Some reader reviews
Don MacGregor, author of Blue Sky God
A G Rivett draws fruitfully on his years 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 into the fascinating tale of a shipwrecked 21st century man who has time-slipped into the past. Or is it another reality?
A G Rivett draws fruitfully on his years 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 into the fascinating tale of a shipwrecked 21st century man who has time-slipped into the p...
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Josie Smith, author of Tamboura
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 on in my mind. I await the next book eagerly.
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 pres...
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Jane Duncan-Rogers, author of Gifted by Grief
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 as you read. 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 in my mind make me feel like I am also part of this community. That's quite a skill, and I look forward to the next 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 as you read. 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 h...
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Author AnthonyAvina Blog
This was such an 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.
Amazon.com customer
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. It returns the reader to a deep relationship with the land, the elements and the connection with all that is. It is through these connections that a life can be truly seen. The protagonist is removed from all the distractions of modern life, returned to a time when humans live more simply. The measured pace of unfolding story invites self-reflection. 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.
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. It returns the reader to a deep relationship with the land, the elements and the connection with all that is. It is through these connection...
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Julia Clare, Cornwall
This novel started slowly for me. So much to process, and it took me a while to orient myself in this new/not-so-new Celtic world. Beautifully written, I found myself drawn deeper and deeper into the story, pausing to ponder and reflect, but pulled forwards by the strong narrative line and characters. By the end, I was totally immersed in the new world, feeling quite bereft when I turned the last page. And yet I find it's stayed with me. I'm still pausing to ponder the layers and strands. I'm delighted and relieved to hear that there's going to be more! I want to return to this place.
This novel started slowly for me. So much to process, and it took me a while to orient myself in this new/not-so-new Celtic world. Beautifully written, I found myself drawn deeper and deeper into the story, pausing to ponder and reflect, but pulled forwards by the strong narrative line and characte...
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Richard Danckwerts, Sherborne, Dorset
How would you describe a zip to someone who had never seen one – someone, moreover, for whom the industrial revolution had never happened? This is just one of the challenges that A G Rivett sets himself in his first novel, a story of worlds that collide:
"Callen fingered the metal teeth. ‘It would take a really skilled craftsman all day to make one of these – and look how many there are.’ ‘You’re right, Callen,’ Fengoelan answered. ‘No disrespect to our smith, but I doubt he could make something like that.'"
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. The world that he describes is both like and unlike our own, harsh and materially impoverished, but infused with a deep sense of spirituality.
The hero's transition from John to 'Dhion' does not feel forced, and we share his bewilderment and confusion at first, gradually turning into something like acceptance and culminating in a climactic choice … The whole book is both a page turning adventure – I read it twice and had to get to the end each time – and a spiritual quest and is beautifully written in a prose that is sensitive to the least changes of the natural world, without being cloyingly 'poetic'.
How would you describe a zip to someone who had never seen one – someone, moreover, for whom the industrial revolution had never happened? This is just one of the challenges that A G Rivett sets himself in his first novel, a story of worlds that collide:
...
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Amanda, Nantgwynfaen Organic Farm, West Wales
This book was really easy to read and beautifully written. It cleverly wove a completely believable story into an unbelievable situation. I am not normally a fan of 'fantasy' - this story was convincing and clever and so gentle that I slept beautifully after every read, imagining and dreaming of that misty damp green Celtic landscape with those lovely human characters who didn't have zips and lived such a simple wholesome life. A life that we perhaps in our modern rat race world can only dream of and be transported to in The Seaborne. I have mourned finishing it and can't wait for a sequel.
This book was really easy to read and beautifully written. It cleverly wove a completely believable story into an unbelievable situation. I am not normally a fan of 'fantasy' - this story was convincing and clever and so gentle that I slept beautifully after every read, imagining and dreaming of th...
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Violet Elizabeth Grayson, Brooklyn, New York
A.G. Rivett's beautifully written novel, The Seaborne, transports the reader, and its protagonist, to a remote island in a mystical Celtic past. Can a simpler world, with fewer creature comforts but a stronger sense of community, be better than the rat race of contemporary urban life where money can buy anything but one does not know one's neighbor? The Seaborne's protagonist must choose. Highly recommended!
A.G. Rivett's beautifully written novel, The Seaborne, transports the reader, and its protagonist, to a remote island in a mystical Celtic past. Can a simpler world, with fewer creature comforts but a stronger sense of community, be better than the rat race of contemporary urban life where money ca...
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Joanna Parsons, Devon
I have read this book twice. The story of John or Dhion is told deftly and with depth and beauty; scenes, landscapes and characters are described with economy and an engaging, unusual turn of phrase that often surprised and delighted me. 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. The story explores the drawbacks in the past of a diminished role of women, and, through the compassion and wisdom of the central characters, invites us to explore for ourselves how we might take the best of the past and the best of our modern civilisation and forge a new, sustainable future. I highly recommend this book.
