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Northland #1
Stone Spring
'Stone Spring' tells the epic story of one prehistoric girl's bid to change her future and the future of our world. This is alternate history at its most mindblowing.
512 pages, Paperback
First published June 3, 2010
98 people are currently reading
1306 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Baxter
402 books2,564 followersStephen Baxter is a trained engineer with degrees from Cambridge (mathematics) and Southampton Universities (doctorate in aeroengineering research). Baxter is the winner of the British Science Fiction Award and the Locus Award, as well as being a nominee for an Arthur C. Clarke Award, most recently for Manifold: Time. His novel Voyage won the Sidewise Award for Best Alternate History Novel of the Year; he also won the John W. Campbell Award and the Philip K. Dick Award for his novel The Time Ships. He is currently working on his next novel, a collaboration with Sir Arthur C. Clarke. Mr. Baxter lives in Prestwood, England.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 137 reviews
March 29, 2017
I read this book for the frivolous reason that it has “Spring” in the title and its springtime as I write this review. Plus, it had been on my TBR list for some time and I decided that it was time that I moved it.
It’s a solid story—set in Mesolithic Europe, as the climate and the land masses change with the melting of the ice sheets. Baxter has obviously done his research on the archaeology of the region, including the parts that are completely underwater now. And he has thrown in his own imaginative touches, creating believable cultures for these prehistoric tribes and inventing one that is entirely fictional, the “Leafy Boys.”
There is conflict—when you’ve got a hammer, every problem looks like a nail and when you’ve got a stone-tipped spear, well everything looks like it needs to be poked with that spear. The primary relationships are those of tribe, parent, child, etc. and not so much romantic. There is very, very little sex described, it is mostly implied or spoken about crudely by loud-mouthed men. In some ways, it is Jean Auel’s Earth’s Children series without the sex and much less emotional angst.
Obvious messages include: slavery is bad, global warming will raise water levels so deal with it, and that it’s difficult to deal with people who hold extremely different worldviews from yourself. I was somewhat unsure of how I felt about the character of Ana, who runs other tribe’s people’s lives ruthlessly and has a baby only to solidify her chosen power structure. I know people like this exist, but her choice of power over genuine emotion bothered me.
I guess what I didn’t entirely care for was the grafting of 21st century values and motivations onto Stone Age people. It didn’t always ring true for me, but it was still a pretty good book.
It’s a solid story—set in Mesolithic Europe, as the climate and the land masses change with the melting of the ice sheets. Baxter has obviously done his research on the archaeology of the region, including the parts that are completely underwater now. And he has thrown in his own imaginative touches, creating believable cultures for these prehistoric tribes and inventing one that is entirely fictional, the “Leafy Boys.”
There is conflict—when you’ve got a hammer, every problem looks like a nail and when you’ve got a stone-tipped spear, well everything looks like it needs to be poked with that spear. The primary relationships are those of tribe, parent, child, etc. and not so much romantic. There is very, very little sex described, it is mostly implied or spoken about crudely by loud-mouthed men. In some ways, it is Jean Auel’s Earth’s Children series without the sex and much less emotional angst.
Obvious messages include: slavery is bad, global warming will raise water levels so deal with it, and that it’s difficult to deal with people who hold extremely different worldviews from yourself. I was somewhat unsure of how I felt about the character of Ana, who runs other tribe’s people’s lives ruthlessly and has a baby only to solidify her chosen power structure. I know people like this exist, but her choice of power over genuine emotion bothered me.
I guess what I didn’t entirely care for was the grafting of 21st century values and motivations onto Stone Age people. It didn’t always ring true for me, but it was still a pretty good book.
January 5, 2016
The premise of Stone Spring, that of a stone age civilisation building what could be called a wonder of the world and changing the geography of Europe not just for themselves but for the whole development of the continent, is an interesting one. I was looking forward to a book that would explore the ideas around the small decisions we make having effects throughout history and the motivations behind people who do something extraordinary and world changing, whether they see it as that or not.
The start of the novel is fairly slow and it spent a lot of time trying to convey the size of the world for these early civilisations and to add a cultural richness to a part of history that is often painted in broad 'they lived in huts' type brush strokes. I didn't mind the slow pace, however, because I felt that we were building to something and I was willing to take the time to get to know the characters. It felt like we were doing a lot of the leg work early on so that we could understand the characters and their motivations once the big decisions and events started to happen. I trusted the author... and then it all fell apart.
As we reached what I thought was going to be the interesting parts of the book the narrative started to skip time, sometimes even as much as years at a time. This would have been fine, however, all the interesting things (such like the actual building of the wall that is the central conceit of the book) happened off screen. This might have been okay, if the characters had stayed consistent, but they too went through dramatic swings in personality off screen and it made it virtually impossible to identify or understand them.
Whereas I had thought the main narrative was going to be about the building of the wall and its effects on the 'small' people who had undertaken this world changing decision. It turned out the narrative was actually a rather ridiculous vengeance plot that was at best implausible, at worst totally incomprehensible. The characters, with their constant mood swings, seemed to do what the author needed to to continue the flimsy plot and rarely felt like they were acting true to themselves.
All the time in the first third of the book where we had been getting to know the characters seemed like wasted effort as each time we met them again, they had changed in ways that were never explained and I could not understand.
This book felt like a good idea that the author had, half way through, lost confidence with and decided to take us in a different direction that was uninteresting, unbelievable, and (frankly) unintelligent. The characters emotions and reactions were more often than not clichés and nearly always unbelievable. Ideas like slavery, love, loyalty, and faith in ones own ideals were so poorly explored that they were totally un-engaging.
This book got two stars from me only because the prose were well written and some of the description was nicely done. As a story, however, it was one of the least engaging I have read this year. It is a shame because I could have been sold on the whole series if this book had been enjoyable, but now I don't want to risk having to trudge through another book and getting no deeper insights into the bigger themes and interesting ideas.
Edit: dropped to one star after a year's reflection on just how annoyed I was by this book at its sheer rubbishness and the ruining of an interesting idea.
