I found this book to be quite interesting. The landscapes were not ones that I would have expected so that added an extra element of enticement to the book. I thought the book seemed very well researched and laid out in its chapters. There was a dimension to the approach that will appeal to different type of readers.

I normally love travel and geographic related books but I have really struggled with this one. I find the characters he meets en route interesting but I was not overly keen on the long, descriptive passages about his surrounding landscapes. Hopefully I was just in the wrong frame of mind when I read it.

I'm really torn between whether this book deserves three or four stars. It is a good read and a fascinating travel story. The author sets out to explore four areas of Europe which are 'unlikely landscapes'. The first is arctic tundra in Scotland. I found that interesting, but more memorable to me are the glacier and the permanent patches of snow, which because of climate change, could be about to disappear forever.

Next is the huge forest which crosses the border between Poland and Belarus. I particularly enjoyed the stories of the shared house and the different characters that pitched up there. And the wildlife - the wolves and the bison. The descriptions of the sand marked border across the forest between Poland and Belarus were fascinating - not a wall, but perhaps as effective. Such a shame that these things are deemed necessary.

Then he travels on to Hungary and the grassland steppe. Described well but I didn't find this section as interesting or engaging as the others.

And finally to the desert in Spain. I loved this one. I'm not particularly good in the heat, so I could really imagine the hardship of being out in the desert and the difficulty in keeping cool enough and well hydrated. I liked the sightings of the other man and the need to hide away from him.

All in all a good read. Quite a heavy read - well researched and full of detail. Maybe this isn't what I expected. I love the cover - the four sections being representative of the four areas travelled.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Outlandish explores the 'oddities' of geographical classifications. Hunt explores the 'jungle' of Eastern Europe and the 'desert' of Spain to name a few. The author has a clear love of the natural world vividly describing the flora and fauna alongside the native populations of the regions he walks with a real fondness. Part lament for those areas already lost as a result of human encroachment / climate change and part hoorah for mother Earth who despite everything is fighting back and adapting to the new challenges of the 21st century.

After first coming across Hunt’s writing in Emergence magazine, I was very excited to read his new book. It didn’t disappoint.

Arctic tundra in Scotland; primeval forest in Poland and Belarus; Europe’s only true desert in Spain; and the steepe grasslands of Hungary, these places are amazing in their own right, but to gather them under the theme of ‘outlandishness’ — as places that unexpectedly portal you to distant places and distant times — is just brilliant.

Hunt relates how his encounters with people and place move through him with beautiful interactions and imagery, allowing you to feel as though you’re travelling with him. And through this wonderful narrative, Hunt masterfully weaves threads of climate science, landscape evolution, cultural history and political climates.

Hunt’s appreciation for these unique landscapes contrasts hauntingly with his carefully placed reminders of climate change, made more poignant by his comparison to deep time evolution of the landscapes he’s moving through. Most importantly his story builds an emotive response to an underlying question: how long until these outlandish places disappear?

In Outlandish, Nick Hunt explores four different locations in Europe that feel like they’ve been transplanted from some distant land. Hunt traverses the landscapes on foot, meeting residents and other explorers many of whom are a little outlandish themselves.

A great armchair traveller’s read, so important while real life travel is still so restricted.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

Europe is incredibly diverse in climate, geography, topography and culture. Nick Hunt highlights four such areas in Europe (Scotland, Poland and Belarus, Spain and Hungary) which seem incongruous and surprising as they are typically found elsewhere in the world. We can all understand the importance of preserving these outlandish places mentioned in the book and elsewhere. Sometimes what we discover in our back yards, whether solo or not, can mean pleasant learning experiences.

Hunt's vivid descriptions are incredible! He has such a beautiful way with words, sometimes witty, sometimes serious, always compelling. Not only does he describe the special wildernesses in each country but also details history climate (including the six general global zones), word origins, biodiversity and the impacts of climate change and includes maps. I really enjoyed the inclusion of animals such as Ibex, water buffalo, reindeer, bison and what sounds like porcupines, not where you'd expect them. I can relate to temperature extremes as I live in -40C to +40C and have experienced whiteouts and swirling blizzards thousands of times. And still hate winter! The winter descriptions here are brilliant. The cultural links, Hun origins, note in the car, "Geronimo", shaluf signals, Poland A and B and "breaking the low" are amongst my favourite tidbits. The book is jam-packed with fascinating information!

If you yearn for exploration (as I do!), travel, nature and cultural inspiration, do read this.

