The Seaborne - Isle Fincara Trilogy (1): Visionary fiction set in a simpler world

Disgrifiad Cymraeg / Welsh Description

Teitl cyntaf trioleg Isle Fincara. Mae taith John Finlay wedi methiant yn arwain at drychineb - ac at yr Ynys lle bydd yn rhaid iddo ddysgu byw o'r newydd. Mae Dermot yn tynnu corff hanner marw o'r môr. Welodd e erioed ddillad tebyg o'r blaen! O ble daeth y dyn? Stori am beiriannydd cyfoes ar gefnlen canoloesol. Ffantasi Geltaidd a stori serch wedi ei hadrodd yn gain.

Disgrifiad Saesneg / English Description

A 21st century man finds himself on an 11th century island where he must learn to live anew. His modern worldview clashes with the ancient ways of the Islanders, until at last a trial by ocean decides his fate. The island-setting, the Celtic community and its lore are all richly evoked in A G Rivett's tale of metamorphosis. A spiritual journey and a love story, beautifully told.

Dosbarthu

Byddwn yn dosbarthu eitemau sydd mewn stoc o fewn 3 diwrnod gwaith, fel arfer drwy Royal Mail Tracked 48. Ar gyfer archebion o flaen llaw, byddwn yn dosbarthu’r eitem o fewn 3 diwrnod gwaith ar ôl ei derbyn gan ein cyflenwr.

Dispatch

In-stock items will be dispatched within 3 business days, usually by Royal Mail Tracked 48. For pre-orders, we’ll dispatch within 3 business days of receiving the item from our supplier.

Bywgraffiad yr Awdur / Author Biography

A G Rivett is a retired priest and public health doctor who lived in a rural community in northern Nigeria in the 1970s and there experienced what it is like to live among people with much less access to technology than the present western norm, and a radically different culture. His years in Scotland not only included time on an off-grid peninsula, but also brought him into contact with the ancient Celtic tradition of the Céile Dé or Culdee, as well as the spiritual community of Findhorn. All these experiences inform his first novel and an early draft was constructively critiqued by a Scotland-based archeologist. He now lives in Ceredigion, West Wales, with his wife, Gillian, who works with him on his books as creative editor. He has three daughters and two grandsons.

