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X Isle
Ever since the floods came and washed the world away, survivors have been desperate to win a place on X-Isle, the island where life is rumoured to be easier than on what's left of the mainland. Only young boys are in with a chance, the smaller and lighter the better.
Baz and Ray are two of the lucky few to be chosen, but they soon discover that X-Isle is a far cry from paradise. Ruled by Preacher John, a dangerous religious fanatic, it's a violent, unpredictable place where terrible things can happen at any moment.
The boys hatch an extraordinary plan in order to protect themselves - the construction of a mighty weapon of defence. But can they complete this weapon in time, and are they really prepared to use it in order to secure their freedom?
Powerful and compelling, X-ISLE is a fast-moving thriller that will keep you guessing right to the very end.
Baz and Ray are two of the lucky few to be chosen, but they soon discover that X-Isle is a far cry from paradise. Ruled by Preacher John, a dangerous religious fanatic, it's a violent, unpredictable place where terrible things can happen at any moment.
The boys hatch an extraordinary plan in order to protect themselves - the construction of a mighty weapon of defence. But can they complete this weapon in time, and are they really prepared to use it in order to secure their freedom?
Powerful and compelling, X-ISLE is a fast-moving thriller that will keep you guessing right to the very end.
476 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2009
25 people are currently reading
693 people want to read
About the author
Steve Augarde
59 books49 followersI began writing children's books when I was at art college, which means that I’ve spent over thirty years as a children's author. Must be nearly time to grow up. About eighty titles published to date, I think. These include story books and pop-ups for younger readers, as well as my more recent novels for older children. I'm also an illustrator and paper-engineer, and you can see examples of this type of work around the site.
Sometimes I provide the paper engineering for pop-up books by other artists and children's authors - Jan Pienkowski, for example, Emma Chichester-Clark and Damien Hirst.
Finally I'm a semi-pro musician, playing mostly jazz. I provided the music and artwork for two BBC children's television series of Bump the elephant. Mind you, that was ages ago, and so it's high time somebody sampled it for a dance track and made me a fortune.
My first major work for older children was The Touchstone Trilogy, completed in January 2008, the three titles being The Various, Celandine and Winter Wood. The Various was an award winner in The Nestle Smarties Book Prize 2003. Both Celandine and Winter Wood have been nominated for the Carnegie Medal.
Sometimes I provide the paper engineering for pop-up books by other artists and children's authors - Jan Pienkowski, for example, Emma Chichester-Clark and Damien Hirst.
Finally I'm a semi-pro musician, playing mostly jazz. I provided the music and artwork for two BBC children's television series of Bump the elephant. Mind you, that was ages ago, and so it's high time somebody sampled it for a dance track and made me a fortune.
My first major work for older children was The Touchstone Trilogy, completed in January 2008, the three titles being The Various, Celandine and Winter Wood. The Various was an award winner in The Nestle Smarties Book Prize 2003. Both Celandine and Winter Wood have been nominated for the Carnegie Medal.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 148 reviews
March 5, 2010
They thought that Xisle was the last hope. After a terrible flood leaves most of the world in chaos one family, the Ecks, set up shop on Xisle. Preacher John, and his sons, run a trade system where they supply the mainlanders with tools and food from numerous salvage dives into the murky waters. Every so often they approach the mainland for new boys to come work the island. All young boys try for this honour, but few get chosen for the job.
Baz and Ray are the newest chosen workers. They arrive at the island expecting luxury and a much easier life. What meets them is toil and drugery, pain and sorrow...along with the fervid faith of the Preacher, who expects much in the service of God. There is only so much the human spirit can take and this book explores what happens when free will is bent and broken.
I adored reading this book. It was good from beginning to end, thoroughly pulse pounding, and striking in tone. It made me gasp out loud in under 10 pages, that's always a good sign. I found myself ignoring my other books to finish this one, also a good thing. I always love Dystopian/post-Apocalyptic tales and this is a good take on the genre. Fans of The Hunger Games, The Inferior, Lord of the Flies (etc. etc.) this is your book.
There was one plotline at the end that I was a bit dubious of... I'm not sure if Augarde is implying sequel potential with it or not... but to tell you would ruin a great surprise in reading this, which I wouldn't dare. It is still a damn good read, and I hope that many of you get out there to read it when it turns up on the shelves in July, 2010.
Baz and Ray are the newest chosen workers. They arrive at the island expecting luxury and a much easier life. What meets them is toil and drugery, pain and sorrow...along with the fervid faith of the Preacher, who expects much in the service of God. There is only so much the human spirit can take and this book explores what happens when free will is bent and broken.
I adored reading this book. It was good from beginning to end, thoroughly pulse pounding, and striking in tone. It made me gasp out loud in under 10 pages, that's always a good sign. I found myself ignoring my other books to finish this one, also a good thing. I always love Dystopian/post-Apocalyptic tales and this is a good take on the genre. Fans of The Hunger Games, The Inferior, Lord of the Flies (etc. etc.) this is your book.
There was one plotline at the end that I was a bit dubious of... I'm not sure if Augarde is implying sequel potential with it or not... but to tell you would ruin a great surprise in reading this, which I wouldn't dare. It is still a damn good read, and I hope that many of you get out there to read it when it turns up on the shelves in July, 2010.
January 9, 2011
X-Isle is one of those books that I liked much more in principle than the actual story itself. It's right up my alley -- in Steve Augarde's drowned dystopian future, London and much of the rest of the world is underwater. The disaster that sparked the great flood is never fully described - through the eyes of our narrator, 14-year-old Baz, the event is now insignificant. The desperate reality of day-to-day survival is what's important.
Starvation is a real threat. With so much of the world submerged beneath murky depths, preserved food from before the floods is scavenged and traded like currency. One of the best ways for a young man to ensure survival is to try to secure work on X-Isle, an island-based recovery and distribution operation run by religious zealot Reverend John Ecks and his savage pirate sons. Baz expects hard labor but knows that the exchange -- three hot, nutritious meals a day and escape from the brutalities of life on the mainland -- will be worth it.
