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Cold Earth
Six young people meet on an archaeological dig in a remote corner of Greenland. Excavating the unsettling remains of a Norse society under attack, they also come to uncover some of their own demons, as it becomes apparent that a plague pandemic is sweeping across the planet and communication with the outside world is breaking down.
Increasingly unsure whether their missives will ever reach their destination, each of the characters writes a letter to someone close to them, trying to make sense of their situation and expressing their fears and dwindling hope of ever getting back home...
In fluid, witty prose, Moss weaves a rich tapestry of personal narratives, history, ghost stories, love stories, stories of grief and naked survival. Through these missives, the author explores themes that are at the very heart of our existence: What do people do in extremis? What do they think when faced with near-certain death? How do the group dynamics shift under such strain?
Increasingly unsure whether their missives will ever reach their destination, each of the characters writes a letter to someone close to them, trying to make sense of their situation and expressing their fears and dwindling hope of ever getting back home...
In fluid, witty prose, Moss weaves a rich tapestry of personal narratives, history, ghost stories, love stories, stories of grief and naked survival. Through these missives, the author explores themes that are at the very heart of our existence: What do people do in extremis? What do they think when faced with near-certain death? How do the group dynamics shift under such strain?
280 pages, Paperback
First published April 13, 2010
42 people are currently reading
2664 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Moss
33 books1,880 followersSarah Moss is the award-winning author of six novels: Cold Earth, Night Waking, selected for the Fiction Uncovered Award in 2011, Bodies of Light, Signs for Lost Children and The Tidal Zone, all shortlisted for the prestigious Wellcome Prize, and her new book Ghost Wall, out in September 2018.
She has also written a memoir of her year living in Iceland, Names for the Sea, which was shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize in 2013.
Sarah Moss is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Warwick in England.
She has also written a memoir of her year living in Iceland, Names for the Sea, which was shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize in 2013.
Sarah Moss is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Warwick in England.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 313 reviews
May 26, 2024
This is a unique telling of a post-apocalyptic event. Six graduate students spend their summer in Greenland at a dig, while a virus infects the outside world. This was written long before Covid hit, so it seems very prescient. Three men and three women are flown into the site and set up their tents, preparing for the excavation of a Norse settlement. It doesn't give any particulars about this. The Norse inhabited Greenland from 985 until around 1450 and then mysteriously disappeared. No one knows what happened. It could have been a combination of a lot of bad things happening at once. It usually is. Anyway the author doesn't go into that, but focuses on the modern day students whose lives start to unravel as they lose contact with the outside world.
Each person tells their story in separate chapters. It's a fascinating read and lets you inside each person's head as they devolve or become what they really were all along. I find the Norse Greenlanders' story compelling as well. Think about it, their civilization lasted there for over 400 years and then poof. It lasted twice as long as the US has been a country.
Each person tells their story in separate chapters. It's a fascinating read and lets you inside each person's head as they devolve or become what they really were all along. I find the Norse Greenlanders' story compelling as well. Think about it, their civilization lasted there for over 400 years and then poof. It lasted twice as long as the US has been a country.
October 10, 2019
Much to my surprise I quite enjoyed this novel, despite a very unsatisfactory ending. The premise is a simple one. Six people head off on a dig to Greenland in the artic summer. They go to a very isolated spot where there were viking settlements which disappeared (plague or massacre, we are never entirely certain). The six are a varied and suitably irritating bunch, one of whom is a complete novice (a literature student doing a thesis). They have limited contact with the outside world and are there for the brief summer with enough food (unappetising) to last them. The leader is an obsessive with very clear rules about how the dig should be run. The literature student appears neurotic and starts to see/hear the ghosts of previous residents who do not like the graves being disturbed. Towards the end it seems she is probably more sane and realistic than the rest. In the background as they leave a flu pandemic appears to be starting.
We hear from each of the characters in letter form (some a lot more than the others). The letter idea works ok. Each of the characters is annoying in their own way and are a pretty typical bunch for this sort of story.
There is a good deal of detail about the environment they are in (not surprising as the author has written a good deal about polar exploration) and about food; real and imagined, as they become more hungry (again not surprising as the author has also written about food in literature). There were some interesting literary links (Villette for instance) with nineteenth century literature and some parallels with the books mentioned in the story.
All this was good fun, not especially creepy; however the ending was a definite let down. This may be because it wasn't long enough and could have been fleshed out.
We hear from each of the characters in letter form (some a lot more than the others). The letter idea works ok. Each of the characters is annoying in their own way and are a pretty typical bunch for this sort of story.
There is a good deal of detail about the environment they are in (not surprising as the author has written a good deal about polar exploration) and about food; real and imagined, as they become more hungry (again not surprising as the author has also written about food in literature). There were some interesting literary links (Villette for instance) with nineteenth century literature and some parallels with the books mentioned in the story.
All this was good fun, not especially creepy; however the ending was a definite let down. This may be because it wasn't long enough and could have been fleshed out.
June 13, 2018
I’ve now read Moss’s complete works (well, her five novels and travel book at least; not the more academic stuff), just in time for her new novella coming out in September (Ghost Wall). This was her first book, and it’s really good, a suspenseful story of six people on an archaeological dig in West Greenland: three men and three women, all English or American academic types looking for distraction at a time when the world is under threat from a distressing epidemic. From the day they arrive, they are completely cut off, and not just physically; an unreliable Internet connection means they’re largely out of touch with the world and don’t know the progress of the plague.
Much of the book is narrated by three of the main characters – Nina, Ruth and Jim – though brief sections towards the end cycle through the other three as well. All of the characters address their narratives to a certain ‘you’, which in some cases is a partner or a family member but in others is just a nameless future reader. If the worst arrives, they want to be remembered. It was a wise choice for Moss to start with Nina, a literature student who’s here because of her interest in how Old Norse sagas influenced Victorian poetry. Her voice stands out because she is remarkably blunt for an English person. When she starts having nightmares about violence that occurred on this site centuries ago and hears mysterious movement and noises in the night, you as the reader are more inclined to believe her because she is such a no-nonsense character. As they unearth a burial ground, it seems hard to see these incidents as anything other than the interventions of angry ghosts.
So, this is a dystopian vision, a survival tale, and a ghost story all in one. It blends history and a believable near future in an effective way, but what I admired most was the characterization. With their disparate losses, fears and goals, these are rounded characters you care about. I didn’t always think the epidemic was necessary background – the Greenland setting is enough to account for their isolation and worry – but it adds to the general aura of peril, which Moss sustains all the way up to the last chapter.
Much of the book is narrated by three of the main characters – Nina, Ruth and Jim – though brief sections towards the end cycle through the other three as well. All of the characters address their narratives to a certain ‘you’, which in some cases is a partner or a family member but in others is just a nameless future reader. If the worst arrives, they want to be remembered. It was a wise choice for Moss to start with Nina, a literature student who’s here because of her interest in how Old Norse sagas influenced Victorian poetry. Her voice stands out because she is remarkably blunt for an English person. When she starts having nightmares about violence that occurred on this site centuries ago and hears mysterious movement and noises in the night, you as the reader are more inclined to believe her because she is such a no-nonsense character. As they unearth a burial ground, it seems hard to see these incidents as anything other than the interventions of angry ghosts.
