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Letters from a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns and Moons
A research team and a blind old sailor slyly spar over the truth of a long-ago shipwreck, a mad island of dead gods and the mystery of a lost manuscript. Neither sailor nor interviewer is what they seem; and both must learn to work together to find what they seek. Seemingly, Clarence St. Elmo sits old and blind in the Sailor's Safe Harbor Home. A patient interviewer sifts his wandering memories for details of the wreck of the Unicorn, a cargo schooner lost long ago in the South Pacific. But Clarence St. Elmo is also a young man who finds himself on a cursed ship with a cargo of dead gods destined to be sunk in the Sea of Time. His love waits for his return, while mad voices in his head slyly pry for clues to a lost book. And always beyond the words and the memories, the dreadful storm circles closer. A romance of memory, across the sea of time.From the The girl stopped dancing at the first bird chirp of dawn. The ruined walls pooled the remainder of night like a hollow on a beach when the tide draws away. Exhausted, I stared up at a patch of coloring on a tree-top. My heart beat for a drum. The girl looked at the sky, then regretfully towards the dark entrance to the crumbled house. She wasn't a bit tired. But she intended to retire for the day, no doubt taking me and Cut-Throat with her. She could do it, too. In the faint light her face was hungry and pretty and determined as a tiger’s. If I bolted she would be on me before I made the archway. I crossed looks with Cut-Throat. He shook his head slightly, telling me the same. I tried not to look at the other fellow, who had no eyes to meet. He just stood there in rotting sea-man's clothes listening for the clap of her hands. But our Cut-Throat had taken the girl's measure. He’d noted what rhythm and time made her feet stamp, made her toss her ropes of hair. Now he began a slow sad dirge for the dying night. She turned to him, hands raised to clap an order. But I took her left hand and bowed and stepped forward my right foot and she had no choice in her perfection of movement but to step back and then half turn as I did and we stepped forwards together two steps, then turned together as I placed my left hand on the small of her back and we skipped left three steps as the fiddle slyly slipped from dirge to a laughing tune that ran faster and faster till we were whirling and turning over the cold stones.
414 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 31, 2016
18 people are currently reading
297 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
January 12, 2022
Once again I enjoyed tremendously a book by the author I discovered for the first time last year. He writes fantasy quite different to the usual stuff I read. It’s often quirky and I think it has a literary style but most importantly it always provides very enjoyable, thought provoking and different stories.
This one is different yet again from other books of his that I’ve read. His attempt to write a seafaring/shipwreck adventure of the same ilk as Gulliver's Travels, The Odyssey, or Robinson Crusoe, all books he refers to, although this tale is very different in detail to all of them.
The prose is excellent, the adventure fascinating and fantastical, there’s wry humour, conflict and romance. For literary fiction (I think it is) it’s surprisingly upbeat - I thought such literature was meant to be more serious, meaning few, if any, laughs. I found myself regularly chuckling at clever observations and insights.
The way the story is presented to us is quirky. Quirky can be code for difficult but here it means no more than I intend — unusual, different, a little weird! The story starts with the main character, an ancient, blind mariner in a sailors care home, being interviewed about his early seafaring adventures by a historical research team. By the end of the story this relationship has evolved and changed fundamentally, in a way that I’m still thinking about. Nonetheless we still get an easy to follow adventure story, even with plenty of jumping around within the timeline of the tale.
The main character describes how, as a young poet, he runs away to sea in the wake of a frustrated romance. Poetry is a theme in the story though there are few poems presented other than the main character’s attempts to woo his true love. Normally poetry thrown in my direction is like casting seed onto stoney ground and I haven’t an ear for it. But the author plays with it cleverly and with humour. I recall another fantasy author I enjoy, who’s indulged in poetry, saying something like “Most people think they can write poetry. Except for the Poet’s Guild - they know they can’t”. I suspect the main character here is in that category, and sometimes mocks his own efforts. Of course, the author’s prose often has a poetic tinge, something I do appreciate.
I guess this is not the most accessible introduction to this author’s books, in my view, for the new reader. His more recent ‘Texas small town’ novels are, I think. But now I’ve read several of this author’s books in the last year I suspect this one is close to being my favourite read of his so far, for its richness of story as well as his trademark excellent prose.
I remain gobsmacked that this often self published author is not more widely appreciated.
This one is different yet again from other books of his that I’ve read. His attempt to write a seafaring/shipwreck adventure of the same ilk as Gulliver's Travels, The Odyssey, or Robinson Crusoe, all books he refers to, although this tale is very different in detail to all of them.
The prose is excellent, the adventure fascinating and fantastical, there’s wry humour, conflict and romance. For literary fiction (I think it is) it’s surprisingly upbeat - I thought such literature was meant to be more serious, meaning few, if any, laughs. I found myself regularly chuckling at clever observations and insights.
The way the story is presented to us is quirky. Quirky can be code for difficult but here it means no more than I intend — unusual, different, a little weird! The story starts with the main character, an ancient, blind mariner in a sailors care home, being interviewed about his early seafaring adventures by a historical research team. By the end of the story this relationship has evolved and changed fundamentally, in a way that I’m still thinking about. Nonetheless we still get an easy to follow adventure story, even with plenty of jumping around within the timeline of the tale.
The main character describes how, as a young poet, he runs away to sea in the wake of a frustrated romance. Poetry is a theme in the story though there are few poems presented other than the main character’s attempts to woo his true love. Normally poetry thrown in my direction is like casting seed onto stoney ground and I haven’t an ear for it. But the author plays with it cleverly and with humour. I recall another fantasy author I enjoy, who’s indulged in poetry, saying something like “Most people think they can write poetry. Except for the Poet’s Guild - they know they can’t”. I suspect the main character here is in that category, and sometimes mocks his own efforts. Of course, the author’s prose often has a poetic tinge, something I do appreciate.
I guess this is not the most accessible introduction to this author’s books, in my view, for the new reader. His more recent ‘Texas small town’ novels are, I think. But now I’ve read several of this author’s books in the last year I suspect this one is close to being my favourite read of his so far, for its richness of story as well as his trademark excellent prose.
I remain gobsmacked that this often self published author is not more widely appreciated.
August 1, 2020
Raymond St. Elmo’s writing is often magical and creative, which is a delicate way to say it’s totally wackadoo:) It makes me laugh while, simultaneously, it laughs at conventions and doesn’t pay any attention to what sells at the moment. As the title suggests, Letters from a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns and Moons is a weird book and its narrative requires certain patience from the reader.
The writing is excellent and shows the author stretching his abilities. Told primarily as an interview between the protagonist and mysterious interviewers, it’s a time travel book, but not in the usual sense. The adventure starts at the board of Unicorn (a ship) as it sails upon the Sea of Suns and Moons. An ancient poet-turned-sailor, Clarence St. Elmo, shares vignettes of the voyage that ended in a shipwreck caused by unnatural storm. St. Elmo survived but found himself washed up at the shores of Theodosia, the island of dead gods inhabited by mythological terrors.
It’s an adventure story. And a love story told through letters. A story of lovers torn apart, but also a love letter to stories and storytelling. It’s often confusing, but also funny. It’s weird, but also immersive. It throws a lot to the mix - adventure, satire, humor, romance, fantasy, mythology and makes it work. There’s also a cargo of dead gods who are perhaps not as dead as everyone believes. And a haunted cemetery.
So far I have performed a dark ritual in a cemetery, escaped a theological asylum, been locked in a dungeon for arguing at lunch, and run from unnatural dogs through a labyrinth. Checking my schedule, I see that tomorrow morning I am to fight a duel to the death. And yet, for all the theatre of my current residence, my attention keeps slipping. Gods, dogs and duels: they must clear their throats to recall my attention. Else my mind turns towards home, and a poem there I left unfinished.
I love St. Elmo’s dry, insightful humor. It makes me giggle. As for the story and plot - they ask for attention; the narrative requires it. The interviewing committee repeats some questions and answers differ or add to what Clarence has already said. But it also tells a story within a story. The interviewer claims the narrator is the blind old man, but it’s not as simple as that. It never is.
Letters from a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns and Moons is a weird and unique book with a convoluted plot and unusual narration. It won’t appeal to readers looking for a well-pronounced plotline and quick pacing. Probably even fans of literary fiction will find it infuriating at times. And yet it’s the book worth trying as once you start to get into it you probably won’t want to leave.