Unfortunately, he finds the reality of X-Isle very different from its promised comfort. Along with fast friend and fellow new recruit Ray, he struggles to avoid the wrath of the cappos, to fight his fellow workmates for paltry scraps of food once a day and to survive the brutal physical work he's forced to do for hours without rest. But even with the best of survival skills, the spiraling psychotic decline of his captor and the constant power struggle of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world is a combination that Baz may not be equipped to survive.
There are things I enjoyed about X-Isle -- the general premise, the gloomy atmosphere and the subtle way the Big Twist plays out in the story, for example. There were also some things that really annoyed me about X-Isle, such as the vernacular used by the author and the homogeny of many of the boys on the island. But my main problem was, I couldn't help but feel I wasn't really the book's intended audience. This suspicion was hammered home around page 250, when the characters set out to build a fart factory to create a bomb in hope of escaping their slavemasters. Yes, you read that right. A fart factory. Points for originility, but gross.
X-Isle was overall a highly original story that seems poised for a sequel, and I might be tempted to read it because of the big twist at the end and my curiosity about how that might play out in the future. If you're looking for an uplifting or happy read, you may want to pass this by -- although X-Isle ends with a ray of hope after lots of pages of suffering and sadness, so I guess that's the payoff.
Starvation is a real threat. With so much of the world submerged beneath murky depths, preserved food from before the floods is scavenged and traded like currency. One of the best ways for a young man to ensure survival is to try to secure work on X-Isle, an island-based recovery and distribution operation run by religious zealot Reverend John Ecks and his savage pirate sons. Baz expects hard labor but knows that the exchange -- three hot, nutritious meals a day and escape from the brutalities of life on the mainland -- will be worth it.
Unfortunately, he finds the reality of X-Isle very different from its promised comfort. Along with fast friend and fellow new recruit Ray, he struggles to avoid the wrath of the cappos, to fight his fellow workmates for paltry scraps of food once a day and to survive the brutal physical work he's forced to do for hours without rest. But even with the best of survival skills, the spiraling psychotic decline of his captor and the constant power struggle of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world is a combination that Baz may not be equipped to survive.
There are things I enjoyed about X-Isle -- the general premise, the gloomy atmosphere and the subtle way the Big Twist plays out in the story, for example. There were also some things that really annoyed me about X-Isle, such as the vernacular used by the author and the homogeny of many of the boys on the island. But my main problem was, I couldn't help but feel I wasn't really the book's intended audience. This suspicion was hammered home around page 250, when the characters set out to build a fart factory to create a bomb in hope of escaping their slavemasters. Yes, you read that right. A fart factory. Points for originility, but gross.
X-Isle was overall a highly original story that seems poised for a sequel, and I might be tempted to read it because of the big twist at the end and my curiosity about how that might play out in the future. If you're looking for an uplifting or happy read, you may want to pass this by -- although X-Isle ends with a ray of hope after lots of pages of suffering and sadness, so I guess that's the payoff.
October 19, 2010
This book either has one of the most disgusting or most brilliant plot elements ever. I'm guessing if you are female, it's disgusting, but if you are male, brilliant.
Loved the world covered in water and the kids who were trying their best to survive in it. Very much like Holes. The Eck brothers and Preacher John were terrifying, but a bit too detached for most of the book. I would have given this book 4 stars, but at close to 500 pages, I thought it was too long. About halfway through the book I thought I was about ready for things to wrap up, but I still had 250 more pages to go. Also, the ending, by the time I got there, was kind of anticlimactic and rushed.
Loved the world covered in water and the kids who were trying their best to survive in it. Very much like Holes. The Eck brothers and Preacher John were terrifying, but a bit too detached for most of the book. I would have given this book 4 stars, but at close to 500 pages, I thought it was too long. About halfway through the book I thought I was about ready for things to wrap up, but I still had 250 more pages to go. Also, the ending, by the time I got there, was kind of anticlimactic and rushed.
July 20, 2011
Urrrrrgh.
I don't know what to make of this book.
I mean, on the one hand the concept is interesting, and the way people react to the floods which were, for all intents and purposes, the apocalypse seems as realistic as such things get. Unlike many authors, Augarde actually touched on religion's place in this sort of dystopia, which was refreshing, and his take on it was pretty plausible.
On the other hand, most of the characters annoyed me (but then, that could just be because immaturity in general annoys me, and boy were they ever immature), and the ending RUINED something I'd been hoping would redeem the whole book.
The climax was, to my great dismay, quite literally fart-fueled. I'm sure people who still think farts are funny will like that, but I was not amused.
This book does have one redeeming quality, and that is Baz's reflections at the end; he approaches a very serious subject with maturity and plenty of thought, which I liked. The boys made a tough decision, one which should have psychological consequences, and on Baz at least, it does. Their choice could have easily been passed off as something inconsequential or excused because it was necessary, and it wasn't, so this book gets one more star than I expected to give it.
I can't recommend X-Isle to anyone unless they're just dying to read anything that's in the least bit dystopic. If the idea of a drowned world is what intrigues you, try Julie Bertagna's Exodus instead.
I don't know what to make of this book.
I mean, on the one hand the concept is interesting, and the way people react to the floods which were, for all intents and purposes, the apocalypse seems as realistic as such things get. Unlike many authors, Augarde actually touched on religion's place in this sort of dystopia, which was refreshing, and his take on it was pretty plausible.
On the other hand, most of the characters annoyed me (but then, that could just be because immaturity in general annoys me, and boy were they ever immature), and the ending RUINED something I'd been hoping would redeem the whole book.
The climax was, to my great dismay, quite literally fart-fueled. I'm sure people who still think farts are funny will like that, but I was not amused.
This book does have one redeeming quality, and that is Baz's reflections at the end; he approaches a very serious subject with maturity and plenty of thought, which I liked. The boys made a tough decision, one which should have psychological consequences, and on Baz at least, it does. Their choice could have easily been passed off as something inconsequential or excused because it was necessary, and it wasn't, so this book gets one more star than I expected to give it.
I can't recommend X-Isle to anyone unless they're just dying to read anything that's in the least bit dystopic. If the idea of a drowned world is what intrigues you, try Julie Bertagna's Exodus instead.
