Maybe I didn't have the patience for this book? I abandoned it about a quarter of the way through. I didn't feel a connection to the characters; its sense of place was muddled and confusing; the central conflict was ambiguous at best. Just couldn't get into it; wasn't feeling it.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the writing style in this, it fell flat for me in many moments, but the overall story was really fascinating and incredibly prescient.

2.5 stars
This is one of those books that I'm glad I read but I also won't recommend it to anyone.
The dystopian story in a far future of drought is about survival, and highlights where we may be heading if climate change continues to worsen.
I didn't *like* any of the characters; they were difficult to sympathize with because their lives are so different from ours, but I often feel close to characters in sci fi or fantasy whose lives are completely alien to mine, so I'm not sure that the vast distance between our realities is actually the issue.

Second read: Oct. 2014. I first read this book a decade ago and was very impressed by it, although I did not write a review. This time around, it felt like a slog just to finish the book. Lessing's writing is distant, somewhat removed from the protagonist, and she employs a tell-not-show style that I did not enjoy. I generally like an intimate portrayal of a protagonist, one that almost allows me to feel that I am that character, rather than a writing style that makes me feel like I am way above the story, looking down upon the character embedded in the scene. At times, the story moved so quickly, with such a drought of details, that it felt more like a summary than a novel. Yet, it was a long book, and I had to put it down in the middle and wait a week before I could force myself to pick it up again. Although I liked Mara a little, I felt removed from her. I did not like Dann this time around. I also grew tired of their constant travel and their inability to create meaning in their lives when they were stationed somewhere. The sexual tension between the siblings also disturbed me. The four star rating is from my first read.

First read: Oct. 1, 2004

This book was not what I expected. It was kind of a fantasy/adventure book about a brother and sister in a fictional land. The writing was generally pretty good but I was too distracted by disturbing events in the story to enjoy it much.

An interesting, engaging story, with lots of relevance for today as we continue to ignore the signs of climate change. The ending is too tidy and there are no hints of how we might approach our environmental crisis differently, but the book still captivated me.

It was good, but parts of it really dragged. There would be loooong sections I felt like I was slogging through then there'd be a good, fast paced part, then another loooong slog to a good part and so on and so on and so on.

The story itself was interesting and really thought provoking and made me grateful I don't have any children to who'll be left to deal with the environmental disaster that is our future.

Two siblings travel from one end of a continent to the other over many years, many hardships, many tragedies, treacheries, and near death experiences. So yeah, it was rather bleak and depressing, but like I said, there were some good parts.

Bechdel Test: Pass