I have read this book twice. The story of John or Dhion is told deftly and with depth and beauty; scenes, landscapes and characters are described with economy and an engaging, unusual turn of phrase that often surprised and delighted me. I felt it coaxes us to turn to a simpler, more community-base...
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Sarah Wilson, Salisbury
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.
P Newton, Lampeter
Transports the reader into the mystical medieval world of Celtic spirituality. The author’s love and intimate knowledge of the Scottish landscape infuses the text. He makes apparent the importance of the hills and mountains, water, the sun and the moon to the everyday lives of his characters. The energies and consciousness of the natural world shape both the boundaries, and the thresholds of their wild, western-isles existence. Biblical parallels and symbolism abound in this tale, which give it its power to move, to enthral, and potentially challenge and change the inner world of its reader. Buy this book! But be forewarned: choose carefully a time to read it lest you find yourself compulsively absorbed, reading it into the early hours of the morning, utterly incapable of putting it down.
Transports the reader into the mystical medieval world of Celtic spirituality. The author’s love and intimate knowledge of the Scottish landscape infuses the text. He makes apparent the importance of the hills and mountains, water, the sun and the moon to the everyday lives of his characters. The e...
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Fiona T, Perthshire
Not only is this a great and really atmospheric story, there's food for thought here too. I love novels that are both a good read and spiritually enriching. (But without any preaching at all!)
Nicola Aven, Devon
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A beautifully written and thought provoking story, rich in meaning. I cared deeply what happened to the people and their culture.
Beth Noakes, London
A gripping and thoughtful book about a shipwrecked man who is rescued in a different time and world. As he gradually recovers, learns to communicate and to live in this new world, his influence brings challenges to his hosts too. Can they deal with the disruptions he creates in their settled lifestyle? And given the choice, would he return to his old world or make his life here?
A gripping and thoughtful book about a shipwrecked man who is rescued in a different time and world. As he gradually recovers, learns to communicate and to live in this new world, his influence brings challenges to his hosts too. Can they deal with the disruptions he creates in their settled lifest...
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Leonora C, Bristol
A.G.Rivett's story transported me to a very believable ancient world. I recommend this highly original book and look forward to the next instalment.
J Garrard, West Wales
A many-layered, thought-provoking book that challenges what we know of the world. All wrapped up in a mesmerising story that takes you on a journey with the main character, Dhion.
F Kommoss, Heidelberg, Germany
I recently finished The Seaborne, and I really enjoyed reading it. Lots of Gaelic/Nordic influence there, which gives it a certain beautiful and at the same time rough feel I can somehow relate to, having lived in Ireland, visited the British Isles up to the North, and also Iceland. Wouldn’t it be just wonderful to hear from a person from 1000 years back if their lives were really similar to what A.G.Rivett pictured them to be? Were they happier folks than us? Maybe? The hardship must also have been overwhelming oftentimes is what I'd imagine.
I recently finished The Seaborne, and I really enjoyed reading it. Lots of Gaelic/Nordic influence there, which gives it a certain beautiful and at the same time rough feel I can somehow relate to, having lived in Ireland, visited the British Isles up to the North, and also Iceland. Wouldn’t it be ...
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Anna from Wood Between the Worlds Blogspot
The idea of this story – accidentally traveling back in time – didn't really appeal to me. I love Doctor Who, and well-done time travel scripts, but I find that too often bad writing ruins the adventure. That is not the case with this book. This book is beautiful. Rivett's way with imagery is fantastical. You, the reader, feel as if you were born on the island alongside Shinane and Dermot, and yet, you are also alien to its customs and practices much like John. The writing style in this book reads almost like poetry, the mountains and pools call to you like water burbling over stones. I found myself sad when I had to leave the island at the end of the book, because I enjoyed the peace and strength that it lent me.
The idea of this story – accidentally traveling back in time – didn't really appeal to me. I love Doctor Who, and well-done time travel scripts, but I find that too often bad writing ruins the adventure. That is not the case with this book. This book is beautiful. Rivett's way with imagery is fanta...
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Nick Molnar, Forres
Having fostered an unthought through antipathy to reading 'fantasy fiction', I was persuaded by my wife to give The Seaborne a try. I was extremely surprised by the pleasure I found in it and, not having wanted it to end, was excited to discover it was going to be part of a trilogy.
THE SEABORNE
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 are hauling a shipwrecked man ashore. None of them has seen the like of his outlandish clothing.
A. G. Rivett is on Facebook
