This book ended up surprising me in a really good way. The premise alone is fascinating a modern man suddenly thrown into a world that feels centuries removed from his own, stripped of everything familiar and forced to rebuild an identity from nothing. The story follows John, or Dhion, after he’s rescued by island fishermen and slowly integrated into this isolated Celtic society. What I liked most was how immersive the world felt. The culture, spirituality, daily life, and community dynamics all feel deeply lived in, and the book really commits to exploring what it would actually mean to survive in a place so completely disconnected from modern life.
At times, the pacing is definitely slower and more focused on cultural details than action or character drama, which I know won’t work for everyone. There are long stretches dedicated to explaining traditions, social structures, religion, and everyday life on the island, and sometimes it did pull focus away from the emotional arcs. But honestly, I found a lot of that interesting because the worldbuilding felt thoughtful rather than just decorative. The fish-out-of-water aspect was especially compelling to me. watching John slowly lose his old identity while adapting to this harsher but more meaningful existence gave the story a reflective, almost meditative feeling.
What’s stayed with me most is the way the book contrasts modern life with the simplicity and connectedness of this older world. It’s not romanticized exactly — life on the island is difficult and often brutal, but there’s still this lingering sense that Dhion finds something emotionally grounding there that modern life couldn’t offer him. The writing occasionally gets weighed down by exposition, and I do think a glossary would’ve helped with some of the terminology early on, but overall I found this thoughtful, immersive, and surprisingly moving. Definitely one I kept thinking about after I finished.

If you awoke one day to find yourself part of a remote island community, centuries in the past, and you had the knowledge at your disposal to change their ancient world for what you perceived to be for the better, would you? Or might you point them in an entirely different direction? This is an intriguing yet crucial question that arises for John Finlay, ‘The Seaborne’, as he undergoes the gradual transformation from a modern-day city-dweller and business man, to ‘Dhion’: fellow Islander and humble apprentice craftsman.
Dhion’s adventure is cleverly woven from several stories. Set in a world in which the tradition of story-telling is of the utmost importance, this beautifully crafted narrative transports the reader into the mystical medieval world of Celtic spirituality. The author’s love and intimate knowledge of the Scottish landscape infuses the text. He makes apparent the importance of the hills and mountains, water, the sun and the moon to the everyday lives of his characters as one reads how individually or collectively the community fear, honour, and actively engage in the energies and consciousness of the natural world that shape both the boundaries, and the thresholds of their wild, western-isles existence. Biblical parallels and symbolism abound in this tale, which give it its power to move, to enthral, and potentially challenge and change the inner world of its reader.
Buy this book! But be forewarned: choose carefully a time to read it lest you find yourself compulsively absorbed, reading it into the early hours of the morning, utterly incapable of putting it down.

I read an earlier edition of this book just before the coronavirus outbreak of 2020. A character in the story says, “The need of the time calls forth help.” And I felt that this story was one such help at that time of such sorrowful dilemmas and rich possibilities. The story of John or Dhion is told deftly and with depth and beauty; scenes, landscapes and characters are described with economy and an engaging, unusual turn of phrase that often surprised and delighted me. I felt it coaxes us to turn to a simpler, more community-based way of living where there are no or fewer planes in the sky and our lives are forced into simplicity, personal creativity, greater stillness, listening and natural rhythm, and a connectedness with each other and the Sacredness of all. The story explores the drawbacks in the past of a diminished role of women for example, and, through the compassion and wisdom of the central characters, invites us I felt to explore for ourselves how we might take the best of the past and the best of our modern civilisation and forge a new, sustainable future. I highly recommend this book.

The concept of this book is absolutely fascinating to me. Haven't we all wondered how we'd feel, behave, react if we as our current selves and all we know, were dropped into a different time period? This book explores that idea and all the situations that come with it expertly. I personally romanticize this idea a lot, but this book does show the reality and brutality of that time period and the difficult life on this island. The Celtic element was unique and an interesting influence. Recommend!

Thrown from the sea into an unfamiliar world, John Finlay has no choice but to adopt the strange customs of his new neighbours. Will he find a way to adapt and leave his old life behind him? And will the close-knit Islanders accept this seaborne stranger into their midst?