September 17, 2010
This was definitely a boy book. That said, I'm a girl and I liked, so it's a good book in general. I liked how believable and real the characters are. I also appreciated the shades of grey that the author allowed. Things happen that are neither good nor bad or they may be both at the same time. There's also a good sense of the rediculous that is very appropriate for the characters and their ages and circumstances. However, my favorite thing is that this is a post-appocalyptic story that occurs when the main characters can still clearly remember the appocalypse and life before it. I thought this made the book a lot more interesting and dynamic.
July 6, 2010
There's only one way out of the mainland and that's to X Isle.
A flood overtook the world, killing both Baz's mother and sister, and billions of others in the world. It left towns, cities, and humans submerged underwater cutting the remaining few left alive with basic of basics. Now with just his father, Baz struggles to get by each day where everything has become scarce and pasta has become the newest form of currency. But the stench of the surrounding death and the harsh environment of thievery is too much to take care not only yourself, but a child at that. Now families send their sons to X Isle, a shortened name from Eck Island, where it is promised to a land of sanctuary compared to the mainland. The only way to get to X Isle is by boat when the crew stops every so often to trade goods.
The boys need to be small and thin and most barter for their voyage for the crew only picks up one, but usually none. They barter with rare items: fresh meat, cartridges, cornflakes, chocolate. The crew this time has asked to allot two boys for this trip to X Isle. The chosen two: Baz and Ray.
Now Baz takes this trip where he hopes will give him a brighter future. That is, before he dies. X Isle is not the land of the promising as Baz slowly realizes when the group of young boys on X Isle show him the ropes and the truth.
Originally published in the UK, X Isle has crossed the small pond and into the hands of US readers. (However, the novel is still quite in its original format so there is still British slang and humor as well as single quotation marks rather than double.) Told in third-person limited narrative, X Isle tells of a dystopia world where the modern world has transcended backwards to the days without the Internet or electricity at that. X Isle is for fans of such novels like Lord of the Flies or The Maze Runner.
Despites its rather large font, X Isle reads like a typical 500 paged novel: long. X Isle focuses mainly on character development and the rules, environment, and daily life of the island. The action, such as human sacrifice, and the giant shocker occurs at the end of the novel so hopes and attention spans do not fear.
The novel is read more in paragraphs rather than dialogues so it quickly becomes mind-numbing. The descriptions go in-depth and while boring may be a strong word to used, the heat wave combined with the words had me struggling to pay closer attention. However, this could easy be a factor because this not my type of novel. X Isle, to me I quickly realized, seemed to be a possible candidate of what I should read for middle grade.
X Isle uses symbolism and motifs/themes quite frequently. The flood, Preacher John, the goat, the two rabbits, the school of mackerels, the fishing spool, and of course the nicknames are all things that can be dissected and scrutinized for their hidden meanings. The characters as well can be torn apart by the teachers and asked to be described by the students in essay form (with proper citation).
But what makes X Isle worth-while and most fascinating to me is the brutality of the "villains". It is the cold heartless actions that I found gripping and the companionship of friends fighting for survival endearing.
Despite my feelings during the reading process, I am left away with a grand sense of satisfaction. X Isle is a hefty read that is suited more to the MG readers interested in Lord of the Flies, The Maze Runner, Holes (ironic in comparison with X Isle isn't it).
P.S. Does anyone else love the title? X Isle ... Exile. This is definitely making my list of favorite titles.
A flood overtook the world, killing both Baz's mother and sister, and billions of others in the world. It left towns, cities, and humans submerged underwater cutting the remaining few left alive with basic of basics. Now with just his father, Baz struggles to get by each day where everything has become scarce and pasta has become the newest form of currency. But the stench of the surrounding death and the harsh environment of thievery is too much to take care not only yourself, but a child at that. Now families send their sons to X Isle, a shortened name from Eck Island, where it is promised to a land of sanctuary compared to the mainland. The only way to get to X Isle is by boat when the crew stops every so often to trade goods.
The boys need to be small and thin and most barter for their voyage for the crew only picks up one, but usually none. They barter with rare items: fresh meat, cartridges, cornflakes, chocolate. The crew this time has asked to allot two boys for this trip to X Isle. The chosen two: Baz and Ray.
Now Baz takes this trip where he hopes will give him a brighter future. That is, before he dies. X Isle is not the land of the promising as Baz slowly realizes when the group of young boys on X Isle show him the ropes and the truth.
Originally published in the UK, X Isle has crossed the small pond and into the hands of US readers. (However, the novel is still quite in its original format so there is still British slang and humor as well as single quotation marks rather than double.) Told in third-person limited narrative, X Isle tells of a dystopia world where the modern world has transcended backwards to the days without the Internet or electricity at that. X Isle is for fans of such novels like Lord of the Flies or The Maze Runner.
Despites its rather large font, X Isle reads like a typical 500 paged novel: long. X Isle focuses mainly on character development and the rules, environment, and daily life of the island. The action, such as human sacrifice, and the giant shocker occurs at the end of the novel so hopes and attention spans do not fear.
The novel is read more in paragraphs rather than dialogues so it quickly becomes mind-numbing. The descriptions go in-depth and while boring may be a strong word to used, the heat wave combined with the words had me struggling to pay closer attention. However, this could easy be a factor because this not my type of novel. X Isle, to me I quickly realized, seemed to be a possible candidate of what I should read for middle grade.
X Isle uses symbolism and motifs/themes quite frequently. The flood, Preacher John, the goat, the two rabbits, the school of mackerels, the fishing spool, and of course the nicknames are all things that can be dissected and scrutinized for their hidden meanings. The characters as well can be torn apart by the teachers and asked to be described by the students in essay form (with proper citation).
But what makes X Isle worth-while and most fascinating to me is the brutality of the "villains". It is the cold heartless actions that I found gripping and the companionship of friends fighting for survival endearing.
Despite my feelings during the reading process, I am left away with a grand sense of satisfaction. X Isle is a hefty read that is suited more to the MG readers interested in Lord of the Flies, The Maze Runner, Holes (ironic in comparison with X Isle isn't it).
P.S. Does anyone else love the title? X Isle ... Exile. This is definitely making my list of favorite titles.
