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No Man's Land
No Man’s Land is a historical fantasy and a love story set in the golden plains of North Otago, in the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Dorothea ‘Tea’ Gray joins the Land Service and is sent to work on a remote farm, one of many young women left to fill the empty shoes left by fathers and brothers serving in the Second World War.
But Tea finds more than hard work and hot sun in the dusty North Otago nowhere—she finds a magic inside herself she never could have imagined, a way to save her brother in a distant land she never thought she could reach, and a love she never knew existed.
Inspired by feminist and LGBTQ+ history and family memories of North Otago in wartime, A.J Fitzwater has turned a piece of forgotten women’s history into a tapestry of furious pride and love that crosses cultures, countries and decades.
Dorothea ‘Tea’ Gray joins the Land Service and is sent to work on a remote farm, one of many young women left to fill the empty shoes left by fathers and brothers serving in the Second World War.
But Tea finds more than hard work and hot sun in the dusty North Otago nowhere—she finds a magic inside herself she never could have imagined, a way to save her brother in a distant land she never thought she could reach, and a love she never knew existed.
Inspired by feminist and LGBTQ+ history and family memories of North Otago in wartime, A.J Fitzwater has turned a piece of forgotten women’s history into a tapestry of furious pride and love that crosses cultures, countries and decades.
154 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 8, 2020
14 people are currently reading
819 people want to read
About the author
A.J. Fitzwater
44 books49 followersAJ Fitzwater is 1000 tiny dragons flapping furiously inside a meat suit, living between two fault lines in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Their short stories have been published in Clarkesworld, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Shimmer Magazine, Giganotosaurus, and other venues and anthologies of repute. Their capybara pirate collection "The Voyages of Cinrak The Dapper" is available from Queen of Swords Press April 2020, and their WW2 Land Girls shapeshifter novella "No Man's Land" is available from Paper Road Press May 2020.
Two Sir Julius Vogel Awards hunker on their shelf, and the Clarion Class of 2014 hunkers in their history.
Their short stories have been published in Clarkesworld, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Shimmer Magazine, Giganotosaurus, and other venues and anthologies of repute. Their capybara pirate collection "The Voyages of Cinrak The Dapper" is available from Queen of Swords Press April 2020, and their WW2 Land Girls shapeshifter novella "No Man's Land" is available from Paper Road Press May 2020.
Two Sir Julius Vogel Awards hunker on their shelf, and the Clarion Class of 2014 hunkers in their history.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
January 5, 2023
After her twin brother goes to war, Tea joins the Land Service. Working on a farm somewhere out in the middle of nowhere, she finds new friends, starts to break free of her internalised homophobia and mother's notions of ladylike behaviour, and discovers strange magic she has to master. This was, in short, a very interesting novella. Some pacing problems in the second half, but nothing unusual for a novella, and I loved the WWII New Zealand setting, the low key descriptions of everyday farm life, and of course, the magic. Recommended!
Enjoyment: 4/5
Execution: 4/5
Content warnings: internalised homophobia, period-typical racism
More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.
Enjoyment: 4/5
Execution: 4/5
Content warnings: internalised homophobia, period-typical racism
More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.
July 29, 2020
Set in North Otago, Aotearoa New Zealand during WWII, No Man's Land follows Dorothea “Tea” Gray, whose brother Robbie has gone off to war to be a sapper. Wanting to do her part, Tea joins the Land Service, and takes over Robbie’s former job shearing sheep and working on the MacGregor farm. Tea is joined by three other Land Service girls, Alison, Carmel, and Izzy, and a young man named Grant whose illness kept him from joining the service.
