This book has been getting some mixed reviews, and it's probably not up there with Greg Bear's best science fiction. But having said that, I'd still recommend it to any fantasy reader looking for something imaginative and original.

“The Unfinished Land“ by Greg Bear

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the review copy

I really wanted to like this book because the premise was really intriguing. Sadly I did not finish this book. I stopped reading at around 50%. This book has a great premise and sets up some really interesting world-building elements in its first half, sadly the characters are a bit too bland to keep me engaged in what is happening and oh my, the writing style. I really dislke the way this story is told.

I would probably have pushed through if the writing style was slightly less annoying to read. I have no problem with more complicated prose and I really enjoy more literal prose. But I did not connect with the more distanced writing style Bear chose for his narrative and the way the story is told makes it a lot harder to connect to any of the POV characters. It also does not help that Bear begins switching POVs after some time and I did not care for any of the later introduced POV characters.

While the characters might not be very interesting on their own, the story is intriguing and if the writing style is more to your taste than mine you might find this book really enjoyable. I would suggest looking for a sample and if you like the writing style and the premise.... maybe this is for you.

DNF at 15% - 60 pages.

I always try to write something positive in my review, but I cannot find anything positive about the 60 I read.

The pacing was extremely slow (in 60 pages, basically all that happened is the main hero being rescued from a sinking ship and then reaching a mysterious island), the writing was overly complicated and flowery, it made the book extremely hard to read.
There was this one whole chapter from a perspective of a different character that was one big info-dump which made twice as confused as before.
Another thing that didn't sit well with me was the dialogue - in English, Bear used Old English (all the "he doth know thee" and "thy shalt find thy destiny") and there were also full sentences in Spanish which weren't translated at all. All we got were a few comments about how the MC was starting to pick up on the language and understand most of it and I mean, good for him, but it doesn't change the fact that I've never taken a Spanish lesson in my life and didn't understand a single word.

All in all, this was very disappointing, and I do not recommend it. Life is too short to read mediocre books.

My first Netgallery review!

Wooo chile! I tried I really did try with this book.

+ what attracted me to this book in the first place which was the concept, which did sound very good and I wanted to read more fantasy books this year.
+ The beginning of the book was done quite well and I was intrigued by it (but then it went downhill after he reached the island unfortunately.

- This is technically a DNF for me, but because it’s my first ARC for Netgallery, I very much limped to the end.
- The dialogue at least for me was very hard to follow along with, I kept having to go over passages so I could fully grasp what was being said and this just added to my reading time.
- It felt like it was going on forever, this book is particularly slow pace (like snail slow)
- So many characters, yet they all felt the same, I didn’t feel emotional connected or invested in any of them – it was just meh
- Generally disappointed with this book, as I said in the ‘+’ side it had a really good concept that got overly complicated by the many characters and static ‘build-up’

Unfortunately, I did not finish this book.

The author provides a vivid beautiful prose which kept me for a long time reading this book (and the whole mythology involving the synopsis kept me going), but I gave up at around 60%. That beauty had contained a lot of overwriting with sidelong descriptions of unimportant details.

I waited for something conclusive to happen, something engaging, an autonomous decision by the main protagonist. But the book never drew me in, and I had to fight sleep every. single day for a whole week.

The sidekicks are as uninteresting as the protagonist, always questioning what and why they should do but never giving a hint of an answer. The narration’s use of “thee, thou, haveth, telleth” and so on didn’t help me enjoying the story, although it provides a certain atmosphere.

It’s not often that I stop reading a book before the end, and far more seldom that I get past the first half to DNF. In this case though, I wanted to love the book, because both the author and the topic was highly appealing to me.

If you're not familiar with Greg Bear's works (which I was not), I can assure you that short of asking someone who has actually read it, NOTHING will prepare you for where this book goes. The blurb/synopsis isn't incorrect, per se, but it doesn't even scratch the surface of what going on in The Unfinished Land, and paired with the really pretty cover, it might actually give you a certain idea about what to expect that will just end up being blown out the water. That's certainly what happened to me, and I'm eternally grateful.

