Tanya is the young Witchdoctor in training for her village of Soribital. Awakened one day with the feeling that great change is in the air, she heads towards the beach and discovers a naked man. Carl awakens from what he thinks is a nightmare of alien abduction and experimentation to find himself naked on a beach. Not sure what has happened he begins walking and runs into a young woman. Unbeknownst to Carl, he is the prophesied Newcomer that is destined to change their way of life. Carl, and previous villagers, have been abducted from Earth and brought to Sorbital. Most have no memory of Earth, or soon begin to forget, but Carl remembers everything, not only that he has an insatiable desire to get back to Earth and will do all that he can to find his way home.

Interesting take on the alien abduction theme, Carl is a typical young man who enjoys playing video games and attending college; he’s a bit on the nerdish intellectual side. He handles waking up on a strange beach with his last memory being of aliens abducting him quite well. No real panic at all, he seems to fall into the daily life of the islanders quite well. The character of Tanya fills the role of the village wisewoman in training. She has extrasensory abilities that are valued by the villagers while at the same time making her a social outcast. The dynamic between Carl and Tanya was fun to watch develop. The interactions between Carl and the other villagers showed how it only takes one person to change an entire world. J.H. Wear has built an intriguing world with a variety of characters ranging from human to dinosaur and everything in between.

Reviewed by: Hayley