On the day she arrives at the farm, Tea is followed by a strange, shadowy dog, and her feeling of something odd going on only builds from there. Her senses are heightened, and she hears her brother’s voice in a way she becomes increasingly sure isn’t just her own inner monologue or wishful thinking. Grant and Izzy are secretive around her, as if they know more about Tea than she knows about herself. She hears a persistent hissing, like something calling to her, especially when she’s around water. She also experiences sensations, sights and sounds, she’s certain don’t belong to her, and might just belong to her brother Robbie on distant continent in the midst of war. While trying to understand what’s happening to her, Tea still has to contend with daily life, the exhausting work of the farm, and not drawing the ire of Mr. MacGregor. Contrasted with the mundane world of the farm, hidden just beneath its surface, it seems there’s a whole other world waiting for Tea. Sometimes it seems as though there’s another being inside of her, one that frightens her, and that she can’t entirely control. Further complicating matters is Tea’s attraction to Izzy. All her life, Tea has been taught that a woman loving another woman, or a man loving another man is unnatural, not to mention illegal. Tea’s conflicted feelings strain her relationship with Izzy, who could be Tea’s closest ally, helping her understand the power within her, and her true magical nature.
No Man’s Land is gorgeously-written, wrapped in beautiful cover art by Laya Rose Mutton-Rogers. Fitzwater has a real gift for prose and sensory description, which they deploy to great effect, creating a sense of breathless disorientation around the ebb and flow of nature, the magic within Tea, and the chaos of war. The language is the kind that snaps you up and gets you lost in the best of ways, but at the same time, the characters, especially Tea, keep the story grounded. We get snippets of Grant and Izzy’s perspectives as well, but for the most part, we’re in Tea’s head, right alongside her as she experiences frustration – from her mother unpacking all her practical clothes and filling her suitcase with clothing designed to help her catch a husband, to the way the men on the farm goad her and tease her and expect her to fail at “men’s work”, and her conflicted feelings about Izzy and the growing power she discovers within herself.
Need and desire are an underlying current in all of Tea’s thoughts and actions – not just physical desire, but the desire to be respected, taken seriously, and to do something that matters, especially when it comes to the war. With her brother so far away, Tea feels helpless, made worse by the fact that she feels trapped by the box of expectations placed around her as a woman. She wants to break out, forge her own way in the world, but at the same time, she’s afraid. All her life she’s been taught there’s a natural order to things – magic belongs in stories for children, and women are meant to be wives and mothers and nothing more. Even though Tea doesn’t truly believe either of those things deep down, she’s been conditioned to accept them. The war forms a backdrop, but the conflict in the novella is far more personal, as Tea wars with herself, and what she’s been taught to believe about the world versus the larger possibilities of who she is allowed to love, who she is allowed to be, and what she’s allowed to do with her life.
No Man’s Land brings to the forefront women’s history, and the kind of stories that often go untold in war narratives, shifting the focus from soldiers on the front line to those doing vital work back home. Farm labor is just as important to keeping the world turning, but history often overlooks jobs considered “menial” or “women’s work”. The novella also touches on queer history and rights, particularly in the epilogue taking place years after the war. Tea’s self-discovery is rooted in history and a personal journey, but soaked in the magic and wonder of the hidden world existing alongside ours. It’s a lovely book, and I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy.
On the day she arrives at the farm, Tea is followed by a strange, shadowy dog, and her feeling of something odd going on only builds from there. Her senses are heightened, and she hears her brother’s voice in a way she becomes increasingly sure isn’t just her own inner monologue or wishful thinking. Grant and Izzy are secretive around her, as if they know more about Tea than she knows about herself. She hears a persistent hissing, like something calling to her, especially when she’s around water. She also experiences sensations, sights and sounds, she’s certain don’t belong to her, and might just belong to her brother Robbie on distant continent in the midst of war. While trying to understand what’s happening to her, Tea still has to contend with daily life, the exhausting work of the farm, and not drawing the ire of Mr. MacGregor. Contrasted with the mundane world of the farm, hidden just beneath its surface, it seems there’s a whole other world waiting for Tea. Sometimes it seems as though there’s another being inside of her, one that frightens her, and that she can’t entirely control. Further complicating matters is Tea’s attraction to Izzy. All her life, Tea has been taught that a woman loving another woman, or a man loving another man is unnatural, not to mention illegal. Tea’s conflicted feelings strain her relationship with Izzy, who could be Tea’s closest ally, helping her understand the power within her, and her true magical nature.