The writing is excellent and shows the author stretching his abilities. Told primarily as an interview between the protagonist and mysterious interviewers, it’s a time travel book, but not in the usual sense. The adventure starts at the board of Unicorn (a ship) as it sails upon the Sea of Suns and Moons. An ancient poet-turned-sailor, Clarence St. Elmo, shares vignettes of the voyage that ended in a shipwreck caused by unnatural storm. St. Elmo survived but found himself washed up at the shores of Theodosia, the island of dead gods inhabited by mythological terrors.
It’s an adventure story. And a love story told through letters. A story of lovers torn apart, but also a love letter to stories and storytelling. It’s often confusing, but also funny. It’s weird, but also immersive. It throws a lot to the mix - adventure, satire, humor, romance, fantasy, mythology and makes it work. There’s also a cargo of dead gods who are perhaps not as dead as everyone believes. And a haunted cemetery.
So far I have performed a dark ritual in a cemetery, escaped a theological asylum, been locked in a dungeon for arguing at lunch, and run from unnatural dogs through a labyrinth. Checking my schedule, I see that tomorrow morning I am to fight a duel to the death. And yet, for all the theatre of my current residence, my attention keeps slipping. Gods, dogs and duels: they must clear their throats to recall my attention. Else my mind turns towards home, and a poem there I left unfinished.
I love St. Elmo’s dry, insightful humor. It makes me giggle. As for the story and plot - they ask for attention; the narrative requires it. The interviewing committee repeats some questions and answers differ or add to what Clarence has already said. But it also tells a story within a story. The interviewer claims the narrator is the blind old man, but it’s not as simple as that. It never is.
Letters from a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns and Moons is a weird and unique book with a convoluted plot and unusual narration. It won’t appeal to readers looking for a well-pronounced plotline and quick pacing. Probably even fans of literary fiction will find it infuriating at times. And yet it’s the book worth trying as once you start to get into it you probably won’t want to leave.
September 13, 2018
If there were a holiday especially for authors called, say, “Wordsgiving” that included a traditional feast, Raymond St. Elmo would have a seat at the grownups’ table. Now, if he would be so kind as to carve the bird, that will provide me with a good segue into the next, um, course of this review.
To describe "Letters from a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns and Moons" as a story about a sailor shipwrecked on a fantastical island would be like describing a club sandwich as a slice of cooked poultry. It's terribly incomplete and inaccurate, but it's a place to start.
The protagonist of the novel, Clarence St. Elmo (possibly some distant relative of the author), isn’t much of a sailor, having been a poet before his first venture out to sea. Unfortunately for him and the ship he’s sailing on (The Unicorn), hardly anyone else on board is a sailor either. And then there’s the extraordinarily dangerous (and ever-whispering), cargo.
A shipwreck is the natural result of a most unnatural storm, and Clarence St. Elmo finds himself washed up on an island inhabited by all sorts of mythological terrors, and some pretty unpleasant people, too. But of all the horrible, fantastical critters that Clarence must deal with, none are as terrifying and intractable as the one he boarded The Unicorn to escape: Nope, not even going to speak its name.
The thing about this book is the writing. Sure, there’s an interesting, complex, and relatable protagonist, and humor that is gentle, dry, literary, and insightful, but really, it’s the prose that makes it hum—prose that compares favorably to the best I’ve ever read. There’s great stuff like a seashell “delicate as a porcelain orchid” and the mayor of the Island of Theodosia (Theodosia) who is “an old book of a woman” (aside: how come spell-check doesn’t waggly line Theodosia? . . . Oh!), but what is important is that no matter how fantastic and other-worldly the scene, Raymond St. Elmo creates a beautiful, vivid, and detailed tableau in the reader’s head.
You ought to read this book. If you need a more specific recommendation, then I would say, if you liked Mervyn Peake’s “Gormenghast” books, you would like this novel—though I think "Letters from a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns and Moons" is better. Both writers do a phenomenal job of fantastical scene and world building, but Peake tends to give a whole lot of love to details that then sail over the horizon never to be seen again. Raymond St. Elmo, on the other hand, brings the details back around, giving the reader a satisfaction akin to an unexpected encounter with an old friend. If you liked (one of my all-time favorites) Patrick Dewitt’s “Undermajordomo Minor” you would like this novel.
There’s a nice line in the novel I’m going to comment on here just to show what a smart and attentive reader I am. Clarence says, at one point: “Imagine Hamlet grown up enough to just walk out of Elsinore.” That’s a really neat trick for a writer to pull off, to have a character say something that reveals some aspect of their (the character’s) nature to the reader that even the character doesn’t understand (not yet, anyway). Not only would a passive-aggressive Hamlet be a lot less interesting than the neurotic Hamlet we know and love (and the play would be over before it started), but, as Clarence ought to know, there are some things you can’t run away from (cough cough true love cough).
“Letters from a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns and Moons” is a big read in more ways than one, and asks for (and deserves) some dedicated reading time. So don’t fill up on the appetizers. Okay, that was lame. Sometimes I should just walk away from the extended metaphor.
To describe "Letters from a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns and Moons" as a story about a sailor shipwrecked on a fantastical island would be like describing a club sandwich as a slice of cooked poultry. It's terribly incomplete and inaccurate, but it's a place to start.
The protagonist of the novel, Clarence St. Elmo (possibly some distant relative of the author), isn’t much of a sailor, having been a poet before his first venture out to sea. Unfortunately for him and the ship he’s sailing on (The Unicorn), hardly anyone else on board is a sailor either. And then there’s the extraordinarily dangerous (and ever-whispering), cargo.
A shipwreck is the natural result of a most unnatural storm, and Clarence St. Elmo finds himself washed up on an island inhabited by all sorts of mythological terrors, and some pretty unpleasant people, too. But of all the horrible, fantastical critters that Clarence must deal with, none are as terrifying and intractable as the one he boarded The Unicorn to escape: Nope, not even going to speak its name.
The thing about this book is the writing. Sure, there’s an interesting, complex, and relatable protagonist, and humor that is gentle, dry, literary, and insightful, but really, it’s the prose that makes it hum—prose that compares favorably to the best I’ve ever read. There’s great stuff like a seashell “delicate as a porcelain orchid” and the mayor of the Island of Theodosia (Theodosia) who is “an old book of a woman” (aside: how come spell-check doesn’t waggly line Theodosia? . . . Oh!), but what is important is that no matter how fantastic and other-worldly the scene, Raymond St. Elmo creates a beautiful, vivid, and detailed tableau in the reader’s head.
You ought to read this book. If you need a more specific recommendation, then I would say, if you liked Mervyn Peake’s “Gormenghast” books, you would like this novel—though I think "Letters from a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns and Moons" is better. Both writers do a phenomenal job of fantastical scene and world building, but Peake tends to give a whole lot of love to details that then sail over the horizon never to be seen again. Raymond St. Elmo, on the other hand, brings the details back around, giving the reader a satisfaction akin to an unexpected encounter with an old friend. If you liked (one of my all-time favorites) Patrick Dewitt’s “Undermajordomo Minor” you would like this novel.
There’s a nice line in the novel I’m going to comment on here just to show what a smart and attentive reader I am. Clarence says, at one point: “Imagine Hamlet grown up enough to just walk out of Elsinore.” That’s a really neat trick for a writer to pull off, to have a character say something that reveals some aspect of their (the character’s) nature to the reader that even the character doesn’t understand (not yet, anyway). Not only would a passive-aggressive Hamlet be a lot less interesting than the neurotic Hamlet we know and love (and the play would be over before it started), but, as Clarence ought to know, there are some things you can’t run away from (cough cough true love cough).
“Letters from a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns and Moons” is a big read in more ways than one, and asks for (and deserves) some dedicated reading time. So don’t fill up on the appetizers. Okay, that was lame. Sometimes I should just walk away from the extended metaphor.
January 2, 2024
Get ready for this to be another book I never shut up about.
This quickly became one of my favorite books of all time. It’s astounding. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever read before.
The prose is poetic and beautiful but I wouldn’t call it overly flowery. It took me a long time to read this simply because I so frequently stopped to reread passages along the journey. I took my time and savored this. My copy is tabbed and highlighted to hell.
What you will find in this book:
-an epic journey
-magic realism
-mystery and intrigue
-some of the most heartbreaking, gorgeous love letters!!!