The start of the novel is fairly slow and it spent a lot of time trying to convey the size of the world for these early civilisations and to add a cultural richness to a part of history that is often painted in broad 'they lived in huts' type brush strokes. I didn't mind the slow pace, however, because I felt that we were building to something and I was willing to take the time to get to know the characters. It felt like we were doing a lot of the leg work early on so that we could understand the characters and their motivations once the big decisions and events started to happen. I trusted the author... and then it all fell apart.
As we reached what I thought was going to be the interesting parts of the book the narrative started to skip time, sometimes even as much as years at a time. This would have been fine, however, all the interesting things (such like the actual building of the wall that is the central conceit of the book) happened off screen. This might have been okay, if the characters had stayed consistent, but they too went through dramatic swings in personality off screen and it made it virtually impossible to identify or understand them.
Whereas I had thought the main narrative was going to be about the building of the wall and its effects on the 'small' people who had undertaken this world changing decision. It turned out the narrative was actually a rather ridiculous vengeance plot that was at best implausible, at worst totally incomprehensible. The characters, with their constant mood swings, seemed to do what the author needed to to continue the flimsy plot and rarely felt like they were acting true to themselves.
All the time in the first third of the book where we had been getting to know the characters seemed like wasted effort as each time we met them again, they had changed in ways that were never explained and I could not understand.
This book felt like a good idea that the author had, half way through, lost confidence with and decided to take us in a different direction that was uninteresting, unbelievable, and (frankly) unintelligent. The characters emotions and reactions were more often than not clichés and nearly always unbelievable. Ideas like slavery, love, loyalty, and faith in ones own ideals were so poorly explored that they were totally un-engaging.
This book got two stars from me only because the prose were well written and some of the description was nicely done. As a story, however, it was one of the least engaging I have read this year. It is a shame because I could have been sold on the whole series if this book had been enjoyable, but now I don't want to risk having to trudge through another book and getting no deeper insights into the bigger themes and interesting ideas.
Edit: dropped to one star after a year's reflection on just how annoyed I was by this book at its sheer rubbishness and the ruining of an interesting idea.
March 18, 2019
I read Stephen Baxter’s 2010 alternate pre-history novel “Stone Spring” in hard cover. It is the first volume of the “Northland” trilogy, and is followed by Bronze Summer (2011) and Iron Winter (2012). I have previously read and liked a good number of Baxter’s hard-sf novels.
Set maybe 8,000 years ago, in an alternate Doggerland, Stone Spring follows a legend-forming settlement through the lifetime of the main character. During the end of the last ice age, when so much of the Earth’s water was tied up in glaciers, expansive areas of now-submerged continental shelf were exposed and inhabited. One of these was the sea bottom that includes Dogger Banks in the North Sea between Britain and western Europe. The alternate history point of departure is a cometary impact that reimposed the receding ice sheets for a thousand years, altering the geological processes of land subsidence in Doggerland. The story is then set during the second glacial retreat, and while sea level is rising, it has not risen as much by that time, as it has in the real world. Baxter has invented cultures for Northland and surrounding peoples consistent with the mesolithic era in which the story is set. Personally, I am somewhat more familiar with the coincident archaic era of North America – but with the exception of the absurd Leafy Boys, Baxter’s hypothetical world seems plausible.
Ana is the younger daughter of the headman of the village Etxelur in Northland. The settlement is a group of just seven households that live just above the tidal flats of the north shore of Northland. They have an oral history of lands now lost to them. By shear happenstance, a handful of characters from other parts of the world arrive at Etxelur during Ana’s youth, bringing awareness of other ways of life. Average lifespans are short, and it is a violent time. Baxter does not shy away from the brutality. But somehow the characters, in many regards, seem to have a modern awareness and the ability to invent technology, almost as if they were time travelers stranded in the past. As I have come to expect from Baxter, near the end, he begins skipping forward in time, showing how things turn out, transforming the characters, and featuring just a few pivotal events. The plot tension is strong, and the ending is satisfyingly conclusive. I liked this story on a narrative level, even if my hard-sf expectations were somewhat disappointed. I expect to read more of the trilogy.
Set maybe 8,000 years ago, in an alternate Doggerland, Stone Spring follows a legend-forming settlement through the lifetime of the main character. During the end of the last ice age, when so much of the Earth’s water was tied up in glaciers, expansive areas of now-submerged continental shelf were exposed and inhabited. One of these was the sea bottom that includes Dogger Banks in the North Sea between Britain and western Europe. The alternate history point of departure is a cometary impact that reimposed the receding ice sheets for a thousand years, altering the geological processes of land subsidence in Doggerland. The story is then set during the second glacial retreat, and while sea level is rising, it has not risen as much by that time, as it has in the real world. Baxter has invented cultures for Northland and surrounding peoples consistent with the mesolithic era in which the story is set. Personally, I am somewhat more familiar with the coincident archaic era of North America – but with the exception of the absurd Leafy Boys, Baxter’s hypothetical world seems plausible.
Ana is the younger daughter of the headman of the village Etxelur in Northland. The settlement is a group of just seven households that live just above the tidal flats of the north shore of Northland. They have an oral history of lands now lost to them. By shear happenstance, a handful of characters from other parts of the world arrive at Etxelur during Ana’s youth, bringing awareness of other ways of life. Average lifespans are short, and it is a violent time. Baxter does not shy away from the brutality. But somehow the characters, in many regards, seem to have a modern awareness and the ability to invent technology, almost as if they were time travelers stranded in the past. As I have come to expect from Baxter, near the end, he begins skipping forward in time, showing how things turn out, transforming the characters, and featuring just a few pivotal events. The plot tension is strong, and the ending is satisfyingly conclusive. I liked this story on a narrative level, even if my hard-sf expectations were somewhat disappointed. I expect to read more of the trilogy.
