ABOUT THE NOVEL

"It is a wrenching story of people--voiceless, powerless--as they attempt to survive the horrors of nuclear testing, relocation, Western arrogance and domination. A good story with robust characters--some real and contemporary--others mythic and ancient.  An important book." --Patricia Grace

"In his wildly imaginative historical first novel, Robert Barclay has wrought a sobering morality tale that defies categorization. Melal is the story of the clashing of two cultures and the fight of a native island people to preserve their ancestral way of life despite the presence of the American military." -- Barnes and Noble

"Barclay tells a human story about people who are tackling universal problems. It shocks you with harsh realities, then encourages you to believe there's nothing that humans can't endure, or transform." --  Honolulu Advertiser

"What separates this novel from others, even highly respected ones, is its extraordinary descriptive mastery. This precise and vivid evocation of experience is what writing has been about from the beginning.  This is a superb book." -- Ian Macmillan

"This is an extraordinary work that defies categorization.  This is also an authentic portrayal of the demons and monsters, and dwarfs and tricksters, which inhabit the Marshallese spirit world.  Weave them together in in an action-packed and sometimes violent novel...and we have a book that will be read and it will have a decided impact." --Byron Bender

"Barclay is sensitive to poverty and social inequality and yet he neither sentimentalizes his Marshallese characters nor demonizes his Americans.  His treatment of the suicide epidemic in the Marshalls is the most insightful discussion of youth suicide in the Pacific I've ever read.  This book is a rare and precious gift to all humanity."  --Teresia Teaiwa

"It’s about how the world works, according to the combined mythologies of the Marshallese people and the U.S. military—as told by Philip K. Dick and Kurt Vonnegut and channeled through the laptop of 39-year-old, newly minted writer, Robert Barclay. This book is astonishing." -- Pacific Magazine

This book is astonishing—