Very pretty, pretty, but meaningless words. [The Unfinished Land by Greg Bear]

Reynard, a young apprentice, seeks release from the drudgery of working for his fisherman uncle in the English village of Southwold. His rare days off lead him to strange encounters—not just with press gangs hoping to fill English ships to fight the coming Spanish Armada, but strangers who seem to know him—one of whom casts a white shadow.

The village’s ships are commandeered, and after a fierce battle at sea, Reynard finds himself the sole survivor of his uncle’s devastated hoy. For days he drifts, starving and dying of thirst, until he is rescued by a galleon, also lost—and both are propelled by a strange current to the unknown northern island of Thule. Here Reynard must meet his destiny in a violent clash between humans and gods.

I can't say that it's explicitly the language or the writing style that I didn't like in Greg Bear's The Unfinished Land. Because while the language did not practically led itself to the construction of a concrete plot, I did find it very beautiful, in a poetic sense. I cannot omit the fact that I did have to do a lot of dictionary, definition lookups. On a flip side, I did appreciate the integration of non-English phrases without translation. Myself, I understood without translation, but I can easily imagine how jarring that would be for others. 

My biggest gripe with the book was the ambiguity of story. It was a story without concrete concepts, one that dealt in concepts that were by their nature ambiguous and difficult to define. And I suppose in such stories there's a sense of philosophy and esotericism. But as for me and my fiction reading preferences, I like well-defined concepts and forecasting stories. Thusly, this wasn't a super enjoyed read. I appreciated the writing, but also hated it because it felt really superfluous. Of what import was the extreme detail of descriptors? Knowing that the ice cliffs were a shade of, say, blue sky green or something, did not further the story. The scene was set and then over set. It just didn't work for me. I think had the totality of the story been condensed to a half or so of its 300 plus page length this would have been an easier experience, but as it is, 2 stars from me. Nothing offensive, but nothing inspiring. 

The Unfinished Land (ISBN:9781328589903) was published February 2021.