Though backdropped by battles, spiritual and moral concerns dominate life in the fraught island landscape of The Shareg. A series-concluding, contemplative historical novel, The Shareg is about a man elevated to a leadership position who seeks to balance tradition, tolerance, and progress in his adopted community. Immersive, with compelling characters and a bittersweet ending.

A fight to protect a way of life

Eleven years ago, Dhion tried to escape from his personal failures. He ended up being plucked from the contemporary world and deposited on a mythical island, Fincara. Though he settled into his new life, now a fresh challenge awaits: the village chieftain has to step down, and Dhion is called upon to take his place during a tumultuous time. Facing threats from within the community and beyond, Dhion, his family, and his allies fight to protect their lives and ways of living. The villagers lead simple but satisfying lives in accordance with their particular religious traditions, which blend Christianity and paganism, but the distant Archpriest is determined to bring their days in line with his own strict beliefs. A jealous rival for the chieftain’s position results in a rush of danger, leading to a quick escape, a daring rescue and a fateful battle.

Varied and compelling characters

The story shifts between the perspectives of several key characters, including Dhion, as he makes the transition from village smith to community leader; his steadfast wife Shinane, who discovers the depths of her own strength when duty calls Dhion away; and Dhion’s adoptive mother, Morag. Morag’s position as unauthorized village priestess places her in the Archpriest’s sights, prompting a series of tense, high-stakes conversations about mindless obedience versus true faith while testing her resolve. These and the other inhabitants of Dhion’s village are varied and compelling, and well-chosen details illuminate their lives on Fincara, whose landscapes, like the surrounding sea, are rough yet beautiful.

A grounded story within a fantasy

The book’s fantasy elements are quite understated; the story is a grounded one. The idea dominates that the strongest warriors are not those who wield a sword, but are willing to take great risks for justice and truth. The pace works in harmony with this idea. There are brief battle scenes, but much more attention is devoted to the villagers’ spiritual, moral, and emotional decisions and habits. Their personal concerns feed into a fitting, bittersweet conclusion overlaid with a sense of fatedness.

Eileen Gonzalez
Read full review on Foreword Reviews

Though backdropped by battles, spiritual and moral concerns dominate life in the fraught island landscape of The Shareg. A series-concluding, contemplative historical novel, The Shareg is about a man elevated to a leadership position who seeks to balance tradition, tolerance, and progress in his adopted community. Immersive, with compelling characters and a bittersweet ending. Read more

An all-embracing way of life

Instead of Hello or Good day, In the name of God and in peace, to which the reply is, In Ghea and in peace: this is how the inhabitants of the fictional Isle of Fincara greet one another; and readers of this epic trilogy recognise from the outset that these islanders practise an unusually all-embracing way of life. Situated roughly a thousand years ago somewhere in the Atlantic off the Irish and Scottish coasts, into their midst is pitched a near-drowned professional Englishman from the twenty-first century. The Seaborne movingly tells of his reception by the island communities of Caerpadraig and Fisherhame, and how he adapts to their customs and culture. The author has a clear vision of how human beings can and should relate to one another and all living beings, including the world of spirits. As a master story teller, his vision makes for a compelling read.

A refreshingly wholistic spirituality

While the islanders practise a traditional reverence for the earth, they were also evangelised long since into the memory of Christ the Saviour. Their spirituality feels refreshingly wholistic, and it comes as no surprise that, when the priest of Caerpadraig dies, his wife undertakes a long and searching spiritual journey that results ultimately in her island neighbours acclaiming her as their priestess. Before that, though, the people are scandalized when the zealous replacement priest sent from faraway ‘Mother Church’ proves incapable of ministering among them because he will not respond to their needs and way of life.

The Islanders push back against the forces of oppression

The Shareg tells of how the immigrant from the twenty-first century is elected civilian head of the community that rescued and raised him to be one of their own. But not everyone dutifully acknowledges his election, and a disaffected islander leads the soldiers of ‘Mother Church’ against the new arrangements in his community. This third volume takes its cue from regrettable passages of church history and describes terrifying oppression mounted by the Christian Archpriest and his forces against the Islanders. The inevitable conflict as the powers of goodness push back against the forces of evil brilliantly vindicates the building of tension through these page-turning three volumes. The wondrous aftermath of the climactic and decisive battle had this reviewer weeping through to the end of the book.