August 19, 2013
Stone Spring in theory:
Set in the paleolithic as the English channel is starting to form, a fourteen year old girl can inspire her people to raise a wall and keep the sea out, changing the fate of the world. To do so, she’ll have to not only convince her own tribe to do something that no one has tried before, but also navigate a world of increasing trade and conflict.
Stone Spring in practice:
Jumps in time mean that none of the potentially interesting events are covered. The characters are totally inconsistent between one part of the story and the next. Inter-tribe conflict is simultaneously put centre stage and yet reduced to a hilariously bad attempt of one tribe to invade another.
tl;dr:
The characters are awful, the plot clearly of little interest even to the author, the obsession with bodily functions offputting and the realisation of the world bizarre and unintentionally hilarious.
Set in the paleolithic as the English channel is starting to form, a fourteen year old girl can inspire her people to raise a wall and keep the sea out, changing the fate of the world. To do so, she’ll have to not only convince her own tribe to do something that no one has tried before, but also navigate a world of increasing trade and conflict.
Stone Spring in practice:
Jumps in time mean that none of the potentially interesting events are covered. The characters are totally inconsistent between one part of the story and the next. Inter-tribe conflict is simultaneously put centre stage and yet reduced to a hilariously bad attempt of one tribe to invade another.
tl;dr:
The characters are awful, the plot clearly of little interest even to the author, the obsession with bodily functions offputting and the realisation of the world bizarre and unintentionally hilarious.
September 20, 2011
I only picked this book because of the magnificent big wave splashing up on the front cover. I like waves, so surely any book with such a wonderful wave on its front must be good? Well as it so happens – it was. STONE SPRING is the first volume of the Northland trilogy and is set in ancient times against a background of global warming and its effect on the humans living at that time. The time is around 7,000 years BC and is set in Doggerland, a large and fertile stretch of land that joined the British Isles to the rest of Europe and is now under the North Sea. Ana lives in a small fishing community, one of many different tribes who share the land, and life as they all know it is starting to change. The planet is warming, the ice caps are melting, the seas are starting to rise and the continents shift causing massive earthquakes. One fateful day a roar of thunder is heard in the distance and a massive tsunami sweeps in and destroys lives, homes, and hunting grounds. Their ways of life are changed for ever, not just for Ana’s people, traders relay the information that all over the known world the seas are rising and refugees are on the move.
Present day geography will tell you that nature won, Doggerland is no more, it is buried fathoms below the surface of the North Sea. However author, Stephen Baxter, takes a ‘what if’ approach – what if the sea had been kept back, prevented from reclaiming the land, how would the world be now? STONE SPRING starts his alternative version of history, a version where one young girl decides to take a stand and spends her whole life building a wall that stretches for miles, a wall that keeps the sea out, and changes the geography of the world. Baxter has created a believable and credible alternative history to that which we know today. He takes the known historical truths, the known scientific facts and bases his story on those, then twists just enough to go in a completely different direction and produce his alternative ‘what if’ history. Starting with just one small community, the reclamation of the land spread out across Doggerland as other tribes take up the battle. Where will the fight against the oceans end? Who will win – humans or nature? No-one knows yet as there are two more tomes to follow this huge, almost 500 pages, production that is so quick and easy to read (even the gruesome bits) that the reader is not aware of the size of the book.
Present day geography will tell you that nature won, Doggerland is no more, it is buried fathoms below the surface of the North Sea. However author, Stephen Baxter, takes a ‘what if’ approach – what if the sea had been kept back, prevented from reclaiming the land, how would the world be now? STONE SPRING starts his alternative version of history, a version where one young girl decides to take a stand and spends her whole life building a wall that stretches for miles, a wall that keeps the sea out, and changes the geography of the world. Baxter has created a believable and credible alternative history to that which we know today. He takes the known historical truths, the known scientific facts and bases his story on those, then twists just enough to go in a completely different direction and produce his alternative ‘what if’ history. Starting with just one small community, the reclamation of the land spread out across Doggerland as other tribes take up the battle. Where will the fight against the oceans end? Who will win – humans or nature? No-one knows yet as there are two more tomes to follow this huge, almost 500 pages, production that is so quick and easy to read (even the gruesome bits) that the reader is not aware of the size of the book.
June 4, 2013
I bought this book on amazon because "Stone Spring" was the only fiction book that came up when I searched on "Doggerland", one of my new interests. It was written by Stephen Baxter, whom I considered a fantasy/science fiction author. But I would say it's an historical novel, set in a land that really did exist about 7,000 years ago.
This novel is set in an area that is now under the North sea in Europe. 7000 years ago the sea level of the earth was hundreds of feet lower, and supported a large human population.
I really enjoyed Baxter's writing style and the plot was engaging. So much so, I order the second of the series "Bronze Summer" which I'm reading now.
This novel is set in an area that is now under the North sea in Europe. 7000 years ago the sea level of the earth was hundreds of feet lower, and supported a large human population.
I really enjoyed Baxter's writing style and the plot was engaging. So much so, I order the second of the series "Bronze Summer" which I'm reading now.