July 22, 2016
In the futuristic world where Baz lives, climate change and terrible storms have flooded his continent -- and from what he know -- the entire world. There's hardly any land left that's suitable for living on -- in most areas all you can see are rooftops and towers sticking out of the water. With the waters completely polluted and nowhere to grow food, everyone is scavenging for supplies to keep themselves alive. There is one place though, that is still above the waters and supposedly has plenty of food: X-Isle. It is controlled by Preacher John and his sons who operate a salvaging business, diving for whatever items have survived the waters and trading with people on the mainland. They come regularly to the mainland to recruit young boys to work for them, taking the ones who offer the best items as payment.
Baz can hardly believe it when he is chosen. He doesn't quite know what to expect, but rumours suggest that it's a much better place and he'll at least get three meals a day. However, when he and another boy, Ray, arrive at the island, they discover things aren't as everyone on the mainland had believed. Preacher John's sons run the island like tyrants and everyone is bullied by two older, favoured boys, Steiner and Hutchinson. They have to fight each other for one can of food a day, carry heavy loads of rocks until their hands bleed and clean dangerous, disgusting filth off savaged items. Preacher John is an enormous, intimidating man who only appears on Sundays to preach a cryptic and terrifying sermon that everyone is forced to attend. There are far fewer boys on the island than Baz expected -- they'd been taking many more recruits to the island and Baz doesn't remember seeing them return to the mainland. He wonders if something sinister is going on and realizes that time might be running out for him and the other boys when Preacher John begins to talk about making sacrifices to God so that the waters will recede.
The plot kept me intrigued for pretty much the entire book. Preacher John is presented as a maniacal dictator with warped religious ideas. This gave him an unpredictability and potential for evil that kept the suspense up. (I really did think that he might do something really terrible...)
A lot of the book focused on the dynamics between the boys and their struggle to survive the abuse from Steiner, Hutchinson and Preacher John's sons rather than efforts to deal with the world disaster. I found that the dystopian setting wasn't crucial -- the story could have taken place in our present world, in any dire situation that might make a person willing to leave family and endure even more trouble.
There were a couple predictable plot points in the book that I thought could have been more subtle, but in general I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Characters and their emotions were believable, and only a slight suggestion of romance at the end. It's one I'd definitely recommend.
Baz can hardly believe it when he is chosen. He doesn't quite know what to expect, but rumours suggest that it's a much better place and he'll at least get three meals a day. However, when he and another boy, Ray, arrive at the island, they discover things aren't as everyone on the mainland had believed. Preacher John's sons run the island like tyrants and everyone is bullied by two older, favoured boys, Steiner and Hutchinson. They have to fight each other for one can of food a day, carry heavy loads of rocks until their hands bleed and clean dangerous, disgusting filth off savaged items. Preacher John is an enormous, intimidating man who only appears on Sundays to preach a cryptic and terrifying sermon that everyone is forced to attend. There are far fewer boys on the island than Baz expected -- they'd been taking many more recruits to the island and Baz doesn't remember seeing them return to the mainland. He wonders if something sinister is going on and realizes that time might be running out for him and the other boys when Preacher John begins to talk about making sacrifices to God so that the waters will recede.
The plot kept me intrigued for pretty much the entire book. Preacher John is presented as a maniacal dictator with warped religious ideas. This gave him an unpredictability and potential for evil that kept the suspense up. (I really did think that he might do something really terrible...)
A lot of the book focused on the dynamics between the boys and their struggle to survive the abuse from Steiner, Hutchinson and Preacher John's sons rather than efforts to deal with the world disaster. I found that the dystopian setting wasn't crucial -- the story could have taken place in our present world, in any dire situation that might make a person willing to leave family and endure even more trouble.
There were a couple predictable plot points in the book that I thought could have been more subtle, but in general I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Characters and their emotions were believable, and only a slight suggestion of romance at the end. It's one I'd definitely recommend.
February 21, 2020
I should have stopped reading this book the first time the boys lit their farts on fire. I mean, really?????
I understand that I am not the intended audience for this book (probably meant for 12 year old boys) so I can forgive all the fart references and the 'fart bomb' and not have it take away from the book too much.
Aside from that though, the book is deeply flawed. How did no one ever realize that the boys never ever came back from the island? Not a single person on the mainland wondered where their kids were when the boat came back for more boys????
Also what was to stop Steiner and Hutchison coming back to the island once they got some supplies on the mainland? In a way, I suppose that leaves it open for a sequel but I sincerely hope there won't be one. It would just be a waste of paper.
Why are the people on the mainland so dependent on the food the divers find? If there's land to grow food on the island, surely there's even more land on the mainland? This was never explained or even addressed.
The worst part of this book was the big 'plot twist'. In order to keep this book up to heternormative standards, one of the 'boys' was revealed to actually be a girl! Ray was actually Rae! What a relief for Baz who was starting to have feelings for Ray! Oh thank goodness! He's not gay after all! This reveal, happening so late in the book, served absolutely no purpose other than to add the element of 'no homo' to the story. This is queerbaiting at its finest (also its worst).
I understand that I am not the intended audience for this book (probably meant for 12 year old boys) so I can forgive all the fart references and the 'fart bomb' and not have it take away from the book too much.
Aside from that though, the book is deeply flawed. How did no one ever realize that the boys never ever came back from the island? Not a single person on the mainland wondered where their kids were when the boat came back for more boys????
Also what was to stop Steiner and Hutchison coming back to the island once they got some supplies on the mainland? In a way, I suppose that leaves it open for a sequel but I sincerely hope there won't be one. It would just be a waste of paper.
Why are the people on the mainland so dependent on the food the divers find? If there's land to grow food on the island, surely there's even more land on the mainland? This was never explained or even addressed.
The worst part of this book was the big 'plot twist'. In order to keep this book up to heternormative standards, one of the 'boys' was revealed to actually be a girl! Ray was actually Rae! What a relief for Baz who was starting to have feelings for Ray! Oh thank goodness! He's not gay after all! This reveal, happening so late in the book, served absolutely no purpose other than to add the element of 'no homo' to the story. This is queerbaiting at its finest (also its worst).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2013
X-Isle was a little slow paced and eventually proved not to be worth the wait. The post apocalyptic setting was not at all original in any way and the plot itself was rather bland and uninteresting. However, I read through the book and was left with many mixed emotions about it. For starters, the lack of women, with the exception of Ray, throughout the book was strange. I thought that the authors explanation for this lack of women, (that it was "too dangerous" for them to be in public because of the men ) was futile. Also, I felt confused about the history before this semi-apocolypse and why the author did not explain what happened well enough. In conclusion, this book was somewhat entertaining but needed better writing and explanation.