So, this is a dystopian vision, a survival tale, and a ghost story all in one. It blends history and a believable near future in an effective way, but what I admired most was the characterization. With their disparate losses, fears and goals, these are rounded characters you care about. I didn’t always think the epidemic was necessary background – the Greenland setting is enough to account for their isolation and worry – but it adds to the general aura of peril, which Moss sustains all the way up to the last chapter.
October 27, 2020
Cold Earth centres on six graduate students gathered together on an archaeological dig but Sarah Moss uses their story to explore wider themes of grief, loss, faith, human fallibility and frailty. It’s a tense, atmospheric piece, set in an isolated area of Greenland, home to the remains of a medieval settlement that disappeared for reasons that are uncertain. The team’s experiences are told from overlapping perspectives but the dominant voice is Nina’s. She’s working on a thesis about the influence of Norse sagas on nineteenth-century literature, making her connection to excavating the villagers’ remains tangential, yet every night in her dreams she sees them, so vivid they’re almost tangible. Gradually she finds it impossible to tell what’s real and what imagined, at night in her tent she claims to hear the voices of the dead whisper in the air, and the others start to wonder if she’s entirely well. As news of a global pandemic reaches the camp, contact with the outside starts to dry up. Anxiety mounts as supplies run low and each confronts their deepest, most fundamental fears, all the ways in which their worlds might fail from nuclear threat to the looming impact of climate change; fears intensified by speculations on what may have destroyed the former colony they’re here to document.
Moss’s focus on a small group stranded in a remote location, beset by possible supernatural forces reminded me of books like Michelle Paver’s Thin Air but Moss seems less interested in exploring the boundaries between reality and the supernatural. Instead she seems more invested in presenting her characters’ attitudes to their increasingly fraught situation as an example of how beliefs may fuel or derail the drive for survival in extreme circumstances, love, religion, superstition, a reliance on the rational or scientific. This was Moss’s debut novel and it shows at times, there are some awkward passages and a tendency to tackle more than the narrative can fully support. But despite its weaknesses, this is absorbing and well-observed: an intelligent variation on a traditional ghost story that raises interesting questions about the precarious, fragile nature of existence and the resources we take for granted.
Moss’s focus on a small group stranded in a remote location, beset by possible supernatural forces reminded me of books like Michelle Paver’s Thin Air but Moss seems less interested in exploring the boundaries between reality and the supernatural. Instead she seems more invested in presenting her characters’ attitudes to their increasingly fraught situation as an example of how beliefs may fuel or derail the drive for survival in extreme circumstances, love, religion, superstition, a reliance on the rational or scientific. This was Moss’s debut novel and it shows at times, there are some awkward passages and a tendency to tackle more than the narrative can fully support. But despite its weaknesses, this is absorbing and well-observed: an intelligent variation on a traditional ghost story that raises interesting questions about the precarious, fragile nature of existence and the resources we take for granted.
January 27, 2021
Although Moss's debut novel was the last of her seven (published so far) that I read, it just might be my favorite of them all (although TBH, there isn't a dud in the bunch). Not sure what distinguished this for me from the rest, but I found it compulsively readable, and raced through it faster than the others. Of her other oeuvre, it resembles Ghost Wall most, as both center around explorations of past civilizations that take a turn for the worse.
My major quibble is that the conceit of the book, supposedly composed of writings home by six stranded archeological students in Greenland facing an uncertain future and probable death. doesn't really bear close scrutiny - not only couldn't/wouldn't they have written in such detail (including pages of 'remembered' dialogue), but as in most books with multiple POVs, the writing all sounds the same, although the writers come from different backgrounds and experiences. Be that as it may, I found it compelling, exciting, and - although some would say this is damning with faint praise - I think it would make a kickass film. Will be eagerly awaiting whatever Moss produces next, and will move on to her non-fiction memoir of her year in Iceland, Names for the Sea: Strangers in Iceland.
My major quibble is that the conceit of the book, supposedly composed of writings home by six stranded archeological students in Greenland facing an uncertain future and probable death. doesn't really bear close scrutiny - not only couldn't/wouldn't they have written in such detail (including pages of 'remembered' dialogue), but as in most books with multiple POVs, the writing all sounds the same, although the writers come from different backgrounds and experiences. Be that as it may, I found it compelling, exciting, and - although some would say this is damning with faint praise - I think it would make a kickass film. Will be eagerly awaiting whatever Moss produces next, and will move on to her non-fiction memoir of her year in Iceland, Names for the Sea: Strangers in Iceland.
June 25, 2009
Ahahahahahahaha! OK, this book isn't supposed to be funny but it's only for the fact that I laughed through most of it (albeit when I wasn't supposed to) that it gets 3 stars and not one.
Oh dear, oh dear. Plot idea = great. Execution = erm, not. When I first read the blurb on the back of this I really thought I was in for a treat. Six archaelogoists on a dig in Greenland and then they get news of an epidemic back home and their communication with the outside world falls away and they are left stranded with not enough food or shelter. The book is written in the form of last letters home by each member of the party in turn.
So what happened? Very little, as it goes. Each character was so underdeveloped I didn't give a monkeys about any of them, the "inbetween plot" of ghosties and ghoulies haunting their little camp was hilarious and not in any particular order that I could fathom and there were so many academic "in-jokes" that had me groaning on almost a page-by-page basis. I know this book was written by a senior literature professor, but seriously love, stick to your day job. Frankly most of the narrative left me appalled by its stiltedness and the oodles of references to 19th century classics only served to show off the authors knowledge than to enhance the plot in any way. Why did we need to know what picture was on the cover of Villette and Middlemarch? I sort of got the impression that alot of the authors own opinions were coming through her characters (imparticular Nina): there were left-wing views, snobbery about package holidays, views on femenism and all that had no relevence to the plot.
One of my favourtie parts was when the group had realised that they had had no internet connection for several days. They were wondering if maybe the epidemic had spread from the USA to Europe. So instead of testing a website in, say, Australia or Malaysia what do they do? Check a real-estates in Scotland and the Guardian Newspaper, that's what. Genius!
So, the 3 stars - I laughed. I laughed a lot. And, weirdly, I felt compelled to keep reading. Did I enjoy this book? Yes, sort of. Would I recommend it? No.
Oh dear, oh dear. Plot idea = great. Execution = erm, not. When I first read the blurb on the back of this I really thought I was in for a treat. Six archaelogoists on a dig in Greenland and then they get news of an epidemic back home and their communication with the outside world falls away and they are left stranded with not enough food or shelter. The book is written in the form of last letters home by each member of the party in turn.
So what happened? Very little, as it goes. Each character was so underdeveloped I didn't give a monkeys about any of them, the "inbetween plot" of ghosties and ghoulies haunting their little camp was hilarious and not in any particular order that I could fathom and there were so many academic "in-jokes" that had me groaning on almost a page-by-page basis. I know this book was written by a senior literature professor, but seriously love, stick to your day job. Frankly most of the narrative left me appalled by its stiltedness and the oodles of references to 19th century classics only served to show off the authors knowledge than to enhance the plot in any way. Why did we need to know what picture was on the cover of Villette and Middlemarch? I sort of got the impression that alot of the authors own opinions were coming through her characters (imparticular Nina): there were left-wing views, snobbery about package holidays, views on femenism and all that had no relevence to the plot.