No Man’s Land is gorgeously-written, wrapped in beautiful cover art by Laya Rose Mutton-Rogers. Fitzwater has a real gift for prose and sensory description, which they deploy to great effect, creating a sense of breathless disorientation around the ebb and flow of nature, the magic within Tea, and the chaos of war. The language is the kind that snaps you up and gets you lost in the best of ways, but at the same time, the characters, especially Tea, keep the story grounded. We get snippets of Grant and Izzy’s perspectives as well, but for the most part, we’re in Tea’s head, right alongside her as she experiences frustration – from her mother unpacking all her practical clothes and filling her suitcase with clothing designed to help her catch a husband, to the way the men on the farm goad her and tease her and expect her to fail at “men’s work”, and her conflicted feelings about Izzy and the growing power she discovers within herself.
Need and desire are an underlying current in all of Tea’s thoughts and actions – not just physical desire, but the desire to be respected, taken seriously, and to do something that matters, especially when it comes to the war. With her brother so far away, Tea feels helpless, made worse by the fact that she feels trapped by the box of expectations placed around her as a woman. She wants to break out, forge her own way in the world, but at the same time, she’s afraid. All her life she’s been taught there’s a natural order to things – magic belongs in stories for children, and women are meant to be wives and mothers and nothing more. Even though Tea doesn’t truly believe either of those things deep down, she’s been conditioned to accept them. The war forms a backdrop, but the conflict in the novella is far more personal, as Tea wars with herself, and what she’s been taught to believe about the world versus the larger possibilities of who she is allowed to love, who she is allowed to be, and what she’s allowed to do with her life.
No Man’s Land brings to the forefront women’s history, and the kind of stories that often go untold in war narratives, shifting the focus from soldiers on the front line to those doing vital work back home. Farm labor is just as important to keeping the world turning, but history often overlooks jobs considered “menial” or “women’s work”. The novella also touches on queer history and rights, particularly in the epilogue taking place years after the war. Tea’s self-discovery is rooted in history and a personal journey, but soaked in the magic and wonder of the hidden world existing alongside ours. It’s a lovely book, and I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy.
March 3, 2024
Fitzwater's latest novella is a queer historical fantasy of Maori girls working in the Land Service in New Zealand during World War II. It's a fun story with unique magic, and Fitzwater's language is beautiful, sometimes poetic. However, the story felt clunky in places, with time jumps that didn't sit right with me. Ultimately I enjoyed Fitzwater's The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper much more, although I can't deny that this was a fun story for a light read.
Buddy read with the fine folk at Worlds Beyond the Margins here
I will say that I really enjoyed the historical time period, and it made me go internet-diving for Kiwi Land Service girls. Here are some scrumptious pictures I located here: https://www.cooksinfo.com/new-zealand...
The poster, of course. This must be the uniform that Tea can't wait to wear!
American first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (in the hat) smiling with three Land Service women (in overalls) holding lambs. Two of the women are Maori!
Land Service sheep!!
Buddy read with the fine folk at Worlds Beyond the Margins here
I will say that I really enjoyed the historical time period, and it made me go internet-diving for Kiwi Land Service girls. Here are some scrumptious pictures I located here: https://www.cooksinfo.com/new-zealand...
The poster, of course. This must be the uniform that Tea can't wait to wear!
American first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (in the hat) smiling with three Land Service women (in overalls) holding lambs. Two of the women are Maori!
Land Service sheep!!
September 15, 2020
Rep: Maori characters, lesbian mcs, mlm mc, genderfluid side character
CWs: internalised lesbophobia/homophobia, casual racism
CWs: internalised lesbophobia/homophobia, casual racism
April 12, 2022
A very wordy and profoundly descriptive story... however that stylized writing often made me feel detached from what was going on, and difficult to understand.
Ultimately there's a lot of words, but not a lot of substance, also not a lot that really happens, either.
I really wanted far more of a connection between our MC Tea and the woman she bonds with, Izzy. It fell flat there, and despite a very touching epilogue - the work wasn't put in enough for me to truly celebrate by the end.
Ultimately there's a lot of words, but not a lot of substance, also not a lot that really happens, either.
