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definebookish's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A pandemic novel, sort of. Not this pandemic – Cold Earth is Sarah Moss’s debut novel, published in 2009 – but a chillingly similar one, unfolding offscreen while, in shot, a group of student archaeologists excavate a lost Viking settlement.
In remote costal Greenland, six young people spend a summer digging, bickering, eating dehydrated noodles and trying to understand what killed off the area’s previous inhabitants, centuries ago. They have little contact with the outside world; connecting to the internet is expensive, and they don’t have smartphones. Oxford student Nina – not actually an archeologist, but a tagalong friend of the dig’s lead – is spooked from the outset, missing her fiancé and hearing noises from outside the tents at night.
The blurb didn’t really prepare me for how eerie this story is. It’s literary fiction meets cli-fi, seasoned with a sprinkling of speculative horror. It reminded me of both Michelle Paver’s Dark Matter and the 1990s movie The Hole, and yet also very much of the more recent Moss novels I’ve read – Ghost Wall and Summerwater. The writing isn’t as taut as either of those, but it is as tense and claustrophobic.
Like Ghost Wall, this is a tale of the past reverberating in the present. Sarah Moss’s characters always seem to inhabit the world in a way that emphasises how precarious their – and our – existence is. How small and fragile we are. How much at the mercy of the elements, and each other. Reading this one a decade after publication, that’s even more apparent. I’m very much here for the mounting sense of dread, and the food for thought Moss always leaves me with. A haunting, deeply unsettling read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
savidgereads's review against another edition
3.0
I'm torn on this one. I kind of liked it a lot. I kind of thought it was a bit all over the place. One of those. The themes and ideas behind it were brilliant (archaeologists in Greenland where there might be ghosts or monsters and their might be an apocalyptic epidemic in the rest of the world) the delivery interesting. But occasionally it all stuttered along or jarred. But overall good. I think.
melbsreads's review against another edition
4.0
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.
kmac2022's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
whatvictoriaread's review
4.0
During a dig in rural Greenland, six archaeologists hear rumours of a pandemic unfolding back home. And as supplies run low and their communication systems fail, they start to wonder if anyone is coming to collect them...
I really enjoyed this eerie, tense and well paced novel and I liked the shifting perspectives as things unfolded.
It was written in 2009 and was Moss’ debut but there are some creepy parallels between the pandemic in the novel and our current situation, so be aware of that going in.
I really enjoyed this eerie, tense and well paced novel and I liked the shifting perspectives as things unfolded.
It was written in 2009 and was Moss’ debut but there are some creepy parallels between the pandemic in the novel and our current situation, so be aware of that going in.
jennyreads17's review against another edition
5.0
I am slowly becoming obsessed with Sarah Moss and reading all of her work, including this debut novel.
soapyporridge's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A group of archeologists go to Greenland for a dig and whilst they are dealing with excavating the past, the present begins to fall apart.
Moss has a real talent in leading her works with character, we get a deep insight into each of the group as they uncover and unravel. The whispered news of a pandemic back home was really well written - the group all have the kind of responses we have lived through in the past year.
I think it also spoke really well about fragility and how even those of us who seem to be the most lost might actually have the upper ground. As long as the upper ground isn't next to an ancient burial site!
Moss has a real talent in leading her works with character, we get a deep insight into each of the group as they uncover and unravel. The whispered news of a pandemic back home was really well written - the group all have the kind of responses we have lived through in the past year.
I think it also spoke really well about fragility and how even those of us who seem to be the most lost might actually have the upper ground. As long as the upper ground isn't next to an ancient burial site!
tirrato's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Death and Fire/Fire injury
bryoniadioica's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
helenar's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.25