September 1, 2015
Stephen Baxter kann es einfach, egal ob er reinste Hardcore SF schreibt, (den Xeelee-Zyklus,) Alternativweltromane wie "Unternehmen Ares", Zeitreisegeschichten wie "Zeitschiffe" oder wie hier, Paläofiction, immer ist er auf der Höhe der (wissenschaftlichen) Zeit und er kann sehr gute, spannende Geschichten erzählen mit lebendigen Charakteren. In seiner Nordland-Trilogie, dessen erster Band "Steinfrühling" ist, beschreibt er die Landschaft zwischen Großbrittannien und Skandinavien am Ende der letzten Eiszeit, als England noch Teil des Kontinents war und nur der Rhein im Süden von Nordland, die beiden Domänen getrennt hat. Baxter bringt viele der neueren wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse in den Roman ein, die Beschreibung der Kultur, die zu dieser Zeit in Europa lebte, selbst die Sprache (dem baskischen ähnlich) dürfte linguistischen Erkenntnissen zugrunde liegen, er bringt in dieser Landschaft viele Rätsel der Neuzeit unter (z.B. dass Atlantis das untergegangene Nordland war, nachdem der Meeresspiegel angestiegen ist, oder dass die Menschen dort bereits Deiche und Staudämme gebaut haben, um den steigenden Meeresspiegel zu bekämpfen). Faszinierend sind auch der Clash der Kulturen in diesem Landschaftsraum, der offenbar sehr reich gewesen ist, weil der hier abgebaute Feuerstein in ganz Europa gehandelt wurde, er zeigt auch wie weit die Handelswege vor 10.000 Jahre schon waren, als im Nahen Osten die ersten Städte gegründet wurden (Jericho, Catal Hüyek), er berichtet auch den Einfluss der verschiednenen Kulturen auf das jeweilige Handelsvolk. Neben allen dieses faszinierenden Erkenntnissen, zeichnet der Roman aber auch berührende Szenen voller Schmerz, Leid, Freude un Liebe, wieder mal ein Pageturner allerersten Güte...
February 17, 2014
Preface: Have only read one Stephen Baxter book before, Sunstorm, which he co-authored with Arthur C. Clarke.
Masterful writing by Baxter. Stone Spring not only portrays the changing physical geography of climate change but the changing human geography as well. Baxter creates a simulated world whose characters take on a life of their own, becoming throughout the book a product of their experiences.
This is one of the few books that would benefit any high school curriculum. While the storyline did reach 18+ maturity at times, it added to the human element Baxter simulated so well.
Masterful writing by Baxter. Stone Spring not only portrays the changing physical geography of climate change but the changing human geography as well. Baxter creates a simulated world whose characters take on a life of their own, becoming throughout the book a product of their experiences.
This is one of the few books that would benefit any high school curriculum. While the storyline did reach 18+ maturity at times, it added to the human element Baxter simulated so well.
August 30, 2018
I'd been looking forward to this, because it's a story set in Doggerland - a place that's fascinated me ever since I first learned of its existence. Unfortunately, while I liked the idea of the world, I didn't like the story or the characters. The story seemed to revel in savagery and bodily functions. Half the book seems to be about people urinating or crapping, the majority antagonist tribe (the Pretani) feel very British above and beyond actually being located in prehistoric Britain - and by British, I mean all the worst traits... a macho, patriarchal, violently thuggish group obsessed with fighting, hunting, shagging and exploiting other groups - and none of the characters are particularly likable or sympathetic.
I was hoping for a lot of exploration of primitive cultures, and in particular their art and tales - their creation myths, the inspiration behind ancient cave paintings and art, and how they dealt with tsunami and somehow managed to prevent Doggerland being submerged. These felt like relatively minor points as I slogged through the book, though; instead, within the first fifth of the book there'd been torture, gang rape, murder, enslavement and a lot of urinating, crapping and manly joking about torture, sex, rape, murder and urinating and crapping. That rather set the tone going forward.
There were some really interesting things teased; I wanted to learn more about the Clovis people who were being driven out of North America, about the preceding culture that those living in Etxelur were descended from, and which had left common carvings on both sides of the Atlantic, and about the things hidden just off the coast of Etxelur, but those were all minor points moved past pretty swiftly so that we could get on with the arguments, murder, urinating and crapping.
I was hoping for a lot of exploration of primitive cultures, and in particular their art and tales - their creation myths, the inspiration behind ancient cave paintings and art, and how they dealt with tsunami and somehow managed to prevent Doggerland being submerged. These felt like relatively minor points as I slogged through the book, though; instead, within the first fifth of the book there'd been torture, gang rape, murder, enslavement and a lot of urinating, crapping and manly joking about torture, sex, rape, murder and urinating and crapping. That rather set the tone going forward.
There were some really interesting things teased; I wanted to learn more about the Clovis people who were being driven out of North America, about the preceding culture that those living in Etxelur were descended from, and which had left common carvings on both sides of the Atlantic, and about the things hidden just off the coast of Etxelur, but those were all minor points moved past pretty swiftly so that we could get on with the arguments, murder, urinating and crapping.
October 17, 2013
I finished Stone Spring at last; the book covers several decades, and I sort of felt like it took me decades to read since I left off reading it in the middle while I went out of town. The story is set 10,000 years ago, at the time when the seas were rising and changing the landscape, making an island out of the region of Britain. Baxter clearly did a lot of research and his premise was intriguing, but I admit I despised his characters. Definitely a concept writer and not a character writer. Inconsistent and unlovable cast aside, I was also disturbed by the gratuitous violence. I understand that he was trying to depict an uncivilized and brutal era, but at times I felt like he just threw in some brutality whenever he ran out of plot ideas.
September 17, 2018
I forgot why I had put this on my reading list. It took over half the book to get invested in the characters and figure out what the story was, more or less. A little longer to get an indication of why I had put it on my reading list in the first place. It feels very authentic throughout if not often quite dull in the level of detail around the societies and lifestyles of this relatively primitive time. Once the story started to unfold, then several annoying interpersonal patterns emerged with characters making annoyingly predictable poor choices that felt a bit manufactured to service the plot. Not sure if I will continue reading in the series even though I am curious about what is next.
March 12, 2012
This was marked as Science Fiction in my library. I don't know what I would call it. The story revolves around a village and spans generations. Since it happens in prehistoric times, I suppose it could be fantasy. Although, the traditional hallmarks of fantasy - magic, good vs evil, non-humans - are not there.
If you want to know about the life of hunter-gatherers, this is the book for you. The setting, traditions and rituals of their lives is richly laid out. The characters are bit thinner. There were a few things that felt anachronistic to me. But having no knowledge of the time period, I could be completely wrong.
It was an interesting journey.
If you want to know about the life of hunter-gatherers, this is the book for you. The setting, traditions and rituals of their lives is richly laid out. The characters are bit thinner. There were a few things that felt anachronistic to me. But having no knowledge of the time period, I could be completely wrong.