September 30, 2012
I would have liked to know more about the mainland and how the flood happened. It ending kind of leaves you hanging too, bleh! But it has a very interesting plot ( falls into a good dystopian novel), the content could be a little weird, but overall pretty good. xD
June 23, 2024
🛥️ 2.75 ⭐ 💨
Alright, "X" book down for the year!
I won't lie, I had pretty low expectations for this book. I mean, how many good books can there be that start with the letter X? So I was quite surprised when this book exceeded my (very low) expectations! To summarize, X Isle is kind of like a British dystopian Holes, albeit not quite as good as Holes if I'm being honest.
In a world where freak hurricanes flash flooded the world, people are getting by bartering for resources for survival. After his dad trades some ammo, Baz is given the opportunity to go to the X Isle, a place that has food and safety promised by the Eck Brothers, traders with a fishing boat that dive for resources. However, Baz quickly learns not all is as it seems, and must fight for his survival while working on the island.
The premise is pretty cool! Sadly, not much is explored in terms of what happened to the world, but instead focuses on the dynamics of the boys and the cruel treatment they receive. I think as a YA book it did as much as it could, but boy this could've been an amazing book if rewritten for adults.
The farts. Please, spare me from reading page after page of boys lighting up their farts...then they create a literal fart bomb and spend weeks farting into bottles to help build it up. I think I gave it too much credit when I was reading that part...looking back it's so dumb. Also, this is my second British (?) YA book I've read that had a twist of a character thought to be a boy actually be a girl...Why does this keep happening!? It changes nothing, literally nothing! Please, stop doing this.
I was consistently engaged the whole time while reading this book, which surprised me. These teen boys have a little heart to them, which was super appreciated (I'm looking at you Zom-B!). I also liked the character of Preacher John, an intense religious zealot with a dark side. Overall, an ok YA dystopian that's definitely meant for an audience younger than me, but it could've been worse.
Alright, "X" book down for the year!
I won't lie, I had pretty low expectations for this book. I mean, how many good books can there be that start with the letter X? So I was quite surprised when this book exceeded my (very low) expectations! To summarize, X Isle is kind of like a British dystopian Holes, albeit not quite as good as Holes if I'm being honest.
In a world where freak hurricanes flash flooded the world, people are getting by bartering for resources for survival. After his dad trades some ammo, Baz is given the opportunity to go to the X Isle, a place that has food and safety promised by the Eck Brothers, traders with a fishing boat that dive for resources. However, Baz quickly learns not all is as it seems, and must fight for his survival while working on the island.
The premise is pretty cool! Sadly, not much is explored in terms of what happened to the world, but instead focuses on the dynamics of the boys and the cruel treatment they receive. I think as a YA book it did as much as it could, but boy this could've been an amazing book if rewritten for adults.
The farts. Please, spare me from reading page after page of boys lighting up their farts...then they create a literal fart bomb and spend weeks farting into bottles to help build it up. I think I gave it too much credit when I was reading that part...looking back it's so dumb. Also, this is my second British (?) YA book I've read that had a twist of a character thought to be a boy actually be a girl...Why does this keep happening!? It changes nothing, literally nothing! Please, stop doing this.
I was consistently engaged the whole time while reading this book, which surprised me. These teen boys have a little heart to them, which was super appreciated (I'm looking at you Zom-B!). I also liked the character of Preacher John, an intense religious zealot with a dark side. Overall, an ok YA dystopian that's definitely meant for an audience younger than me, but it could've been worse.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 10, 2019
People the world over are being plagued by a great flood. One that destroyed homes, markets, cities, and everything in between. Baz, Ray, Moko, and many other working men must save everyone's lives to continue on with the human race. They salvage resources by going to dilapidated supermarkets, for the most part. With almost no hope left, they need only a chunk to keep themselves
going every day. Having only one motored boat in their entire town, they decide to risk everything and jump aboard, heading to Eck's (X) Isle. The islands are owned by the Eck family. Anyways, this book is one long, big journey. Starting out a touch slow, you realize that all the cornflake-gathering, bean-can-eating, and street sailing men all embark on a mountain of journeys.
This is what pulled me in, as this was a huge pull factor for me. The vivid (at least to me) sensory language was another one too. But the one that pulled me in most off all? The author's illusiveness. He'd put a question, story, or something in between at the beginning and middle, and you couldn't find an answer or related topic for hundreds of pages unless you notice subtle
references. Yes, good things may have happened, but despite all of them, this wasn't the most cheery of books to hit the market. Not too gory, not too graphic, but teetering on the brink of them. Deaths, misery, and acts of revenge haunt the book's pages from 0-408. You will take time to get into it because of the seemingly dragging beginning, but you then find out that it's a worthwhile investment with no strings attached.
going every day. Having only one motored boat in their entire town, they decide to risk everything and jump aboard, heading to Eck's (X) Isle. The islands are owned by the Eck family. Anyways, this book is one long, big journey. Starting out a touch slow, you realize that all the cornflake-gathering, bean-can-eating, and street sailing men all embark on a mountain of journeys.
This is what pulled me in, as this was a huge pull factor for me. The vivid (at least to me) sensory language was another one too. But the one that pulled me in most off all? The author's illusiveness. He'd put a question, story, or something in between at the beginning and middle, and you couldn't find an answer or related topic for hundreds of pages unless you notice subtle
references. Yes, good things may have happened, but despite all of them, this wasn't the most cheery of books to hit the market. Not too gory, not too graphic, but teetering on the brink of them. Deaths, misery, and acts of revenge haunt the book's pages from 0-408. You will take time to get into it because of the seemingly dragging beginning, but you then find out that it's a worthwhile investment with no strings attached.