My sincere thank you to Nicholas Brealey US and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this lovely book.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Nicholas Brealey US for an advanced copy of this new travel and nature memoir.
In Outlandish author Nick Hunt has written a book that makes a person want to go on long walks and discover new things even if it is just a walk to the mailbox. Mr Hunt has chosen to walk in places that are not hard to get to, but just unexpected, like a glacier in Scotland with reindeer or a desert in Spain are two examples. As he walks he shares his insights, discoveries, and things he learns, either by himself or commonly with a walking companion.
The writing is eloquent with facts, figures, insights and humour about the natural world around him, lines stay with the reader well after the book is done. While the exotic nature of some of the places would be interesting even with plain writing, Mr. Hunt I feel could make a small park excursion in any city in the world fascinating. I read the book not all at once, but a section at a time, stopping as one journey ended, waiting a week and joining him again on his excursions.
A thoroughly enjoyable book that is perfect for nature lovers and readers. Fans of the writers Bill Bryson and John McPhee would without a doubt enjoy this also. I can't wait to start on some of Mr. Hunt's other works.

This set of travel reports takes us to the desert, jungle, arctic and savanna - without leaving Europe. Nick Hunt has visited several paces in Europe that we wouldn't expect to exist here. He shows us these places but also tells the reader about their history and ultimately guides our gaze to the destruction of the wonderful nature that surrounds us.
Nick Hunt is not one to preach, it's more like him seeing these precious places of nature and mourning their counterparts - the ones that have already been lost. He likes to immerge himself into the landscape - sometimes not successfully, but he wants to understand it, feel it.
As a biologist I know how urgent the topic of disappearing biodiversity is and I'm glad it has such a prominent focus in Nick Hunt's essays. The promise of strangeness lured me in but the melancholy and the feeling of loss got me - even though I know what is happening with our nature.
Outlandish is a special and important kind of read because it not only takes us to certain places, but it makes the reader really SEE them, and in turn, care about them.

Outlandish is a book about misplaced landscapes, parts of the world found in the wrong part of the world. I was hooked the moment I read the blurb – I’m always fascinated by writing that manages to make the familiar strange, capturing new and uncanny strands in places we thought we already knew. Outlandish does this so very well, wandering between Scotland, Poland, Spain and Hungary in search of environments that feel out of place: Arctic tundra in Scotland, primeval forest in Poland, desert in Spain and grassland steppes in Hungary. The places seem to exist as a glimpse of the past, deep time lingering into the present, echoing with a warning for the future.

The first section, on Scotland, is an incredible piece of writing. Hunt perfectly captures the mood of the Scottish landscape, moving in turn from beautiful to eerie to lonely, vast in scope and atmosphere. Respect for the mountains is balanced with a great love with them, and Hunt adds a reassuring touch of humour and lightness when needed.

The desert in Spain is the other section that has really stayed with me. Hunt conveys such a strong sense of the layers of time: different moments in human history stacked on top of each other, separate but brought close, as if all happening simultaneously, intrinsically linked. The contrast between the timelessness and emptiness of the desert landscape and the mentions of areas where movies where filmed, of Hunt ‘traipsing in the director’s footsteps’, is sharp and jarring – the incongruity of this perfectly highlights the selfish human uses of the landscape.

It would be impossible to write a book so full of love and curiosity for the land without mentioning the growing fear of climate change. Hunt’s concern for the future of the places – and for humanity – comes across clear and stark. It’s a valuable reminder that the world does not exist around humans – that the landscapes have existed before us and will continue to exist after us, and how human life is only damaging these places, not helping them flourish. The calm isolation of these places – coupled with Hunt’s quiet warnings about climate change – marks humanity as an intrusion on the landscape.

Outlandish is a powerful and fascinating wander through Europe, laced through with beautiful and vivid prose. I really enjoyed this and will definitely be keeping an eye out for Hunt’s other two books

(Thanks to NetGalley and Nicholas Brealey for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.)

Unreadable due to weird typos in the file. Here’s an extract from the first page “stepping off the wooden distribution. might strike sparks. Not Nicholas sale boards’
?????????

I won’t share review as hopefully the corrupt file can be solved. It might be good after that!!

There were elements of this book that I absolutely loved - Nick's personal journeys and experiences were fascinating. He has a natural and easy style when describing places and vistas and it was very pleasurable as the reader to be swept along on the walks enjoying the sights, sounds, smells that he was.
My only niggle with the book is the 'geography text book' vibe that slips in on occasion. I felt I was being tutored, and sometimes 'preached at' about global warming etc and these lengthy tedious chunks just detracted from the flow and pace of the main narrative. BY all means, explain what a steppe or a desert is, but don't take up half the chapter to do so, if I wanted to go back to A level geography I wouldn't be doing so in my relaxed evening reading time when I want to explore and discover through stories.