One of my favourtie parts was when the group had realised that they had had no internet connection for several days. They were wondering if maybe the epidemic had spread from the USA to Europe. So instead of testing a website in, say, Australia or Malaysia what do they do? Check a real-estates in Scotland and the Guardian Newspaper, that's what. Genius!
So, the 3 stars - I laughed. I laughed a lot. And, weirdly, I felt compelled to keep reading. Did I enjoy this book? Yes, sort of. Would I recommend it? No.
February 25, 2017
The blurb for this book includes a) an extract from a review likening it to The Secret History and b) a quote from Scarlett Thomas, calling it 'one of the most powerful and gripping debut novels I have ever read'. A comparison to my favourite contemporary novel and praise from my favourite contemporary author: how could I not want to read it?
Cold Earth follows a group of young people on an archaeological dig in Greenland. The team is made up of four archaeologists, Ruth, Catriona, Ben and Jim, along with their team leader Yianni, and Nina, a literature student who has tagged along for various vague reasons. A mixture of nationalities and backgrounds, they struggle to get along in the isolated, cramped conditions of the camp, with only sporadic access to the internet providing a link with the outside world. With reports of a potential pandemic starting to surface as they arrive in Greenland, they are faced with the possibility that a deadly virus may be spreading across the rest of the world, making them anxious about their families and friends, and eventually prompting the uncomfortable and terrifying question: could they be the only ones left? The book is written as a series of letters from the team members to their loved ones back home, with the perspective switching to different characters as it progresses.
Unfortunately, the first third of the book is lumbered with impossible-to-like Nina as narrator. She is selfish, childish, pretentious, hideously judgemental, throws tantrums for next to no reason, decides she hates Ruth because she takes care of her appearance while on the dig (yet she - Nina, that is - claims to be a feminist...!), and is irritatingly obsessed with her boyfriend, to whom her narrative is addressed. She drops brand names into her account for no reason other, it seems, than to show off (when she's had a panic attack and Yianni makes her hot chocolate: 'when I didn't think about Charbonnel et Walker, it was warm and sweet') and makes awful, selfish statements about the pandemic, since her boyfriend is the only person she cares about ('the rest of the country can lie dying in the streets for all I care as long as you are all right') - which begs the question of why she would ever have agreed to join the expedition in the first place. She's supposed to love adventure, but this doesn't gel with her needy and immature personality.
Then we're handed over to Ruth, who (thank god) is much more likeable. Through Ruth's eyes, we see that Nina's neurotic tendencies are escalating into a sort of madness, as she becomes convinced that the team's activity is causing them to be haunted by malevolent ghosts. Ruth, who has ghosts of her own, isn't convinced, even as the rest of the group becomes increasingly spooked by unexplained noises and strange voices in the night. We hear from the other characters too, but the chapters get progressively shorter and more urgent as the situation worsens.
Although I didn't think this book was brilliant, it was undoubtedly the most gripping thing I've read in a while, and I thought the premise was excellent. I even liked the ending. I just wished I could have taken this journey with characters I actually wanted to read about. I liked Ruth, but that was about it, and I wasn't keen on how the female characters were all obsessively attached to men who seemed to be rather indifferent about them, and I simply couldn't believe how insufferable Nina was () That Scarlett Thomas recommendation haunted me, because I know this would have been an amazing story if only she had written it (and it's nothing at all like The Secret History, by the way, not even superficially). A great idea with a compelling plot and some chilling, thought-provoking moments, but ultimately it's marred by the characters, and because of this I found it difficult to actually enjoy.
Cold Earth follows a group of young people on an archaeological dig in Greenland. The team is made up of four archaeologists, Ruth, Catriona, Ben and Jim, along with their team leader Yianni, and Nina, a literature student who has tagged along for various vague reasons. A mixture of nationalities and backgrounds, they struggle to get along in the isolated, cramped conditions of the camp, with only sporadic access to the internet providing a link with the outside world. With reports of a potential pandemic starting to surface as they arrive in Greenland, they are faced with the possibility that a deadly virus may be spreading across the rest of the world, making them anxious about their families and friends, and eventually prompting the uncomfortable and terrifying question: could they be the only ones left? The book is written as a series of letters from the team members to their loved ones back home, with the perspective switching to different characters as it progresses.
Unfortunately, the first third of the book is lumbered with impossible-to-like Nina as narrator. She is selfish, childish, pretentious, hideously judgemental, throws tantrums for next to no reason, decides she hates Ruth because she takes care of her appearance while on the dig (yet she - Nina, that is - claims to be a feminist...!), and is irritatingly obsessed with her boyfriend, to whom her narrative is addressed. She drops brand names into her account for no reason other, it seems, than to show off (when she's had a panic attack and Yianni makes her hot chocolate: 'when I didn't think about Charbonnel et Walker, it was warm and sweet') and makes awful, selfish statements about the pandemic, since her boyfriend is the only person she cares about ('the rest of the country can lie dying in the streets for all I care as long as you are all right') - which begs the question of why she would ever have agreed to join the expedition in the first place. She's supposed to love adventure, but this doesn't gel with her needy and immature personality.
Then we're handed over to Ruth, who (thank god) is much more likeable. Through Ruth's eyes, we see that Nina's neurotic tendencies are escalating into a sort of madness, as she becomes convinced that the team's activity is causing them to be haunted by malevolent ghosts. Ruth, who has ghosts of her own, isn't convinced, even as the rest of the group becomes increasingly spooked by unexplained noises and strange voices in the night. We hear from the other characters too, but the chapters get progressively shorter and more urgent as the situation worsens.
Although I didn't think this book was brilliant, it was undoubtedly the most gripping thing I've read in a while, and I thought the premise was excellent. I even liked the ending. I just wished I could have taken this journey with characters I actually wanted to read about. I liked Ruth, but that was about it, and I wasn't keen on how the female characters were all obsessively attached to men who seemed to be rather indifferent about them, and I simply couldn't believe how insufferable Nina was () That Scarlett Thomas recommendation haunted me, because I know this would have been an amazing story if only she had written it (and it's nothing at all like The Secret History, by the way, not even superficially). A great idea with a compelling plot and some chilling, thought-provoking moments, but ultimately it's marred by the characters, and because of this I found it difficult to actually enjoy.
December 19, 2016
3.5 stars.
I've shelved this as "dystopian", but it's really speculative fiction. I just don't read enough spec fic to warrant having a shelf for it. So.
This reminded me quite a lot of Station Eleven, in that it's spec fic and there's a plague. Which doesn't sound that much like it should remind me of Station Eleven, but here we are.
So the basic gist of the story is that this team of archaeologists goes to excavate a site in Greenland. As the excavation progresses, they slowly start to lose contact with the outside world after reports of a flu pandemic start to spread online. Also one of their team is dealing with pretty serious mental health issues, and also they're maybe being stalked by the ghosts of the bodies they're excavating???
