The Ossians: The gritty, darkly funny cult novel from one of Scotland’s finest authors

by Doug Johnstone

Connor is 24, brilliant, broken, and out of control. He’s the swaggering frontman of The Ossians, a Scottish indie band on the brink of signing a major record deal.

Desperate to make their mark, they head off on a two-week winter tour across the cities and hinterlands of Scotland – a last-ditch attempt to find fame, purpose, and themselves.

But the tour soon spirals into a surreal, chaotic odyssey. From seedy bars and snowbound towns to a final, defining Glasgow gig, the band hurtles through a whirlwind of seagull massacres, botched drug deals, a mysterious stalker, radioactive beaches, bomb-testing ranges, epileptic fits, riotous Russian submariners, deadly storms, epiphanies, regular beatings and random shootings.

Raw, darkly funny and wild with energy, The Ossians is a gloriously anarchic story of rock’n’roll obsession, national identity and self-destruction, and what it means to belong – in a band, in a country, in a life unravelling at speed.

300 pages, Paperback

Expected publication July 9, 2026

About the author

Doug Johnstone is a writer, musician and journalist based in Edinburgh. His fourth novel, Hit & Run, was published by Faber and Faber in 2012. His previous novel, Smokeheads, was published in March 2011, also by Faber. Before that he published two novels with Penguin, Tombstoning (2006) and The Ossians (2008), which received praise from the likes of Irvine Welsh, Ian Rankin and Christopher Brookmyre. Doug is currently writer in residence at the University of Strathclyde. He has had short stories appear in various publications, and since 1999 he has worked as a freelance arts journalist, primarily covering music and literature. He grew up in Arbroath and lives in Portobello, Edinburgh with his wife and two children. He loves drinking malt whisky and playing football, not necessarily at the same time.

Reviews

[Raven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another reissue, this time of Doug Johnstone’s second novel, The Ossians for your delectation and delight, and this one will knock you bandy. For readers of a more sensitive disposition, what is wrong with you? No, just kidding, but be prepared for bad behaviour, an unfeasibly large amount of drugs and alcohol, some unfettered violence and a bit of nookie, along with the aforementioned seagull massacres, botched drug deals, a mysterious stalker, radioactive beaches, bomb-testing ranges, epileptic fits, riotous Russian submariners, deadly storms, epiphanies, and random shootings. So you need to climb onboard and prepare yourselves for the strangest and most surreal rock ‘n’ roll road trip you are ever likely to embark on…

Casting my mind over Johnstone’s backlist, of which I’ve read everything, The Ossians has always held a special place in my heart for its rawness and brutality as we witness the emotional and physical disintegration of a profligate but not unintelligent young man on the cusp of fame and fortune. Connor is one of the most complicated and divisive characters to appear in Johnstone’s work to date, as this swaggering libertine, along with his fellow band members- girlfriend Hannah, sister Kate and best friend Danny- undertake a debauched Homeric odyssey around the outer coastline of Scotland, which may end up in a lucrative record deal at its conclusion.

Thanks to an existing drug debt, Connor is tasked with delivering and receiving mysterious packages along the way, shadowed by a mysterious stranger, whilst spiralling into a haze of drink and drug consumption that would bring most other people to their knees. His mouth constantly gets him into trouble with regular kickings, his relationship with his fellow band members, and Hannah in particular, is becoming more precarious, and his penchant for existential and physical flights of fancy is playing merry hell with his sanity, as well as other people’s patience. He is a mass of contradictions, profanely railing against the shortbread box depictions of Scotland in one breath, and ruminating with great literacy on literature and popular culture in the next. He is the living embodient of Kurt Cobain’s quote that “They laugh at me because I’m different; I laugh at them because they’re all the same” He is insensitive yet sensitive, self absorbed but intermittently self aware, infuriating but strangely charming, and despite all of his failings, you do find yourself drawn to him. In typical lead singer style, his bandmates tend to pale in his shadow, but having said that, I think Johnstone had at this early point of his writing career, already showed his propensity for characterising the thoughts and feelings of female characters incredibly well, as we see Hannah and Kate caught up in Connor’s maelstrom and the fallout for both.

I really enjoy the trope of road movies and think this works incredibly well as the band encounter a myriad of weird and wonderful individuals as they traverse the unfamiliar outer reaches of their homeland. Johnstone captures the intrinsic differences between city and small town life, the boredom and yearning for escape for the young, the mediocrity and self satisfaction of those who have never ventured far, and those for who a night in the pub listening to a semi decent band and the frisson of a bit of physical violence at the end of the night provides peak enjoyment. There are dodgy characters aplenty in this one, as well as some good eggs and as they say all human life is here. As Val McDermid alludes to in the introduction, this is a state of the nation novel wrapped up in a musical odyssey as Johnstone ruminates on the essential nature of being Scottish in all its myriad ways from Trainspotting to The Proclaimers, the Ministry of Defence to the nuclear industry, from the legacy of Stevenson to Hogg to Ossian encompassing Scotland’s rich historical past and all points in between, culminating in a sociological and psycho-geographical ride accompanying the main thrust of the book.

As I have said before when revisiting Johnstone’s first novel Tombstoning there are signposts in place for the way that his writing has developed over the years and the integral themes and avenues of exploration that he circuitously returns to throughout his work. Although The Ossians is very different to much of his backlist, these little moments of foreshadowing later writing are there and Johnstone’s unerring curiosity and inquisitiveness about the world and our place in it is firmly entrenched here in the character of Connor. On a personal note this is one of my favourite novels by Johnstone as the unerring loucheness and mercurial disposition of his main character Connor along with the madcap and hairy situations he and the band find themselves in is a real draw. And what a soundtrack! Would totally recommend.

[Emma Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

🩵 Blurb-
Connor is 24, brilliant, broken, and out of control. He’s the swaggering frontman of The Ossians, a Scottish indie band on the brink of signing a major record deal.
Desperate to make their mark, they head off on a two-week winter tour across the cities and hinterlands of Scotland – a last-ditch attempt to find fame, purpose, and themselves.
But the tour soon spirals into a surreal, chaotic odyssey. From seedy bars and snowbound towns to a final, defining Glasgow gig, the band hurtles through a whirlwind of seagull massacres, botched drug deals, a mysterious stalker, radioactive beaches, bomb-testing ranges, epileptic fits, riotous Russian submariners, deadly storms, epiphanies, regular beatings and random shootings.
Raw, darkly funny and wild with energy, The Ossians is a gloriously anarchic story of rock’n’roll obsession, national identity and self-destruction, and what it means to belong – in a band, in a country, in a life unravelling at speed.
💚 Review-
This was such an interesting and entertaining read, from the very first page I was hooked and I kept reading until the end as I wanted to know what happened. The story was easy to follow and well written and even had me laughing at times. I loved the author's writing style and there was a good cast of characters. Overall a brilliant novel that I highly recommend to other readers. I look forward to reading more by the author.
💝 Thank you to Random Things Tours, the author Doug Johnstone and the publisher for my proof copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.