Friday Memes and 'Landfalls' by Naomi J. Williams

Today I'm sharing an amazing novel with you guys that I reviewed yesterday: Landfalls by Naomi J. Williams. I gave it four out of five Universes and absolutely loved it. There's nothing like a good sea voyage/exploration novel to get your escapism fix. Do check out my review if it sounds like something for you!

An epic voyage, undertaken with the grandest of ambitions. 

When Lapérouse leaves France in the Spring of 1785 with two ships under his command, he knows that he sails with the full backing of the French government. This is to be a voyage of scientific and geographical discovery - but every person on board has their own hopes, ambitions and dreams. 

As the ships move across vast distances in their journey of nearly four years, the different characters step forward and invite us into their world. From the remote Alaskan bay where a dreadful tragedy unfolds, to the wild journey Barthélemy de Lessups undertakes from the far east of Russia to St Petersburg, the reader sees the emotional, physical and mental toll exacted by such an endeavour. 

Landfalls marks the launch of a brilliant new writer, who creates an unforgettable world through a web of voices and narratives.

Doesn't it sound exciting? Book Beginnings and Friday 56 are hosted by Gilian over at Rose City Reader and Freda over at Freda's Voice.

Book Beginnings:

'No one knew what to make of the new galley stoves when they arrived. There were two - one for each ship - and they came by boat, first for the Boussole and then for the Astrolabe, disassembled into their cumbersome components and accompanied by a foul-mouthed shipyard locksmith charged with installing them.' 1%

This paragraph is from the prologue, which gives the reader a first glimpse into the atmosphere aboard these two ships, the Boussole and the Astrolabe. The beginning isn't the most gripping ever, but I liked the description of a 'foul-mouthed shipyard locksmith' so chose this one.

Friday 56:

'Since that night, Lamartiniere had caught only fleeting glimpses of the woman when she served them tea in the drawing room, but the awareness of her presence in the house tantalized him in private and buzzed like an unacknowledged background hum between the men whenever they were in the house.' 56%

Since Landfalls switches a lot between narrators it can be a bit of a surprise to see who gets to narrate what, but Lamartiniere is quite a fun one since he's always worrying about a lot of things. In this case I thought his description of the tension in the house due to the presence of a woman, shock horror GASP!


Does Landfalls sound like the book for you? And what are you featuring today?