I liked the tension in the story, and I enjoyed the setting and the archaeology side of things. But Nina was a suuuuuper annoying narrator during the first chunk of the book, and I found the ending pretty confusing? Like, I read one chunk of it twice and I still have no idea what happened. Plus, that whole ghost-y thing is never explained, so IDK what the hell was going on with that.
Overall, I think I'd sum this up as enjoyable, but weird.
I've shelved this as "dystopian", but it's really speculative fiction. I just don't read enough spec fic to warrant having a shelf for it. So.
This reminded me quite a lot of Station Eleven, in that it's spec fic and there's a plague. Which doesn't sound that much like it should remind me of Station Eleven, but here we are.
So the basic gist of the story is that this team of archaeologists goes to excavate a site in Greenland. As the excavation progresses, they slowly start to lose contact with the outside world after reports of a flu pandemic start to spread online. Also one of their team is dealing with pretty serious mental health issues, and also they're maybe being stalked by the ghosts of the bodies they're excavating???
I liked the tension in the story, and I enjoyed the setting and the archaeology side of things. But Nina was a suuuuuper annoying narrator during the first chunk of the book, and I found the ending pretty confusing? Like, I read one chunk of it twice and I still have no idea what happened. Plus, that whole ghost-y thing is never explained, so IDK what the hell was going on with that.
Overall, I think I'd sum this up as enjoyable, but weird.
May 31, 2022
3,75 sterren - Nederlandse hardcover
Quote: uk stapte achteruit om niet te hoeven kijken, maar zag toch nog iets bleekselderij onder de aarde vandaan komen. "Wat is het? Wat heb je daar?" Hij bleef de aarde wegvegen en pakte toen een harde borstel die hij bij zijn troffel bewaart.
"Een soort steen," zei hij. " Haal Yiaani even, alsjeblieft."
Niks wordt vrvraagt mee te gaan op archeologische expeditie naar een uithoek van Groenland. Voor haar studie. Ze kan op die manier een beurs krijgen. Ze reist niet zo graag en wil haar vriend niet achterlaten in Londen maar doet het toch.
In de rest van de wereld grijpt een geheimzinnig virus rond.
Nuna heeft ondertussen angstaanjagende dromen over wat er op de archeologische vindplaats is gebeurd.
Een suspense/mystery/ thriller de echt goed in elkaar zit. Echt knap voor een debuut roman. Onderlinge relaties tegen een achtergrond van achterdocht en angst.
Quote: uk stapte achteruit om niet te hoeven kijken, maar zag toch nog iets bleekselderij onder de aarde vandaan komen. "Wat is het? Wat heb je daar?" Hij bleef de aarde wegvegen en pakte toen een harde borstel die hij bij zijn troffel bewaart.
"Een soort steen," zei hij. " Haal Yiaani even, alsjeblieft."
Niks wordt vrvraagt mee te gaan op archeologische expeditie naar een uithoek van Groenland. Voor haar studie. Ze kan op die manier een beurs krijgen. Ze reist niet zo graag en wil haar vriend niet achterlaten in Londen maar doet het toch.
In de rest van de wereld grijpt een geheimzinnig virus rond.
Nuna heeft ondertussen angstaanjagende dromen over wat er op de archeologische vindplaats is gebeurd.
Een suspense/mystery/ thriller de echt goed in elkaar zit. Echt knap voor een debuut roman. Onderlinge relaties tegen een achtergrond van achterdocht en angst.
October 19, 2013
Cold Earth is a debut novel by Sarah Moss. It is set in Greenland with a team of six archaeologists and researchers from the United States, England and Scotland spending a few weeks at the beginning of the Arctic summer searching for traces of a lost Viking settlement. While they are on the expedition, there is an epidemic of some sort going on and they gradually lose contact with family at home and the outside world in general. In response, they each write what may be their last letter home.
Added to their increasing distress at what might be happening to the world around them is the unease created by Nina. Nina isn't really an archaeologist--she's an English major trying to tie Vikings into her research...and a friend of the team leader, Yianni. Nina begins seeing and hearing things and believes that the ancient Vikings are not pleased to have their resting place disturbed. With their connection to the outside world lost, food running out, and the possibility that no one will come back to get them, the possibility of a haunted burial site may be the last straw.
Described on the back of the book as an "exceptional and haunting debut novel" and a "heart-pounding thriller," it does sound like there's a lot of cool things going on. Doesn't it? Well....there's a lot of really cool ways that this story could have played out. And it doesn't use any of them. The ending is incredibly disappointing. After creating all this tension regarding the "epidemic" back home, we don't really ever find out how this epidemic affected them. Or affected anyone, really. After building up this atmosphere of a haunted archaeological site, we never find out if it's really haunted or if Nina is just one disturbed academic. There's the suggestion that it might all be in her head or that she's even behind the odd things that happen (somewhat reminiscent of The Haunting of Hill House), but it's even vaguer than Shirley Jackson's novel on that point.
This was a fairly decent read. It kept me going to the end. But I was thoroughly dissatisfied when I finished. I had very little sympathy with any of the characters--and two of them--Yianni, the team leader, and Ben--get very short shrift indeed. Nina gives us 103 pages for her letter, Ruth--79...and the letters get shorter and shorter. While both Yianni and Ben (the last of the writers) give us a mere four pages apiece. The team leader has only four pages to relate about one of the most important digs of his career?
So...this is represented as an apocalyptic, end of the world tale with dash of ghost story for added flavor. It comes off as rather bland and certainly not "thrilling" in any sense of the word. I didn't hate it--but I can't say that I'll be recommending it.
First posted on my blog
Added to their increasing distress at what might be happening to the world around them is the unease created by Nina. Nina isn't really an archaeologist--she's an English major trying to tie Vikings into her research...and a friend of the team leader, Yianni. Nina begins seeing and hearing things and believes that the ancient Vikings are not pleased to have their resting place disturbed. With their connection to the outside world lost, food running out, and the possibility that no one will come back to get them, the possibility of a haunted burial site may be the last straw.
Described on the back of the book as an "exceptional and haunting debut novel" and a "heart-pounding thriller," it does sound like there's a lot of cool things going on. Doesn't it? Well....there's a lot of really cool ways that this story could have played out. And it doesn't use any of them. The ending is incredibly disappointing. After creating all this tension regarding the "epidemic" back home, we don't really ever find out how this epidemic affected them. Or affected anyone, really. After building up this atmosphere of a haunted archaeological site, we never find out if it's really haunted or if Nina is just one disturbed academic. There's the suggestion that it might all be in her head or that she's even behind the odd things that happen (somewhat reminiscent of The Haunting of Hill House), but it's even vaguer than Shirley Jackson's novel on that point.
This was a fairly decent read. It kept me going to the end. But I was thoroughly dissatisfied when I finished. I had very little sympathy with any of the characters--and two of them--Yianni, the team leader, and Ben--get very short shrift indeed. Nina gives us 103 pages for her letter, Ruth--79...and the letters get shorter and shorter. While both Yianni and Ben (the last of the writers) give us a mere four pages apiece. The team leader has only four pages to relate about one of the most important digs of his career?