-a love story that will rip your heart out of your chest, set it on fire, dust off the ashes and then neatly place it in back into your chest and politely continue the tale
-shipwrecks and sailors and porpoises who might be dolphins or sailors
-gods and reverends and aunts and a found family
If a Wes Anderson-ish Odyssey sounds up your alley, then this is an absolute must read for you.
Mr. Elmo, thank you for this beautiful book. It has a special place in my reader’s heart. Adjacent to a poet’s: similarly useless, but no less full of fire.
This quickly became one of my favorite books of all time. It’s astounding. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever read before.
"I like books. I map out my existence from birth to now making paths of the pages I’ve read. And that measure of a life feels exactly right for me.”
The prose is poetic and beautiful but I wouldn’t call it overly flowery. It took me a long time to read this simply because I so frequently stopped to reread passages along the journey. I took my time and savored this. My copy is tabbed and highlighted to hell.
"I would have returned. I would have crossed seas, burst down doors and sent aunts flying from my path, just to bend my knee before you and ask you to take me as your husband. That is how our story should have ended. Returned to you victorious, never to part."
What you will find in this book:
-an epic journey
-magic realism
-mystery and intrigue
-some of the most heartbreaking, gorgeous love letters!!!
-a love story that will rip your heart out of your chest, set it on fire, dust off the ashes and then neatly place it in back into your chest and politely continue the tale
-shipwrecks and sailors and porpoises who might be dolphins or sailors
-gods and reverends and aunts and a found family
If a Wes Anderson-ish Odyssey sounds up your alley, then this is an absolute must read for you.
Mr. Elmo, thank you for this beautiful book. It has a special place in my reader’s heart. Adjacent to a poet’s: similarly useless, but no less full of fire.
August 19, 2019
From what I’ve heard of this book and the author I was not disappointed with the disordered narrative and bizarre framing device, nor the playful tone and humour throughout. But I was surprised how well these worked with the central mystery and to help build tension and pace the book.
The protagonist, the poet, is a lot fun, despite having the same surname as the author. I liked him enough to overlook even this. His asides and obstinacy when responding to the mysterious Interviewer keep the narrative device entertaining throughout. There is a wonderful description of the island on which he is shipwrecked that shows, at points, how strong the writing can be:
“Describe Theodosia. There is a path that will take you from one side of the island to the other in a quick two-day hike around the mountain. And there are places between the path that will take you in a journey of years, from this side of life to the far side of dreams; to the shadows of death or wisdom or the back of your own mirror where you stare in fright and wonder at your own puzzled face. Theodosia is not a safe place. It is not a sensible place. It does not come into a describable whole that can ever be easily mapped and captured.”
The other thing that surprised me was, despite the silliness and irreverence, despite the times where you wonder if this whole thing is a metaphor or a joke, there are moments of real tenderness and honesty. Behind the wry asides and flitting from deprecation to delusion, there’s a real depth of feeling and the honest fear that goes with it.
This book is well written, wonderfully balanced and engaging throughout. I really recommend it.
The protagonist, the poet, is a lot fun, despite having the same surname as the author. I liked him enough to overlook even this. His asides and obstinacy when responding to the mysterious Interviewer keep the narrative device entertaining throughout. There is a wonderful description of the island on which he is shipwrecked that shows, at points, how strong the writing can be:
“Describe Theodosia. There is a path that will take you from one side of the island to the other in a quick two-day hike around the mountain. And there are places between the path that will take you in a journey of years, from this side of life to the far side of dreams; to the shadows of death or wisdom or the back of your own mirror where you stare in fright and wonder at your own puzzled face. Theodosia is not a safe place. It is not a sensible place. It does not come into a describable whole that can ever be easily mapped and captured.”
The other thing that surprised me was, despite the silliness and irreverence, despite the times where you wonder if this whole thing is a metaphor or a joke, there are moments of real tenderness and honesty. Behind the wry asides and flitting from deprecation to delusion, there’s a real depth of feeling and the honest fear that goes with it.
This book is well written, wonderfully balanced and engaging throughout. I really recommend it.
December 27, 2016
Can one drown in a book? I wondered this, approaching the half-way mark, as I was going down for the third time, that notorious bobble of no return. Clearly the answer is yes, or I would not be penning this from a fireside at the bottom of the ocean, where a small group of dear friends are toasting marshmallows.
Drowning, let me assure you, is not nearly as frightening as some have claimed. At least, not in literary seas, which have the advantage of not wetting one. Rather, the experience is invigorating, inspiring, exciting, moving and - strangely - elevating. Almost as though the waters were above one, rather than below.
This is a completely original, ridiculously witty and entertaining and above all clever novel, in the sense of being intelligently playful. The plot is so convoluted that I considered, cherished, tossed aside, and reluctantly abandoned more theories on the identities of the voices in these pages than there are surprises in the book. And there are hundreds of the latter. Raymond St. Elmo has the temerity to redraw the approach to creating a novel in his own image, never mind conventional wisdom. The astonishing thing is how well it succeeds. The characters are divine humanity, the plot demonic comedy, and out of disastrous human frailty the author draws the wine of life.
A unique book by a supremely talented writer, it is rich, dense, and one to be savoured slowly. My heartfelt thanks to the lady who gifted me a copy of this wonderful work!
Drowning, let me assure you, is not nearly as frightening as some have claimed. At least, not in literary seas, which have the advantage of not wetting one. Rather, the experience is invigorating, inspiring, exciting, moving and - strangely - elevating. Almost as though the waters were above one, rather than below.
This is a completely original, ridiculously witty and entertaining and above all clever novel, in the sense of being intelligently playful. The plot is so convoluted that I considered, cherished, tossed aside, and reluctantly abandoned more theories on the identities of the voices in these pages than there are surprises in the book. And there are hundreds of the latter. Raymond St. Elmo has the temerity to redraw the approach to creating a novel in his own image, never mind conventional wisdom. The astonishing thing is how well it succeeds. The characters are divine humanity, the plot demonic comedy, and out of disastrous human frailty the author draws the wine of life.
A unique book by a supremely talented writer, it is rich, dense, and one to be savoured slowly. My heartfelt thanks to the lady who gifted me a copy of this wonderful work!
April 22, 2024
Dear Past Self and Other Ignorant Souls,
You asked how could a good book be published without the aid of a street-wise agent, a discerning editor, and a publisher hungry for the souls and blood of hopeful artists? How could we live without the traditional gatekeepers of the mass market gas station stacks?
Quite well, it seems.
Your disregard for self-publishing, though a product of a discerning temperament, should be called by its real name: snobbery.
I am writing to demand that you let go of said snobbery. Better still, drive it off a cliff and shoot it with arrows as it falls and when it’s good and dead and riddled, take it back up the mountain and kick it down once more, just in case.
Look, there is a writer whom you have yet to discover, a writer who…
Describe the Writer
Raymond St Elmo plays fine games with finer words, twisting syntax through a fractured fractal of a plot that gives a middle finger to Save the Cat enthusiasts. Although, there is indeed a cat…
What of his style?
You don’t want to hear about the cat? Very well.
The prose is laced with poetry, wordplay, and dashes of humour that I cannot find a just comparison for. Someone else has offered up Mervyn Peake, but Peake’s sentences are weightier with modifiers, whereas St Elmo’s fly along with the swiftness of a sailboat in the wind. This book is very readable.
Readable, you say?
And I want to emphasize this point because it seems that a common response is that this book is a challenging one. I mean, it’s not Brandon Sanderson, but it is also far-flung from the density of some of the writers I’m sure influenced Elmo – Wolfe, Borges etc. But that’s part of why this book is so brilliant. It is widely original in the classical sense of the word “novel” but still infinitely readable. Esoteric yet approachable.
Esoteric, you say?
The story is told through letters and interviews. It is recounted in non-chronological fragments. This technique gives the author the capacity to withhold information and dish out reveals in a manner that transcends the constraints of linear narrative forms, the constraints of the fourth dimension you might say.
It is not fragmentary for the sake of being fragmentary. This disjointed nature of the narrative enhances the tension, makes you turn pages.
I’m reminded, in some ways, of the way D.H. Lawrence will occasionally cut to the future for a sentence or two before coming back to the present. This is more extreme, though. This is a thorough manipulation of the temporal spheres that bind the corners of reality.
Okay, so what’s it about?
Clarence St. Elmo is shipwrecked on an island teeming with strange life, including but not limited to vampires, ex-gods, and the scholars who study them. Like in most island stories, our protagonist wants to leave this sublime plot of land, in this case, to get back to his lover.