I really wanted far more of a connection between our MC Tea and the woman she bonds with, Izzy. It fell flat there, and despite a very touching epilogue - the work wasn't put in enough for me to truly celebrate by the end.
March 14, 2024
Friend. She was thinking of Tea as a friend. But it was more, much more than that. Something people called unnatural. Something she had been far more afraid of than her canine flesh. Being a dog was easy. Being human, her type of human, was almost impossible.
I was so ready to love this book and it is such a bummer for me that I didn't. I really liked Fitzwater's debut The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper and I was so ready to love this one, especially when I read this bit from the blurb:
Inspired by feminist and LGBTQ+ history and family memories of North Otago in wartime, A.J Fitzwater has turned a piece of forgotten women’s history into a tapestry of furious pride and love that crosses cultures, countries and decades.
Sounds lovely right? Sadly, this didn't quite work for me. It's hard to pinpoint why exactly but I think it comes down to few things.
1. As a story, narratively, this doesn't work very well. The final big action comes sort of... from around the corner and it didn't really fit with the rest of the book very well in my opinion.
2. The writing style was... confusing in places. I had to re-read sentences quite often. Not sure what it was about that exactly but I wasn't the only one with this experience...
3. Tea was... an annoying protagonist. I don't say this often and I feel wrong about saying it here since the reason why she is so annoying is very much internalized homophobia and misogyny. It was just too much, this is a very short book, but hearing things like:
How can women and men be friends like that? Madness from the pain clashing and chewing on Tea's thoughts. They're supposed to get married if they like each other...
got old real quick. It was kind of funny and heartbreaking at the beginning, but since there was only little change throughout the book and only little questioning it wasn't "fun" to read. I would have liked it so much better if it was more actively worked with.
4. I really loved Izzy though and I just... I felt so sorry for her, because Tea was so oblivious that it was painful!
Overall, this was disappointing, but that's life I guess. I will be reading more by Fitzwater in the future. I have planned at least one of their short-stories for this year still. I also definitely want to read more books set in New Zealand!
BRed at WBtM: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
August 17, 2020
This is pretty well written. And I was pleasantly surprised, even if I ultimately felt the story fizzled out as soon as the MC accepts and uses her magic. I did appreciate that it is heavily implied that the MC is unknowingly half-Māori, and yet she didn't think it was okay to superficially take on the identity (but hopefully she would have at least explored that aspect of her identity, which is extremely tied into her magic, in the long term). It seems the author did have a Māori sensitivity reader, but I still felt the book was very white in spirit.
February 5, 2021
I like the concept and the focus on Tea and her coming-of-age; of the relationship between the three friends; the mystery of her brother; and how the story is written so that the magical elements are revealed at the same time as Tea learns it. I really like how grounded and real the magic feels - that I will believe it to exist in the here and now. But there was something missing and I was not as entertained as I wanted to be. Possibly it is the absence of an obvious conflict or villain within the story?
September 17, 2022
fun concept, blah execution
April 30, 2021
Did I enjoy this book less because I was in a weird mood when I read it? Maybe. No Man’s Land by A. J. Fitzwater is a fantasy/historical fiction novella about a young woman who joins the New Zealand Women’s Land Service during World War II, an agricultural organization created to mitigate the labor shortage caused by all the young men being off at war. It’s a coming of age story of self discovery, both of magical talents and queer love in a time where it’s strictly illegal. I don’t know that I’ve ever read a book before that blends real history with magic in quite the way this book did, and honestly I think I was sort of disoriented by the very premise. The book is about Māori characters and Māori culture is used as the basis for the book’s magic, and I am not sure what I think about how that was carried off; I always have a lot of conflicted feelings about how fictional magic intersects with reality. I loved the idea of exploring women working in these newly allotted roles in service of their country during war, and really wanted to love this queer feminist fantasy, but ultimately I had all these unsettled feelings, and when it got down to it, the central conflict didn't totally come together for me.
November 29, 2020
This was such a beautiful, queer historical fantasy about Maori women who worked as land girls during WWII in New Zealand. I loved how the magic worked in this book, involving taste and smell and vibrations. I also thought the writing itself was stunningly beautiful at times, although there were a few points where things were a little rough around the edges or the story lost me for a moment due to the angst of the characters. It's still such a great novella and I know I'll be seeking out more work by this author!