So...this is represented as an apocalyptic, end of the world tale with dash of ghost story for added flavor. It comes off as rather bland and certainly not "thrilling" in any sense of the word. I didn't hate it--but I can't say that I'll be recommending it.
First posted on my blog
September 24, 2015
One of the most original novels I've read this year. A heady mix. A ghost story with an archaeological perspective. A small group isolated while on an archaeological dig in Greenland as a virus rips through the rest of the earth, killing huge swaths of people and leaving the group stuck in Greenland, cut off from all contact with the rest of the world, not knowing if they will be rescued or left to freeze to death as the arctic winter approaches and their supplies run low. Did I mention it's set in modern-day Greenland? Honestly, I can't say I've ever read a novel quite like this one. I tore through it. I look forward to reading more of Sarah Moss.
Small caveat: she captures the texture and reality of academic pretension very, very well. The question is whether or not she realizes this is what she is doing, or if it is an unconscious reflection of Moss' experience. Either way, the characters were not always very likable and I often like that in a book.
Small caveat: she captures the texture and reality of academic pretension very, very well. The question is whether or not she realizes this is what she is doing, or if it is an unconscious reflection of Moss' experience. Either way, the characters were not always very likable and I often like that in a book.
May 29, 2017
Six postgraduates head to remote Greenland for an archeological dig whilst there are early reports of a spreading pandemic. I thought the synopsis sounded fantastic, the thought of a group of people trying to survive an apocalyptic event whilst trying to cope with isolation, cold, darkness and uncertainty. Does that sound good to you? If it does, this may not be the book for you. The first 90% is concerned with the mundane details of the dig, the character's back stories and thoughts. As the internet doesn't work (which is decided by testing the guardian website and a Scottish estate agents site, naturally) we are unsure how bad the pandemic is for the majority of the tale.
The story is more concerned with the flaws and neurosis of the first two characters who narrate. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just not what I expected. Sadly the protagonists are unlikeable and the third narrator is never really developed apart from his nostalgia and religious proclivities.
I felt that I understood Ruth after reading her chapters, although I didn't like her.
Her self punishment and need to cut herself off from the world make sense having read her back story. However, I didn't understand Nina's reason for the expedition. She is not an archaeologist or anthropologist and is squeamish of bones. She is desperate for her boyfriend, over-anxious about his welfare and has previously suffered from depression. She is selfish, rude, combative and completely intolerant of other people, so why spend months on a dig with strangers in isolation? Her delusions (or are they?) are rather confusing too. Seeing and hearing dead vikings seems a huge leap from her worries about exhuming the dead. She seems terribly ill one moment and coherent and in good cheer the next.
As you can tell, I'm not a huge fan of the story. I very much like introspective books where not much happens, and had I expected this perhaps I would have enjoyed it more. As it was, I was expecting this book to be more about survival and the effects of a distant but looming apocalypse on a group of people who were safe from it, but not safe from the landscape, their anxieties or each other. Sadly this book didn't live up to my expectations and perhaps that is not the author's fault. Sarah Moss is a talented writer, her landscape is eerie and sparse, in direct opposition to the prose which is richly descriptive and bountiful. I'm definitely interested in reading more of Moss's work, but this novel wasn't for me.
2.5 stars.
The story is more concerned with the flaws and neurosis of the first two characters who narrate. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just not what I expected. Sadly the protagonists are unlikeable and the third narrator is never really developed apart from his nostalgia and religious proclivities.
I felt that I understood Ruth after reading her chapters, although I didn't like her.
Her self punishment and need to cut herself off from the world make sense having read her back story. However, I didn't understand Nina's reason for the expedition. She is not an archaeologist or anthropologist and is squeamish of bones. She is desperate for her boyfriend, over-anxious about his welfare and has previously suffered from depression. She is selfish, rude, combative and completely intolerant of other people, so why spend months on a dig with strangers in isolation? Her delusions (or are they?) are rather confusing too. Seeing and hearing dead vikings seems a huge leap from her worries about exhuming the dead. She seems terribly ill one moment and coherent and in good cheer the next.
As you can tell, I'm not a huge fan of the story. I very much like introspective books where not much happens, and had I expected this perhaps I would have enjoyed it more. As it was, I was expecting this book to be more about survival and the effects of a distant but looming apocalypse on a group of people who were safe from it, but not safe from the landscape, their anxieties or each other. Sadly this book didn't live up to my expectations and perhaps that is not the author's fault. Sarah Moss is a talented writer, her landscape is eerie and sparse, in direct opposition to the prose which is richly descriptive and bountiful. I'm definitely interested in reading more of Moss's work, but this novel wasn't for me.
2.5 stars.
February 15, 2015
This book was a waste of time. Why did I read it until the end? Don't know. This book is a failure in everything it stands off. First of all, I put in Horror section but what's the horror here? I put it apocalyptic fiction but... the only thing that says that is when they receive news of a virus or plague is ravaging USA and then UK and the rest of the world but we know this with only a few words of a shepherd.
So, they are in Greenland digging some viking burial ground. OK.
We have 6 archaeologists, each different from the other and that's good. But each one boring as the other. Each chapter, there are 7, one for each character and Nina our main character if you like gets two.
I mean, after reading 10 pages of the book I wanted to kill Nina. And each page that I painfull read I really wanted the vikings rising from their graves and kill them, or maybe the sheep could have killed them. Enfin...
There is nothing interesting besides some occasional hint about the Viking culture. That's the only reason I give one star. I don't even understood how this book ended. Some books end with a nice tone, others with a bad tone. And for that's even great. I like an unhappy ending. But this ending was absurd. It didn't give nothing good or bad. Nina starts rambling about things that she was doing. There is no ambiguity that some endings give us. No the ending is absurd. For what I see in other reviews they agree with me. Don't read the novel but if you really, really, really want start reading after page 10 and end in the 6 chapter. Don't read Nina last chapter. It adds nothing.
So, they are in Greenland digging some viking burial ground. OK.
We have 6 archaeologists, each different from the other and that's good. But each one boring as the other. Each chapter, there are 7, one for each character and Nina our main character if you like gets two.
I mean, after reading 10 pages of the book I wanted to kill Nina. And each page that I painfull read I really wanted the vikings rising from their graves and kill them, or maybe the sheep could have killed them. Enfin...
There is nothing interesting besides some occasional hint about the Viking culture. That's the only reason I give one star. I don't even understood how this book ended. Some books end with a nice tone, others with a bad tone. And for that's even great. I like an unhappy ending. But this ending was absurd. It didn't give nothing good or bad. Nina starts rambling about things that she was doing. There is no ambiguity that some endings give us. No the ending is absurd. For what I see in other reviews they agree with me. Don't read the novel but if you really, really, really want start reading after page 10 and end in the 6 chapter. Don't read Nina last chapter. It adds nothing.
June 30, 2018
A team of six archaeologists from the UK and US travel to remote Greenland to spend two months excavating a long abandoned settlement. As they leave, there are news reports of a new flu epidemic breaking out. Within a short time, their internet stops working and they have no contact with the outside world. As they excavate, they find evidence of violence. They hear strange sounds at night and sometimes things have moved while they sleep. As the days get shorter and colder and their food supplies diminish, they start to wonder if they will ever make it home.