Unlike most island stories, this one is not as it seems. You don’t always notice the gods at first glance, but believe me, they are there.
Who is this book for?
I suspect anyone who likes a good dose of creativity with their phantasmagoric adventures, creativity that infects everything and between diction and structure.
This book is sometimes billed as magical realism. I think those who are drawn to the so-called “new weird” genre will find much to be admired here as well.
Are there other artists you can compare it to?
No. This is a singular work. But I suspect those who enjoy any of the following authors would enjoy this:
-Brain Catling
-Jeff Vandermeer
-Tasmir Mir
-Mervyn Peake
-Gene Wolfe
-Borges
See more reviews and writing tips on Hunter Journal
You asked how could a good book be published without the aid of a street-wise agent, a discerning editor, and a publisher hungry for the souls and blood of hopeful artists? How could we live without the traditional gatekeepers of the mass market gas station stacks?
Quite well, it seems.
Your disregard for self-publishing, though a product of a discerning temperament, should be called by its real name: snobbery.
I am writing to demand that you let go of said snobbery. Better still, drive it off a cliff and shoot it with arrows as it falls and when it’s good and dead and riddled, take it back up the mountain and kick it down once more, just in case.
Look, there is a writer whom you have yet to discover, a writer who…
Describe the Writer
Raymond St Elmo plays fine games with finer words, twisting syntax through a fractured fractal of a plot that gives a middle finger to Save the Cat enthusiasts. Although, there is indeed a cat…
What of his style?
You don’t want to hear about the cat? Very well.
The prose is laced with poetry, wordplay, and dashes of humour that I cannot find a just comparison for. Someone else has offered up Mervyn Peake, but Peake’s sentences are weightier with modifiers, whereas St Elmo’s fly along with the swiftness of a sailboat in the wind. This book is very readable.
Readable, you say?
And I want to emphasize this point because it seems that a common response is that this book is a challenging one. I mean, it’s not Brandon Sanderson, but it is also far-flung from the density of some of the writers I’m sure influenced Elmo – Wolfe, Borges etc. But that’s part of why this book is so brilliant. It is widely original in the classical sense of the word “novel” but still infinitely readable. Esoteric yet approachable.
Esoteric, you say?
The story is told through letters and interviews. It is recounted in non-chronological fragments. This technique gives the author the capacity to withhold information and dish out reveals in a manner that transcends the constraints of linear narrative forms, the constraints of the fourth dimension you might say.
It is not fragmentary for the sake of being fragmentary. This disjointed nature of the narrative enhances the tension, makes you turn pages.
I’m reminded, in some ways, of the way D.H. Lawrence will occasionally cut to the future for a sentence or two before coming back to the present. This is more extreme, though. This is a thorough manipulation of the temporal spheres that bind the corners of reality.
Okay, so what’s it about?
Clarence St. Elmo is shipwrecked on an island teeming with strange life, including but not limited to vampires, ex-gods, and the scholars who study them. Like in most island stories, our protagonist wants to leave this sublime plot of land, in this case, to get back to his lover.
Unlike most island stories, this one is not as it seems. You don’t always notice the gods at first glance, but believe me, they are there.
Who is this book for?
I suspect anyone who likes a good dose of creativity with their phantasmagoric adventures, creativity that infects everything and between diction and structure.
This book is sometimes billed as magical realism. I think those who are drawn to the so-called “new weird” genre will find much to be admired here as well.
Are there other artists you can compare it to?
No. This is a singular work. But I suspect those who enjoy any of the following authors would enjoy this:
-Brain Catling
-Jeff Vandermeer
-Tasmir Mir
-Mervyn Peake
-Gene Wolfe
-Borges
See more reviews and writing tips on Hunter Journal
February 4, 2017
Describe the book.
I used to be a poet, until I found out it didn't pay. Then I became a novelist. The remuneration in that field turned out to be pretty much the same. After that I went to sea, and finally found a paying job. True, the wages were pain, madness and, as a special bonus, death.
But they were paid out as regular as clockwork.
Try again. Describe the story.
Lightning. Shipwreck. Then I woke up on an island with a cat and some other...entities...less furry, with much larger claws. It all seems like a dream now. Either that, or this is the dream.
What story? Whose story?
What did you like about the story?
Okay, I can tell you, but there might be a few mild spoilers.
Describe the spoilers.
So can we conclude that you think everyone should read this book?
Isn't that what I've been telling you, at some length? Do you want me to start all over again? Because I really don't mind if--
Spoilers, remember? Reset.
I used to be a poet, until I found out it didn't pay. Then I became a novelist. The remuneration in that field turned out to be pretty much the same. After that I went to sea, and finally found a paying job. True, the wages were pain, madness and, as a special bonus, death.
But they were paid out as regular as clockwork.
Try again. Describe the story.
Lightning. Shipwreck. Then I woke up on an island with a cat and some other...entities...less furry, with much larger claws. It all seems like a dream now. Either that, or this is the dream.
What story? Whose story?
What did you like about the story?
Okay, I can tell you, but there might be a few mild spoilers.
Describe the spoilers.
So can we conclude that you think everyone should read this book?
Isn't that what I've been telling you, at some length? Do you want me to start all over again? Because I really don't mind if--
Spoilers, remember? Reset.
February 9, 2017
How to do this book justice?
It’s a struggle I haven’t yet resolved. Oh sure, I could take the easy route and say this reads as if Sam Clemens was alive and well, sharing digs with Elvis and Jim Morrison, and writing under a new nom-de-plume, but like I said—too easy. And frankly much more probable than the fact that this brilliant, funny, wise, and above all else, romantic novel is self-published. And yet, that’s the very truth of it. The world is an odd odd place.
Yet, not as odd as the cargo and the crew of the good ship Unicorn as it sails upon the Sea of Suns and Moons. The story of that voyage and the subsequent shipwreck, as narrated by an ancient sailor named Clarence St. Elmo, is the tallest of tall tales. It’s also a love story. Not just a romance about true love parted, although there is that and it’s done with beauty and eloquence, but a delightful infatuation with stories themselves. And it’s funny. Constant smirk, frequent giggle, and occasional snort funny.
Mythology, fantasy, satire, humor, romance—it’s all there. Step aboard. You’re in for the ride of your life.
It’s a struggle I haven’t yet resolved. Oh sure, I could take the easy route and say this reads as if Sam Clemens was alive and well, sharing digs with Elvis and Jim Morrison, and writing under a new nom-de-plume, but like I said—too easy. And frankly much more probable than the fact that this brilliant, funny, wise, and above all else, romantic novel is self-published. And yet, that’s the very truth of it. The world is an odd odd place.
Yet, not as odd as the cargo and the crew of the good ship Unicorn as it sails upon the Sea of Suns and Moons. The story of that voyage and the subsequent shipwreck, as narrated by an ancient sailor named Clarence St. Elmo, is the tallest of tall tales. It’s also a love story. Not just a romance about true love parted, although there is that and it’s done with beauty and eloquence, but a delightful infatuation with stories themselves. And it’s funny. Constant smirk, frequent giggle, and occasional snort funny.
Mythology, fantasy, satire, humor, romance—it’s all there. Step aboard. You’re in for the ride of your life.
January 5, 2024
Update on second read:
Yup, back again with this book. I told myself I was going to write something more coherent about it this time, so here goes nothing.
Do you know that feeling when you find you’ve stumbled onto something special? Something that’s yours and the worlds and something that needs to be shared?
This book envelopes you. And I don’t mean atmospherically this time. It’s the prose and the intrigue and the love and the longing and the pure joy in being able to partake in someone else’s creativity like nothing you’ve experienced before. And it’s the kind of creativity that inspires. It’s poignant and funny and horrifying and a little bit inane.
I seem to only be able to describe this book in feelings.
Absolutely brilliant. I didn't want to put it down! Loved the tone of the narrator(s) and it was such an immersive experience to read.
Yup, back again with this book. I told myself I was going to write something more coherent about it this time, so here goes nothing.
Do you know that feeling when you find you’ve stumbled onto something special? Something that’s yours and the worlds and something that needs to be shared?
This book envelopes you. And I don’t mean atmospherically this time. It’s the prose and the intrigue and the love and the longing and the pure joy in being able to partake in someone else’s creativity like nothing you’ve experienced before. And it’s the kind of creativity that inspires. It’s poignant and funny and horrifying and a little bit inane.
I seem to only be able to describe this book in feelings.