November 3, 2021
This was a nice little palate cleanser between heftier books. Magical. Earthy. Queer. It's not without flaws, but hey.
Gave me a feeling of soothing remoteness I associate with all things New Zealand.
Gave me a feeling of soothing remoteness I associate with all things New Zealand.
April 19, 2025
Love a NZ YA historical queer fantasy realism story. Even though I didn't love this (the characters were very strong but the writing was clumsy in places) I love to see more and more of these kinds of stories out and about for the YA audience of Aotearoa.
December 29, 2020
This is a beautiful little book, that reminded me a time or two of Anne of Green Gables. A coming of age story, where a young woman learns about herself and the world around her, neither being what she thought them to be. Good stuff.
March 20, 2021
Review is at Strange Horizons -
http://strangehorizons.com/non-fictio...
http://strangehorizons.com/non-fictio...
June 17, 2021
Shapeshifting LGBTQ Land Girls in WWII New Zealand! Magic I don't even know how to describe! And gorgeous, lyrical writing! What a delight.
October 3, 2021
As a queer woman, reading this was like discovering a lost piece of Our history, from the other side of the world. Quiet, subtle, rough and sweet- like water from the creek.
December 9, 2020
Gorgeous queer shapeshifter fantasy set in WWII New Zealand. Recommended!
October 9, 2021
Read for the "Read the World" Challenge for: New Zealand 🇳🇿
CW: LGBT slur, racial slurs, misgendering(ish) [Don't worry too much about the CW - these are all either minor or plot relevant!!!!]
This book is so important.
And great.
Honestly, it's going to be hard to write a review about.
To start, I loved the writing. There were some beautifully evocative moments - especially scent! Writing about smell is one of the more difficult sense (at least for me) and Fitzwater absolutely rocked it! For such a short piece, I cared tremendously about the characters. They were sweet and lovable and determined.
While I don't know much about Māori culture, I didn't necessarily think my lack of background knowledge was a huge issue. The general basic descriptions of the magic system worked well enough to get me through the big questions, but left me with enough interest to seek out more about it! I thought the dynamics of racial tension were also handled very delicately, in a good way.
Although the characters in this book are in their 20s, they definitely read a bit younger. That never got in my way, though, and I actually think that's kind of big bonus for this story - it could speak to a wider audience of young teens all the way through adults interested in reading more LGBT+ themed books.
I first found out about this book because I follow the cover artist on Tumblr and I fell absolutely in love with the art. Then I sought this book out, read the plot description, and absolutely died.
This story is adorable and sweet and important for wider representation. I hugely recommend it to anyone interested in historical fantasy, indigenous cultures, WWII gays, or just a sweet sapphic love story.
CW: LGBT slur, racial slurs, misgendering(ish) [Don't worry too much about the CW - these are all either minor or plot relevant!!!!]
This book is so important.
And great.
Honestly, it's going to be hard to write a review about.
To start, I loved the writing. There were some beautifully evocative moments - especially scent! Writing about smell is one of the more difficult sense (at least for me) and Fitzwater absolutely rocked it! For such a short piece, I cared tremendously about the characters. They were sweet and lovable and determined.
While I don't know much about Māori culture, I didn't necessarily think my lack of background knowledge was a huge issue. The general basic descriptions of the magic system worked well enough to get me through the big questions, but left me with enough interest to seek out more about it! I thought the dynamics of racial tension were also handled very delicately, in a good way.
Although the characters in this book are in their 20s, they definitely read a bit younger. That never got in my way, though, and I actually think that's kind of big bonus for this story - it could speak to a wider audience of young teens all the way through adults interested in reading more LGBT+ themed books.
I first found out about this book because I follow the cover artist on Tumblr and I fell absolutely in love with the art. Then I sought this book out, read the plot description, and absolutely died.
This story is adorable and sweet and important for wider representation. I hugely recommend it to anyone interested in historical fantasy, indigenous cultures, WWII gays, or just a sweet sapphic love story.
