In "On the Isle of Antioch," Amin Maalouf presents a dystopian world grappling with a total social collapse and the enigmatic arrival of the Empedocles, figures from ancient Greek mythology who possess the ability to cure all illnesses. The story centers on Alec, an illustrator, and Eve, a writer, the only residents of the Isle of Antioch, an isolated archipelago near France. Their experiences offer a microcosmic view of the broader, chaotic world events and the profound impact of the Empedocles on human knowledge, identity, and dignity.

As a reader, I found the novel's premise intriguing and its philosophical depth compelling. However, the narrative left me with unanswered questions about the origins and motivations of the Empedocles, which somewhat diminished my satisfaction. Despite this, the novel's unique blend of mystery and speculative elements makes it an engaging read. I give it three stars, appreciating its thought-provoking content but desiring a deeper exploration of its fascinating world.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

Rating: 2/5 stars

On The Isle of Antioch is an ambitious literary fable, taking inspiration and elements from multiple different mythos in its pondering of interpersonal and societal issues. On top, all of that is placed in against a futuristic dystopian background with quite a bit of sci-fi elements… Sound chaotic? Unfortunately, it read that way too…

We follow our protagonist Alec, a lawyer turned cartoonist, working from the remote island off the Canadian shore he owns half off. His sole regular contact is his equally solitary neighbor Eve, who owns the other half of the isle, and the ferryman trafficking goods and people from the mainland and back.
When one day, a massive power-outage, followed by the second-hand accounts of a societal collapse and imminent nuclear war reach their shores, Eve and Alec are forced to rely on each other, not only to survive, but to solve the mystery of a secretive society inspired by Ancient Greek philosophies that claims to have a hand in recent events.

I’m all in favour of clever novels that dare to take a risk, and mix-and-match elements we don’t usually see together. Unfortunately the risk that Amin Maalouf took here, didn’t quite pay off for me. With its incredibly wide spectrum of influences, references, genres and themes it attempts to address, the sum of these parts feels incoherent and mismatched. A scope this wide in a novel this short, leads to an exploration of each individual topic that feels too surface level to be of use.
With a name like Maaloufs attached to it, I can see this novel finding a small but strong fanbase in the “higher literary circles”, praising the deeper connections between references that obviously flew over my head. I can see some of these connections, digging into my own interest in Greek mythology and looking into the authors professional background, yet still they are a reach if you ask me. That being said, I’m growing increasingly impatient of “smart” literary novels that require a PhD in its source mythology, or a vast pre-existing knowledge of its subject matter. It’s not a sign of a “clever” novel to me, but a failure of writing a text that can exist as its own thing, without relying on elitist pre-existing knowledge from the reader.

To stay on theme with the Greek references: this book was Icarus. Taking on too many separate things in its ambition, flying too high and eventually nosediving with a disappointing splash into the Atlantic Ocean for its own coasts…

Many thanks to World Editions Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book with no obligation to review.

I enjoyed reading this book and it has lingered in my mind but I am not entirely sure what to make of it.

I try not to recount the story of a book because that is what the blurb is for and i try not to give spoilers so I find that in this instance there is not much i can say. I feel that all the events of the book are somehow taking place behind a mist or fog that never blows away and I cannot help but think that there is more to it than I have picked up on.

Alec is well drawn and believable but I am not so sure about Eve who seemed quite insubstantial to me as did the mysterious ferryman Agamemnon but this might be deliberate. I also think that the blurb is a bit misleading as I don't feel that Alec and Eve are dependent on each other, they simply come together as the only inhabitants of the small island and Eve seems closer to the friends of Empedocles than to Alec.

Really, we don't even know if this is/will be a dystopian society, it could be just an largely unchanged society or even a Utopian one depending on what the friends of Empedocles do. The book ends quite abruptly and I suppose Alec and Eve are Adam and Eve in a new world order.

The book is compared to Station Eleven and Leave the World Behind, two books i really enjoyed, but I don't agree. In its misty, opaque style I would say it owes more to the Glass Hotel and although it is a bit like Leave the World behind, it is less graspable and uncertain.

It is certainly well worth reading and I feel I might very well read it again..

When I requested this book from NetGalley, I was intrigued by the premise even though it is not the type of fiction I normally gravitate towards. I have to admit that I had it for awhile before I chose to read it. What a wonderful book. It was written from the viewpoint of a reclusive cartoonist in his journal based on his observations of what was happening around him. I absolutely loved it! I highly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates good storytelling.

I read this book months ago and am still thinking about it. On the Isle of Antioch is one of the most brilliant works of fiction I have ever read. THE prophetic novel for our time. It feels as if it was written 20 years in the future by a someone in possession of an otherworldly knowledge.