Absolutely brilliant. I didn't want to put it down! Loved the tone of the narrator(s) and it was such an immersive experience to read.
June 30, 2021
I've owned this book for several years now and am mad at myself for taking so long to read it.
This is the type of book that makes you wish you wrote it because it's just so damn clever. Clever in its structure, clever in its prose, which is always witty yet strikes with poignancy when it must and loops around on itself in surprising ways.
At one point, someone asks the narrator what something signified, and he replies that he doesn't know. I admittedly somewhat feel the same way after reading this, but it doesn't matter. The journey was so fun, so bizarre, so fascinating, I enjoyed every moment of it even if I'm not totally sure why certain things happened. It does feel like a book that will reward a reread (perhaps I should grab a paperback copy for the shelf?), although that is not to say it doesn't have a satisfying conclusion, because it absolutely does. The closing chapters had me grinning the entire time.
If you're in search of a wildly unique story told in an inventive way with characters and wordplay that will leave you laughing, then look no further. Read this now.
I've read one other book besides this one, but I'll not make the same mistake and wait so long to read the rest of St. Elmo's works.
This is the type of book that makes you wish you wrote it because it's just so damn clever. Clever in its structure, clever in its prose, which is always witty yet strikes with poignancy when it must and loops around on itself in surprising ways.
At one point, someone asks the narrator what something signified, and he replies that he doesn't know. I admittedly somewhat feel the same way after reading this, but it doesn't matter. The journey was so fun, so bizarre, so fascinating, I enjoyed every moment of it even if I'm not totally sure why certain things happened. It does feel like a book that will reward a reread (perhaps I should grab a paperback copy for the shelf?), although that is not to say it doesn't have a satisfying conclusion, because it absolutely does. The closing chapters had me grinning the entire time.
If you're in search of a wildly unique story told in an inventive way with characters and wordplay that will leave you laughing, then look no further. Read this now.
I've read one other book besides this one, but I'll not make the same mistake and wait so long to read the rest of St. Elmo's works.
August 8, 2021
Maybe it is the poetical words or the dream-like narration, or the mystery embedded into the book which drew me in. All of which is the strong suit of St. Elmo's writing style. Letters from a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns and Moons don't fall short of it. It is a beautifully written story about a failed poet who becomes a sailor shunned by his love's, the mysterious K's, father and family. Clarence St. Elmo's, the poet's, story, future, and discovery of himself is revealed through an interview with an enigmatic entity, who lies, but so does Clarence. The poet rebels against the interviewer, showing what is necessary for him to remember and occasionally survive. We get to see Clarence's thoughts and past through his letters to K, the true motivation why he began the wretched journey. He writes of his sea voyage to the island of Theodosia. Behind the poetry is a hidden world of ancient gods, strange shipmates, cat, and books. But that is as far as I can go without taking away the mystery from you.
Like with most St. Elmo's books, you are trapped inside this surreal world, hungering to understand what is going on and where the story will lead you. This book is not an exception. You let the writer toy with you, in desperate need of clues, the great secret, what he knows more than us, and what kind of enlightenment we can find at the end and between the covers. In that aspect, he doesn't disappoint. There are questions about reality, perception, death and life, and who you are, and about the ultimate one, yet, occasionally, I needed the book to move on quicker and give me clarity to let me be tied to the narration and the persons telling it. Maybe it is me. Perhaps I need to be more in control. I want to add more here about how it all concluded for me, but again, I'm at the dead end with this book and not wanting to reveal anything to hinder your reading experience.
This book is magical realism at its best. It plays with perception and reality, tying it to something unreal you wish existed in this world. You need to read it to understand and feel the story. And you feel it through St. Elmo's words. He doesn't let you escape, or he didn't let me. Beautiful book, written so well that it leaves me in awe.
Thank you for reading, and have a mysterious day <3
Like with most St. Elmo's books, you are trapped inside this surreal world, hungering to understand what is going on and where the story will lead you. This book is not an exception. You let the writer toy with you, in desperate need of clues, the great secret, what he knows more than us, and what kind of enlightenment we can find at the end and between the covers. In that aspect, he doesn't disappoint. There are questions about reality, perception, death and life, and who you are, and about the ultimate one, yet, occasionally, I needed the book to move on quicker and give me clarity to let me be tied to the narration and the persons telling it. Maybe it is me. Perhaps I need to be more in control. I want to add more here about how it all concluded for me, but again, I'm at the dead end with this book and not wanting to reveal anything to hinder your reading experience.
This book is magical realism at its best. It plays with perception and reality, tying it to something unreal you wish existed in this world. You need to read it to understand and feel the story. And you feel it through St. Elmo's words. He doesn't let you escape, or he didn't let me. Beautiful book, written so well that it leaves me in awe.
Thank you for reading, and have a mysterious day <3
March 15, 2022
This is a book about sailing.
It's not on the subject of sailing. It's about sailing, in the same way the moon orbits about the Earth without touching on it.
This a book about poetry. And love. And gods. And books. And sailing. And it's even on the subject of some of those too.
Letters From a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns and Moons by Raymond St. Elmo is a very weird but very engaging, very demanding but very rewarding read.
A story encompassing sailing, and love, and poetry, and if there's any distinction between being a sailor and a lover and a poet (perhaps poetry's attack on lovers makes every poet assailor...)
Framed an as interview between an unreliable interviewer and an unreliable interviewee, with the interview itself changing the story. Or the telling thereof. Or both. Interspersed with poetry. Interspersed with the eponymous letters (from and occasionally to the Shipwrecked, but I suppose the title doesn't need any more words).
Oh did I mention it's told non-linearly?
I saw a portion of a review before I picked it up praising the prose, and comparing it to the prose of Mervyn Peake. And while the prose deserves the praise and the comparison, I think I have a humble correction to offer: the prose is like if Titus Groan were being read to you by your sardonic uncle who occasionally interjected with "What the the hell does 'It burgeoned the vast summer' even mean?" It's damned funny when it wants to be, if seeing St. Elmo's comments around these parts haven't made that obvious.
This was a great book, highly recommend. Gorgeous prose, rewarding structure, intriguing mystery [both the story, and "what the hell is even going on"], musings on poetry and fun fragments thereof- it's got the full monty.
This was my first St. Elmo, but I've since read one more and loved it too, and plan to read all the rest as of now.
It's not on the subject of sailing. It's about sailing, in the same way the moon orbits about the Earth without touching on it.
This a book about poetry. And love. And gods. And books. And sailing. And it's even on the subject of some of those too.
Letters From a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns and Moons by Raymond St. Elmo is a very weird but very engaging, very demanding but very rewarding read.
A story encompassing sailing, and love, and poetry, and if there's any distinction between being a sailor and a lover and a poet (perhaps poetry's attack on lovers makes every poet assailor...)
Framed an as interview between an unreliable interviewer and an unreliable interviewee, with the interview itself changing the story. Or the telling thereof. Or both. Interspersed with poetry. Interspersed with the eponymous letters (from and occasionally to the Shipwrecked, but I suppose the title doesn't need any more words).
Oh did I mention it's told non-linearly?
I saw a portion of a review before I picked it up praising the prose, and comparing it to the prose of Mervyn Peake. And while the prose deserves the praise and the comparison, I think I have a humble correction to offer: the prose is like if Titus Groan were being read to you by your sardonic uncle who occasionally interjected with "What the the hell does 'It burgeoned the vast summer' even mean?" It's damned funny when it wants to be, if seeing St. Elmo's comments around these parts haven't made that obvious.
This was a great book, highly recommend. Gorgeous prose, rewarding structure, intriguing mystery [both the story, and "what the hell is even going on"], musings on poetry and fun fragments thereof- it's got the full monty.
This was my first St. Elmo, but I've since read one more and loved it too, and plan to read all the rest as of now.
August 28, 2016
I read a previous version of this from Ye Olde Days of Authonomy.
Short review:
It blew me away
Not so short review:
I urge all readers of whatever genre fantasy literary or whatever to set sail for the sea of suns and moons, where the fiendishly original mind of the author will entice you on a journey to the pinnacles of love and the deepest crevices of the imagination. And many places in between.
Short review:
It blew me away
Not so short review:
I urge all readers of whatever genre fantasy literary or whatever to set sail for the sea of suns and moons, where the fiendishly original mind of the author will entice you on a journey to the pinnacles of love and the deepest crevices of the imagination. And many places in between.
April 17, 2023
Full review / all my reviews available on my blog
That… is a truly delightfully weird book.