About 50% into the book, I told my husband that reading it feels like trying to keep water in your cupped hands. There's a steady stream of water refilling what's lost, but that doesn't keep the water you're desperately trying to hold onto from spilling over the sides and seeping through your fingers. Such is the worldbuilding and the story's development in The Unfinished Land. You're constantly supplied with details and information, but it's all so murky you can't ever really keep much of a grip on it. Here, information does not equal pieces to a puzzle or full understanding. But don't worry: the characters mostly don't know that the hell's going on either.

This murkiness in terms of the world building and the seemingly random writing style (see the not-quite Elizabethan English dialogue contrasted against the slightly-dated English exposition) do serve a purpose, in my opinion. I could tell quite early on that the author wanted to constantly make sure the reader is wrong-footed and perhaps create an atmosphere that places the story in a definable genre, i.e. historical fiction with some clear fantasy elements, so that it can all be blown to smithereens when the book's true otherness starts revealing itself. The other thing is that some ways into the story, you realise that the world being described is most likely coming to an end in some way or another, and the diaphanous nature of the storytelling absolutely has the effect of wiping what you've read from your mind in a direct reflection of this story world's possible temporary nature.

Only a day after I finished reading the book, and already, the majority of the story's detail has already seeped from my mind's metaphorical fingers, and what I'm left with is glimmering impressions of what went before the book's ending, and then of course the ending itself. Quite literally, the entire point of the book is revealed on the last page, and the very last word of the book is the key to what goes before.

After knowing that I'd finished the book and listening to my brain-melted account of what it is about and what happens in the end, my dear historically-minded husband came to the rescue. To avoid spoilers, all I can say is if you're not really a history buff, try to look up some of the historical elements in the book. Look up the time period, what happened in the world in that time, some of the figures that featured, and what they and their time meant for the world as we know it today. I liked where the book went in the end, but after my husband clarified a few historical points for me, the book's conclusion just felt that much more satisfying.

If my review intrigues you to the point where you want to read The Unfinished Land, then great! BUT, a few warnings first (especially because I've seen so many reviews pointing out some of these things as negatives):

- DON'T expect this to be historical fiction, fantasy, or sci-fi - this is none of that and all of that all rolled into one.
- DON'T expect this to be an easy ride - the writing really makes you work for it, and while I believe I understand most of the author's writing choices, many people will likely just see them as unnecessary.
- DON'T expect pitch-perfect world building - like I've said, it's rich and imaginative, but it's murky and hard to keep hold of while reading.
- DON'T expect a clear-cut ending that magically solves everything - the ending isn't difficult to understand, but it still leaves you to ponder and detangle everything that went before it.
- (Almost most importantly) DON'T expect any kind of character development or even 100% coherent interactions between characters - there is basically none. Seriously. No one grows.

In fact, do yourself a favour and read a few of the other 4-star reviews out there, as I believe a few different perspectives from people who actually enjoyed the book will help you determine whether this is actually for you or not.

If you still feel up to it after all of the above, then good on you. I can promise that you are in for an incomparable treat.

I'm not sure exactly what this story was about. I know we started off with a young man named Reynard who lost his uncle and cousin in a battle. He's stranded in the wreckage until an old man named Manuel rescues him. They journey to another land where Reynard encounters magical creatures and gods.

Other than that, I couldn't tell what the plot was. I think one or more of the Sister Queens were bad and Reynard was working to stop them. It seemed to be a lot of Reynard and Manuel, aka Widsith, going different places in the new land and meeting people. I felt like this really lacked direction and was trying to be poetic by using old English words like 'thou' and 'thine' which bogged the dialogue down.

I did like the fantasy land and new creatures. The Eaters are like vampires but they can take or give life force. Sometimes they give Widsith life and he changes from an old man at the beginning to a younger man for the rest of the book. The Blunters are kind of gross, they bind with Drakes by drinking amniotic fluid, ew. Finally the Childers are fae like and sort of mysterious.

The book felt very low stakes, like there wasn't any urgency to anything and antagonists weren't actually much of a threat. It was more of a story about a magical land and that's it.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a huge disappointment and didn't meet my expectations at all.
I gave this a fair chance but DNFd this after 50%, mostly because I disliked the shakespearean writing (I hated it) and the fact that I didn't care about the plot or Reynard or anything.
I do have some earlier unread works on my TBR and will give those a try.
This one was a big miss.