Soul-movingly relevant

The Isle Fincara Trilogy is not only a moving adventure tale; deep down, it offers a richly textured testimony of spiritual journeying that will encourage many readers in their own struggles and perplexities. The fact that ‘Chrisht’ (as the Islanders call him) is present throughout adds resonant depth to the narrative. I would commend these books not just because they are ‘a good read’, but because they articulate spiritual teaching that today is widely needed, within as well as beyond the Church. Written by an Anglican priest, and dedicated to his daughters and grandchildren, the books are simultaneously of the genres ‘speculative historical fiction’ and ‘portal fantasy’. They are not, however, in the least escapist; readers of all ages and experience will find them soul-movingly relevant.

Doug Constable, poet, hymn-writer and priest

A moving adventure tale that offers a richly textured testimony of spiritual journeying that will encourage many readers in their own struggles and perplexities. Read more

On the run

The Shareg, the eagerly anticipated third book in the Isle Fincara Trilogy, returns the reader to the remote island communities of Caerpadraig and Fisherhame and the medieval, mystical world of its particular form of Celtic Christianity. The opening chapter finds ‘the Seaborne’ of the first book a man of standing with a growing family—an Islander by adoption of some ten years. Originally fleeing a chaotic situation in modern-day London, he has come to value the simpler rhythms of the Island, and his former life seems ‘remote as a dream.’ When the ‘shareg,’ the community’s head man, stands down, he is even invited to put himself forward. All is going well when betrayal by a community member and the unexpected arrival of the Archpriest’s soldiers finds him on the run again, his life in danger of collapsing around him once more.

The theme of power

A central theme is that of power. There are many cloaks of power in The Shareg, either collaborating with, or standing against each other. The Archpriest’s mission to bring the Island to ‘the Perfection of Faith’ is little more than a clumsily disguised attempt to seize control. Through coercion and the imposition of a poisoned orthodoxy, his campaign endangers the soul of the island and is ‘deaf and blind to the value of anything beyond its narrow view.’ Against this stands the power of the shareg’s cloak, exercised in the serving and protection of the Island and its people; and with the sharegs, the spiritual power of the Guardians, a hidden circle of mystics and adepts. Finally, is the power to know oneself more deeply: the power of Becoming, which takes centre stage at the climax of the story.

A epic tale for modern times

In The Shareg Rivett has skilfully crafted an epic tale for modern times. A tale of love and betrayal, faith and doubt, cowardice and courage, battle and ultimate sacrifice. A multi-layered book that may be likened to a rich and beautiful medieval tapestry. The conclusion draws together all threads into a seamless and heart-warming whole. I simply love this book!

Benedict Thwaite, reader review

An epic tale for modern times. A tale of love and betrayal, faith and doubt, cowardice and courage, battle and ultimate sacrifice. A multi-layered book that may be likened to a rich and beautiful medieval tapestry. The conclusion draws together all threads into a seamless and heart-warming whole. I simply love this book! Read more

In the final book of the Isle Fincara Trilogy, Dhion (formerly John Finlay) returns to centre stage with a strong supporting cast.

Echoes of the historical transition between Celtic and Roman Christianity

The plot centres on the clash of cultures which began in the previous volume when the Island’s Archpriest attempted, but failed, to convert the community of Caerpadraig from their Celtic style ‘God and Ghea’ cult of Christianity to something more orthodox. As Rivett explains in his Author’s Note, this echoes the historical transition between Celtic and Roman Christianity that took place in Britain over 1000 years ago. And Fincara’s troubles are far from over when the Archpriest proceeds to resolve the hiatus left over from the previous volume with all the tact and humanity of the KGB.