It jumps around in structure and time between letters from a sailor to the girl he left back home–to said sailor being interviewed by … someone–to stories about a most mysterious shipwreck and the island he came to inhabit thereafter.
Structurally, it’s very strange and at times hard to figure out what in the world is going on–but that’s all intentional. It’s really quite worth it in the end.
There’s not much more I can say without spoiling the whole thing–that is, if I really actually understood what and how, if anything, of the story actually happened. 😄
Well worth a read.
We are the interviewers. For a story.
And who am I?
You are the old sailor who remembers being a young sailor on Unicorn, a three masted schooner out of San Francisco plying the Pacific waters.
That sounds familiar.
You are Clarence St. Elmo, for a name. You are a bad poet lost in the sea of time, a castaway on an island where the dead gods wander.
That sounds awful.
And beyond a name, on that side of things, past the mirror and the window and the words, you are the Keeper of Shipwreck Light in the Sea of Suns and Moons.
Oh, I knew that.
That… is a truly delightfully weird book.
It jumps around in structure and time between letters from a sailor to the girl he left back home–to said sailor being interviewed by … someone–to stories about a most mysterious shipwreck and the island he came to inhabit thereafter.
Structurally, it’s very strange and at times hard to figure out what in the world is going on–but that’s all intentional. It’s really quite worth it in the end.
There’s not much more I can say without spoiling the whole thing–that is, if I really actually understood what and how, if anything, of the story actually happened. 😄
Well worth a read.
April 10, 2022
Really impressed with this book. A wild bit of speculative literature that uses interesting literary devices. I was hooked quickly and read it fast. I liked how the characters were presented and how mythology was woven in (though I'm sure some references went over my head). The prose was great, though at times a little overwrought. But the main drawback for me was the literary device used. I really enjoyed it, but after about 100 pages it got a little tired and resulted in some repetition. As a result, I found I slipped out of my immersion. In short, this is a very ambitious novel and I really admire what it set out to do, and it largely did it well, but there were some small slips. Nonetheless, if you like weird literary fiction with an almost 'magical realism' feel, I definitely recommend this book.
June 14, 2025
I have been somewhat aware of Raymond St. Elmo for close to a year now. His "Quest of the Five Clans" series laid somewhere deep in my wishlist, Waiting for a whim to bring them to life. instead of starting on a multi part series, I finally gave in and gave this book a shot.
30 pages in, I looked over at my partner and told her this might be one of the best books I've read this year. When I finally turned the last page, alone at 3 in the morning, I realized it was one of the best books I've read in a long time.
This is exactly the kind of book I love. It is playful with its narrative structure, full of memorable characters and places, with deep themes and unique, inspiring ideas, and at its core a love story that never failed to make me yearn for more.
This may not be a book for everyone, but it was perfect for me, and I'm looking forward to reading more of his work.
30 pages in, I looked over at my partner and told her this might be one of the best books I've read this year. When I finally turned the last page, alone at 3 in the morning, I realized it was one of the best books I've read in a long time.
This is exactly the kind of book I love. It is playful with its narrative structure, full of memorable characters and places, with deep themes and unique, inspiring ideas, and at its core a love story that never failed to make me yearn for more.
This may not be a book for everyone, but it was perfect for me, and I'm looking forward to reading more of his work.
March 22, 2023
Another fine piece of writing from Raymond St. Elmo. It is quite remarkable – and damning for the industry – that books of this quality are self-published rather than backed by an imprint, but this peculiar injustice only heightens the sweetness, the thrill of discovering a special treasure, that accompanies the reader when they open Letters from a Shipwreck.
It's hard to summarise what's great about the book, or even what the book is, without resorting to inflated generalities. The ideas contained in its pages are so rich and varied that to sum up the story as a shipwrecked sailor on a strange island pining for his beloved does no justice to it; it doesn't cover the invention and creativity, the erudition, the strange loops and diversions of the sailor's path, or the ambiguity of his voyage. To describe what's great about the book and to mention the literary quality and originality of its writing, the author's skill in seamlessly delivering a non-linear narrative, or the creative approaches to the book's characters and themes, is to say something so broad that it seems almost to say nothing at all. But to go into greater detail on these points would be to spike the reader's own sense of discovery.
And read it they should. The flaws are few, and exist due to the book's vaulting ambition rather than anything being found wanting in the author. It can be easy to get lost in the book's fantastical second-half, which doesn't quite satisfy the tantalising mysteries which were set up in the book's first half. I found myself wishing more had been done to explain the importance of the 'Libris Acherontia', the lost manuscript which is relegated to the role of MacGuffin when it could have been the Rosetta Stone of the story. The essential redundance of the story has literary merit – to "wash [a man] onto an island of lunatics, chase him into a labyrinth then kill him to no purpose at all" (pg. 329) seems much like life – but can feel less ingenious than it is. (Note: This quotation from the novel isn't a spoiler and doesn't refer to the protagonist.)
But it's always easier to be critical of good writing than of bad, for the same reason that it's easier to see imperfections reflected in a gemstone than in a pile of mud. Raymond St. Elmo deserves a lot of praise for delivering a complex story with such readable simplicity, an outlandish and humorous story with moments of real literary artistry ("He glanced at the stars and then back to the flames, as though ensuring that the first burned in proper time to the second" (pg. 187)). And even though the Libris Acherontia manuscript isn't dominant in the story, this itch can be scratched by reading another of St. Elmo's excellent novels, The Origin of Birds in the Footprints of Writing, whose bird-track manuscript is referenced a few times in Shipwreck (pp12, 385). As a curious writer once said to me, the only fuel for the self-published is the hope that there is something of worth in what they write, and that it will be found. Letters from a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns and Moons is certainly of worth, and every reader should seek to find it.
It's hard to summarise what's great about the book, or even what the book is, without resorting to inflated generalities. The ideas contained in its pages are so rich and varied that to sum up the story as a shipwrecked sailor on a strange island pining for his beloved does no justice to it; it doesn't cover the invention and creativity, the erudition, the strange loops and diversions of the sailor's path, or the ambiguity of his voyage. To describe what's great about the book and to mention the literary quality and originality of its writing, the author's skill in seamlessly delivering a non-linear narrative, or the creative approaches to the book's characters and themes, is to say something so broad that it seems almost to say nothing at all. But to go into greater detail on these points would be to spike the reader's own sense of discovery.
And read it they should. The flaws are few, and exist due to the book's vaulting ambition rather than anything being found wanting in the author. It can be easy to get lost in the book's fantastical second-half, which doesn't quite satisfy the tantalising mysteries which were set up in the book's first half. I found myself wishing more had been done to explain the importance of the 'Libris Acherontia', the lost manuscript which is relegated to the role of MacGuffin when it could have been the Rosetta Stone of the story. The essential redundance of the story has literary merit – to "wash [a man] onto an island of lunatics, chase him into a labyrinth then kill him to no purpose at all" (pg. 329) seems much like life – but can feel less ingenious than it is. (Note: This quotation from the novel isn't a spoiler and doesn't refer to the protagonist.)
But it's always easier to be critical of good writing than of bad, for the same reason that it's easier to see imperfections reflected in a gemstone than in a pile of mud. Raymond St. Elmo deserves a lot of praise for delivering a complex story with such readable simplicity, an outlandish and humorous story with moments of real literary artistry ("He glanced at the stars and then back to the flames, as though ensuring that the first burned in proper time to the second" (pg. 187)). And even though the Libris Acherontia manuscript isn't dominant in the story, this itch can be scratched by reading another of St. Elmo's excellent novels, The Origin of Birds in the Footprints of Writing, whose bird-track manuscript is referenced a few times in Shipwreck (pp12, 385). As a curious writer once said to me, the only fuel for the self-published is the hope that there is something of worth in what they write, and that it will be found. Letters from a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns and Moons is certainly of worth, and every reader should seek to find it.
July 4, 2024
A book that is impossible to describe but marvelous to read. This is the second book by St Elmo that I have read ( The Origin of Birds in the Footprints of Writing was the first) and I enjoyed this more than the first. They are both wildly imaginative stories of quests involving ancient manuscripts or books, and all manner of gods and magical beings. But this book also had a very human element of loss and longing and a cast of characters that I felt more connected to. I often find books in the magical realism/ fantasy genre that start with a great premise but then fail to keep my interest or sustain the tale to a satisfying ending. This book delivered.