Thanks Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Adventurous and a bit odd. I have to admit that at first I was a bit confused with what was exactly going on with all the action, characters, and slangs I didn't understand. This obstacle made me really struggle with the rest of the book, although it was really entertaining and quite amazing at some parts, I would still struggle with engaging with the story or finding characters relatable.

Reynard is a young lad on his uncle’s fishing boat, pulled into duty to help protect England against the Spanish Armada. We met him after things have got astray, his crew and family all dead, his own life expectancy looking short as the elements take their toll. Even a miraculous rescue might not help for too long, as the passing ship is Spanish – and worse, no one seems to know where on the oceans they are.

Arriving at a strange island, things only go from strange to stranger. Ethereal figures, flying monsters, cabin boys waking up middle-aged. No one – least of all Reynard – knows what’s going on.

Where to even start with my review? Overall, this book made me wish I was better at ‘DNF’ing as it ate up weeks of reading time as I struggled through it. I wanted to finish, not least for this review, but by the end it just didn’t feel worth it.

Thing is, it’s not a terrible book. Greg Bear is a great author, and I’ve enjoyed some of his sci-fi work, and his skill with words is still evident here. But it just wasn’t for me, alas. I struggled to care for the characters, or to get into the story. That the main character is so clueless, and rather passive, really doesn’t help.

The tone is otherworldly, but I never felt drawn into the setting or caught up with the plethora of strange ideas. It should have been a relief, a ‘finally!’ moment after a very slow (imo) beginning on the Spanish galleon. But, no. It’s oddly Shakespearean – very The Tempest, shades of Midsummer’s Night Dream perhaps – and the language is full of all the thou and art and such. Now, I enjoy watching Shakespeare’s plays, but it was borderline grating here. In the speech, fine, but it slips into the narrative, too. Adds to the sense of cold distantness.

The story itself never really gets going, either. Reynard and others are pulled along in a journey. Momentous events appear to be occurring. But we don’t have enough background or buy-in, so it’s all just… meh.

Others might find this more appealing, but for me I’m afraid it was a bit of a slog for nowhere near enough return on the time investment. Perhaps it’s a bit too ‘literary fiction’ for me, but overall it was just disappointing.

Thanks NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt publication for the ARC for honest review.
Plot line: Reynard, an English fisherman finds himself as the sole survivor of a ship wreck after the attack by the Spanish. Floating alone in the sea he gets rescued by another ship and ends up in a mystical journey.
Review: I was really excited to read the book. But each time I read the pages covered in exquisite language, I found it difficult to understand. Although the opening pages were delight, the rest of it was mundane.

The Unfinished Land is a standalone historical science fiction with shadings of epic fantasy (and a dash of light horror) by Greg Bear. Released 16th Feb 2021 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, it's 384 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats.

This entire substantial book has a misty surreal quality. The prose is masterful - evocative and beautiful... but undeniably dreamlike and meandering. The plotting is slow and deliberate, the narrative arc positively creeps and in some places has a very odd feeling of inevitability. I was impressed that the author managed to write passages which gave me the same feeling one has while dreaming of being chased and running without moving forward.

The background and world building are a pastiche of several different pantheons and cultures (Norse, Celtic, Romani, and others) with a sprinkling of the author's own unique imagination. The dialogue is split between modern vernacular and oddly "period" turns of phrase. The book is ostensibly set in the middle ages but most of the action occurs beside and outside of time, so the dichotomy of anachronistic vernacular is jarring adjacent to the occasionally archaic dialogue.

The author is incredibly imaginative and the book is very very well written. It's also very trippy and weird. It invites contemplation on a much deeper level. There's a lot happening under the surface and this isn't a book which can be read and enjoyed with a superficial read. I would recommend it to fans of the author as well as fans of surreal/magical realism (Catherynne Valente, John Crowley, etc). Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Greg Bear has long been on my TBR shelf for his great works of scifi of the '80s and '90s. When I saw his new book come across Netgalley I jumped on it. I was surprised to learn that he was stepping away from his comfort zone of science fiction and The Unfinished Land was a historical portal fantasy. I was still excited to get into it, but I ended up leaving it bored and underwhelmed.