December 30, 2020
a fantasy story with soft, lyrical writing with a found family trope? yep, it's as good as it sounds. this story really did capture the "new zealand" feel - i can't really describe it better, except that it evoked the feel of the Rural New Zealand Scene well, which i've come across in nz writings that we had to read for school. the romance is gentle and slow-paced which i love. the only downside is that it feels like there's a lot squeezed into this little novel. perhaps some of the things that were mentioned at the end could have been included in a sequel. in any case, i did appreciate the message of hope at the end, as well as the very realistic message of resolution and taking a stand and strapping in for a long fight.
December 20, 2021
This book gave me mixed feelings. I loved reading a novel based in Aotearoa, containing some bits of real WWII history, especially focused on the role women had to take during those days. The weirdest part wasn't for me the fantasy take of the story, but perhaps the jump of the shark that the story does as soon as the MC embraces her new abilities. I also felt that the writing was at times a bit confusing, but it's also possibly caused by some Kiwi-isms that I'm not too familiar with. Apart from that, I was glued to the story and loved the relationship between the characters, so in the end I quite liked the book!
Read
September 21, 2020Confession time: I picked up this book because of the gorgeous cover.
Anyway, I really liked the setting and the atmosphere. The prose was lyrical but occasionally a bit much; sometimes I felt like I didn't need another long description of how Tea felt the echo of the water in the creek in her blood, etc, and I wished the author would just get on with the story--although ultimately I felt like the more action-adventure "plot" bits lacked the power and interest of Tea's life on the farm.
Anyway, I really liked the setting and the atmosphere. The prose was lyrical but occasionally a bit much; sometimes I felt like I didn't need another long description of how Tea felt the echo of the water in the creek in her blood, etc, and I wished the author would just get on with the story--although ultimately I felt like the more action-adventure "plot" bits lacked the power and interest of Tea's life on the farm.
August 11, 2020
Having read the highly amusing and upbeat Cinrak the Dapper, I leapt onto another by the same author – No Man's Land – expecting it to be in the same tone. It wasn't, but it is very good too, in a different way. It is set in WW2, and starts with a young woman leaving home to be a Land Girl on a farm in Otago. Her mother thinks that she will be in with a chance of marrying a nice young farmer, so when she reaches the farm and starts to unpack, she finds that her mother has completely re-packed her suitcase removing all the useful shirts and dungarees and and has replaced them with pretty frocks. This is a microcosm of her life – being expected to conform while wanting to find a way that she can live her life happily. She doesn't fit in, and isn't comfortable in the world where she is expected to fit in, and can't decide why. So suffice it to say, the opening of the book is not upbeat, and reflects the discomfort of the character which I found a little offputting. I kept going and was glad that I had.
It is hard to describe the story without spoilers, and without spoilers it might sound rather trivial, which it is not. So I'm going to try to give an impression by mentioning some of the elements. There is a theme of magic thoughout, with a Maori origin, arising from land, water and other parts of the natural world. There is shape shifting. There is growing friendship and love. And there are some pretty big wow moments.
It is hard to describe the story without spoilers, and without spoilers it might sound rather trivial, which it is not. So I'm going to try to give an impression by mentioning some of the elements. There is a theme of magic thoughout, with a Maori origin, arising from land, water and other parts of the natural world. There is shape shifting. There is growing friendship and love. And there are some pretty big wow moments.
February 27, 2022
This was an intriguing and twisty little story. I wasn’t quite sure where it was going to go, but as it unfolded, I became more invested in the characters and their abilities. It’s told through the eyes of Tea, who volunteered to join the Land Service to do her part in the war effort during WW2. She was assigned to work at a farm with several other young women and Grant who was to ill to fight. There was a mystery right away when she saw a dog on her walk to the farm and everyone said they didn’t know whose dog it was, but it kept appearing.
Everything slowly unfolded as Tea spent time there, learning more about herself. There were some unbelievable events that she finally accepted with time. The story moves on from there to a fantastical event. Then we fast forward some decades to find how Tea and the other main characters are all doing.