I can't remember when I was last as caught up by a novel. It wrapped its spooky tentacles around me and absorbed me completely. It felt slightly surreal to sit at my computer and find that I could still connect to the internet. It perfectly captures the isolation and claustrophobia that you would feel it such a situation. It's a chilling read.
No spoilers, but the ending is frustrating. It's both rushed and a little ambiguous. It feels like the author was in a rush to finish the book and go on holiday somewhere warm. But overall it's still a haunting, immersive, gripping read.
Edited to say: I've upgraded this to five stars because four days after finishing it, I still can't stop thinking about it. It's not a perfect book, but it's one that's staying with me.
I can't remember when I was last as caught up by a novel. It wrapped its spooky tentacles around me and absorbed me completely. It felt slightly surreal to sit at my computer and find that I could still connect to the internet. It perfectly captures the isolation and claustrophobia that you would feel it such a situation. It's a chilling read.
No spoilers, but the ending is frustrating. It's both rushed and a little ambiguous. It feels like the author was in a rush to finish the book and go on holiday somewhere warm. But overall it's still a haunting, immersive, gripping read.
Edited to say: I've upgraded this to five stars because four days after finishing it, I still can't stop thinking about it. It's not a perfect book, but it's one that's staying with me.
December 27, 2023
Dreadfully, deeply dull.
This could have been a fascinating survival horror. Instead, it was one of those books that claim to be "literary fiction", because otherwise it wouldn't be any genre at all, since nothing fucking happens the entire time. Any philosophical points about the human condition, feminism (the really annoying, holier-than-thou sort that says fuck about shit), climate change and grief are the sort of surface level pondscum that a pretentious sixteen year old could write. The characters weren't engaging in the slightest, so when the first and only twist of the book came, I didn't even care. All the characters could have got eaten by a polar bear and I wouldn't have cared.
This could have been such a fascinating insight into people spiralling into madness when isolated and afraid. Instead, it was a fat load of nothing. Maybe it's supposed to be, since the landscape of Greenland is mostly a fat load of nothing?
"Literary" writers can get away with publishing fucking anything if they make bland statements about social issues and ramble about Villette, I guess. This is why I hate the term literary fiction. What's literary about this? The fact that it has words?
If this sounds harsh and vitriolic, sorry I guess. I'm just sick of books like this.
This could have been a fascinating survival horror. Instead, it was one of those books that claim to be "literary fiction", because otherwise it wouldn't be any genre at all, since nothing fucking happens the entire time. Any philosophical points about the human condition, feminism (the really annoying, holier-than-thou sort that says fuck about shit), climate change and grief are the sort of surface level pondscum that a pretentious sixteen year old could write. The characters weren't engaging in the slightest, so when the first and only twist of the book came, I didn't even care. All the characters could have got eaten by a polar bear and I wouldn't have cared.
This could have been such a fascinating insight into people spiralling into madness when isolated and afraid. Instead, it was a fat load of nothing. Maybe it's supposed to be, since the landscape of Greenland is mostly a fat load of nothing?
"Literary" writers can get away with publishing fucking anything if they make bland statements about social issues and ramble about Villette, I guess. This is why I hate the term literary fiction. What's literary about this? The fact that it has words?
If this sounds harsh and vitriolic, sorry I guess. I'm just sick of books like this.
Read
September 26, 2020thought i would read this after reading Ghost Wall & in anticipation of Summerwater being published. i might come back to it but setting it aside for now b/c 2020 & too close to current times.
January 15, 2013
The first narrator of this book is so boring, self-centred and wooden that I couldn't even get through her section. It's supposed to be a bit haunting, judging from people describing it as a "chiller" and so on, but... Eh, shrug. It didn't even keep me interested, let alone on the edge of my seat. It didn't help that I actually have done some academic work on the sagas and so on, and while I can't be sure -- it's not like I've read every saga -- the one Nina describes in the first section doesn't sound like any I know. The themes and so on could easily be an Icelandic saga, but digging around didn't produce any sign of the saga in question -- which is just lazy: use a real one, don't make one up, there's plenty!
(I may be wrong on this, especially since my checking-up involved trying to piece together what I remember of Old Icelandic, but it didn't feel right at all, especially with a key character called Kristin. "Kristin" isn't a name in Old Icelandic, it means "Christian". As in: "Hann var lengi konungr ok ríkr. Hann tók fyrst kristni Svíakonunga, ok um hans daga var Svíþjóð kölluð kristin." 'He was long the king and rich. He was the first Christian Swedish king, and in his time Sweden was called Christian.' It just... doesn't smell right.)
It could've got more interesting, I suppose, but I don't have the patience to wait around for a decidedly mediocre book to get good.
(I may be wrong on this, especially since my checking-up involved trying to piece together what I remember of Old Icelandic, but it didn't feel right at all, especially with a key character called Kristin. "Kristin" isn't a name in Old Icelandic, it means "Christian". As in: "Hann var lengi konungr ok ríkr. Hann tók fyrst kristni Svíakonunga, ok um hans daga var Svíþjóð kölluð kristin." 'He was long the king and rich. He was the first Christian Swedish king, and in his time Sweden was called Christian.' It just... doesn't smell right.)
It could've got more interesting, I suppose, but I don't have the patience to wait around for a decidedly mediocre book to get good.
August 30, 2023
Six people are on an archeological dig in Greenland. Things begin to go wrong even before they start, with rumours in the press of a pandemic - is it something which threatens to explode, or simply another media panic? Trying to ignore the stress, the six members of the group settle into an uneasy group, with personal dislike threatening to become a problem early on. There is Nina, the only one not studying anything to do with archelogy, who is casually insulting to the American members of the group and then begins to unsettle everyone with nightmares and talk of ghosts. Ruth, calm and controlled, who is nevertheless fighting her own ghosts, Likeable Catriona, gentle Ben and Jim, who only wants to go home. Lastly, there is Yianni, the leader, who brought Nina and is now concerned about her behaviour, which is spreading fear. Then the group lose their internet connection - stranded and alone, they are reliant on being picked up. What if help doesn't come? What if Nina is not just dreaming? This is a very atmospheric, excellently written book, with a great set of characters and a thrilling storyline. I highly recommend the authors second novel, "Night Waking" as well.
May 17, 2016
To start with I wasn't hugely enamoured with this book, I found the first narrator, Nina, irritating and far too self absorbed (the type of person that is guaranteed to get nothing but sarcasm from me). But I was so intrigued by the premise of the book (and I am one of those who just has to finish a book once it's started) that I kept reading, and I am so glad I did. Once I got past Nina's epic flaws and focused on the story and what it meant for those on the dig, I couldn't help but keep reading. As the story moved away from Nina and on to the others and the mysterious goings on escalated I was hooked and just couldn't put the book down. You can tell that this is Moss's first book as the writing is a little stilted in places but otherwise it pulls you along well, leaving chills running up and down your spine. I don't know which was more disturbing, the events going on around the dig or the hints of the horrors happening across the globe. An excellent read once you get into it.
November 13, 2024
sarah moss you’re welcome in the terror gc at any time
April 19, 2010
An intriguing concept:
A group of six archaeologists in Greenland seeking traces of lost Viking settlements. They are isolated, but of course they have modern equipment and communications.