Rivett creates a world rich with Celtic tradition and a wild setting that seems to have a life of its own. The characters are distinct in their voices, and their histories within this small community feel natural, whether they are celebrating together or conflicting over this new stranger to their land.

The prose is lyrical and rich, calling to mind the oral storytelling customs of our ancestors, and paced steadily to reflect the Islander’s slower pace of life - a welcome break from the humdrum of modern society. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the world it creates, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a story about traditions, love, and the self-discovery that comes with embracing both.

This novel started slowly for me. So much to process, and it took me a while to orient myself in this new/not-so-new Celtic world. Beautifully written, I found myself drawn deeper and deeper into the story, pausing to ponder and reflect, but pulled forwards by the strong narrative line and characters. By the end, I was totally immersed in the new world, feeling quite bereft when I turned the last page. And yet I find it's stayed with me. I'm still pausing to ponder the layers and strands. I'm delighted and relieved to hear that there's going to be more! I want to return to this place.

Multiple worlds proliferate in fiction these days and the time-shift fantasy is virtually a genre of its own, but it is notoriously difficult to create an internally consistent and convincing alternative universe, something that I think Rivett has achieved magnificently. The world that he describes is both like and unlike our own, harsh and materially impoverished, but infused with a deep sense of spirituality.
The hero's transition from John to 'Dhion' does not feel forced, and we share his bewilderment and confusion at first, gradually turning into something like acceptance and culminating in a climactic choice …
The whole book is both a page turning adventure – I read it twice and had to get to the end each time – and a spiritual quest and is beautifully written in a prose that is sensitive to the least changes of the natural world, without being cloyingly 'poetic'.
I would recommend this to anyone who wants to be taken outside themselves and who wants to think about their place in the world – or who simply wants a compulsively good read !
I enjoyed this so much that I bought a second copy for my daughter and this is what she said: 'I've just finished The Seaborne and I adore it – it will stay with me for a very long time – so beautiful and so magic. Just wonderful.'

This book is a stretch from my normal reds, but honestly I enjoyed diving in the Celtic lore and having a good time exploring through concepts that were foreign to me. It felt very much like a spiritual read but not in a negative way.

3.5 ⭐️

A slow, quiet story about a man who discovers a slow, quiet life after washing ashore on a mysterious island and realizing that he has been transported a thousand years into the past.

This book is strongly rooted in historical fiction rather than leaning into the fantastical. Time travel aside, it’s an intriguing and detailed look at life on a Celtic island in the 11th century. We follow John as he slowly integrates into society, develops an appreciation for nature and spirituality, and falls in love. I enjoyed the way the narrative unfolded – there was excellent pacing and foreshadowing – and found the interpersonal dramas quite gripping. Although historical fiction isn’t my usual fare, I enjoyed this one a lot more than I’d expected.

*DISCLAIMER: Thank you to Pantolwen Press and NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book for the purposes of providing an unbiased review.*

John Finlay has reached rock bottom. His engineering business has collapsed, his relationship has ended, and he's drowning in debt. Desperate to escape his failures, he sets sail alone—but a violent storm changes everything. When he regains consciousness, he finds himself washed ashore on a mysterious Celtic island that seems untouched by the modern world.

The islanders have never seen anyone dressed like John, nor do they understand his language or his knowledge of engineering. They call him "The Seaborne", believing he has come from across the sea. As John slowly learns their language and customs, he realizes the impossible: he has somehow traveled about a thousand years into the past. To survive, he must abandon the life he once knew and gradually become Dhion, the name the islanders give him.

As John adapts to the rhythms of medieval island life, he discovers a community built on cooperation, faith, craftsmanship, and a deep connection to nature. His modern ideas and technical knowledge can improve life on the island, but they also create suspicion, jealousy, and conflict. One islander's growing resentment threatens not only John's future but the stability of the entire community.

At its heart, The Seaborne is less about time travel than about identity and transformation. John's journey forces him to question what truly matters: ambition, success, technology, belonging, love, and the meaning of home. Along the way, he forms deep relationships that make him wonder whether returning to his own time is even what he wants anymore.