“All things speak the words of the gods. Lightning, bird-song, the ripples of sand in the surf,steaming animal guts and the cloud-fires of dawn. All things speak for the gods.
And the gods only dare to speak clearly when they trust you will misunderstand.”
An absolute joy to read and I have already ordered another book by this author. Highly recommended.
“All things speak the words of the gods. Lightning, bird-song, the ripples of sand in the surf,steaming animal guts and the cloud-fires of dawn. All things speak for the gods.
And the gods only dare to speak clearly when they trust you will misunderstand.”
An absolute joy to read and I have already ordered another book by this author. Highly recommended.
August 17, 2025
A bizarre yet satisfying read. A disjointed narrative told somewhat out of order but in a way that is still easy to follow. The craziness that ensues reminds me of The Library at Mount Char, and I think readers of that book seeking for another similarly weird and interesting narrative will find it here.
March 16, 2023
Knowing what is going on is overrated. All I know is that I enjoyed myself.
December 13, 2024
Absurd, outrageous, confusing, funny, touching. Reminiscent of Lemony Snicket in a wonderful way yet completely original.
June 7, 2023
There were occasions throughout this book where I felt perhaps things were lagging a bit, or the pacing could be tightened up and I worried it would lose me. I stuck with it, though, and am glad that I did.
A poet runs away from his girlfriend’s uber-conservative family who disapproves of them being together, going on one of those wind-swept, oft-romanticized quests to either find himself or lose himself to the ocean in one last poetic act. Both things happen and also probably don’t, although that’s complicated.
The story weaves in ancient gods, a playful tone and a lot of surreal elements together into a majestic tapestry of words that are hard not to get lost in. The lost island of Theodosia, existing or not, is hardly the issue at hand, mind you. It’s about a lost tome half-translated into French by a mad sea captain and that book being lost at sea during a wreck.
This story unfolds as an interview exchange between a researcher and the old, blind sailor-poet, although there’s far more to that than is originally let on to. We delve into some oddly prescient stuff about technology, sentience and re-writing history to feel better about things. You could even say there’s something that could appeal to us right now, amid debates over the burgeoning AI tech that we’re being inundated with. Or, perhaps, simply the voices and characters we craft in our own heads to get through the day are the culprit here. Regardless of intent, there's room to work and explore, which is appreciated.
In a way, we’re all the researcher, and we just want Mr. St. Elmo, wielding his St. Elmo’s Fire from his fist, to get Miss K and a happy ending, just like we are always wanting “more” from the world, never sated.
Really fantastic book. Very rarely am I reading an indie book where I feel like I'm being challenged or not being hit with constant hits of serotonin to get me to buy another book. This is really what indie books should be more like. Daring, odd, and willing to explore the in between places. My only misgiving is I wish it was available on more platforms than just Kindle.
A poet runs away from his girlfriend’s uber-conservative family who disapproves of them being together, going on one of those wind-swept, oft-romanticized quests to either find himself or lose himself to the ocean in one last poetic act. Both things happen and also probably don’t, although that’s complicated.
The story weaves in ancient gods, a playful tone and a lot of surreal elements together into a majestic tapestry of words that are hard not to get lost in. The lost island of Theodosia, existing or not, is hardly the issue at hand, mind you. It’s about a lost tome half-translated into French by a mad sea captain and that book being lost at sea during a wreck.
This story unfolds as an interview exchange between a researcher and the old, blind sailor-poet, although there’s far more to that than is originally let on to. We delve into some oddly prescient stuff about technology, sentience and re-writing history to feel better about things. You could even say there’s something that could appeal to us right now, amid debates over the burgeoning AI tech that we’re being inundated with. Or, perhaps, simply the voices and characters we craft in our own heads to get through the day are the culprit here. Regardless of intent, there's room to work and explore, which is appreciated.
In a way, we’re all the researcher, and we just want Mr. St. Elmo, wielding his St. Elmo’s Fire from his fist, to get Miss K and a happy ending, just like we are always wanting “more” from the world, never sated.
Really fantastic book. Very rarely am I reading an indie book where I feel like I'm being challenged or not being hit with constant hits of serotonin to get me to buy another book. This is really what indie books should be more like. Daring, odd, and willing to explore the in between places. My only misgiving is I wish it was available on more platforms than just Kindle.
September 1, 2016
I have no idea how to describe this book. It’s the sort of fantasy in which you can get lost, escaping from this world to another.
In this other world is a doomed ship with a terrifying cargo, a crew of incompetents, and two mysterious books. There is a failed poet, dreaming of his girl left behind, arguing Blake with the murderous, conversing with gods, courting lightning and dancing with the undead. There are puzzles and mortal dangers and a quest, of sorts.
It’s a story within a story, with even the narrator of this tale a mystery. Is he the blind old man the unseen interviewer claims him to be?
Read this if you pine for love and adventure, if you enjoy the uncovering of sly deceptions and deeper truths, or need an injection of wit and humour. Great stuff.
In this other world is a doomed ship with a terrifying cargo, a crew of incompetents, and two mysterious books. There is a failed poet, dreaming of his girl left behind, arguing Blake with the murderous, conversing with gods, courting lightning and dancing with the undead. There are puzzles and mortal dangers and a quest, of sorts.
It’s a story within a story, with even the narrator of this tale a mystery. Is he the blind old man the unseen interviewer claims him to be?
Read this if you pine for love and adventure, if you enjoy the uncovering of sly deceptions and deeper truths, or need an injection of wit and humour. Great stuff.
September 7, 2016
Some random thoughts about Letters from a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns and Moons
(with some mild spoilers -- suggest you go away and read the book first)
This is a very happy book. A big part of the happiness comes from the narrator who never loses his cheerful tone. But it’s also happy in a deeper way that comes from being shot through with sadness (like the way the sun’s rays feel warmest on a cold day). The cause of the sadness is something quite fundamental, made clear in the very first pages. It’s separation from love. This is the central problem the author has set his protagonist: not so much how to get back to his lost love, but does he dare, if an attempt to return risks discovering that he is too late: that his love is no longer where he left her, or worse, is no longer his love.
What you get then are the poetic ramblings (in prose mostly) of a rambling and love-sick poet, a modern-day Odysseus (set in 1880s) who runs away to sea on a strange boat filled with an even stranger cargo, only to be shipwrecked on his first voyage. It is modern mythology, with the protagonist embroiled in assorted adventures of the ripping yarn variety, during which his actions are to a large extent manipulated by the machinations of gods (or ex-gods, or powers, or whatever: the theopolitical situation is quite complex). There is however one major exception to this divine meddling: the poet’s decision to leave his beloved and run away to sea is entirely his own. This is reflected in the rather intriguing structure of the story. It starts and ends in comparatively linear fashion, while in its middle it resembles a game of battleships, with the bigger picture emerging not in any particular order but rather dot by dot (which is not to suggest it’s a hit and miss affair -- don’t let the metaphor go too far). Rather than the simple ‘what happens next’ of a linear narrative (though there is a bit of this as well -- there is a bit of everything), it keeps us enthralled with the exuberance of the storytelling and a practice of starting each chapter with a lost letter, diary entry or such like, which collectively serve as a fractured conversation between poet and girl, reminding us of what the story is really all about.
So when it reaches its false ending, the point where he has dealt to all his demons (a mix of conniving gods and psychopathic scientists - this book really does have everything), the challenge still remains: not so much to do what needs to be done as to take the decision to do what needs to be done, with all the risk of destroying a fragile and hard-won status quo.
If you want to know what happens after that, you’ll need to read the book.
Comparisons are elusive, but Gene Wolf (The Fifth Head of Cerberus, etc.) comes to mind. The nuances are very different but some of the base flavours are the same.
Finally, it also deserves credit for avoiding a problem that seems endemic in modern fantasy: that of bloat. It isn’t size per se that matters, Shipwrecks is a reasonably long book. It’s more to do with the ratio of good stuff to number of pages. Shipwrecks has a lot of the latter, but even more of the former.
I blame the wordprocessor for this modern tendency to overlong, over-padded books. Shipwrecks, on the other hand, shows every sign of being written longhand (with a quill pen, obviously), and without a word wasted.
(with some mild spoilers -- suggest you go away and read the book first)
This is a very happy book. A big part of the happiness comes from the narrator who never loses his cheerful tone. But it’s also happy in a deeper way that comes from being shot through with sadness (like the way the sun’s rays feel warmest on a cold day). The cause of the sadness is something quite fundamental, made clear in the very first pages. It’s separation from love. This is the central problem the author has set his protagonist: not so much how to get back to his lost love, but does he dare, if an attempt to return risks discovering that he is too late: that his love is no longer where he left her, or worse, is no longer his love.