Redeeming self-sacrifice

Christianity is not flagged up in any formal way, but the redeeming self-sacrifice of ‘the Chrisht' informs the actions and lives of the leading characters and thus the whole tone of the work. The book explores how uniting civil and religious power inevitably leads to forms of tyranny, something we have seen too much of in our own world. This leads to a gripping confrontation involving not only Dhion, but Caerpadraig’s ‘false’ priest Morag, the trainee Guardian Sorcha, the Guardians themselves—and the island’s chiefs, the sharegs, whose authority the Archpriest has attempted to overthrow by instituting a ‘God-Shareg’ under his control. We follow the different characters in a number of intertwining sub-plots which resolve in a surprise ending that also seems inevitable, drawing full circle to the beginning of the first volume and setting the seal on the trilogy as a whole.

A sense of peace inhabits this trilogy

Notwithstanding the drama, a sense of peace inhabits this trilogy; a hope that providence will make things good in the long term, even for those who suffer and die. A fundamentally Christian view of things which we may preserve in some measure after we put the book down.

Daniel Morphy OSB for Pluscarden Benedictines

Notwithstanding the drama, a sense of peace inhabits this trilogy, which explores how uniting civil and religious power inevitably leads to forms of tyranny, something we have seen too much of in our world. Intertwining sub-plots resolve in a surprise ending that also seems inevitable, drawing full circle to the beginning of the first book and setting the seal on the trilogy as a whole. Read more

A world that exists beyond the boundaries of our modern time and space

The third and final novel in A. G. Rivett’s Isle Fincara Trilogy continues to delight with its vividly depicted landscape, so evocative of the Scottish isles, yet retaining the mystery of a world that exists beyond the boundaries of our own modern time and space. The rugged beauty of the setting is reflected in the simple lives of the island community, whose traditions and way of life are governed by the changing seasons. Here, reverence for the Earth exists alongside a Celtic Christian spirituality that is deeply woven into the life of the people.

The Island is threatened by forces from beyond the sea

The Shareg skilfully brings together the threads of the story developed through the earlier two novels. The narrative continues to centre on Dhion, an engineer from our own time who found himself washed up on the mysterious island; his wife Shinane; and Morag, whose position as the village Priest provokes outrage among the leaders of the new religion that threatens to extinguish the old ways of the Island. The fate of these three characters becomes increasingly intertwined as the Island itself is threatened by forces from beyond the sea that has, until now, protected it. Rivett handles these converging strands with a steady and skilful pace, allowing the story to build without losing sight of the rhythms of Island life.

Where true spiritual power resides

One of the themes I found particularly engaging is the novel’s exploration of where true spiritual power resides. It is not necessarily found in religious institutions that use physical force to implement their authority, nor in individuals driven by fervour and the desire for control (graphically illustrated in the character of the Archpriest) but in those who remain connected to the natural order of things. The simple, faithful life of the islanders increasingly comes into conflict with the religion of the empire, which seeks to bring their minds under its control but, in doing so, outrages their hearts.

The women of Fincara

This theme is particularly evident in the portrayal of the women of Fincara. Although the society is essentially feudal and men appear to hold the positions of authority, its women possess a strength that is easily overlooked because it is expressed through the ordinary roles of wives and mothers. As the story unfolds, however, these women increasingly come into their own with surprising results. When fate calls upon them, they prove more than equal to the task…

Pace, tension and a denouement that never abandons the heartbeat of the community at its centre

The Shareg is a story in the best tradition of storytelling. It has pace, tension and a satisfying denouement, while never abandoning the steady heartbeat of the small community at its centre. Most importantly, the final novel succeeds in drawing together the strands of the trilogy while remaining faithful to the distinctive atmosphere that has made the world of Fincara so compelling: a place where the boundaries between nature and spirit, past and present, brute force and the hidden power of nature converge. Despite its elusiveness, it is a world to which we as readers have been given rare and thoroughly enjoyable access.

Krystyna Kryewska

A novel in the best tradition of storytelling. It has pace, tension and a satisfying denouement, while never abandoning the steady heartbeat of the small community at its centre. The Shareg remains faithful to the distinctive atmosphere that has made the world of Fincara so compelling: a place where the boundaries between nature and spirit, past and present, brute force and hidden power converge. Read more