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There are currently 27 member reviews
for Fallen Land
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Ruthie A. (Summit, NJ)
Gripping, Tense and Beautiful!
Two orphaned teens and a noble horse flee bounty hunters, renegades, the desperate, the displaced, the hungry, and a terrible prophecy. I love historical fiction, especially when I learn something new. This is a time/era/story I knew very little about, told in such a totally engrossing novel. Brilliant writing, not a single wasted word. The writing is reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy, and yet in many ways this is a more powerful read. The writing is more poetic and the characters are more engaging, fleshed out. It was very hard to put this book down as I fell in love with the three (yes, 3 - I loved Reiver!) characters on the run.
In the bleak landscape of this war ravished part country there is danger and horror at every stop and yet there is kindness and dignity as well. It is the first time I have read such a moving and devastating accounting of what this part of the South was like during this brutal war. It was hard not to imagine and cast the amazing movie this could be - but definitely read the book first!
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Judy M. (East Haven, CT)
Fallen Land
In this novel, the author took me on an amazing journey through time, and it was done beautifully by the use of his words.
This book is descriptive in a way I am not used to, as it was not overly wordy. Yet the images created were clear & precise.
It takes place during the civil war, but is really a beautiful love story about a very young young couple, brought together by a single accidental circumstance.
What I enjoyed was that I never felt like I was reading either a love/romance novel, or a history book. However, I finished with the satisfaction of having experienced both.
The book seemed to gently carry me through from the moment I started reading to the end. Never a dull moment, lots of adventure, and a fine use if what might have been the way language was used during the time period.
Truly a unique approach to a novel!
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Mary Lou C. (Shenandoah Junction, WV)
Fallen Land
Fallen Land is a beautifully written account of a very dark time in American history. It is far more than a love story. It demonstrates the grit and determination for survival and the cruelty that we care capable of.
The main characters were well developed and the author brings us into a frightening and heart pounding flight to freedom of a young couple in the south, thrown together by circumstance.
For me, the real hero in the story, is the strong and loyal horse, Riever, who carries the couple through the frightening horrors they encounter.
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Marcia S. (Ackley, IA)
One heck of a ride!
Fallen Land entails the arduous journey of two young people fleeing bounty hunters in the last days of the Civil War. Danger is everywhere, which keeps one reading to see what happens next. Although it is a book with rape, murder, and the many atrocities of war— it is actually a story of love and devotion, of attempting to overcome the worst. The plight of Callum and Ava, the two main characters, is gripping and beautifully written. It also isn't known until the end, what the outcome will be. Read it and find out!
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Marianne D. (Crofton, MD)
Civil War Dystopia
The Advent and Christmas seasons were the wrong time for me to read Fallen Land. The book is beautifully written - I could visualize almost every scene clearly, but few, if any, of them are pretty. War is war, and this could be any war: ugly, dark, anxiety-ridden. In fact, only the occasional references to the time period and the real heroes of that time, like Sherman, give away which war is taking place. My main criticism of the book lies with its disjointedness. The segues from the primary narrative about the two main characters to the italicized narratives were not always smooth, and the last part of the book tumbled to its not-inevitable end. Still, the novel is an above-average debut. I would consider reading Brown's next effort.
This would be a decent book for a book club discussion, which could revolve, for example, around the nature of dystopian literature; the strength of personal relationships during war; and the inhumanity of war itself.
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Barbara R. (Fort Myers, FL)
Fallen Land a novel by Taylor Brown
If you likes books with action, romance, good guys and bad guys this is for you. Takes place at the end of the Civil War when renegade bounty hunters terrorize those left behind after Sherman's march through Georgia. There is a boy and girl trying to keep ahead of these men and they experience many hair raising adventures. This book has something for everyone.
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Gail B
Brutality vs Love
If anyone still has a romanticized view of war, the Civil War novel FALLEN LAND will certainly dispel it. One reviewer called it a tale of "the worst and best of humanity." The worst: at times, the brutality is almost too difficult to read. A band of renegade bounty hunters sweeps down the ridge of the Appalachians across Georgia in pursuit of young Callum, Ava and their horse Reiver. Southerners whose paths they cross can be equally as savage. All are starving, fighting to protect what little they have stashed away from marauders or Sherman's Union troops, who often are starving, too. The best: the boy and girl whose loyalty and love are heart-wrenching. Reiver, the great black horse, I came to love nearly as much as they did.
Author Taylor Brown skillfully weaves fact and fiction into a captivating tale of the War in the South -- the struggle of civilians to survive, as well as Sherman's determination to destroy the means to fund the Confederate enterprise and to break the will of the people.
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