An interesting, character driven novel which I will definitely recommend.. For me, it lacked some of the narrative propulsion of other novels and didn’t always engage me but I will be very interested to see what the author writes next.

This was an enjoyable read and the perfect escapism. I loved that characters of Isla and Blue, and the historical setting worked wonders for me. While perhaps a little slow and convoluted at times, I had a good time reading the book and would recommend it for historical fiction lovers who want a little fantasy thrown in.

Isla and Blue are 2 Saxon sisters, daughter of a master blacksmith, who are living near the ruins of Roman London. After their father dies they need to seek protection from Osric, the local lord, but their reputation as witches and a terrible secret that Blue is keeping mean that they are forced to hide in the ruins with other outcasts from Society.
There are lots of good ideas in this story and the sisters are interesting characters but think it could have been developed a bit more - there was something unexplored about the characters and their society that Bernard Cornwell for example might have done more with.

With thanks to NetGalley and 4th Estate for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions are my own.

NO SPOILERS:

From the cover and the publisher’s description, this seems not to be my preferred genre at all, but having read and loved Rebecca Stott’s In the Days of Rain, (oh, the owl…) I began reading this with an open mind. And of course, it’s not fantasy as such. It’s set in our real world, in London in 500AD, a time for which very, very few accounts and records exist. So Dark Earth, really, is supposed historic fiction…informed, intelligent supposition.

Any “world building” is social and not physical. I dislike the latter; perhaps I find it hard to suspend my belief. The mystical/magical aspect is not entirely fantasy either, as in 500AD anything not understood was taken to be of the fates and gods. So, this is looking good for me…not pure fantasy and not totally other worldly.

The writing style is an easy read but not “lite” (phew!) and flows in a gentle, almost tender way. Two love stories, both plausible and neither gratuitous.

Here’s the measure of it – I wanted to be Blue or Isla, either would do, although, unfortunately in my head I saw Elsa and Anna which is not the fault of the author but Disney tramping over everything.

Thank you to NetGalley and 4the Estate for the Advanced Review Copy of the book, which I have voluntarily reviewed.

I enjoyed this book although for me it did have some issues. I found the writing/narrative to be slightly fragmented which took me a while to get into and I felt slightly disconnected from that.I thought the storyline was so intriguing and I loved that it was set in a period of history that I rarely see in literature and this made it even more intriguing.
I felt that the boook leaned more to the fantasy side than the historical, however this is a period of history that is little known about as no records have survived from that time period to my knowledge all information was written after that period and so the author could have been criticised for not being accuarte, and I enjoyed the fantasy element of it anyway.
There were a couple of things I loved about this book, the first was the relationship between the sisters - Isla and blue, I felt the character development was at a good level but that there was room for them to be developed more, however the relationship between them was done brilliantly. I also loved the muythological element that was woven through the book.
Overall an enjoyable read.

A tale of Britain in the Dark Ages, told through the eyes of sisters Isla and Blue.

The characters lack substance, a situation not helped by the stilted dialogue. Equally, the setting never feels tangible.

Overall, this is an underwhelming read.

My thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC.

The question about whether its author intended Dark Earth to be historical fiction or largely fantasy with just a sprinkling of historical authenticity never quite goes away. In truth, it fails being either one thing or the other. Its premise and plot are promising enough, but their potential is left unfulfilled in the telling — at least for this reader. The narrative jumps between past and present tenses — sometimes even within the same sentence — with eye-watering speed, making the writing feel choppy and amateurish. In a writer of Rebecca Stott's alleged calibre this is surprising and disheartening.

In summary: Patchy. The beautiful jacket sadly cannot make up for what the book's content lacks.

DARK EARTH has such an interesting setting, "Dark Ages" Britain about 100 years after the Romans have left. This is the least fictionalised period of Early Medieval History, so far as I can tell, and so seeing a book set then was one of the major reasons I picked this book up.

