I was never able to get into The Unfinished Land, and as a result the novel fell flat for me. There were a few reasons for this. One is that the writing was archaic. I understand that the novel is set in a period during the height of the Spanish Armada, but that’s not a reason to make this story hard to read. The author could have more elegantly worked with the time period to make it feel authentic yet increase the readability of the novel. Second, the novel is slow to develop. The author presents the story in drips and drabs, which results in a very slow pace and an overall dull read. Finally, the main protagonist, Reynard, is a passive character. The action happens around him. He is almost there observing. He does very little in the story, and as a result, is not a particularly interesting character.
This novel was hard to get through. It just wasn’t particularly compelling even though the description of the story sounded like it would be a good read. The concept of the story is a decent one. It was the writing and execution of this concept that was subpar. As a result, I would suggest passing on this novel.
