Wanderers and Islanders

Legends of the Land #1

by Steve Cockayne

1st edition Orbit 2002 trade paperback, new In stock shipped from our UK warehouse

Genres: Fantasy, New Weird

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Luke]

Perhaps one of the more unusual fantasy books I read growing up, Wanderers and Islanders tells three interlinked stories. Rusty Brown, a young red-headed boy who dreams of being a cartographer; Leornado Pegasus, former court magician and Victor Lazarus, an ex-major who is mysteriously ordered to renovate an old house.

Rusty is one of my favourite characters in the series and I like him because he's so well drawn, i.e. the little details like the fact he always keeps his socks on in bed. After an encounter with Wanderer girl Laurel (Wanderers are akin to Gypsies or Irish Travellers in the real world), his life changes forever and he leaves the village to become a map-maker.

Cockayne's prose is simple and serviceable, and the story is quite a fun, trippy read.






**SPOILERS**
Many people don't seem to understand the ending- perhaps because the facts as to how things started are only revealed at the end of the book. Basically, Leornado's use of the Multiple Empathy Engine was not entirely unsuccessful and had the by-product of releasing a sprite called Lee into the world (presumably so called because it was created by him). Due to Lee's creation being related to a device to see the future, Lee has a limited ability to control the future and was able to direct Victor Lazarus to restore his "house" from the past to the future. Lee's power is related to that of the Wanderers' and Islanders' magic- the six-sided tower at the top of the restored house brings back their power.

[Judith Blaauw-Klaver]

Somehow I really had trouble getting into the story. The plot is fascinating, but complex and although normally I like complex, this time it was a bit too much. Still, somehow I really wanted to know what this story is all about and I can't say it is a bad story. Maybe it wasn't the right story for me at this time, but it pleased me enough to read book 2 immediatly after this one.

[Arthur B]

Fairly poor fantasy novel which falls down due to trying to weave together three major strands each written in a mutually incompatible style, shoddy depiction of women, and overuse of a character who jumps into people's minds to force them to do what the plot needs them to do. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/200...

[Graculus]

I picked this book up, the first of a trilogy, without really knowing a great deal about the storyline and was pleasantly surprised by it.

Essentially, Wanderers and Islanders is three stories in one, although as the book goes on it becomes clear that those three stories are heavily interlinked. One storyline focusses on Leonardo, who has been a court magician for longer than he can remember, and whose focus is on finding ways to look into the future. The second is that of Lazarus, hired to oversee the renovation of a mysterious house within which a dark presence lives. Thirdly, there's Rusty, a young boy who meets a young woman from the Wanderers in his childhood, after which nothing will ever be the same again.

It's always good to come across a fantasy novel (or series) that doesn't just plumb the pseudomedieval swords & sorcery vein without a second thought - although there is sorcery involved, Wanderers and Islanders feels more Victorian in its setting, with the mechanisation of particular tasks just becoming commonplace. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all works out in the following two books, the first of which is The Iron Chain.

[Hugh Mullan]

This book is described as 'startlingly original' , 'compelling' and 'absorbing' on the cover and back.

Those reviewers are spot on, it's all of those things. There's so many fantasy books out there and after a while it becomes hard to distinguish them and you can suffer from burnout.

So finding something legimatally fresh is a joy. So why only three stars? Well, Robin Hobb, Brandon Sanderson, Ian Irvine aren't reinventing the wheel with their books but they just write great books with vivid worlds , sound plotting and fascinating characters.

Steve Cockayne has made a good effort here as we follow three main characters: Leonardo Pegasus - a magician who has developed a machine whereby he can live a future event through the eyes of multiple people. Rusty Brown - a smart young man who dreams of being a cartographer and Victor Lazarus - a former soldier down on his luck who gets a new lease if life renovating a grand but dilapidated house.

The three stories obviously intertwine but I have to say not very well. I'm genuinely confused as to what's happening but us all style and no substance? The writing is unecessarily florid at times and I have no idea where the plot is going.

But I did buy the second book and will read it soon, so the author gets another chance.....just.

5/10

[Liviu]

I really loved this one and I am eager to get the next two which I just ordered. The novel is a different hybrid from the "regular fantasy" mixing mater of fact style, a relatively modern setting, an interesting take on magic and of course the "islanders and wanderers" of the tile; the three apparently unconnected threads join in surprising ways and the novel keeps twisting and turning to the end; while some twists are guessable, some truly confounded me; depending on how the sequels go, this series could join the ranks of my top all time finished fantasy series since it has that potential for me; highly, highly recommended and an A+ novel

[Zhiqian]

I borrowed the whole series from the library and read only the first book.

Confusing storyline, just as I thought I made some sense of it, it twists and turns and loses me completely... I finished the first book and decided I didn't want to waste any more of my time on the series.

[PRJ Greenwell]

I appreciate the web the author is trying to weave here, but it's chaotic and disjointed. Its other main problem is the low-key writing. It just sort of mumbles and mutters onward, never really raising its voice to be heard above the fantasy din. Another book I tried to read but couldn't.

[Jesse]

I am really confused by the ending and I feel like there are multiple loose ends; hopefully, the next book will clarify some things.

[Steve Clark]

Paperback