“A fantastic coming-of-age thriller.” — IndieReader (IR Approved)2021 First Place for Middle-Grade/Young Adult — Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards2021 Shortlisted — U.S. Selfies Book Awards2020 Quarter Finalist for Young Adult Fiction — The BookLife PrizeThe summer of 1986. Central Texas. William and his friends should be having a blast. Instead, they are hounded by the Thousand Oaks … Gang and their merciless leader, Bloody Billy. William found Billy’s backpack. And because of what it contains, Billy desperately wants it back, and he’ll do anything to get it. William hatches a plan for his friends to sneak away and hide in an abandoned lake house, except they become stranded on the lake’s desolate island without food or water. Will their time on the island devolve into chaos? Will the friends survive and be rescued?The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island is Lord of the Flies meets The Body by Stephen King, the inspiration for the classic movie Stand By Me.A gripping suspense story with adventure and danger, tinged with humorous banter between the four friends, the middle schoolers face certain death without adults to protect them from the unrelenting natural elements, as well as the wild creatures that lurk in the wilderness around the lake. With a backpack filled with money and marijuana they stole from the merciless gang leader, it’s only a matter of time before the high schoolers come looking for them, too.From award-winning writer Scott Semegran, The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island is his eighth book. This novel is Semegran’s response to William Golding’s 1954 novel Lord of the Flies, which was Golding’s response to The Coral Island by R. M. Ballantyne, an adventure novel from 1858. All three novels tackle the premise of boys stranded on an island, with Semegran’s novel taking a decidedly modern view of a group of friends in Central Texas during the summer of 1986 working to survive in a situation filled with danger and desperation with only each other to rely on.”This well-crafted story will appeal to anyone who grew up in the ’80s. Fans of Stand by Me will also enjoy this trip back in time. Although at times wistful, it’s not a purely nostalgic ode to growing up, but a genuine, moving and irresistible meditation on the value of friendship.” — BlueInk Review (Starred Review)“A fantastic coming-of-age thriller that puts a positive spin on troubled adolescence.” — IndieReader (IR Approved)”Scott Semegran stretches his literary muscles in this highly accomplished and well-crafted read… a modern classic.” — Readers’ Favorite Book Reviews. 5 stars.”A page-turner. With his assured writing, tight plotting, and talent to fill a story with realistic details, Semegran has created another winner… A must read!” — The Prairies Book Review. 5 stars.”Evocative and compelling… a highly recommended, superb example of psychological twists and interpersonal encounters gone awry.” — Midwest Book Review, D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer“Sharply drawn characters in an engaging, suspenseful coming-of-age tale.” — Lone Star Literary Life “[Semegran] puts the dynamics of adolescent friendships at the heart of his story… an absorbing, nostalgic, and polished story.” — Kirkus Reviews“Semegran excels at crafting vivid, realistic characters through sharp and nuanced descriptions. The narrator’s warmth, humor, and candor is a joy to read.” — The BookLife Prize. Overall: 9.75 out of 10.
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Author Scott Semegran masterfully tells the story of four best friends, William, Miguel, Brian, and Randy, who survive the trials of 1986 in Texas suburbia. They battle bullies and fears in a coming-of-age framework. These teenagers fall in and out of trouble exploring life and learning to make decisions. Some of the consequences of their actions, like most youths, were only realized upon reflection.
William Flynn delivers the story’s point of view. His memories add a natural flavor. It made me think of the movie The Sandlot, which my sons watched repeatedly. Pictures appeared in my mind, listening to the vivid smells, tastes, sights, and sounds masterfully described throughout this adventure.
Several things struck me as I listened to this story come to life. The diverse backgrounds of these boys, no bigotry here, did not deter them from being closer than brothers. They always had each other’s backs. They created a bond without cell phones, pagers, or high-tech amenities, just bicycles, backpacks, and that unique method of communication between close friends.
Tim Sailer did an excellent job maintaining the pace with clear delineation between character voice and pure narrative. Tim’s voice acting brought the brilliant writing of Scott to life. Those readers fond of Stand by Me, by Stephen King, or Lord of the Flies by William Golding will find this story a cut above due to the heartwarming camaraderie of these boys.