The biggest problem with The Unfinished Land is that nothing happens. This is a journey story. Reynard and his group of travelers are going through the Unfinished Land to find the center of the island. Along the way they see lots of cool stuff. Greg Bear clearly has some great ideas for a fantasy setting. But nothing really happens. It's a lot of encountering something cool, then listening to Widsith talk about it. It's a weird violation of the good world building rule, "show, don't tell," rather Bear goes with "briefly show, also tell, then quickly move on before anything actually happens."

The pace of this book is both dizzyingly fast and monotonously slow. New characters, concepts, creatures, and settings are quickly introduced and partially explained, but then we move on before they can have any significant impact on the story. But as quickly as we jump from one new introduction to the next, the story still feels like it drags and drags and drags, because there are so few plot points.

For example, one of the first and most exciting elements of the Unfinished land are the Drakes and the Blunters. They are introduced almost immediately after Reynard arrives in the Unfinished Land. The Drakes are giant dragonflies, like dragon-sized dragonflies. The Blunters search out their chrysalises while they are morphing from Nymph to Drake and drain some fluid from their chrysalis sacs. This fluid creates a bond between Blunter and Drake allowing them vicarious control. Unblunted Drakes are unpredictable and dangerous and nearly impossible to kill. After the introduction of such a great idea one would expect the Drakes to feature heavily in this story. Well, that was not the case. It was hundreds of pages after their introduction that the drakes got any significant screen time. If you are going to introduce giant dragonflies, your novel should be about giant dragonflies!

There were some other really great fantasy ideas in this book that I really would have liked to feature more in the story, but sadly, this book didn't have much of a story. I'll rate this book highly for idea and setting, but low for story. It wasn't a terribly long book but it dragged on for me. I kept waiting for those parts that enjoyed to play a bigger part but they never really panned out.

The Unfinished Land had many creative ideas. I loved the sense of adventure and the roots if mythology combined with new fantastical beings. But I also had a hard time connecting to the story. It's not very linear, and it was hard to keep track of side characters. Overall, the execution didn't quite live up to the potential. It's still a good book but requires a bit or work and concentration to get through.

DNF at 54%. 10/25 (40%) 2 stars.
"If thou, fisher­boy, fox-boy, canst see deeper, down to the base, that would indeed make thee a treasure. Thou couldst control immense magicks, not look-see-wonders. What dost thou perceive beneath this seeming wood?”

If you're okay with this dialogue, then you'll maybe enjoy this one - I didn't. I don't think there's any reason to write Shakespearean dialogue in the 21st century. That's the first reason why I DNF'd this one - the second one is that there's no clar plotline, no red thread going through this book. Instead, it's a pointless collection of episodes with bland characters, told from the completely irrelevant protagonist's perspective. Renard is a character without character and The Unfinished Land will remain unfinished for me because I don't care about what happens at all. I didn't even go to the last page to find out how this ends, this much I don't care. The setting is what kept me going as long as I did, but the setting alone can't carry a book on its back.
----
Dialogue 1
Setting 4
Characters 2
Writing Style 2
Plot 1
----
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: It’s the Elizabethan age, shortly after a naval fight between the English and the Spanish armada. Shipwrecked young fisherman Reynard finds himself on board of a Spanish ship which soon gets lost and stranded at the mythic island Thule north of Scotland, and eventually Tir Na Nog, the mythological Irish otherworld.

Reynard meets all sorts of creatures besides of Spaniards and Vikings. Starting with the Vampire like Eaters who don’t feed on blood but on their victims’ remaining life time. Next are the Blunters who bind “drakes” which are overgrown dragonflies. Add to that the faery-like Childers, appearing as small children. Technologically far advanced (and leading to a Science Fantasy touch) are the Crafters, makers of the world. In the background wait the Norse Vanir and Aesir, Hel and the Sister Queens who wage war against each other.

Review: The author provides a vivid beautiful prose which kept me for a long time reading this book before I gave up at some two-thirds. That beauty had contained a lot of overwriting with sidelong descriptions of unimportant details.

