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.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing an audiobook ARC. Unfotunately, while I've given this book several tries because it’s an ARC, 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. The audiobook narration is skillful; it's more the way the plot jumps around and digresses that is causing me problems right now. Perhaps an e-book or print copy would make it easier to follow.

Format: audiobook
Author: Claire North ~ Title: Notes from the Burning Age ~ Narrator: John Skelley
Content: 3.5 stars ~ Narration: 5 stars

This was my first (audio)book by Claire North. I wanted to read The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August first. But I somehow started with this one, and I had pretty high expectations.

While the writing is great, I had trouble getting into the story, and I needed a really long time to listen to the entire audiobook. Usually, I would prefer to read a book. But in this case, the audiobook format was a much better option for me.

I expected it to be more of a dystopian, post-apocalyptic story. The start was promising, and I wanted more of kakuy and this new world. I didn’t expect the story to be political espionage that is just coincidentally set in a future world. So, I struggled with it, and a few times, the story really bored me. But this is my personal preference, I guess. Because I almost never read political and espionage books.

I loved the idea of this new world, their belief, the idea of translating ancient texts, warning signs of the environment, and the characters who were very intriguing.

I’m sure this will be a great read for some. For me, it was ok, sometimes good, but not perfect. Especially, the beautiful language, setting, and narrator kept me going.

Masterfully narrated by Peter Kenny. I loved his narration.

"The forest grows. And the Kakuy are watching."

I won a digital copy of this novel through a Goodreads giveaway and was pretty excited to start a novel with holy men, Brotherhoods and lost stolen texts from another time. Add this unique vision of a dystopian future and I was ready.

I was not ready. What I didn't take into account was the vast amount of political portions, the spy-like nature of the plot and a very, VERY light sprinkling of mythical forest gods/monsters (Kakuy) which was my favorite part. I'm typically not one for espionage and political based books and this has a heavy hand in that arena. So if you're reading this, take that into account. If espionage is your thing and dystopian futures is your thing, this may be your novel. I could see this as a movie and I'd probably jump all over that. Luckily midway through I was approved on glorious Netgalley for the audio. Hachette Audio, thank you!

This is a novel of depth, culture, religious exploits and monsters creeping very quietly along the edges. North has beautiful writing skills and vivid world building. Truly a master of the craft if I say so. The novel though didn't hit the mark for me. I couldn't connect to the characters, the premise dragged and I struggled wholeheartedly to understand the overall why of everything. I basically flunked this reading test to the max.

The audio has an excellent narrator with the perfect amount of emotion and cadence for each character. I even liked how the narration took some of the areas I struggled with and made them easier to move through without a need to skip pages or skim read. I would've missed exquisite writing if I had.

This is my first novel by North but it won't be my last. Like I mentioned I am in love with the writing style and imagery even if I didn't connect the way I had hoped. I ok ok forward to mote from her.

Thank you Orbit Books and Hachette Audio for the gifted copies in exchange for honest review.

This book was enticing in the same way that I found books like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 captivating in High School. It is like poking my head into a world that you can easily trace how you go from where you are now to the world depicted.

Notes from a Burning Age covers some similar ideas to what we see in the above books but with the looming threat that those in the younger generations live with, the destruction of the environment, and the consequences of our continued use of things like fossil fuels.
This book makes you think about whether or not it is alright to keep information away from people when that information could be considered dangerous, such as Nuclear Weapons.

This book covered so many ideas; that I stopped halfway through listening to buy a physical copy that I could mark up as I would have in High School. Having listened to the first half of this book again, I know there is so much more to see in this book, and I look forward to rereading this book.

I feel like this book could be a better discussion piece for High Schoolers to read in English Classes. It covers way more issues than what we see in the books (1984 and Fahrenheit 451) that have been standard in High Schools for the better part of 50 years. Including ones that are way more prevalent in the world, we live in today.

I was really interested in the discussion about whether the humankind could be able to embrace a nature-cantered set of values even if that might take away from the technological potential or if it's in human nature to bring (self)destruction upon the world trying to hold onto the belief that humans are the central entity on the planet. And a part of the novel was that, however, I wish that the author had gone more in-depth. The novel isn't short but the plot is incredibly slow and meandering while the characters resemble cardboard cut-outs of certain ideas rather than being complex and multifaceted. I think more could have been done with the story and the characters to explore the topic more fully in a way that would also be engaging to the reader.