It was an interesting journey.
June 5, 2013
OK...some of the language was a little jarring--having a character say think to herself "bring it" for example. I don't think I'll commit to the series but may try a different set by this author instead.
June 15, 2017
Meh. I had really high hopes for this book and it just didn't deliver. It wound up being one of those reads that's a slog, flipping forward to see how much was left. Couldn't wait to finish it. Stone Spring had a lot of potential, it just never really did it for me.
January 30, 2017
It was a great read! Time flew by :) 4.5 Stars
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December 19, 2019Climate change deniers, or climate change skeptics, or whatever we are calling them today, like to point out that climate change is nothing new. There have been natural cycles of cooling and warming since the earth began. This is true, of course, but it is hardly reassuring, as those previous episodes of climate change were often marked by devastation.
This book takes place in one of those periods of climate change. Approximately 10,000 years ago there was so much water tied up in ice that the sea level was much lower than it is today. The land between Britain and France was all dry land, and people lived there. I knew about this. I read about it in National Geographic. In the book this country is called Northland. In real life it is called Doggerland. That’s what made me want to read the book.
Our story begins with a settlement called Etxelur. (I found that impossible to pronounce, so I called it Extelur in my head. The afterword says the word is from the Basque for “home-land,” so I guess Basque is impossible to pronounce.) The people live on the shore. They fish in animal-hide boats. They bury the bones of their dead in the middens, which are huge heaps of seashells. They hunt deer and eat acorns.
But things are changing. The sea is rising. Already the source of the best flint is underwater, inaccessible. And the people’s ancestral home is far out under the sea. On their hunting trips they find that once-solid ground is now marshy, and once-fresh springs are now salty. In addition, new people show up, Snailheads from down south. They say their home was lost to the sea, and they are looking for a new home, as ancient climate refugees.
This gradual loss might be bad enough, but elsewhere in the world, the loss of the ice sheets causes the earth to shift, which triggers tsunamis, and the aforementioned devastation. What are the people to do? Well, in real life, the answer was die, or move. But in this book, the answer is, build a wall. And it just so happens, thanks to the double-whammy of trade and slavery, a man from Jericho, perhaps the world’s oldest walled city, a man who knows how to make bricks, shows up at Etxelur.
Building a wall, solves some problems. But it causes new ones. It requires a kind of hard labor the people have never had to do before. It requires organization and discipline that the people are not used to. It will change the culture. Will it be worth it? Will the people of Etxelur save their homeland, and lose their souls?
That is one of the themes of the book. There is also conflict between two sisters, Zesi and Ana. Both of them have leadership qualities, but there is room for only one leader. There is conflict between the people of Etxelur, and the forest-dwelling people of Pretani. The people of Etxelur think the people of Pretani arrogant, blustering, woman-oppressing brutes. But the Pretani have their sense of honor, and then there’s sex involved, and of course, it’s complicated.
There is the long voyage of Novu from Jericho to Etxelur, which involves his enslavement, and his walking halfway around the world, and his eventual freedom. There is the voyage of Zesi and Ana’s father, Kirike. He traveled in his skin boat as far west as what is now America, and brings back a woman, a pregnant Native American. She was herself a climate refugee, as almost her whole group of people (the Clovis people) had been killed when a glacier broke up and flooded their camp. Kirike delivers her baby by Cesarean section, with a stone knife, and sews her up with bone pins. This was astounding to me, but according to the afterward, there is precedent.
The story is an adventure. There is excitement, and there is violence. The violence is disturbing. There are Leafy Boys, who are feral children who live in the tree canopy. They behave like animals, and have lost the power of speech. The Leafy Boys are particularly disturbing. I know feral children are a thing. I have read of one or two here or there, children who were lost, and were “raised by wolves” or whatever, but never have I heard of feral children on such a scale. The author admits that they are his invention, but that the possibility was there.
I’m afraid my summary sounds muddled. The book does not. The cultures of people long ago are fascinating, and are based on a mixture of evidence and imagination. There are many cultures, with many languages, different gods, different styles of dress. The different peoples can communicate using a “traders’ tongue.” There was more mixing and trading than I would have expected. The description of the way of life of people in a far distant time reminded me of Jean Auel’s Clan of the Cave Bear series, although I thought Baxter’s writing was better. I also thought Baxter’s prehistoric world reminded me of the fantasy of Richard Adams.
Climate change brings fear, and challenges, and conflict. Is it possible to find a way into a future that will provide safety and plenty, and still preserve individual freedoms, and something like happiness, something like humanity? That is the question, and we shall see.
This book takes place in one of those periods of climate change. Approximately 10,000 years ago there was so much water tied up in ice that the sea level was much lower than it is today. The land between Britain and France was all dry land, and people lived there. I knew about this. I read about it in National Geographic. In the book this country is called Northland. In real life it is called Doggerland. That’s what made me want to read the book.
Our story begins with a settlement called Etxelur. (I found that impossible to pronounce, so I called it Extelur in my head. The afterword says the word is from the Basque for “home-land,” so I guess Basque is impossible to pronounce.) The people live on the shore. They fish in animal-hide boats. They bury the bones of their dead in the middens, which are huge heaps of seashells. They hunt deer and eat acorns.
But things are changing. The sea is rising. Already the source of the best flint is underwater, inaccessible. And the people’s ancestral home is far out under the sea. On their hunting trips they find that once-solid ground is now marshy, and once-fresh springs are now salty. In addition, new people show up, Snailheads from down south. They say their home was lost to the sea, and they are looking for a new home, as ancient climate refugees.
This gradual loss might be bad enough, but elsewhere in the world, the loss of the ice sheets causes the earth to shift, which triggers tsunamis, and the aforementioned devastation. What are the people to do? Well, in real life, the answer was die, or move. But in this book, the answer is, build a wall. And it just so happens, thanks to the double-whammy of trade and slavery, a man from Jericho, perhaps the world’s oldest walled city, a man who knows how to make bricks, shows up at Etxelur.