I always waited for something conclusive to happen, something engaging, an autonomous decision by the main protagonist. But the book never drew me in, and I had to fight sleep every. single. day for a whole sluggish week.

Most of the sidekicks are as uninteresting as Reynard, always questioning what and why they should do but never giving a hint of an answer. The narration’s Early New English with all those “thee, thou, haveth, telleth” and so on didn’t exactly help me enjoying the story, although it provides a certain atmosphere.

It’s not often that I stop reading a book before the end, and far more seldom that I get past the first half to DNF. In this case though, I wanted to love the book, because both the author and the topic was highly appealing to me.

Review:

It’s important to note going into The Unfinished Land that Greg Bear has made his name over the past several decades in the world of science fiction, and it certainly shows. In fact, despite the classical setting and mythical themes, Bear’s comfort in science fiction still comes through strong, helping to create what is unarguably a unique experience capable of pleasing both sides of the age-old sci-fi/fantasy rivalry. If ever there were a line drawn in the sand between these two worlds, Bear has deftly kicked it away, creating something that is wholly singular in its execution, and eager to satiate any reader hungry for intricate world-building, unique characters, and the kind of meandering adventure questing that welcomes new friends—and enemies—around every corner.

While this imaginative and meticulous set-up will surely sing to high fantasy and hardcore science fiction readers alike, it’s also safe to say that your average peruser of popular fiction may find themselves stumbling through the majority of the book, or perhaps even putting it down half-way through. In fact, it is all of the nuances that make The Unfinished Land a standout example of the high fantasy genre that, at the very same time, make it a difficult book to read. It can be slow, it can be convoluted, and it can even be tedious at times, especially in its use of language, and that isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Still, for every few people who may have trouble getting into it, there will be a genre nerd out there who will eat this up and be right back in line asking for more—have no doubt.

Verdict:

Greg Bear’s The Unfinished Land pulls no punches. It’s high fantasy wrapped around hard science fiction with some notes of historical fantasy tucked in for good measure. If you are looking for a hefty read that aims to challenge as much as it aims entertain, then this book is for you. But, be prepared, because Bear’s style of scholarly prose and complex world building—like the island of Thule itself—is not for the faint of heart.

I know Greg Bear as a science fiction author, and hard science fiction at that. This is not only fantasy, but possibly even high fantasy. So reading it required an adjustment in expectations, to say the least. The theme of the Chosen One quickly becomes a focus, as young apprentice Reynard is mixed up in most of the action. Reynard has a confusing mix of memories, and he's not sure about his role in life. But several more experienced characters seem convinced that there is something very important about him.

Bear has created a novel cosmology for the story, including an inventive cast of gods and mortals. They include Eaters (a vampiric race that consume years instead of blood); Travelers (people who travel the world and report on what they see); and Crafters (who create worlds). Their relationships are mysterious, and remain so until the end. So in many ways this is a difficult read, with a conclusion that is a kind of anti-climax. The world dies, and a new word rises. Reynard's role is finally revealed, but not really explained.

I don't regret reading it, but would not recommend it. I can't recall having so much trouble persisting through the last part of a novel.

It's hard to describe this book other than an awesome piratelike adventure. It's set in Elizabethan times so the language was a little clunky and old fashioned but once I got used to that it wasn't really a problem. I did have trouble keeping up with all the characters, but I loved all the fantastical creatures along the way and the descriptive world building. This book was written more like one of his hard scifi books that I've read, so it's probably not for the average lighthearted fantasy reader. But I really enjoyed it.
Thank you to Greg Bear and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the opportunity to read this book. I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The views and opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Reynard is the sole survivor on an English ship that is wrecked during a fierce battle. He is barely surviving when a Spanish galleon rescues him, but they are lost and surrounded by a strange fog. A current pushes them to the island of Thule. Reynard quickly finds that not all of the island's inhabitants are quite human and they seem to be expecting him.

The world of The Unfinished Land is brilliant and I felt surrounded by it whether it was at sea or going through the forests. I liked Reynard, but I didn't feel like he changed much through the book even though I think he should have with his experiences. Overall it was a good book that I would recommend to anyone looking for something original.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.