EXILES - Book Review

Award-winning author Miles Watson is a contemporary visionary who presents a dystopian alternative reality in his newest fantasy, Exiles, a Tale from the Chronicles of Magnus. In a futuristic world, Europe is  ruled by The Order.  Common people are denied technology and are suffering, having survived famines, wars, and attempted revolutions. The rise of the character, Magnus, and a new age is secondary to the unraveling stories of  Marguerite and an unknown mystery man, the Exile.

The reader finds himself on the deck of a red sailed junk captained by a fearless, fanatical female, Marguerite Bain, a smuggler who is afraid of spiders.  As they sail the Mediterranean Sea, the scene is revealed to be within the alternate world of new Europe. Worse than a seemingly worldwide dictatorship controlled by The Order, the citizens have limited civil rights and struggle to survive while dreaming of a revolution.

The Brotherhood controls the seas and is Marguerite's supervisor and overseer. They order her to load supplies aboard her small sailing craft and deliver them to an isolated island. She is to make no contact with any resident on the island. Everything is to be kept secret from her crew. The threat of rape and mutiny reveals her ruthlessness as she culls her crew with dagger and pistol, thus mitigating the threats. Reaching the island, she is intrigued by the idea of an exile or hermit living in barren conditions while being supplied with essentials. Knowing from her life experiences that isolation can be both a gift and a psychological terror, she hides a small notebook and pencil in the supplies.

The plot now becomes a nesting doll story. The Exile writes his history as if he is telling his life story to Magnus, whom he had encountered previous to Exile.  Marguerite's background is disclosed as she reads the Exile's notebook.  She and the Exile share similar childhoods. Both were orphaned, reared in dysfunctional homes, and loved to read.  Both struggled to survive in a cruel world, which taught each character survival skills and developed their determination to survive hunger, passion, and wanderlust.  Both are rebels.  Both are individualists with personal enlightenment.

The political undertones of the novel deal with philosophical ideology and political upheaval. The 20th-century technology restricted to the rulers left the common citizens with 19th-century lifestyles and is blamed on the environment but is essentially to limit their ability to rebel.

As Marguerite delves deeper into the Exile's notebook, she begins to understand why he lives in isolation and his involvement with the revolutionaries. She also starts to question her beliefs and loyalties as she faces the harsh reality of their world.

The themes of individualism and rebellion are further explored as Marguerite grapples with these conflicting emotions. She begins to see that perhaps there is more than one truth and that sometimes, challenging authority can be necessary.