They are a mismatched group, and there are tensions from the start.
News reaches them that a major epidemic is moving across the northern hemisphere. And then communications begin to fail.
Will they survive? Will ever see their homes again? And, if they do, what will they find?
The story unfolds in six narratives. Each is in part a letter – maybe a final letter – home and in part an account of events in Greenland. It’s an effective device. It makes every character distinct, and six separate lifestories unfold and then come together in Greenland.
Some were likeable, and some were maddening. Such is life. And their interactions – from the profound to the deeply mundane – were utterly believable. There were moments that didn’t quite work, but then along would come moments caught so perfectly that I just had to keep the faith.
And one of the group went badly off the rails. It was very well done. I was suddenly jolted from being infuriated by her behaviour to realising that she maybe had some very real problems. And that maybe her fears weren’t so irrational.
I was gripped, and kept turning the pages, as the chapters became shorter and shorter, as the tension built, until the story reached an end.
And then a postscript. It gave closure, but I do rather wish it hadn’t been there. I would have prefered a little more ambiguity.
And I have to say that, although this isn’t really my sort of book, I did like it in some strange way.
A group of six archaeologists in Greenland seeking traces of lost Viking settlements. They are isolated, but of course they have modern equipment and communications.
They are a mismatched group, and there are tensions from the start.
News reaches them that a major epidemic is moving across the northern hemisphere. And then communications begin to fail.
Will they survive? Will ever see their homes again? And, if they do, what will they find?
The story unfolds in six narratives. Each is in part a letter – maybe a final letter – home and in part an account of events in Greenland. It’s an effective device. It makes every character distinct, and six separate lifestories unfold and then come together in Greenland.
Some were likeable, and some were maddening. Such is life. And their interactions – from the profound to the deeply mundane – were utterly believable. There were moments that didn’t quite work, but then along would come moments caught so perfectly that I just had to keep the faith.
And one of the group went badly off the rails. It was very well done. I was suddenly jolted from being infuriated by her behaviour to realising that she maybe had some very real problems. And that maybe her fears weren’t so irrational.
I was gripped, and kept turning the pages, as the chapters became shorter and shorter, as the tension built, until the story reached an end.
And then a postscript. It gave closure, but I do rather wish it hadn’t been there. I would have prefered a little more ambiguity.
And I have to say that, although this isn’t really my sort of book, I did like it in some strange way.
June 5, 2017
Sarah Moss is a popular author among the British bookish YouTubers I watch. I wanted to start with her first novel and work my way to her latest- The Tidal Zone. I wasn't a huge fan of the multiple perspectives. I understand how this form would make sense for the narrative, but it felt haphazard and left me disconnected. Two voices were much stronger than the rest- Nina's and Ruth's- so I hated sparing more of them for the other's descriptions.
This novel was unusual- equal parts historical fiction, ghost story, apocalyptic fiction, and grief memoir all set on an archeological dig site in Greenland. Moss's research into food literature and the aesthetics of the North (per author bio on back cover) were evident. There were good discussions on history and archaeology- and why people are attracted to each facet. History can be categorized as stories while archaeology can be interpreted, but also mostly based on what's there and what's not. Also, according to one of the characters: "The problem is that archaeology has to be more interested in establishing customs that instances of spontaneity."
The story did well evoking suspense with the uncertainty of the site, but ultimately left me feeling a little blase about the outcome. I loved The Times blurb on the back cover "Moss's stark writing delivers stinging splashes of cold water. Every element of the novel is distilled for purity of purpose." While it appears contradictory that I am highlighting more strengths/likes than dislikes, there was just something missing for me. I'll enjoy perusing other reviews of this one!
This novel was unusual- equal parts historical fiction, ghost story, apocalyptic fiction, and grief memoir all set on an archeological dig site in Greenland. Moss's research into food literature and the aesthetics of the North (per author bio on back cover) were evident. There were good discussions on history and archaeology- and why people are attracted to each facet. History can be categorized as stories while archaeology can be interpreted, but also mostly based on what's there and what's not. Also, according to one of the characters: "The problem is that archaeology has to be more interested in establishing customs that instances of spontaneity."
The story did well evoking suspense with the uncertainty of the site, but ultimately left me feeling a little blase about the outcome. I loved The Times blurb on the back cover "Moss's stark writing delivers stinging splashes of cold water. Every element of the novel is distilled for purity of purpose." While it appears contradictory that I am highlighting more strengths/likes than dislikes, there was just something missing for me. I'll enjoy perusing other reviews of this one!
December 1, 2021
Een tegenvaller. Het kostte me moeite om door het boek te geraken. Vooral in het begin, pakweg tot in de helft te veel verhaal op te weinig pagina's. Het irriteerde me dat er zo weinig werd uitgewerkt. Pas wanneer het team begint in te pakken en wacht op het vliegtuig dat niet schijnt te komen, wordt het interessanter. De laatste hoofdstukken na het abrupte einde zijn niet slecht maar ook hier miste ik iets.
November 6, 2021
A good book but while it already showed some promise, it's not up to the high standard of her later books. The theme (a group of archeologists stuck in Greenland while a pandemic might or might not be raging across the US and Europe) and my mood didn't match that well, either (or maybe they did, too much).
May 6, 2025
Sarah Moss is a brilliant writer! I have read other of her books, but wanted to experience her debut. It was tense, creepy, and just what I was expecting from her!
October 23, 2017
I started Cold Earth in a rare burst of British summer heat. I may be wilfully perverse but actually I enjoy reading icy books in summer, and sunny novels in winter.
Cold Earth certainly had a chilling effect on me - but all in a good way.
This debut novel is set in Greenland, as six archaeologists arrive to dig an old Norse settlement.
They have left behind families and friends, but also growing concerns about a bird flu style virus that may be beginning to get a deadly grip on the globe.
The novel is told from the different perspectives of six souls forced together in an environment where there is little to do except dig and dwell.
Our first encounter is with Nina - a difficult, troubled woman who seems more interested in reading Victorian novels than getting her hands dirty.
She's hard to like, but I found her interesting and challenging. She is convinced that the campsite is being haunted by the ghosts of the Norse settlers they are there to investigate.
These are not the only ghosts haunting the party though. American Ruth has brought her own ghost with her after suffering a devastating bereavement, while party leader Yianni is haunted by his own responsibility for the group's increasing problems. His motivations for inviting Nina are hinted at but never quite nailed down.
The group isn't entirely cut off as there is an internet connection to the outside world. But when it becomes clear that the virus is spreading fast, that link begins to falter, and the group are left facing the possibility there may not be a way of getting home.
Cold Earth is good at exploring the tensions and pressures of dysfunctional group dynamics. Its chilly thrills also work well as desperation gradually begins to take hold.
It's true though that some characters are more fleshed out than others - two of the men in particular seem pretty thinly characterised compared to the women. The ending comes in a rush too, and part of me thought a different conclusion might have been braver.
But this is still an impressive debut, and rightly marked out Sarah Moss as a talent to watch.
Cold Earth certainly had a chilling effect on me - but all in a good way.
This debut novel is set in Greenland, as six archaeologists arrive to dig an old Norse settlement.