It's a fascinating period, with no written records from the time remaining (what we have is histories/chronical penned later.) The bulk of the Angle, Saxon, Jutes, and other Germanic peoples have arrived by 500 AD so there's this real mix of cultures vying for space, all with their own laws and religions. Those tensions are captured so well in the book.

It's full of mythology, tales of monsters and spirits and ghosts, curses and cures. It's embedded into the world and the characters' actions, but it's not a fantasy book. These were the beliefs of the day, and everything can be explained with a logical, non-supernatural reason. These elements do help propel the story along, but you never feel like you're being taken out of history and into an alternate one.

It's also a (very very very) loose Wayland the Smith retelling (called Vorland in the final chapter that "reveals" the retelling nature for those who don't know the story well enough to spot it.) Retelling is a bit of a loose term here, given that final chapter does point out that it's a story that could then be corrupted into the tale we know as the Wayland one.

DARK EARTH doesn't contain any romance - yay! Instead, the focus is entirely on the sisters' relationship. The book is told from Isla's perspective so you really get that protective older sister's love mingled with the feeling that she <em>has</em> to protect and mother her younger sister. It was really fun to see that common burden of older sisters deconstructed.

The book does contain a lot of flashbacks at the start. There were times when I did struggle a little bit to follow what was happening as it wasn't always clear when we were (or why we'd just jumped back in time despite there being things happening in the present.)

The other thing that meant it took me a while to get into the book was that the decisions that the sisters make which cause the book to be felt a bit odd. Like if they'd just told the truth rather than immediately jumping into elaborate lies, I feel like things might have gone a bit smoother for them. I was never quite sure why they jumped to lies rather than the truth.

In all though, I did really enjoy the book and I would be interested in seeing if the start was a bit less confusing on a second read.

2.5 stars

The emphasis is heavily on the fantasy here rather than historical. While that’s not a bad thing, if you are a) looking for historical detail or b) familiar with the historical period (in as much as we can be given the dearth of record) then you may find this a little irritating. The very melting pot that was Britain during the post Roman pre-Norman time period meant that actually women were not oppressed in a male dominated society. Britain has always had an uneasy relationship with mother church – Christianity took root here only for the pagan origins to grow up and round and through it. The early catholic church found that nearly impossible to eradicate partly due to the mindset of the inhabitants and partly due to the fact that it was a well defended island nation. (Let’s remember, Rome only succeeded in invading and colonising once certain Celtic tribes had invited them in!) So unfortunately all that yanked me out of the story at the start. Followed by ‘smith craft being forbidden to women’ – that was strike two – we had female smiths throughout the Celtic days, through the Saxon era and after the Norman conquest, all the way through to the late 1600s in fact. Women could do any job a man could, she would just get a twelfth of the wages. But no one was prohibited and many female smiths were so renowned that they made enough money to retire and even climb a social class! There were other small things and this is entirely on me because this is fantasy but I never quite gelled with the characters or the style, so unfortunately there was nothing that engaged me enough for me to switch off the ‘historical knowledge’ filter. I note others have really enjoyed this book and it does have something. It just wasn’t for me.

Dark Earth by Rebecca Stott is an excellent book that is part historical fiction, part action, part mythology, and part mystical and magical all wrapped up into one addictive novel. I really enjoyed this!

This book takes place near the river Thames is what is now known as England, but at 500 AD was a much different place under the post-Roman atmosphere after their departure. This time is a little less clear, history wise, due to the lack of written records and commentary. So much from the early Middle Ages is still being discovered and unearthed, and just because we do not know as much anout those events during that time (late 5th century through the early 10th century) doesn’t mean that it isn’t rich in activity and culture. Ms. Stott uses this to her advantage and pulls us readers into this time period. The main characters are sisters Isla and Blue, and we follow along with threads of action, suspense, mysticism, magic, family, history, love, loss, loyalty, betrayal, and forgiveness. She balances all of these elements beautifully, it kept me engaged, and that is all I can say without giving away too much of the plot for future readers.

I highly recommend this for anyone that loves historical fiction, especially with a bit of magic and mythology thrown in.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Fourth Estate for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 6/23/22.