Building a wall, solves some problems. But it causes new ones. It requires a kind of hard labor the people have never had to do before. It requires organization and discipline that the people are not used to. It will change the culture. Will it be worth it? Will the people of Etxelur save their homeland, and lose their souls?
That is one of the themes of the book. There is also conflict between two sisters, Zesi and Ana. Both of them have leadership qualities, but there is room for only one leader. There is conflict between the people of Etxelur, and the forest-dwelling people of Pretani. The people of Etxelur think the people of Pretani arrogant, blustering, woman-oppressing brutes. But the Pretani have their sense of honor, and then there’s sex involved, and of course, it’s complicated.
There is the long voyage of Novu from Jericho to Etxelur, which involves his enslavement, and his walking halfway around the world, and his eventual freedom. There is the voyage of Zesi and Ana’s father, Kirike. He traveled in his skin boat as far west as what is now America, and brings back a woman, a pregnant Native American. She was herself a climate refugee, as almost her whole group of people (the Clovis people) had been killed when a glacier broke up and flooded their camp. Kirike delivers her baby by Cesarean section, with a stone knife, and sews her up with bone pins. This was astounding to me, but according to the afterward, there is precedent.
The story is an adventure. There is excitement, and there is violence. The violence is disturbing. There are Leafy Boys, who are feral children who live in the tree canopy. They behave like animals, and have lost the power of speech. The Leafy Boys are particularly disturbing. I know feral children are a thing. I have read of one or two here or there, children who were lost, and were “raised by wolves” or whatever, but never have I heard of feral children on such a scale. The author admits that they are his invention, but that the possibility was there.
I’m afraid my summary sounds muddled. The book does not. The cultures of people long ago are fascinating, and are based on a mixture of evidence and imagination. There are many cultures, with many languages, different gods, different styles of dress. The different peoples can communicate using a “traders’ tongue.” There was more mixing and trading than I would have expected. The description of the way of life of people in a far distant time reminded me of Jean Auel’s Clan of the Cave Bear series, although I thought Baxter’s writing was better. I also thought Baxter’s prehistoric world reminded me of the fantasy of Richard Adams.
Climate change brings fear, and challenges, and conflict. Is it possible to find a way into a future that will provide safety and plenty, and still preserve individual freedoms, and something like happiness, something like humanity? That is the question, and we shall see.
January 2, 2018
This is historical in the sense of being an alternate prehistorical tale. The setting is Northland, long before the world was as we now know it, roughly 7300 BC. It's cold, very, very cold, so cold that I shivered as I read. In fact, I'd recommend saving it for the dog-days of summer; you might be able to shut off your AC. (Baxter is very, very good at putting you in a setting!)
There are small groups of people variously scattered about the world as it was, some getting along, some not so much. The ocean is rising, due to natural phenomena, sometimes gradually, sometime suddenly (i.e. via a tsunami; again with Baxter putting you there). Life is beyond difficult. There is much death, not all of it blameable on the harshness of life or climate change. And yet, there also is hope. That hope hinges on recognizing the problem and working together to deal with it. There are, of course, naysayers, who reject any effort to address the future.
The one thing that troubled me was the absence of truly likeable main characters. Baxter gives us strong women leaders--not so much for the men--but they end up doing despicable things (although perhaps in one case, driven by perceived need for the greater good and, perhaps redeemed in the end). There are a couple of decent men, though most of the men are despicable from the get-go.
Baxter has created a unique vision of what might have been, could have been, a significant piece of humanity's past, particularly relevant today. The book is not explicitly political, but given the subject matter, it's political. Baxter rocks!
There are small groups of people variously scattered about the world as it was, some getting along, some not so much. The ocean is rising, due to natural phenomena, sometimes gradually, sometime suddenly (i.e. via a tsunami; again with Baxter putting you there). Life is beyond difficult. There is much death, not all of it blameable on the harshness of life or climate change. And yet, there also is hope. That hope hinges on recognizing the problem and working together to deal with it. There are, of course, naysayers, who reject any effort to address the future.
The one thing that troubled me was the absence of truly likeable main characters. Baxter gives us strong women leaders--not so much for the men--but they end up doing despicable things (although perhaps in one case, driven by perceived need for the greater good and, perhaps redeemed in the end). There are a couple of decent men, though most of the men are despicable from the get-go.
Baxter has created a unique vision of what might have been, could have been, a significant piece of humanity's past, particularly relevant today. The book is not explicitly political, but given the subject matter, it's political. Baxter rocks!
May 23, 2019
Doggerland, or Northland as Baxter terms it is much discussed theses days, there are two new books out by Ben Smith and Julia Blackburn that look at its past and its future. Stone Spring takes an alternate view encompassing the world as it would have been in what would have been Britain's Stone age. In the book I read some notes had been made which showed that the first reader had possibly taken exception to the language used between tribes but I say ignore that and just enjoy the story. Could it have been possible that the climatic and geologic changes that took place 10000 year BCE could have been delayed by the action of Stone age peoples. This looks at what humans could do with the right incentive.
January 5, 2021
Borrowed ebook from library.
Overall an interesting fiction for early humans and the variety of cultures and languages and traditions. It was interesting to see a great event and how it impacted the characters and changed their cultures. The book seemed long around the 3/4th mark, but I did enjoy the ending. I also liked how early in the book the main characters met from their varied beginnings. I also liked how the lives of the characters turn out differently than what might be generally expected, as seen mostly though some of the longer time gaps in the book (seven and fifteen years after the great event).
I generally liked the book, and will likely read the next one. I don’t feel the need to go buy a copy, and I likely won’t re-read it.
Overall an interesting fiction for early humans and the variety of cultures and languages and traditions. It was interesting to see a great event and how it impacted the characters and changed their cultures. The book seemed long around the 3/4th mark, but I did enjoy the ending. I also liked how early in the book the main characters met from their varied beginnings. I also liked how the lives of the characters turn out differently than what might be generally expected, as seen mostly though some of the longer time gaps in the book (seven and fifteen years after the great event).