There are many beautiful and wonderous sights that come to mind when one thinks of Europe: forests, meadows, alpine vistas, or cities of stunning architecture. However, there are other sights that one wouldn’t expect at all: tundra, jungle, desert, or steppe, but those are the unexpected destinations that Hunt takes his reader. In some cases, a destination under discussion doesn’t meet the technical definitions for said ecosystem, but they’re the closest that Europe has to offer, and that’s enough to make them outlandish.

The book takes the reader on a tour of four uncharacteristic ecosystems of Europe: Cairngorms arctic tundra in northern Scotland, Poland’s “jungle” – the forest primeval of Bialowieza, Spain’s Tabernas desert, and the Hungarian Puszta (i.e. the Pannonian Steppe.) For each of these places, the reader is treated not only to vivid description of the locale and its flora and fauna, but also some fascinating folklore, cultural peculiarities, and indigenous mysteries. In Scotland, this involves inexplicable reindeer and the legend of the Big Grey Man. In Poland and Belarus, we learn about legendary forest folk deities and about the last Soviet standing. In Spain, one gets a lesson in Spaghetti Westerns. In Hungary we see birders, neo-Nazis, and Central Asian immigrants all traipsing the same ground.

I found this book to be an engaging read. It helps raise consciousness about climate change without collapsing into a gloomy doom-fest. This discussion is most notable in the most extreme ecosystems, Cairngorms and Tabernas, but most of the intense discussion is saved for a brief epilogue entitled “The Last Snow.” The book offers rudimentary maps, but relies entirely on text to paint a picture, but I felt the author did a great job of bringing the places to life through words.

If you’re interested in learning more about a few of the globe’s lesser-known natural settings, I’d highly recommend this book.

This is a very peculiar book. One I savored for a long while because it’s fascinating, both in concept and in storytelling. Did you know that there’s a glacier tucked away in Scotland? Or a desert in Spain? I was aware about the latter, and of course the existence of the Hungarian steppe is common knowledge, but the glacier stumped me. Same with the Białowieża, a primeval Polish forest.

Unlikely places and where to find them, indeed.


**

In Outlandish, acclaimed travel writer Nick Hunt takes us across landscapes that should not be there, wildernesses found in Europe yet seemingly belonging to far-off continents: a patch of Arctic tundra in Scotland; the continent’s largest surviving remnant of primeval forest in Poland and Belarus; Europe’s only true desert in Spain; and the fathomless grassland steppes of Hungary.

From snow-capped mountain range to dense green forest, desert ravines to threadbare, yellow open grassland, these anomalies transport us to faraway regions of the world. More like pockets of Africa, Asia, the Poles or North America, they make Europe seem larger, stranger and more filled with secrets.

Against the rapid climate breakdown of deserts, steppes and primeval jungles across the world, this book discovers the outlandish environments so much closer to home – along with their abundant wildlife: reindeer; bison; ibex; wolves and herds of wild horses. Blending sublime travel writing, nature writing and history – by way of Paleolithic cave art, reindeer nomads, desert wanderers, shamans, Slavic forest gods, European bison, Wild West fantasists, eco-activists, horseback archers, Big Grey Men and other unlikely spirits of place – these desolate and rich environments show us that the strange has always been near.

288 pages
Travel
Nicholas Brealey US
Goodreads

**

Cover: Hm. It doesn’t intrigue me that much, but I guess it’s just a matter of personal tastes in this case.

Yay!

- Outlandish is a recount of various trips Nick Hunt took across Europe. He went to visit a Scotland glacier, a desert in Spain, a timeless forest that sprawls across the border of Poland and Belarus, and a portion of the Hungarian steppe. Four different ecosystems, the ones you’d maybe associate with another latitude or another continent altogether.

- Hunt’s style is flawless. Outlandish is told in first person, and the story just flows without a hitch. You see, the issue I have with first person POV is that it reads stilted if the writer is not that experienced, an endless string of I, I, I, I – it grates. Hunt doesn’t fall into that trap; he’s skilled enough to weave tales a reader can get lost into, a quality I applaud. His writing is evocative, eerie in places, and it spans from local stories to legends to his daily routine. The people he meets come to life with every paragraph, just like the landscapes. This aspect alone is worth the admission ticket, at least in my opinion.