They have left behind families and friends, but also growing concerns about a bird flu style virus that may be beginning to get a deadly grip on the globe.
The novel is told from the different perspectives of six souls forced together in an environment where there is little to do except dig and dwell.
Our first encounter is with Nina - a difficult, troubled woman who seems more interested in reading Victorian novels than getting her hands dirty.
She's hard to like, but I found her interesting and challenging. She is convinced that the campsite is being haunted by the ghosts of the Norse settlers they are there to investigate.
These are not the only ghosts haunting the party though. American Ruth has brought her own ghost with her after suffering a devastating bereavement, while party leader Yianni is haunted by his own responsibility for the group's increasing problems. His motivations for inviting Nina are hinted at but never quite nailed down.
The group isn't entirely cut off as there is an internet connection to the outside world. But when it becomes clear that the virus is spreading fast, that link begins to falter, and the group are left facing the possibility there may not be a way of getting home.
Cold Earth is good at exploring the tensions and pressures of dysfunctional group dynamics. Its chilly thrills also work well as desperation gradually begins to take hold.
It's true though that some characters are more fleshed out than others - two of the men in particular seem pretty thinly characterised compared to the women. The ending comes in a rush too, and part of me thought a different conclusion might have been braver.
But this is still an impressive debut, and rightly marked out Sarah Moss as a talent to watch.
December 27, 2013
A very intriguing read, and impressive given that's it's Sarah Moss's debut novel. Think Stephen King meets William Golding. It's part horror/supernatural, part dystopia, with rapidly degenerating relationships taking centre stage on an archaeology dig in Greenland. Things go bump in the night as food supplies run low and morale sinks even lower amongst the team. Meanwhile, news filters through to them of a rapidly spreading pandemic that may affect their ability to return home.
The book is written from the POV of all the members on the dig, and narrated as though they are addressing a particular individual via their thoughts. As such, Nina, a troubled woman who believes the dig site is haunted by the angry ghosts of the bodies they've disinterred, begins and ends the novel. In between we uncover the fears and frustrations of the other team members, some of whom have tragic pasts. Others are merely desperate to survive in an increasingly hostile environment.
My only criticism is that the transition between the penultimate and final chapters isn't smooth. To me, it wasn't clear how the characters' situation got resolved, and so some of the final chapter jarred on me, meaning I had to reread segments to establish exactly what happened. Otherwise, this novel was a great read.
The book is written from the POV of all the members on the dig, and narrated as though they are addressing a particular individual via their thoughts. As such, Nina, a troubled woman who believes the dig site is haunted by the angry ghosts of the bodies they've disinterred, begins and ends the novel. In between we uncover the fears and frustrations of the other team members, some of whom have tragic pasts. Others are merely desperate to survive in an increasingly hostile environment.
My only criticism is that the transition between the penultimate and final chapters isn't smooth. To me, it wasn't clear how the characters' situation got resolved, and so some of the final chapter jarred on me, meaning I had to reread segments to establish exactly what happened. Otherwise, this novel was a great read.
September 10, 2023
I have read all Moss' novels except this one, her debut, which I have only now completed.
Read with the hindsight of covid it felt particularly pertinent to have read about a pandemic in a book written in 2009.
Set in Greenland and based within an archaeological project, it is a time limited task and by its very isolation makes the core of the book feel like a classic locked room mystery. Only Nina (a friend of the leader) is not a post doc and her presence imbued with all the characteristics of high maintenance woman. The team members feel like a cast of caricatures in an Airplane film, more high brow and no singing nuns but that my interpretation.
Some characters developed well, others less so and as the book progresses we (or I) began to realise that the second person style was in fact letters home which enabled a multi-perspective narrative of sorts. The dynamic of the novel develops in a way to show these letters as more diary and self-exposing than epistolary. I love the writing and creativity of Moss but found this novel, although as immersive as its followers, held less gravitas. It covered many of Moss' familiar topics but particularly felt like the groundwork for Ghost Wall published nearly ten years later.
Read with the hindsight of covid it felt particularly pertinent to have read about a pandemic in a book written in 2009.
Set in Greenland and based within an archaeological project, it is a time limited task and by its very isolation makes the core of the book feel like a classic locked room mystery. Only Nina (a friend of the leader) is not a post doc and her presence imbued with all the characteristics of high maintenance woman. The team members feel like a cast of caricatures in an Airplane film, more high brow and no singing nuns but that my interpretation.
Some characters developed well, others less so and as the book progresses we (or I) began to realise that the second person style was in fact letters home which enabled a multi-perspective narrative of sorts. The dynamic of the novel develops in a way to show these letters as more diary and self-exposing than epistolary. I love the writing and creativity of Moss but found this novel, although as immersive as its followers, held less gravitas. It covered many of Moss' familiar topics but particularly felt like the groundwork for Ghost Wall published nearly ten years later.
March 20, 2014
I enjoyed reading this book, but I have a few criticisms.
First of all... Well, if you're going to have American characters as narrators writing letters home to their families, then it seems to me that you absolutely need to have the slang right. Maybe it's just that they didn't put out a US version and didn't want UK readers to get confused. But when you've got a character who is supposed to be from Minnesota writing about using a "torch" instead of a "flashlight", it just draws a lot of attention to the fact that the author is not an American. There were quite a few instances like that, where I was jarred by the incorrect jargon for an American. It really took me out of the book.
Also, there was so much more she could have done with the disease thing. I know it wasn't the point the novel--because the point of the novel was what happens to people when they are isolated and start having encounters that appear to be paranormal--but still. It was a missed opportunity, I think.
I still enjoyed this book though. Particularly the first part, narrated by an anxiety-ridden literature academian called Nina.
First of all... Well, if you're going to have American characters as narrators writing letters home to their families, then it seems to me that you absolutely need to have the slang right. Maybe it's just that they didn't put out a US version and didn't want UK readers to get confused. But when you've got a character who is supposed to be from Minnesota writing about using a "torch" instead of a "flashlight", it just draws a lot of attention to the fact that the author is not an American. There were quite a few instances like that, where I was jarred by the incorrect jargon for an American. It really took me out of the book.
Also, there was so much more she could have done with the disease thing. I know it wasn't the point the novel--because the point of the novel was what happens to people when they are isolated and start having encounters that appear to be paranormal--but still. It was a missed opportunity, I think.
I still enjoyed this book though. Particularly the first part, narrated by an anxiety-ridden literature academian called Nina.
May 6, 2019
Such an original debut novel. 6 young archaeologists are researching the demise of Norse people who settled intermittently in Medieval Western Greenland, in a bid to find a better life. Terrific combination of atmosphere and some very thoroughly developed characters, build real tension. At first Nina, fan of Victorian fiction is the only nervous one nervous and convinced that disturbing the skeletons, causes memorial cairns to suddenly appear. As the summer dig progresses, the weather becomes increasingly hostile and food supplies start to run out. A strange virus spreads virulently through the US and Europe. Internet and satellite phone connections are suddenly lost and their plane does not arrive on the day they had planned to leave Greenland. And so... They find themselves in the same position as the Norse people, who didn't 'change until they didn't have a choice'. With global warming threatening...we could learn something from their experience.
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