Thank you to Net Galley and World Editions for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

On the Isle of Antioch takes place on a small and isolated archipelago, where a comic artist has settled. It is told through his daily diary entries, which can be difficult to pull off, but the author seems to have no trouble creating a believable voice. The description is a bit misleading, his island is inhabited by just him and one other person, but they have access to a larger island through a causeway at low-tide. It is not so much of a doomsday armageddon tale as I first thought. He and Eve (the other Antioch settler) do form a stronger relationship because of the technology blackout, however he forms relationships with others on the island, as well as welcomes his niece and her boyfriend to the island later in the novel.

I thought the "friends of Empedocles" were a very fresh take on the idea of a more advanced group of beings coming into contact with our society. I enjoyed the political allegory involved when considering how the USA (an otherwise untouched global superpower) would react if they were unseated from their position in the world.

I also bought in to the love story, and specifically enjoyed how it seemed to form naturally. This quote exemplifies this energy the two main characters have between them:

‘How to resist the urge to believe her? How to resist the urge to love her?’

Unfortunately, I didn't quite like the turn the story took where (view spoiler). I thought it felt patched onto the end where it wasn't entirely necessary.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was captivating, and I wanted to continue learning with the characters about the mysterious new people who had suddenly emerged. I will definitely be reading more of Maalouf's work.

3.5/5

I think this book is far more bizarre than it was meant to be. It’s almost as if it has an identity crisis. Different genres can me mixed and mashed of course but the focus shouldn’t waver. This one’s did. In the end it was mediocre to ok.

Thank you to Netgalley and World Editions for a copy of this book.

Alec is a press artist choosing an isolated life on a remote island, the only other inhabitant, fellow recluse, Ève. A sudden powercut finds them cut of from the rest off the world; global nuclear war and the collapse of civilisation seems imminent.

Then comes of the appearance of more evolved humans, 'The Friends of Empedocles', claiming they have the ability to cure any disease.

This book introduces many interesting ideas, but thanks to the writing style, I feel like they're not properly and I frequently found myself bored and unable to care about the plot.

In summary: great ideas, poor execution.

Aamer Hussein says of Amin Malouf that he weaves extraordinary tales in his novels, mixing historical events, romantic love, fantasy and imagination.
This has never been more true than in his latest work On the Isle of Antioch.
If you are a lover of any of the genre that this praise implies is present in this work, don't worry about them being diluted by the presence of the other aspects, they are not.
All of the aspects work together to create a fantastic whole.
If only this story was true...
Thanks to the author for a brilliant novel and thanks to the publisher for an advance reading copy for honest review.

"In this dystopian novel about total collapse by author Amin Maalouf, a complete blackout hits a small island with only two solitary inhabitants, who suddenly have to depend on each other."

This was a very interesting read, which saw characters respond to a world-changing, global event whilst the earth is on the brink of nuclear war. This book definitely wasn't what I was expecting. With the novel taking the form of diary entries as the MC responds to events around him, I was expecting to see more of the personal, practical challenges faced by individuals in the apocalypse. Instead, he often captured the wider events on the political stage which were interesting in their own way.

At points, this novel was super engaging but occasionally lost itself. I thought it had a really strong second half and I was gripped to my kindle for most of it.

In terms of big picture ideas, a lot about this book is intriguing (dystopia, presocratic philosophy, turning colonialism on its head), but I really struggled to get into it. I found a lot of it absurd, which I guess is the point, but the absurdity detracted from the exploration of themes and ideas for me. It’s certainly an interesting book, and it’s striving for a lot.

Let’s start this review thanking NetGalley and the publisher for the access to this book. This is a beautiful written dystopia. I sense it will be hard to read to some people and hard to get it but I did enjoy it lots. For start I loved The epistolary narrative. I think we need recognise Maalouf’s as a Great Author. Because in this book he did brilliant, I like the parallel concepts in the book, the whole book is such a creative one and I need this kinda books in the literature now days. The book is easy to read since the mail character is the narrator and that may be something simple but I love it. I like the sense that it tackles colonialism in a peculiarly way and I am one of those ones who always enjoy that kinda of things.

Firstly, I'd like to thank netgalley, the publisher, the author and the translator for the opportunity to read this book ahead of its publication.

As much as I'd like to have liked this book, as the premise was very interesting, but it felt like an edgy teenager had watched one too many red pill YouTube videos and decided to write a book about how bad society is. The writing was also not anything to write home about, though I can't say if it is a translation problem or a writing problem. Genuinely, I don’t think I need to say anything else about this book other than the fact that it glorifies colonialism. After that fact I am unable to give it any more stars.

As a teacher of world literature, I’m always on the lookout for works in translation that are high-interest but that also challenge students and that can provide a lens for students to understand their lives and the world around them. This title meets these requirements. It encourages students to consider how we relate to the world around us, how our perception of the world shapes our reality, and the degree to which we must depend on others. Definitely, I title I might consider recommending to students in the future.