I generally liked the book, and will likely read the next one. I don’t feel the need to go buy a copy, and I likely won’t re-read it.
June 20, 2023
This novel is pre-historical fiction. The appeal for me lay in the development of the ancient cultures, whose ways we can really only guess at. The world-building was the strongest part of this novel. I wasn’t familiar with Doggerland before reading this, and I have always been fascinated with how humans might have lived before the Younger Drays extinction event, so the setting for this book was right up my alley.
Not all of the characters were as fleshed-out as I would have liked. The characters that felt the most real were: Shade, Novu, Jurgi, and Ice Dreamer. Unfortunately, the two main characters, Ana & Zesi, came off as a bit bland. The leafy boys seemed a bit far-fetched. The architecture of the story made up for most of the issues with the characters for me.
Not all of the characters were as fleshed-out as I would have liked. The characters that felt the most real were: Shade, Novu, Jurgi, and Ice Dreamer. Unfortunately, the two main characters, Ana & Zesi, came off as a bit bland. The leafy boys seemed a bit far-fetched. The architecture of the story made up for most of the issues with the characters for me.
January 19, 2024
Imagine there were people with the imagination of the builders of Stonehenge or the Pyramids and they realised they were living in the lands that melting icebergs and shifting land were threatening. Could they have saved Doggerland, a real place, inhabited for a long time by humans but lost when the sea broke through between Britain and the continent.
What a book this almost was. I loved this theme of it, but sadly the characters were not adequate, their societies not fully imagined and the dialogue was embarrassingly casual and crude 21 century US/UK. No song. No ritual. No feeling of a different worldview.
I really wanted to give it four stars for the superb narration of a world transforming, and the sensitive nature descriptions, but, personally, I just couldn’t.
What a book this almost was. I loved this theme of it, but sadly the characters were not adequate, their societies not fully imagined and the dialogue was embarrassingly casual and crude 21 century US/UK. No song. No ritual. No feeling of a different worldview.
I really wanted to give it four stars for the superb narration of a world transforming, and the sensitive nature descriptions, but, personally, I just couldn’t.
November 14, 2018
I like reading alternate history novels because it's interesting to see "what if" scenarios so I had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately, I think Mr. Baxter bit off more than he could chew. The narrative wasn't cohesive in such that characters weren't true to their defined personalities and the major plot of the book turned out to not be so major after all. The actual building of the wall happened behind the scenes which sort of invalidated the entire premise of the book.
I will not be continuing this series.
I will not be continuing this series.
December 6, 2018
He (Stephen Baxter) successfully has dealt with Space Opera, Time Travel, Alternate History, Evolution like topics in his earlier novels, now this time he has brought us Jean M Auel-isque Prehistoric / Alt World setting in Europe :)
The novel deals with pre-historic climatic world. The changing climate, world building and again my fav Road-travel Genre is thrown in.
The society is built up deftly with all customs and culture. If yuh are fan of Jean M Auel's Earth's Children, then go for this series :)
The novel deals with pre-historic climatic world. The changing climate, world building and again my fav Road-travel Genre is thrown in.
The society is built up deftly with all customs and culture. If yuh are fan of Jean M Auel's Earth's Children, then go for this series :)
October 5, 2023
After a string of DNF books, sometimes I stick with one longer than I should to try to break trend. This story felt like a mess. Set on Earth back in the ice age-ish times, the plot followed a bunch of different groups trying (and muchly failing) to survive. All the male characters were generally horrible and there was more rape than I would have liked. But mostly the plot was just a muddy mess, following a bunch of different groups in a rather confusing way. (Edit: He's the same author who wrote Silverhair, which I DNFed last month. Guess the author just doesn't work for me.)
October 8, 2021
Kind of "Clan of the Cave Bear" type book. I actually didn't finish it as I found it kind of boring and unrealistic. I also don't agree with calling a pre-historic fantasy science fiction. Fiction maybe, science no. Or maybe I just feel that way because all the science fiction I read when young was future speculation or at least somewhat scientific. This book seems to be about something impossible done in the past with lots of fighting.
August 26, 2024
Like many Stephen Baxter (Flood, Ark etc..) the characters are a little thinly painted but the well paced narrative and ideas more than make up for that. The idea of Doggerland as a somewhere so close to our own Europe yet lost and mysterious is excellent. Mixing ideas of hunter gatherer lifestyles and the civilisation of the East is fun and believable enough. Appropriate for the age, it is bloodthirsty and occasionally cruel.
November 27, 2012
Stone Spring, by Stephen Baxter, initially published in the UK, took a long time to make its way to the United States. The first of a new trilogy by Baxter, called the
Northland Trilogy
, Stone Spring details the struggles of a pre-historical society facing a rising sea at the end of the Ice Age. Memorable characters, sometimes elegant prose, and an intriguing premise combine to make Stone Spring yet another of Baxter's unique works--that nobody else can come close to competing with.
Synopsis of Stone Spring :
Baxter has clearly done his homework, including a fairly accurate map of what the region called Northland would have likely looked like around 10,000 BC. Though the cultures are fictitious, they are based on historical records to generate something believable and identifiable for readers. The peoples of the book are generally hunter-gatherers, relying on the world around them to provide them what's needed. The Etxelur people--the primary culture of the book--have much in common with Native Americans, in that they thank the creatures for their sacrifice, and waste nothing.
Stone Spring includes a cast of characters that span generations--much like the way Baxter's Time's Tapestry series was structured, though less obviously fragmented here. Things start out with Kirike, the father of two girls who would come to shape events of not only their people, but those of the regions around them as well. Baxter uses the introduction of many other important characters to develop the story. Each character is completely unique and highly believable, hosting their own desires, motivations, and drive to shape the world and provide for their families. Stephen Baxter has always had strong characters, and Stone Spring is no exception.
