Our Island Story

Guy Ware’s fifth novel takes place on an unnamed island, and brings together a cast of characters as bizarre as the belief that the Island was, in fact, created during the 1980s in what they call “The Great Simulation”. Politicians, clerics, and would-be poets all have their own means to take control of the Island's future (what little future it may have that is, given that rising seas are claiming it back). Ware’s satire reflects current policies, where politics and individual power take priority over the small, insignificant truth of climate change. Reading the novel had me shouting “But why don’t you do something!” in frustration, much like watching a news broadcast or PMQs. And yet, I still felt completely drawn in by all the characters, no matter how corrupt they happened to be; perhaps in hope that if they finally learned a lesson, we in the real world might too.

-- Kenzie Millar * The Crack *

Denis’ story is an example of the comedy Ware injects into the novel, yet it also adds to the atmosphere of hopelessness – a futile effort, as futile as the debate over whether the Island is real or a simulation as, either way, no one is intending to take any action that might improve the lives of the Islanders (sound familiar?). Ware satirises contemporary Britain in numerous ways without overloading the novel as the island setting ensures each aspect of comparison is concrete, and the small cast of characters keeps its interactions credible. And so, we have a small group of people, often related, passing power around; debates and even referenda designed simply to create conflict and hinder action; and carefully a curated mythology used to make elevation to power seem inevitable. Ware even manages to throw in an inquiry into police brutality that is constantly delayed, and a spad who is also a poet.

-- Grant Rintoul * 1st Readi