I loved this dystopian novel and really found the whole premise to be inspired and creative. I really enjoyed the relationship of the main character as narrator throughout and found that it helped to create a very easy reading enjoyable story. The setting is unique as are the visitors, what a unique concept of a parallel mandkind. If you enjoy dystopian novels this one is worth a read. I found myself talking about it to others for many days after finishing it.

I was looking forward to reading this book. It sounded interesting and I have previous books by the author.

It only came in kindle app format, I tried to download it several times but could not get it to work. The question now is how do I give it a star rating. Will give it a one star with the proviso it was for the frustrating experience as opposed to the quality of the book.

Will not post to Goodreads as I usually do as don’t want to skew the rating further.

This book started off strong with this guy, Alec Zander, living almost alone on the remote island of Antioch. He only has one neighbor, a woman he doesn't even know. When picking this book, I hoped there would be something about Greece, considering the name of the island. And there was! First, I thought the Earth was taken over by aliens. Then I got to meet those strange people, all carrying famous Greek names and I started to wonder what was truly going on. This is a philosophical book that questions us and our civilization, who we are as peoples: did we accomplish what we were supposed to? Do we still have a long way to go? What are we chasing?

It was a good book but I got a bit bored 70% into it; the pace slowed down dramatically and nothing of interest was still happening.

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange of my honest opinion.

If you read this as conventional dystopian genre-fiction, you will find this an absurd and baffling novel. Alexandre, a syndicated cartoonist, retires to his inherited private island, Antioch, a small piece of a Canadian archipelago. His only neighbour is Eve, an alcoholic misanthropic writer (her first book was a polarizing success, earning popular praise but scathing critical attacks, and she looks back on her novel chillingly as "the ceiling of her prison cell"). Each day Alexandre travels to a larger shoreline town by a small skiff chartered by a mysterious ferryman, who has a Greek name, Agamemnon, but looks Native American and has a dazzling knowledge of contemporary literature. One day, all the radios go silent. As Alexandre will soon learn from his friend, who is a close advisor to the US president (incidentally dying of terminal cancer), the world has been taken over by an advanced human civilization, calling itself the "friends of Empedocles", which has decided to enforce rapid nuclear disarmament in order to save humanity from self-destruction. They claim to have preserved the wisdom of Ancient Greece and they memorize the verses of Empedocles.

Much of the plot is implausible—high-tech lasers which can paralyze anyone from long distance, healing tubes which can forestall death, a secret seafaring cabal of philhellenic super-humans, and at the center of it all, a lonely island-dwelling illustrator who is somehow one degree of separation away from both the White House and the society itself; somehow he knows what it going on in the president's office and also knows one of the friends of Empedocles. But it would be a mistake to read this novel as just another scifi gadget novel with shiny weapons and alien powers. As some of the French reviews noted when it came out in 2020 (I just read a review in La Croix), this novel is in the style of "conte philosophique", satirical, irrealic, speculative, philosophical. It's not interested in plausibility but in big-picture ideas—what would happen if human society were confronted with a superior version of itself?

In essence, this novel cleverly turns colonialism upside-down: in this story, the western world now sees itself as the indigenous "primitives". Alexandre wonders whether all their science, culture and language will simply be exotic curiosities to this vastly superior culture. He worries that everything he has learned, everything that he cherishes, will simply become the contemporary equivalent of the wall etchings of Lascaux, the rudimentary drawings of Paleolithic proto-culture. When a doctor witnesses the mesmerizing medical science of these "friends of Empedocles", he decides to quit his profession altogether; everything he has learned is now obsolete. How is he any different from the acupuncturist, the witchdoctor or the Shaman, so often the object of professional derision? So it's not at all a sci-fi novel or geopolitical thriller; it's a novel that turns the colonial gaze back onto the reader, to question the haughty complacency of the western world and to recast modern humanity, and especially American empire, as a devolved simian monster tragically equipped with nuclear warheads.

It's a weird read. A fast-paced thriller but also a pure-hearted fable.

Amin Maalouf delivers another incisive and beautiful book, and a fresh take on the apocalypse read. A good choice for readers of Emily St. John Mandel.

Alec is a successful illustrator who settles on a remote Atlantic island, content to live a secluded life, hardly even interacting with the island’s only other inhabitant. When the island loses power, radio and phone signal, we are let in on the broader world. Maalouf lays out a world that seems at the brink of nuclear war, until the mysterious and possibly other-worldly friends of Empedocles intervene to avert nuclear disaster, and reveal technology capable of curing illness and aging.

The epistolary narrative works for me. We get the sense of a narrow lens and of broader events beyond what we can see. It is beautifully written, unsurprisingly given Maalouf’s recognition as a Great Author.