Adolygiad y Cyhoeddwr / Publisher Review

Enter a windswept, wave-washed land where wolves still roam and the ptarmigan struts upon the moor. Arrive at Caerpadraig, tucked between the mountains, the lough and the wide, western sea. Three fishermen in a small wooden boat haul a shipwrecked man ashore. None of them has seen the like of his outlandish clothing. WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING: ***************** “A remarkable story.” Fiona Alison “Such an engaging read.” Author Anthony Avian “In an Outlander twist on the Dances with Wolves-type story, A G Rivett debuts a fantastical series, taking the reader to a reimagining of Celtic culture and dropping a modern man into the post-St Patrick-setting.” Morgan McTeigue ***************** A BOOK THAT ASKS THOUGHT-PROVOKING QUESTIONS: “The Seaborne is about a man pushed to his limits, forced to go deep into himself to reassess what’s important in life.” THE NARRATIVE: Speculative fiction about modern-day engineer John Finlay, who leaves a failed business and relationship behind by hiring onto a fishing boat heading into the Atlantic. When John wakes from an accident he can’t remember, he has been dragged from the sea by fishermen from a small island village 1,000 years in the past. There he struggles to understand the culture and language. Gradually accepted into village life, he’s apprenticed to the village blacksmith. But his attempts to demonstrate electromagnetism with lodestones triggers suspicion that he’s using trickery. When he begins teaching the blacksmith’s daughter Shinane to read, tensions simmer as men worry women will want more than their traditional roles, and John is forced into a challenge that becomes a spiritual quest. ATMOSPHERE The story is deeply and carefully imagined. John brilliantly tries to explain modern technology by cutting blades into a slice of turnip to demonstrate how a propellor works and compares the unimaginable number of people living in modern London to the number of leaves on the heather plants on a moor. The countryside is well described, the details and situations realistic, John’s struggles with language and culture compelling. THEME OF POWER The Seaborne is about a man pushed to his limits, forced to go deep into himself to reassess what’s important in life. The book asks thought-provoking questions about what modern humans have given up in terms of community, faith and honour in favour of always grasping the new. Readers will eagerly anticipate the next books in the trilogy. —BlueInk Starred Review ***************** A 21st-CENTURY MAN TIME-SLIPPED INTO THE PAST: “A beautiful story, imbued with Celtic themes and a deep spirituality.” THE NARRATIVE The fascinating tale of a shipwrecked 21st century man who has time-slipped into the past. (Or is it another reality?) Intriguing and enthralling, with hints of mystery and romance. The seaborne man gradually discovers a way of life and a moral code that he realises is missing from the time and place he left behind. He comes to respect and engage with this simpler life as he learns the language and gets to know the people. Will he stay or will he try to get back to his own world? ATMOSPHERE A G Rivett draws on his years spent living in a remote croft in the West of Scotland to weave a beautiful story, imbued with Celtic themes and a deep spirituality. His time on the western seaboard pours out through the realistic descriptions of what life must have been like a few hundred years ago in the Celtic lands. THEME OF POWER Themes of forgiveness, simplicity and living close to the earth are covered as the story unfurls like a flower coming into bloom. Many aspects are explored through his carefully drawn characters, such as how we cope with change, fear of the unknown, and the differences between those who welcome change and those who react adversely. TRAGEDY, TENSIONS AND A SLOWLY FLOWERING ROMANCE Tragedy happens, tensions are faced. And a slowly flowering romance. All set in the context of a deeply religious society, its traditions and customs. Without giving any spoilers, it finally reaches a thoroughly satisfying conclusion. An enchanting read! —Don MacGregor, author of Blue Sky God ***************** SUCH AN ENGAGING READ “The author creates a breathtaking world that draws the reader in.” ATMOSPHERE This was such an engaging read. The author does a great job of creating a breathtaking world that draws the reader in and populates it with characters that keep the reader invested throughout. The interesting concept of how society has evolved and the ways in which people choose to live are thoroughly showcased. The thing that fascinates me is John’s mentality and way of life from his own time, and the way of life he learns in this new world. Interesting, both in their similarities and differences. In the end, is it not true that the past and the future both have their ups and downs, and can impact the present. SUMMARY A powerful, memorable, and evenly paced read. Rivett has masterfully told a brilliant tale of a man outside his own time, and the community impacted by his appearance, both good and bad. Fuelled by culture, romance, questions of morality, and advancements in technology, mentality, and society, the novel does an excellent job of creating a thought-provoking narrative that will keep readers wanting more. —Author Anthony Avina ***************** A DEEPLY FELT, VIVID NOVEL “A stark reminder that the mind-bending speed of 21st-century change is overwhelming peoples’ humane essence and goodness.” ATMOSPHERE A remarkable story. A deeply felt, vivid novel filled with the