Emery Lapwing is only interested in two things: exploring the natural world, and pretending that he's not in love with his closest friend, Captain James Rawlings of The Achillean. The first is easy: James will sail him anywhere he wants to go. The second, Emery has been doing for the past ten years. Emery's routine is shattered when he and James are swept overboard in a lightning storm. When the storm passes, they find themselves on the glittering pink beach of an unmapped island where no one has ever walked before.
The island hides a dangerous secret, and James and Emery aren't the only castaways falling under its spell. Monstrous creatures stalk their every move and something is taking root in their dreams, luring them deeper into the island's deadly, tropical heart..
"Any being capable of creating art must have a soul, surely."
Arden Powell's Obsidian Island is an achillean horror adventure set some time during the Nineteen century, featuring four sailor friends with different background as a storm makes them land on a deliciously creepy island. From something much like Castaway, then, the atmosphere switches very quickly as the group - at first separated - reckon with various terrifying natural threats and with a seemingly sentient, monstrous tree. Running parallel to this is the subplot of queer desire in a time and society where queerness was punished with death.
The best aspect of the novel is certainly the creepiness and slow horror of the island; the interpersonal relationships, on the other hand, are not so well developed, and while the primary couple at least has some meaty history, the secondary couple seems to come out of nowhere.
Obsidian Island is an intriguing read.
✨ 3 stars
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