- Every trip is told with care and taught me something new, but my favorite is the Spain one. Used as backdrop for famous movies–Leone’s trilogy! Sorry, I’m a huge Eastwood fan–the Tabernas is maybe the place that impacts Hunt’s life the most, almost killing him in the process, and that experience reads as vivid as if we were there with him.

Nay!

- There isn’t a single picture in sight. Not even one. I’m crushed, because with some photographic goodies here and there, Outlandish would have been perfect.

TL;DR
4 stars on GR.

The author brings the reader on an interesting journey to rarely visited parts of Europe. Definitely a walk on the wild side with tales of some truly unique landscapes. Written in a manner that makes the reader almost see what the author saw during his enviable journeys. The author also weaves some important environmental message throughout the story. Readers are sure to finish this book learning something new about Europe.

This was a compelling and thoroughly enjoyable read from start to finish with a great storyline, interesting cast of characters and all capped off by skilful writing. It's well worth your time if you appreciate great storytellers.

What I really loved most about this book is that the author visited and describes here places I have never heard of. I've read a number of books where the author claims to explore the "untouched" lands yet they visit places that everyone has heard of and at least seen in pictures. I was thoroughly impressed by the explorations of the author and found myself constantly googling the locations discussed to devour pictures of these places.

I also liked that the author didn't shy away from discussing climate change and the effects it is having on these beautiful places.

The writing felt a little dry at times and I would occasionally find myself zoning out a bit, but overall I thought this book was really informative and I would recommend it to any nature/travel/history fans I know.

In Outlandish, acclaimed travel writer Nick Hunt takes us across landscapes that should not be there, wildernesses found in Europe yet seemingly belonging to far-off continents: a patch of Arctic tundra in Scotland; the continent's largest surviving remnant of primeval forest in Poland and Belarus; Europe's only true desert in Spain; and the fathomless grassland steppes of Hungary.

From snow-capped mountain range to dense green forest, desert ravines to threadbare, yellow open grassland, these anomalies transport us to faraway regions of the world. More like pockets of Africa, Asia, the Poles or North America, they make Europe seem larger, stranger and more filled with secrets.

Against the rapid climate breakdown of deserts, steppes and primeval jungles across the world, this book discovers the outlandish environments so much closer to home - along with their abundant wildlife: reindeer; bison; ibex; wolves and herds of wild horses. Blending sublime travel writing, nature writing and history - by way of Paleolithic cave art, reindeer nomads, desert wanderers, shamans, Slavic forest gods, European bison, Wild West fantasists, eco-activists, horseback archers, Big Grey Men and other unlikely spirits of place - these desolate and rich environments show us that the strange has always been near. A fabulous read for those of us who love to travel. Recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a book that touched my core. I loved the narrative and the way the author portrayed the four journeys to profoundly different, unique European landscapes; landscapes that are often shadows of their former selves.

What Nick Hunt did was to take me to the places through his writing and immersed me in it. I felt what he felt and through the text, I saw what he saw and I was transported to the destinations, with each sentence. The writing was both evocative and thought-provoking, and what makes the book a delightful rounded read is the interesting references to the history, culture, language, and geography, which are sprinkled through the book.

The final twist in the tale though is the serious issues the book embraces; the impact of humans on the natural environment and the serious effect that climate change is having on the world, again the descriptions are well-thought-out and considered. This was a book that I didn’t want to end.

I've read and enjoyed Nick Hunt's previous two travel/walking books, and 'Outlandish' does not disappoint. In fact, it's his deepest and richest so far, lent a new urgency by the growing spectre of climate breakdown. What I thought was a project rooted in pure curiosity turned out to be something more speculative, more fearful.

The opening section of the book is spent in the Cairngorms, among snow and reindeer. There is something a little obligatory-feeling to the descriptions of hiking and Nan Shepherd quotes, but Hunt's prose is beautiful without being pretentious. The wheel begins to turn in the Białowieża section as Hunt touches upon conflicts between loggers, locals and environmentalists, but it's in the third and fourth sections of the book - the Almeria desert in Spain, and the steppe of Hortobágy National Park in Hungary where everything truly clicks into place. To paraphrase the author, these places may be outlandish at this moment, but soon, thanks to climate breakdown, they will no longer be alone; everywhere will be outlandish.

It's a book that is as heartbreaking as it is fascinating, and there is an especially moving scene involving a birder in Hortobágy. I will not forget it. This is nature/travel writing with a deep and painful bite.

(With thanks to Nicholas Brealey and NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review)