Across The Risen Sea

 Bren MacDibble ©2020

In the first instance, I am glad I followed my own mantra: Don’t give up until you’ve read at least 50 pages. This is because it did take time to tune into the plot and the characters - longer than usual, methinks – and I am thankful not to have ditched this book prematurely. But that might be just me!

This novel is an entertaining adventure story for young readers, say 10 -14 years, set in future earth after some sort of Climate Event has caused the sea to rise drastically. Think ‘Water World’ meets ‘Snowpiercer’!! I had to get over the hurdle of reading the ‘evolved’ (or should I say, de-volved) English language to get into the flow of what turned out to be a rollicking good story. One word that featured in the protagonist’s future vocab was ‘prolly’ (probably) which annoyed me before said little girl stuck on me ‘like a tick’, which is another one of her ‘cute’ phrases. Neoma frequently says ‘coz’ and ‘aint’. This is a reminder that the children who have survived haven’t been educated in school. They are described as ‘dressed in rags and stinking like fish’ (p.196). What’s not to love?

Once you work out that there are several island communities, each having adopted unique customs and quirks, it is intriguing to see how they have managed to endure. The biggest daily activities involve scavenging and fishing, which is not surprising. I could literally see the whole story playing out as a fabulous movie akin to ‘Life of Pi’. Each chapter is only a page or two long, its title summing up the key event contained within. This is fabulous if you just want ‘snack’ read – it’s so easy to pick up where you left off.

The conflict involves – without giving anything away – an invasion, an electrocution, shark – croc – pirate attacks, abductions and maybe a death or two?!? There are also unexpected moments of humour to ensure the entertainment keeps on coming! Here’s an excerpt from a chapter called Trouble to whet your appetite:

There’s a small boat in the channel… On a fine day we'd stop and investigate, maybe take it back to its moorings if it's got a name on it we recognize. This one looks real familiar. And I can't think why until it spins a bit towards us and a golden sun on the prow reflects a flash of lightning.

‘Ma!’  I yell over the crashing waves. ‘It's the siblings’ boat from the Valley of the Sun!’

‘Din’t they tie it off proper?’ Jag asks.

‘Something's happened to them,’ I say. I know it, deep in my heart. I've known it since I went to Jacob's Reach.

 ‘I ain't stopping to tie it on, Neoma, no matter what's happened,’ Ma says. She's frowning over her shoulder but not at me, at that swirl of green and black chasing us down. ‘Storm’s almost on us.’

‘Sail close,’ I say, ‘I'll grapple it, and we’ll tow it in.’ This boat could have clues about why it's bashing around out here empty without a sibling to be seen.

‘You'll break the grapple rope before you get it up to the same speed we’re going,’ Ma says.

‘I’ll winch it out, so it don't!’ I say and nod at Jag to get ready to do that for me.

‘Okay, but likely we’ll have to cut the rope anyway if it slows us down.’

Ma sails close and I hand the end of the grappling rope to Jag to let out as needed, and wrap it round the winch. Last thing I want to be doing right now is handling rope. My hands is raw meat.

Then I lean way over the keel, holding on to a stanchion real tight, swing and drop the grapple hook gently, without too much sliding through my hand, into the boat and drag it forward to hook it onto the board across the top of the prow as we sail on by.

‘Okay!’ I yell to Jag. ‘Let the rope out so it turns and gets up to speed.’

I go to turn away but something pale twitches in the bottom of the siblings’ boat, and I wonder if a fish got slopped in there by a big wave, but the pale thing has a thick ribbed tail, and in a flash of lightning it becomes a hand, palm upwards! Someone's in there under the tarp!

I scrambled back to the deck. ‘Someone's in there!’ I yell.

Ma looks at me like I grew an extra head. ‘Don't lose that rope, Jaggy-boy!’ she yells, dropping the sail a little to slow Licorice so we don't lose our tow, then turns to Dizzy. ‘What kind of trouble are we hooked into right now?’ (pp.63-5)

Happy Reading!

Miss ^__^