pickMan, this is bleak, and strangely claustrophobic despite the miles and miles of sea. And yet... desolate as it is, there's hope in the acts of carefulness which the Old Man and the Boy extend to one another as they go about the routine tasks of their repetitive days in the middle of a drowned nowhere that, in deep time, used to be somewhere.
so-soA strong So-So, marked down due to my personal preference rather than the quality of the book. Because this is a really good novel with a lot of really good stuff to unpack. The backdrop is a world devastated by risen sea-levels but it's not a cli-fi novel. It's about relationships & it has a low-key intensity that is poignant & thought provoking. There's a subtle, one line twist that throws the whole thing into a new light which I appreciated.
Starting this one today. I've read reviews that mention it's rather pessimistic and depressing - possibly not what I need at this particular moment but it's next on The List and The List MUST BE OBEYED! 🤣😉😳
pickThe Road meets Waiting for Godot via Huis Clos! This is a tense book, where not much seems to happen - but there‘s loads going on under the surface. How can an author can make you feel so trapped when there‘s thousands of miles of sea outside your door? Climate change is a big part to this - the sea has reclaimed a lot of the UK, and they fish for ‘relics‘ (a lot of plastic!). What happened to the boys father? Will we ever find out?!
pickA dark, depressing & chilling portrayal of a world on the brink of environmental collapse. 2 characters are in the near future, battling the elements, on a wind farm above what was once Doggerland (an area of land that once connected the U.K. with mainland Europe). I ‘saw‘ the whole book in a dark grey colour and could feel their constant cold and wetness. It had a very claustrophobic feel and it doesn‘t leave you feeling hopeful!
Heading back home from #readingretreat if I manage to finish this book on the train, I‘d of read as many books this weekend as I did in the whole of March! Back on track with my Goodreads challenge!
pickOn a decaying wind-farm in the North Sea, the Boy and the Old Man live and work, maintaining the turbines as best they can with limited supplies and failing systems. The Boy wonders what happened to his father, and plans his escape. Bleakly, beautifully atmospheric, with the slow power of water as a timeline, but it‘s the deep, difficult relationship between the two men that stands out. Loved it.
A #NetGalley ARC, to be published in April 2019
Very bleak. And rusting quiet. But I‘m liking this book, the story and writing, a lot.
Starting this #NetGalley #ARC today, set on an offshore windfarm in a possibly dystopian future. It‘s intriguing so far.
I need to catch up on the ARC backlog this year, and decide whether I really want to fit them into my reading life, or if I‘m happier just reading stuff 3 years after everyone else, with no deadlines. 🤔
Doggerland | 