What you get then are the poetic ramblings (in prose mostly) of a rambling and love-sick poet, a modern-day Odysseus (set in 1880s) who runs away to sea on a strange boat filled with an even stranger cargo, only to be shipwrecked on his first voyage. It is modern mythology, with the protagonist embroiled in assorted adventures of the ripping yarn variety, during which his actions are to a large extent manipulated by the machinations of gods (or ex-gods, or powers, or whatever: the theopolitical situation is quite complex). There is however one major exception to this divine meddling: the poet’s decision to leave his beloved and run away to sea is entirely his own. This is reflected in the rather intriguing structure of the story. It starts and ends in comparatively linear fashion, while in its middle it resembles a game of battleships, with the bigger picture emerging not in any particular order but rather dot by dot (which is not to suggest it’s a hit and miss affair -- don’t let the metaphor go too far). Rather than the simple ‘what happens next’ of a linear narrative (though there is a bit of this as well -- there is a bit of everything), it keeps us enthralled with the exuberance of the storytelling and a practice of starting each chapter with a lost letter, diary entry or such like, which collectively serve as a fractured conversation between poet and girl, reminding us of what the story is really all about.
So when it reaches its false ending, the point where he has dealt to all his demons (a mix of conniving gods and psychopathic scientists - this book really does have everything), the challenge still remains: not so much to do what needs to be done as to take the decision to do what needs to be done, with all the risk of destroying a fragile and hard-won status quo.
If you want to know what happens after that, you’ll need to read the book.
Comparisons are elusive, but Gene Wolf (The Fifth Head of Cerberus, etc.) comes to mind. The nuances are very different but some of the base flavours are the same.
Finally, it also deserves credit for avoiding a problem that seems endemic in modern fantasy: that of bloat. It isn’t size per se that matters, Shipwrecks is a reasonably long book. It’s more to do with the ratio of good stuff to number of pages. Shipwrecks has a lot of the latter, but even more of the former.
I blame the wordprocessor for this modern tendency to overlong, over-padded books. Shipwrecks, on the other hand, shows every sign of being written longhand (with a quill pen, obviously), and without a word wasted.
October 25, 2019
You should read this. It's good. It's dang good. It's very much it's own story--I can't think of another like it. If Zelazny and Gaiman teamed up to write a riff on American Gods, it would be *kinda* like this.
It has a structure I've not seen, where the whole novel is written as an interview (minus some of the eponymous Letters) between the protagonist as an old man and, well, an 'interviewing committee' whose reasons for the interview become more and more complicated over time. The writing is excellent, the characterization is top-notch from start to end, and the strange formatting, as an interview process, gave the plot a strange, cyclical feeling that I really enjoyed as both the protagonist and the interviewing committee kept trying to force or avoid certain issues.
5/5, it's great.
It has a structure I've not seen, where the whole novel is written as an interview (minus some of the eponymous Letters) between the protagonist as an old man and, well, an 'interviewing committee' whose reasons for the interview become more and more complicated over time. The writing is excellent, the characterization is top-notch from start to end, and the strange formatting, as an interview process, gave the plot a strange, cyclical feeling that I really enjoyed as both the protagonist and the interviewing committee kept trying to force or avoid certain issues.
5/5, it's great.
March 6, 2025
The best first chapter that I’ve ever read - and it’s only 2 pages long!
This poetic, funny, emotional, whacky, surreal adventure has gone straight into my Top 10 Favourites list as well as no1 of my “The Starless Sea similar reads” list.
Though the two are not truly alike on the plot-surface, they share a soul when it comes to similar messages, themes, love stories, underworld journeys, story cycles, and beautiful writing. They are both books for people who love books (and packed with literary references). There’s even a cat looking out for both books’ main characters!
“Such a return is no mere continuation. It is change; requiring destruction and re-creation.” -Letters
“Change is what a story is, after all.” -The Starless Sea
I think it’s best to go into Letters from a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns and Moons with as little info as possible, so I’ll leave the synopsis here rather than giving too much away:
“A researcher and an old sailor slyly spar over the truth of a long-ago shipwreck, a mad island of dead gods and the mystery of a lost manuscript. Neither sailor nor interviewer is what they seem; but both must work together to find what they seek.
The sailor's wandering memories include details of the wreck of the Unicorn, a cargo schooner lost long ago in the South Pacific. At the same time, the sailor is also a young man whose love waits for his return. A romance of memory, across the sea of time.”
I’m off to read “The Origin of Birds in the Footprints of Writing” which is another standalone novel by the same author, though something tells me it is connected to Letters…
Favourite Quotes
“I like books. I map out my existence from birth to now making paths of the pages I've read. And that measure of a life feels exactly right for me.”
“Byron always struck me as being more a poem than a poet. I wonder which is better to be. Poet or poem? To be the words or the person speaking the words?”
“The beast gazes at me like it knows all my past and future and doesn't care to share a single secret. But all cats do that.”
“Say what you will, keeping the light for others is a worthwhile ambition for a man.”
“‘I have a powerful urge to see that tower show a light. It's dark now, and that isn't right.’ I hesitated, the words getting confused in my head which doesn't happen often as you'd think. ‘You need light to see light,’ I finished.”
“I'd begun dreaming of the light-house. I pictured myself in its top chamber, feeding the fire and watching dreadful storms rage outside. Wind and wave howled, and yet ships at sea steered true by the light, finding their way safe to harbor.
Say what you will, keeping the light for others is a worthwhile ambition for a man.”
“By the nature of the translation you will never hold them both.”
This poetic, funny, emotional, whacky, surreal adventure has gone straight into my Top 10 Favourites list as well as no1 of my “The Starless Sea similar reads” list.
Though the two are not truly alike on the plot-surface, they share a soul when it comes to similar messages, themes, love stories, underworld journeys, story cycles, and beautiful writing. They are both books for people who love books (and packed with literary references). There’s even a cat looking out for both books’ main characters!
“Such a return is no mere continuation. It is change; requiring destruction and re-creation.” -Letters
“Change is what a story is, after all.” -The Starless Sea
I think it’s best to go into Letters from a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns and Moons with as little info as possible, so I’ll leave the synopsis here rather than giving too much away:
“A researcher and an old sailor slyly spar over the truth of a long-ago shipwreck, a mad island of dead gods and the mystery of a lost manuscript. Neither sailor nor interviewer is what they seem; but both must work together to find what they seek.
The sailor's wandering memories include details of the wreck of the Unicorn, a cargo schooner lost long ago in the South Pacific. At the same time, the sailor is also a young man whose love waits for his return. A romance of memory, across the sea of time.”
I’m off to read “The Origin of Birds in the Footprints of Writing” which is another standalone novel by the same author, though something tells me it is connected to Letters…
Favourite Quotes
“I like books. I map out my existence from birth to now making paths of the pages I've read. And that measure of a life feels exactly right for me.”
“Byron always struck me as being more a poem than a poet. I wonder which is better to be. Poet or poem? To be the words or the person speaking the words?”
“The beast gazes at me like it knows all my past and future and doesn't care to share a single secret. But all cats do that.”
“Say what you will, keeping the light for others is a worthwhile ambition for a man.”
“‘I have a powerful urge to see that tower show a light. It's dark now, and that isn't right.’ I hesitated, the words getting confused in my head which doesn't happen often as you'd think. ‘You need light to see light,’ I finished.”
“I'd begun dreaming of the light-house. I pictured myself in its top chamber, feeding the fire and watching dreadful storms rage outside. Wind and wave howled, and yet ships at sea steered true by the light, finding their way safe to harbor.
Say what you will, keeping the light for others is a worthwhile ambition for a man.”
“By the nature of the translation you will never hold them both.”
February 5, 2022
Pleasantly surprised that this book came 'round to a happy ending, in its way. Enjoyed the playing with archetypes and gods. The framing device made the story that much more intriguing to follow.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 18, 2025
Quirky, poetic and a breath of fresh (sea)air. I haven’t read anything like this before. I want to get to know this author more..
December 26, 2016
This book is a fairy tale epic of myth and imagination. Each word of the story flows like poetry, and the character's wit keeps you laughing through all his misfortunes. This author is one of the most talented writers I've come across.
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