Audio Review; I liked the narrator for this book. He was always engaging and brought plenty of nuance to the text. He had a real feel for the voices of the characters too



Book review: I'm a bit ambivalent about this book. On the one hand, it's a clever piece of fiction which mirrors and examines some of the very moral and personal arguments we're having now (certainly on social media). It's extremely well written and somehow manages to be a slick spy thriller and slightly bleak post apocalyptic story held up against a cynical theocratic movement. Hence the four stars I awarded it. On the other hand, it's tricky to get into the story to start with. I ended up liking Ven a lot as a character but he honestly just didn't grip me for the first 20% of the book and I might have been tempted not to read further if it hadn't been an audio book. Even now, while I acknowledge that this is a good book and that I enjoyed it, I don't feel like I will ever reread it.



That said, I did enjoy it. I'm glad I read it. It fed very nicely into a lot of non-fiction reading and thinking I've been doing recently. There was one line that summed things up very well which I'll paraphase: suggesting that there are only two points of view is a false dichotomy. There are many opinions and gradations between complete control by the state and chaotic freedom. Especially when most people just want to be self-directing and not have to make big decisions about things such as nuclear armaments! It's not hard to draw parallels here between the current political right and the political left. Ven acts as an agent for us to examine whether both sides in extremes aren't equally wrong, and in moderation, don't they have equally good points too?



The world building is phenomenal. The reader is not bogged down with detail but through the sort of files Ven translates from old hard drives, we can see just how different this world is. People live in an uneasy truce with nature, even venerating it, but things have moved to a purist extreme where any luxury or even medicine is interfering with the course of nature. Ven starts off the story as an archivist, full of anger and dissatisfaction. He becomes a spy for the Brotherhood who believe that the heretical files found on 21st C hard drives should be accessed and the knowledge used. We are in Ven's pov all the way and make the same journey he does. There is not one right answer. Some knowledge was definitely forbidden erroneously, when it could be of great benefit. And some should certainly be kept out of greedy hands if not stay buried. In the end, the reader is left to decide whether both extremes are equally bad, which I imagine is the point.



Overall an interesting read and very different take on a dystopian novel.

I'm going to be honest, I struggled a bit to get into Ms. North's latest. There's a lot of world-building, and that's sometimes a weak spot for me as a reader. I'm struggling so hard to understand the time and place that I can't immerse myself into the story for a while.

In this case, the effort of powering through paid great dividends. As intriguing as the book's description is, it barely scratches the surface of North's sophisticated, genre-defying novel. Protagonist Ven proves to be an appealing character around whom to build a story, and several of the primary relationships of the novel are complex and unusual. The world-building which initially challenged me, ultimately delighted me. The plotting was suitably mysterious and compelling. And there were even occasional glimpses of humor.

Notes from the Burning Age leaves me with food for thought, and a feeling that a second reading sometime would likely yield fresh pleasures and discoveries.

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.

Audiobook provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Set in a burned world where prior knowledge is controlled by the pious, this book is primarily a commentary on religion and social-political issues. We see a society that is quickly falling back into the ways of old, doomed to repeat humanity's past sins.

While this book has a gorgeous cover, title, and poetic writing, the story fell flat for me. I felt indifferent to every character. The narrative does not compel a reader to like or dislike anyone in particular. Whether intentional or not, it makes for a very detached tale, where readers are not invested in the outcome of the characters.

I was intrigued by this novel's premise. I love a good dystopian, literary-centered book, but this novel fell short on its execution. Additionally, the writing is, at times, confusing; maybe a physical copy would make this story more enjoyable. I feel as if some people would immensely enjoy this piece, but I was not one of them.

Notes from the Burning Age is a dystopian novel of espionage and subterfuge. A world readying for war over differing philosophies and pursuit of power, Ven is an inquisitor whose knowledge of languages of the past can be used to translate documents from the Burning Age. The notes from the past provide a look into happier and sometimes simpler times, but also provide information of nuclear war, disease, and other weapons that the Brotherhood seeks to harness. Since the Burning Age of environmental destruction, can society move on or will they be damned to repeat it?

Story: This was an absolutely fascinating listen. I thought it would be a little heavier on the climate, but glad when it turned out to be more of a spy novel. The writing is clever and the storyline suspenseful. The characters are well-developed and the dialogue is full of philosophical contemplation and intrigue. Very thought provoking and enjoyable! (4.5 stars)

Audio: I wish I would have physically read this book instead. Don’t get me wrong, the audio was phenomenal! I just wish I could have seen the names of characters to help remember then a little more. The narrator had wonderful voices for the characters and does a good job capturing the emotion of them during specific scenes. (5 stars)

Thank you Netgalley and Orbit this ARC. I look forward to reading more books by Claire North. Although this was my initial introduction to her writing, her other novels have been added to my “want to read” list. I will also be sharing it as a suggestion for book club.