January 15, 2025
Baz is hoping to be chosen to go to live and work on Eck's Isle or X Isle. Together with Ray, a boy of similar age, he is chosen by Isaac Eck and his brothers for the price of two boxes of shotgun shells and a box of cornflakes. This is a very dystopian world because of the floods which covered most of the world. The Ecks operate a salvage company and dive into the sunken cities to loot warehouses and trade with the surviving communities. Baz's father sends him off believing that he has saved his son. Baz and Ray soon learn that their new life under the rule of fanatical Preacher John and his sons is no Utopia. They are slaves who are abused, pitted against one another, and then disposed of when they get too big. Baz tries to keep a low profile but is soon part of the group. Ray develops the idea of building a bomb and freeing themselves from the tyrannical rule of the Eck family. I didn't care much for this book at the beginning as it seemed to be full of male humor. However, once the secrets of the Eck family began to be revealed, I was pulled in and cared about the boys who were used and abused. This is a book which really makes you consider ethical decisions. Is it murder to rid yourself of an abuser? How far can you go to escape? Preacher John was truly despicable as were his sons and the capos, Steiner and Hutchinson. Any reader would cheer for the boys on their road to freedom and feel sadness at the loss of Taps, Cookie, and Enoch. I really did like this book.
November 5, 2022
A group of boys set off to the mysterious "X Isle", an alleged paradise, to escape their difficult lives, but it turns out not to be as it seemed. It is run by the villainous Preacher John, and his henchmen, who force the boys to do hard work for them.
I wasn't sure if this was meant to be an allegorical tale - maybe to the plight of refugees, but I enjoyed this a lot. I could tell it was aimed at teens; the writing style was quite simple, and there were a few chapters about the boys just lighting their own farts, but at times the storyline felt quite adult.
First off, characters do end up dying, often in shocking ways; for example, one is crushed while being forced to build a structure for Preacher John. Secondly, it raises a few moral questions, mostly through the characters' actions near to the end, and how they deal with the people oppressing them.
The book did keep me guessing as to what direction it was going in, and there was a plot twist close to the end that I could not possibly have seen coming, which changed my perception of some of the events a little.
I wasn't sure if this was meant to be an allegorical tale - maybe to the plight of refugees, but I enjoyed this a lot. I could tell it was aimed at teens; the writing style was quite simple, and there were a few chapters about the boys just lighting their own farts, but at times the storyline felt quite adult.
First off, characters do end up dying, often in shocking ways; for example, one is crushed while being forced to build a structure for Preacher John. Secondly, it raises a few moral questions, mostly through the characters' actions near to the end, and how they deal with the people oppressing them.
The book did keep me guessing as to what direction it was going in, and there was a plot twist close to the end that I could not possibly have seen coming, which changed my perception of some of the events a little.
September 4, 2024
I begin my review like many others I've seen. By clarifying that I read this book because I needed a title starting with X for my A to Z reading challenge. 😂
When the main plot point of this book was all about collecting gas from flatulence to build a bomb, it just confirmed what I'd been thinking all along. This book is not for me.
The tone of the book was all over the place. At times it was almost slapstick and goofy, and then it would shift to dark and violent and gory. It was like getting whiplash. It was also far longer than it needed to be with time spent on things that could have been shorter or left out entirely (see also: endless pages about "fart club" and the "fart bomb.")
And the "twist" that came in the penultimate chapter. Well, it was obvious from the start of the book that that was how it would go. It was not as tricky as I think the author intended for it to be.
Anyway, I'm very glad to be done with this book.
When the main plot point of this book was all about collecting gas from flatulence to build a bomb, it just confirmed what I'd been thinking all along. This book is not for me.
The tone of the book was all over the place. At times it was almost slapstick and goofy, and then it would shift to dark and violent and gory. It was like getting whiplash. It was also far longer than it needed to be with time spent on things that could have been shorter or left out entirely (see also: endless pages about "fart club" and the "fart bomb.")
And the "twist" that came in the penultimate chapter. Well, it was obvious from the start of the book that that was how it would go. It was not as tricky as I think the author intended for it to be.
Anyway, I'm very glad to be done with this book.
October 1, 2023
Two years after the world floods, the last remaining place of hope is Eck’s Island (X Isle), run by the mysterious preacher John Eck and his sons. Parents on the mainland send their boys to the island to work an underwater operation to salvage food while hopefully living a better life. This post-apocalyptic/dystopian tale follows Baz and Ray, two boys chosen to work on X Isle, who develop a friendship as they perform dangerous labor, fight with other workers for rationed food, and avoid the physical abuse of the preacher’s sons. Augarde barrages his characters with an onslaught of moral dilemmas, forcing them to decide how far they will go to escape or survive when they know the harshness that awaits them back on the mainland. What sings the loudest in this story, however, is the vivid grittiness of the industrial-like world that grabs your attention right from page one.
July 12, 2024
X Isle by Steve Augard
⭐️⭐️
A post-apocalyptic world meets Noah’s Ark in X Isle by Augard. X Isle is the place boys dream of going to seek a better life- one where they are fed and aren’t starving from the lack of food in a flooded world. The main character Baz soon find out that the island is not what it’s chalked up to be. It is a forced labor camp where the boys are abused and fed based on their work performance.
Overall this book has an interesting concept however, I really struggled to read this one. It was slow and felt like it dragged on. The ending felt rushed and overall there seemed to be some plot holes. This book is classified as a kids book but i definitely think there are some inappropriate scenes. Overall this is unfortunately a low rated novel for me.
⭐️⭐️
A post-apocalyptic world meets Noah’s Ark in X Isle by Augard. X Isle is the place boys dream of going to seek a better life- one where they are fed and aren’t starving from the lack of food in a flooded world. The main character Baz soon find out that the island is not what it’s chalked up to be. It is a forced labor camp where the boys are abused and fed based on their work performance.
Overall this book has an interesting concept however, I really struggled to read this one. It was slow and felt like it dragged on. The ending felt rushed and overall there seemed to be some plot holes. This book is classified as a kids book but i definitely think there are some inappropriate scenes. Overall this is unfortunately a low rated novel for me.
August 18, 2024
3.5 ⭐️ After flooding covers the land, food is hard to come by. A local family dives to find treasures to sell, but they need boys to live on an island with them to help. Every boy wants to get picked. The island means regular meals, and safety to them. But when they get to the island things are not as they thought they would be. The family that runs the island is cruel, the boys are beaten, not fed well and worked until they collapse. The head of the family, Preacher John is a religious zealot who is worsening as time goes by. The boys hatch a plan to save themselves. This was a good story that at times dragged, and could have been a bit shorter, but overall I liked it.