I also appreciated getting a glimpse of WW2 through the eyes of New Zealanders as well as learning a little more about the Māori people and their beliefs or folklore.
Everything slowly unfolded as Tea spent time there, learning more about herself. There were some unbelievable events that she finally accepted with time. The story moves on from there to a fantastical event. Then we fast forward some decades to find how Tea and the other main characters are all doing.
I also appreciated getting a glimpse of WW2 through the eyes of New Zealanders as well as learning a little more about the Māori people and their beliefs or folklore.
October 27, 2021
I love this! Land Girls and shapeshifters... set in rural New Zealand during WW2, it's the story of a young woman who goes to work on a farm while the men who would usually have that job (including her twin brother) are off at war. Farm work is nothing like what Tea's used to, and it's all complicated by the fact that she seems to be turning into an eel. Which is a summary that sounds really bizarre on the face of it, but it doesn't register, in No Man's Land, as more than slightly strange. It's not that other events are even weirder (though some of them are), it's that this is a quiet, almost reserved story about family, found and otherwise, and the transformations reflect that: connections to each other and to the land, and how they are aspects of the self to be embraced, rather than an exhibition of monstrosity to be othered into disappearance and/or compliance. It's just very, very well done... and the cover is gorgeous.
February 23, 2025
Secrets of many forms in rural New Zealand
No Man‘s Land by Kiwi author AJ Fitzwater is a tantalizing mix of urban (or rather rural) fantasy with Maori elements, historical fiction set mainly during WW II, women‘s and queer history, as well as lesbian and gay love.
I very much enjoyed to learn about life in New Zealand during WW II, the life on a sheep farm as well as the life of young women in the land service (women helping on farms while the men fought abroad): AJ does a great job to transport us readers back in time.
In addition there is a deep magic woven into the lives and the blood of Izzy, a Maori, and Dorothy („Tea“) and without giving too much away I loved how AJ masterfully introduces this topic and hints at the deeper layers. It adds so much athmosphere.
The friendships and love developing throughout the book are lovely and carry on for a lifetime.
A very special book: short, but deep and enchanting.
No Man‘s Land by Kiwi author AJ Fitzwater is a tantalizing mix of urban (or rather rural) fantasy with Maori elements, historical fiction set mainly during WW II, women‘s and queer history, as well as lesbian and gay love.
I very much enjoyed to learn about life in New Zealand during WW II, the life on a sheep farm as well as the life of young women in the land service (women helping on farms while the men fought abroad): AJ does a great job to transport us readers back in time.
In addition there is a deep magic woven into the lives and the blood of Izzy, a Maori, and Dorothy („Tea“) and without giving too much away I loved how AJ masterfully introduces this topic and hints at the deeper layers. It adds so much athmosphere.
The friendships and love developing throughout the book are lovely and carry on for a lifetime.
A very special book: short, but deep and enchanting.
tbr-calibre
September 20, 2020***WHO SUCKED ME IN***
Kalanadi on YouTube in their No Man's Land by A.J. Fitzwater | Review published on 8 sep. 2020
I never read a fantasy based in New Zealand!
Kalanadi on YouTube in their No Man's Land by A.J. Fitzwater | Review published on 8 sep. 2020
I never read a fantasy based in New Zealand!
December 9, 2020
This is an intriguing book. A beautifully written and wonderfully imaginative story with a serious fantasy element, mostly set in Australia. The book is relatively short and is a quick read. Hold on for a slightly mind bending story line. I enjoy fantasy and thought the fairy tale element mixed with very down to earth war time setting and the tribulations that entails.
June 19, 2022
Didn't enjoy the writing unfortunately. It was rather too plain, too little information on what is actually happening that it left me confused the whole time. I didn't like how it only told the story and explained everything indirectly and with implications. I would like a definite answer here and there if possible please.
December 3, 2024
very sweet story intwining queerness and indigenous folklore. i haven't read anything by a new zealand author so i am happy to read this book. you can def tell it's translated as some of the writing is a bit choppy but that just comes with the territory. i really appreciated the epilogue and that the queer story has a happy ending
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