interesting and vibrant that I would have liked to see more. More to come closer to publication. 4 out of 5.

On the surface, Notes from the Burning Age appears 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 quite different - a dystopian tale of political 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 remain a victim of its own arrogance. Does man stand above and apart from nature, destined to control it, or is he himself just a part of the larger whole? Is the Earth's experiment with smart bipedal apes but a fleeting failure?

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 deemed safe, and hiding anything that might be considered heretical, i.e. too dangerous to let fall into human hands again. 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 grotesque monsters 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, told with evocative prose rich with emotional resonance. Notes from the Burning Age deftly mixes story elements 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.

Claire North brings a character-centered approach to this story that adds a layer to the science fiction reading experience. An exceptionally well-written example of this genre.