One of the criticisms that could be made of the novel is that the dialogue is a tad unbelievable. For such an ancient time-frame, the languages could have very well been something from the 21st century. It's understandable that Baxter likely used this method to make the story easier to follow, it's still distracting in a way, as these characters rarely sound as if they actually inhabit the world of 10,000 BC.
The plot of Stone Spring takes its time in developing--a lot of time. This is one of the failures of the novel, in that it very nearly loses the reader before it gets good. Until about the half-way mark, the book is a meandering series of characters and events that seems to have no clear direction. Ultimately, the characters find their way together, and the story begins to take shape, evolving into an intriguing plot that almost succeeds in transcending to amazement. Unfortunately, just when events get most interesting, it backs away quite dramatically, and nearly loses the reader once more. Indeed, the book feels more like three or four separate plots, weaved together--which might be Baxter's point. Without reading the remaining two books of the series, it's difficult to determine exactly how Stone Spring will stand up, but based as a solo novel, it falls a bit flat.
There's a point during Stone Spring where it seems as if the story is going to take a very interesting turn. During the largest event of the book, the word Atlantis surfaces, and a very subtle hint that this culture could be based on that lost city immediately makes things much more interesting. Unfortunately, Baxter doesn't continue that thread, and leaves the name dangling, never returning to it. After making the inference however, it's difficult to believe that this culture could ever have risen to the level that Atlantis supposedly occupied. It's a brief moment of hope during the book that sadly goes unfulfilled.
Stone Spring is a difficult novel to characterize. Technically science fiction, it feels nothing at all like that. It's an alternate history, most certainly, but feels like a disappointing direction by Stephen Baxter. After waiting what felt like years for the book to find its way to American shores, readers will most likely be left wanting something more. Its slow pace, unfulfilled story threads, and somewhat unrealistic depiction of language serves to keep Stone Spring from becoming an instant classic for Baxter. Indeed, fans may be wondering if they should bother waiting for the next book in the series, Bronze Summer, due out who-knows-when in the United States.
Synopsis of Stone Spring :
Ten thousand years ago, a vast and fertile plain exists linking the British Isles to Europe. Home to a tribe of simple hunter-gatherers, Northland teems with nature's bounty, but is also subject to its whims.
Fourteen-year-old Ana calls Northland home, but her world is changing. The air is warming, the ice is melting, and the seas are rising. Then Ana meets a traveler from a far-distant city called Jericho-a city that is protected by a wall. And she starts to imagine the impossible...
Baxter has clearly done his homework, including a fairly accurate map of what the region called Northland would have likely looked like around 10,000 BC. Though the cultures are fictitious, they are based on historical records to generate something believable and identifiable for readers. The peoples of the book are generally hunter-gatherers, relying on the world around them to provide them what's needed. The Etxelur people--the primary culture of the book--have much in common with Native Americans, in that they thank the creatures for their sacrifice, and waste nothing.
Stone Spring includes a cast of characters that span generations--much like the way Baxter's Time's Tapestry series was structured, though less obviously fragmented here. Things start out with Kirike, the father of two girls who would come to shape events of not only their people, but those of the regions around them as well. Baxter uses the introduction of many other important characters to develop the story. Each character is completely unique and highly believable, hosting their own desires, motivations, and drive to shape the world and provide for their families. Stephen Baxter has always had strong characters, and Stone Spring is no exception.
One of the criticisms that could be made of the novel is that the dialogue is a tad unbelievable. For such an ancient time-frame, the languages could have very well been something from the 21st century. It's understandable that Baxter likely used this method to make the story easier to follow, it's still distracting in a way, as these characters rarely sound as if they actually inhabit the world of 10,000 BC.
The plot of Stone Spring takes its time in developing--a lot of time. This is one of the failures of the novel, in that it very nearly loses the reader before it gets good. Until about the half-way mark, the book is a meandering series of characters and events that seems to have no clear direction. Ultimately, the characters find their way together, and the story begins to take shape, evolving into an intriguing plot that almost succeeds in transcending to amazement. Unfortunately, just when events get most interesting, it backs away quite dramatically, and nearly loses the reader once more. Indeed, the book feels more like three or four separate plots, weaved together--which might be Baxter's point. Without reading the remaining two books of the series, it's difficult to determine exactly how Stone Spring will stand up, but based as a solo novel, it falls a bit flat.
There's a point during Stone Spring where it seems as if the story is going to take a very interesting turn. During the largest event of the book, the word Atlantis surfaces, and a very subtle hint that this culture could be based on that lost city immediately makes things much more interesting. Unfortunately, Baxter doesn't continue that thread, and leaves the name dangling, never returning to it. After making the inference however, it's difficult to believe that this culture could ever have risen to the level that Atlantis supposedly occupied. It's a brief moment of hope during the book that sadly goes unfulfilled.
Stone Spring is a difficult novel to characterize. Technically science fiction, it feels nothing at all like that. It's an alternate history, most certainly, but feels like a disappointing direction by Stephen Baxter. After waiting what felt like years for the book to find its way to American shores, readers will most likely be left wanting something more. Its slow pace, unfulfilled story threads, and somewhat unrealistic depiction of language serves to keep Stone Spring from becoming an instant classic for Baxter. Indeed, fans may be wondering if they should bother waiting for the next book in the series, Bronze Summer, due out who-knows-when in the United States.
January 22, 2018
Ahhhh I loved it so much and then the sudden jumps in time were SOOO tilting, like I need to know about life inbetween, there was so much good details then such huge gaps and I understand the need to make the story fit but it really bugs me, still a great book though for sure, beautifully investing!
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January 31, 2022An interesting and different topic for a book. And I always love these stories that weave the real world closely into the fiction. I enjoyed the long time span as well that allowed you to glimpse characters changes over time, and enter their lives at formative monents. But too violent for me. Won’t read the next one.
March 14, 2017
A very interesting epic historical fiction piece. The beginning took me a little bit to understand, but then the story began to take shape and come together nicely. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and the premise of what culture might have been like nearly 10,000 years ago.
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