Tim Lebbon’s Noreela books, starting with 2006’s Dusk, are books that have always caught my eye but I somehow never managed to find the time to read. The same can also be said for Lebbon collaborations with Christopher Golden. Now, however, it seems I’ll need to pay a little more attention to Lebbon’s work as I found The Island to be highly entertaining and thrilling blend; a lot of fantasy with a dash of both science fiction and horror made for some interesting reading and I’ll be curious to see where Lebbon takes Noreela in the future.

After a failed mission results in the death a number of innocent children, and his commander and lover, Kel Boon deserts the clandestine Core and hides himself in the fishing village of Pavsmouth Beak. He makes his living there as a woodcarving, falling in love with the local witch Namior feels he has finally escaped his past. Unfortunatley the sudden disastrous appearance of a mysterious island could possibly be the alien threat that the Core has been trying to thwart and Kel Boon must once again take up the mantle of soldier and determine the nature of the threat that this island represents.


Full review here