December 6, 2021
Long and ever creepier. The ending- if there's not going to be a sequel- should have had an epilogue. That the boys didn't turn into lord of the flies results, even tho they had to do something horrible to survive, was an interesting theme. Do violent people always win? The end of the story could have been it's beginning. A new world with all people having an equal vote in how things turn out. Does might make it all the time?
The book was slow, could have been less descriptive to tighten up the story line.
The book was slow, could have been less descriptive to tighten up the story line.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 12, 2022
Futuristic world where the world has been flooded. Most of the world is under water and supplies are hard to come by. There is an island that young boys hope to get chosen to go to, yet no one really knows what happens on that island. It is supposed to be an island of hope and a better life. Baz, the main character is chosen to go to the island and the book follows his new life on the island where things may not seem to be all roses as everyone hopes.
Interesting read, did not need to be 480 pages. Some parts just drug on too long.
Interesting read, did not need to be 480 pages. Some parts just drug on too long.
December 13, 2019
Ugh... This whole book was just so slow. Not to mention, a lot of the characters are really obnoxious. It's your run of the mill post-apocalyptic story, the world has flooded and rations are thin. Some kid gets lucky and gets to go to an island to work... Eventually things get a little crazier, with some of your usual cultist human sacrifice stuff, but it's all just so... contrived. Trying to read this was like watching paint dry. It's just so insanely boring.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 12, 2022
I must have really liked this book as a kid because I viscerally recall reading it multiple times. We've all talked about the fart bomb and I have to say that that cracks me up. Inventive! Creative! The tone is gritty as heck but it sucks you in. I don't recall the characters having a huge amount of depth but it's a fun read (or as fun as YA gritty dystopia gets) and you just feel so awful for the kids the whole time.
April 11, 2018
3.75 Stars
This is a re-read, technically--I checked it out from the library when I was probably ten or eleven, and now, years later, it was weeded and then it was mine. But I liked it. It held up better than I thought it would; it was surprisingly dark and well-written and I liked it, overall. A good time.
This is a re-read, technically--I checked it out from the library when I was probably ten or eleven, and now, years later, it was weeded and then it was mine. But I liked it. It held up better than I thought it would; it was surprisingly dark and well-written and I liked it, overall. A good time.
May 5, 2018
I did not really like this book but it was okay. It was a very slow start and there is not much explaining about what actually happened and why the world is like it is, so it just seems distant because you don't really understand what the character went through and why they want to go to the island. You don't really know the characters either.
January 10, 2019
I really enjoyed this novel. I bought it back in August but didn't read until a couple of days ago, and I'm glad I did. This will certainly be displayed on my favorite-books shelf for a long time coming.
The only thing I disliked about the book was the sudden addition of two new characters nearing the end, but it wasn't enough to get rid of a star.
The only thing I disliked about the book was the sudden addition of two new characters nearing the end, but it wasn't enough to get rid of a star.
December 27, 2022
X-Isle had potential but missed its mark.
This book had great potential to be a five star read but some of the plot was so outlandish and ridiculous it took away from X-Isle’s greatness.
I did enjoy the novels setting and the post apocalyptic feel. The characters where well thought out albeit a little predictable.
If you need something to kill time this is the book for you.
This book had great potential to be a five star read but some of the plot was so outlandish and ridiculous it took away from X-Isle’s greatness.
I did enjoy the novels setting and the post apocalyptic feel. The characters where well thought out albeit a little predictable.
If you need something to kill time this is the book for you.
May 10, 2024
I went on Libby to see books that started with X. Seen X Isle and the cover alone would be enough for me to read it. But when I read the back and learned it was about a group of boys on the isle of X I knew I had to read it. I mean the world had flooded and X isle was supposed to be safe. What could happen right? I was sucked into this book from the beginning to the end.
November 14, 2013
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.
Quick & Dirty: When it comes to survival, ethics become questionable, and everything comes at a price. Compassion and camaraderie are the only things that give these boys a chance to endure. X-Isle will make you cringe, warm your heart at times while making it race at others, and ultimately leave you to think about what, or really who, is worth surviving for.
Opening Sentence: The steady chug of the diesel engine drew closer, and eventually the salvage boat emerged from the mist, a blank grey shape steering a middle course between the ghostly lines of chimney stacks that rose from the water.
The Review:
As the main character, everything is told from Baz’s point-of-view. This is important because there are a lot of characters but most of the book is about Baz just plain figuring things out. Some of his observations seem to come about much too slowly, and you end up really having to consider his life and what he’s been told his whole life. Much of this does not have to be explained in detail, which is something I really liked about the book. Since the world got flooded and there’s really not much left, a large part of his and the other X-Isle inhabitants’ lives have been spend simply surviving. Everyone has lost everything and they are just clinging to every little shred of hope that they can, including their belief in the X-Isle and what it means. Because why else would people send their barely teen boys over to an island run by a few old men, unless they were totally and completely desperate?
Baz’s father seems to have done his best to shelter his son in any way possible. This makes it much more difficult for Baz in the long run, when he has to take care of himself. He is simply naïve, which not only makes it really hard for him to understand the crazy animalistic world of survival that surrounds him, but goes beyond that to curse him with an immense sense of guilt at every turn as he tries to follow his father’s last advice to him, “You just worry about yourself, son, that’s all. Look out for number one.”
Ray, on the other hand, is the opposite of naïve. One of the first things he says to Baz is, “Try using your loaf instead of asking dumb questions.” It is no surprise that Ray comes up with most of the plans to overcome their plight; he simply has the most to lose from it all. Several times Baz considers returning to the mainland, and Ray doesn’t even consider it, instead doing his best to look at the specific problem and come up with a solution. It is nice to see how the boys are able to give up their competitiveness at points in the book and when we see compassion take over. And that it comes from inside of them and not from the creepy sermons given by Preacher John.
