In the Time Before Light

by Ian MacMillan

In the sweltering summer of 1824, British merchant Matthew Davis finds himself drunk and delirious in the port of Honolulu, thinking he might like to hear about “the military exploits of the natives, their feather-bedecked kings and ferocious armies.” Instead, he stumbles into a confrontation with disease and misery and bears witness to the harrowing life story of Ka‘alokulokupono, an elderly Hawaiian kidnapped in his youth by the legendary privateer Roger Beckwith, a man dead-set on pursuing the design of a world consumed by one evil act after another. From master storyteller Ian MacMillan comes his most sweeping epic yet, a tale of three men and a perilous voyage traversing Hawai‘i and the Pacific Rim.

452 pages, Paperback

Published October 4, 2017

Reviews

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this book three stars for its earnestness and serious purpose. I give it no stars at all for "plaisir du text," for I did not enjoy reading it. The author is a beloved figure in the Oahu literary scene, a writer of stories about squid and local life. I read it for a book group, and otherwise I would have cast it aside. I wonder why I disliked it so much. Was I "triggered" by the incest story that begins the book? Too fastidious for the continual references to excrement and urine and their accompanying odors? Too female for its manly male tone? I lack an enthusiasm for naval accounts, perhaps because of a tendency to seasickness and a dislike of the smell and appearance of fish guts. I like the smell of the ocean, though, and am interested in the effect western illness had on colonized people. I appreciated learning about Kamehameha's exploits. The other travels seemed oddly pointless, perhaps because the ship the hero travels on never spends much time ashore due to the danger that the pirates on board might be captured and imprisoned. We get a glimpse of China and early North America, but meet a bunch of indistinguishable sailors, each characterized by a single trait. Nothing is resolved or explained. If you like pirate stories or tales of old Hawaii, you might enjoy the book, but at 440 pages I found it tried my patience.

[Krista · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful, in-depth, personal. Magical storytelling that takes you on a voyage through another culture's painful exposure to the evolution of mankind, and it's inevitable nature to enslavement and horror to one another.

[Andrew Salenger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

[Mallory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this for my Literature of Hawai'i and was very impressed from the first page to the end.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for a Hawaiian Literature course in school. It got better and was a sweet story with epic adventures. I really enjoyed the parts which shared Hawaiian words and cultural practices. It highlighted the negative impacts of the white men arriving to Hawaii and its parallel amongst indigenous cultures around the world. As a feminist who usually reads fantasy with female leads, I found the perspective of the book hard to stomach. It was very sexist and had many topics I didn't particularly enjoy having to read, like the sexual encounters. Though this was appropriate, considering the time frame and accurate in depicting some horrific instances. Also, I'm all for some gross imagery but the amount of times the word "excrement" was used seemed a tad excessive. I had a hard time getting through the pages but it was a great representation of real Hawai'i, that I'm sure is rare to find.

[Joshua Dysart · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best adventure novels I've read in years. Absolutely engrossing. Brutal and soaring. I love Ian MacMillan and need to read more of him.