realities and atmosphere of early medieval island life vs the conflicting experiences of a wanderer who is lost to his own world yet not part of the new one. Rivett takes it slow, which is the blessing of the novel. THEME OF POWER There are prominent themes of belonging, family, community: What it is to be an outlier: How to assimilate the grief of what’s been left behind; and deciding where one really belongs. Love, sorrow, forgiveness, sacrifice and acceptance blend together into a narrative which feels as much allegory as chronology, a mythical fable rather than saga. It’s a lesson in mindfulness and a stark reminder that the mind-bending speed of 21st-century change is overwhelming peoples’ humane essence and goodness. —Fiona Alison ************ THE PREMISE ALONE IS FASCINATING: “The worldbuilding felt thoughtful rather than just decorative.” ATMOSPHERE This book ended up surprising me in a really good way. The premise alone is fascinating, a modern man suddenly thrown into a world that feels centuries removed from his own, stripped of everything familiar and forced to rebuild an identity from nothing. The fish-out-of-water aspect was especially compelling to me. Watching John slowly lose his old identity while adapting to this harsher but more meaningful existence gave the story a reflective, almost meditative feeling. THEME OF POWER What’s stayed with me most is the way the book contrasts modern life with the simplicity and connectedness of this older world. It’s not romanticized exactly—life on the island is difficult and often brutal, but there’s still this lingering sense that Dhion finds something emotionally grounding there that modern life couldn’t offer him. Overall I found this thoughtful, immersive, and surprisingly moving. Definitely one I kept thinking about after I finished. —Kajal Ramphul ************** A DEEP AND THOUGHT-PROVOKING BOOK: “I loved the elemental quality, the constant presence of the wild and rugged landscape.” This gripped me from the first chapter. The story is compelling and captivating. A story of loss and discovery, of isolation and belonging. I loved the elemental quality, the spirituality, the unfolding love between Dhion and Shinane, the wisdom and sacrifice of the wise woman and the constant presence of the wild and rugged landscape. The characters are strong and believable. It's a deep and thought-provoking book, and the story lingers in my mind. —Josie Smith, author of Tamboura ***************** A COMPELLING READ: “I have been kept up by this book.” It’s 3am and I have been kept up by this book—a compelling read! Beautifully crafted, evocative and a gently gripping storyline that grows. The main character develops into a man whom I felt I really got to know, and made me question how I would manage myself, if something like this happened to me. The images the author has created make me feel like I am also part of this community. That's quite a skill, and I look forward to the next book. —Jane Duncan-Rogers, author of Gifted by Grief ***************** ADDITIONAL PRAISE The concept of this book is absolutely fascinating to me. Haven’t we all wondered how we’d feel, behave, react if we as our current selves and all we know, were dropped into a different time period? MIA T An inspired imagination of ancient Celtic culture in a parallel time context with our own civilization, creating a mirror of our present. BROOKSBY This book has been a most wondrous read and is quite unlike anything I have read before. I was captured and enraptured from the Prologue through to the Epilogue and I felt deeply changed by it. SARAH WILSON I keep thinking about this story. It’s compelling, and reminds me of the precarious precious present tense I take for granted every moment and how it becomes the past in the blink of my eye. MOONKISZT Multiple worlds proliferate in fiction these days and the time-shift fantasy is virtually a genre of its own, but it is notoriously difficult to create an internally consistent and convincing alternative universe, something that I think Rivett has achieved magnificently. RICHARD DANCKWERTS I loved the characters. How they accept him and are also fearful of his different ways, not unlike what modern day immigrants go through. The descriptions of nature and customs were beautifully written. This book was lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed it. JULIE FISCHER Having fostered an unthought through antipathy to reading any books of the fantasy fiction genre, I was persuaded by my wife to give The Seaborne a try. I was extremely surprised by the pleasure I found in it. NICK MOLNAR The Seaborne is a must-read if you are interested in Celtic spirituality. D C REID I was completely immersed in this community. This may not be my usual genre, but I was hooked from start to finish. SONJA CHARTERS I felt it coaxes us to turn to a simpler, more community-based way of living where there are no or fewer planes in the sky and our lives are forced into simplicity, personal creativity, greater stillness, listening and natural rhythm, and a connectedness with each other and the Sacredness of all. JOANNA PARSONS This beautifully written myth speaks to our deep inner wisdom, and calls us to return to the ancient ways of knowing that don’t look to externals for answers. As we walk with Dhion through his self-discovery, we’re are likely to hear a whisper in the air around us, “Are you living the life you are meant to live?” Highly recommended. AMAZON CUSTOMER A deep and moving book. Just wonderful. Wholeheartedly recommend this book and I hope the author writes more. Thank you. DR D MORRIS