The main thing that I enjoyed about this book is that the villains in this book are quite believable. Maybe because of the survival atmosphere of the book, maybe from just reading the newspaper lately, these guys are simply in it for themselves, the ultimate opportunists. They are just sinister enough, and I like that. The pacing in this book was also pretty good. It was a little long, but right when you start to think about how many pages are left is when you start to not care how many are left because you get so wrapped up in the plot. There was one part where I was practically holding my breath for a couple chapters. It definitely gets pretty good, and that’s where we really can appreciate only seeing through Baz’s mind, cause he can’t quite catch up to how fast things are moving, try as he might.
The ending to this book was a little problematic for me. After living in a world of survival for so long, it seems that those instincts would stay with the boys at least a little longer. The author tries to touch on that, but doesn’t make it quite convincing enough. Also, the main reason the boys even go to X-Isle is because of their families. There isn’t reference to the families they left behind at the end of the book, which seems somewhat unnatural to me. I would recommend this book more for an adult audience than a teen audience. There is actually less mature material than I was expecting, I was expecting it to be a lot more vulgar than it turned out to be, and I appreciated that, but there is some violent themes throughout the book that may not be appropriate for a less mature audience.
Notable Scene:
Baz remembered his own desperate tactics to get food the previous evening. ‘Well…I suppose you sort of have to be, don’t you? Out for yourself, I mean?’
Amit stopped what he was doing. ‘Well, that’s pretty good, coming from a newbie. No, actually, you don’t. You try and look out for your mates, is what you do – that’s if you want any mates. Like we tried to look out for you this morning, yeah? Tried to make it so’s you didn’t have carry any of the really heavy stuff.’ Amit stared at him for a moment longer, then returned his attention to the workbench.
‘And that was after what you did last night,’ he muttered. ‘To Enoch. And to Taps. Don’t think we didn’t notice.’
FTC Advisory: David Fickling Books provided me with a copy of X-Isle. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Quick & Dirty: When it comes to survival, ethics become questionable, and everything comes at a price. Compassion and camaraderie are the only things that give these boys a chance to endure. X-Isle will make you cringe, warm your heart at times while making it race at others, and ultimately leave you to think about what, or really who, is worth surviving for.
Opening Sentence: The steady chug of the diesel engine drew closer, and eventually the salvage boat emerged from the mist, a blank grey shape steering a middle course between the ghostly lines of chimney stacks that rose from the water.
The Review:
As the main character, everything is told from Baz’s point-of-view. This is important because there are a lot of characters but most of the book is about Baz just plain figuring things out. Some of his observations seem to come about much too slowly, and you end up really having to consider his life and what he’s been told his whole life. Much of this does not have to be explained in detail, which is something I really liked about the book. Since the world got flooded and there’s really not much left, a large part of his and the other X-Isle inhabitants’ lives have been spend simply surviving. Everyone has lost everything and they are just clinging to every little shred of hope that they can, including their belief in the X-Isle and what it means. Because why else would people send their barely teen boys over to an island run by a few old men, unless they were totally and completely desperate?
Baz’s father seems to have done his best to shelter his son in any way possible. This makes it much more difficult for Baz in the long run, when he has to take care of himself. He is simply naïve, which not only makes it really hard for him to understand the crazy animalistic world of survival that surrounds him, but goes beyond that to curse him with an immense sense of guilt at every turn as he tries to follow his father’s last advice to him, “You just worry about yourself, son, that’s all. Look out for number one.”
Ray, on the other hand, is the opposite of naïve. One of the first things he says to Baz is, “Try using your loaf instead of asking dumb questions.” It is no surprise that Ray comes up with most of the plans to overcome their plight; he simply has the most to lose from it all. Several times Baz considers returning to the mainland, and Ray doesn’t even consider it, instead doing his best to look at the specific problem and come up with a solution. It is nice to see how the boys are able to give up their competitiveness at points in the book and when we see compassion take over. And that it comes from inside of them and not from the creepy sermons given by Preacher John.
The main thing that I enjoyed about this book is that the villains in this book are quite believable. Maybe because of the survival atmosphere of the book, maybe from just reading the newspaper lately, these guys are simply in it for themselves, the ultimate opportunists. They are just sinister enough, and I like that. The pacing in this book was also pretty good. It was a little long, but right when you start to think about how many pages are left is when you start to not care how many are left because you get so wrapped up in the plot. There was one part where I was practically holding my breath for a couple chapters. It definitely gets pretty good, and that’s where we really can appreciate only seeing through Baz’s mind, cause he can’t quite catch up to how fast things are moving, try as he might.
The ending to this book was a little problematic for me. After living in a world of survival for so long, it seems that those instincts would stay with the boys at least a little longer. The author tries to touch on that, but doesn’t make it quite convincing enough. Also, the main reason the boys even go to X-Isle is because of their families. There isn’t reference to the families they left behind at the end of the book, which seems somewhat unnatural to me. I would recommend this book more for an adult audience than a teen audience. There is actually less mature material than I was expecting, I was expecting it to be a lot more vulgar than it turned out to be, and I appreciated that, but there is some violent themes throughout the book that may not be appropriate for a less mature audience.
Notable Scene:
Baz remembered his own desperate tactics to get food the previous evening. ‘Well…I suppose you sort of have to be, don’t you? Out for yourself, I mean?’
Amit stopped what he was doing. ‘Well, that’s pretty good, coming from a newbie. No, actually, you don’t. You try and look out for your mates, is what you do – that’s if you want any mates. Like we tried to look out for you this morning, yeah? Tried to make it so’s you didn’t have carry any of the really heavy stuff.’ Amit stared at him for a moment longer, then returned his attention to the workbench.
‘And that was after what you did last night,’ he muttered. ‘To Enoch. And to Taps. Don’t think we didn’t notice.’
FTC Advisory: David Fickling Books provided me with a copy of X-Isle. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
May 2, 2019
I chose this title for my X entry in the alphabet challenge this year and was pleasantly surprised to find I ended up enjoying the story. The characters and their growth was well-thought out and honestly revealed. My initial suspicion about Ray was revealed to be true in the end.
September 29, 2022
Wtf was that? It was like this book couldn't decide what it wanted to be. At times it was almost silly with its how to capture farts in a bottle and Fart Club and at other times it was grim and horrible with abuse and death. It is hard to figure out just who this is targeted at and what age group.
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