I highly recommend this to adolescents and would like to see it required reading in high school. Most older adults will enjoy flashing back to their youth and remembering the value of honest friendships. Once you start this one, you won’t stop until the end.
In the epigraph of The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island, author Scott Semegran provides quotations from three Young Adult adventure stories—The Coral Island (R.M. Ballantyne), Lord of the Flies (William Golding), and The Body (Stephen King). He sets the reader up for a story worthy of some of the most beloved middle-school tales ever written.
Then he delivers.
Semegran uses vivid details and often hilarious dialogue to tell a heartwarming, nostalgic tale of boyhood friendship and adolescent danger. Set in 1986, Sometimes Island tells the story of William Flynn surviving the most dangerous moments of his life alongside his crew of best friends—Brian, Randy, and Miguel.
One of the most remarkable aspects of this novel is the voice of our narrator. Sometimes Island is told directly to the reader in first-person. In fact—though the novel draws inspiration from and is a response to the stories in the epigraph—its style reminds me of another classic story: The Sandlot. As I read the novel, especially when older William addressed me directly, I heard the voice of David Mickey Evans, the movie’s narrator.
Using this narration style, and a voice that is unique in an unobtrusive way, Semegran’s cast comes to life in a way that few stories have done for me.
As for Sometimes Island serving as a response to Flies and The Body, the message is clear: True friends are more likely to pull together in a time of crisis, rather than devolve in the ways depicted in the aforementioned stories. This is further explained in the afterword, which is well worth reading.
If I have a criticism, it’s a byproduct of my own reading habits. As a lifelong fan and writer of crime fiction, I am conditioned to read for and enjoy intricate plots with red herrings and subtle foreshadowing that only reveals itself in the end. I did not expect this novel to have those and was pleasantly surprised by the number of tense scenes throughout. But with a predictable narrative and characters who held no secrets from each other, the story itself left me—again, not the novel’s target audience—wanting a bit more.
However, the characters and descriptions are wonderful enough to compensate for any perceived shortcomings. The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island continues the tradition of boyhood adventure stories exemplified by Golding and King and deserves to be mentioned alongside those classics.
Four middle-school-age friends, on the run from the neighborhood bullies, wind up stranded on a tiny island in the middle of a Central Texas lake. The tension surrounding their plight and survival is solid and engaging. But Scott Semegran’s poignant reflections of the value of boyhood friendships, as told through the main protagonist William, are the gold that makes this novel truly exceptional.
Semegran’s prose is witty and the pace is quick. Fans of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, and Stephen King’s novella The Body (turned movie Stand By Me) will find much to like in Semegran’s unique take on friendships tested by adversity. Classic.
As told in the Afterword, Scott Semegran wrote The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island as somewhat of a response to Golding’s Lord of the Flies. The author describes how, in his youth, he agreed with the premise of Golding’s famed novel. Of course the shipwrecked boys would devolve into chaos, Semegran admitted to thinking—saying his younger self was “short on empathy and wisdom, but long on rebelliousness and energy.”
But he revisited the novel as a “full-fledged human being” and found the key to Golding’s premise was not in the inevitable, but rather in the individual. Golding’s boys tore each other apart because they were dysfunctional before they ever set foot on the island.
So, in Semegran’s reimagining, we’re given a quartet (William, Randy, Brian, and Miguel) of loyal, compassionate young people who find themselves stranded on an island in the middle of Canyon Lake, while on the run from notorious bully, Bloody Billy, and his Thousand Oaks Gang. The boys face danger and difficult decisions. They are tested physically and mentally. But their bond, unlike Golding’s characters, is on full display throughout.
The 1980s setting is nostalgic, and the dialogue between the boys is fast and fun. Semegran acknowledges some of the autobiographical aspects of the four friends, and the intimacy with which he writes is what makes the novel shine.
It’s a delicate and masterful dance to create a world wherein hope and kindness have equal footing with danger and despair, but Semegran succeeds by lining his sentimentality with very real stakes.
Semegran is already an accomplished writer, but this may be his preeminent effort. Five stars. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Captivating story!
Semegran pens a magnificent story in The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island. I have read work from this author before, and I really enjoyed it, but I think thus far, this is my favorite of his stories. The characters were intriguing and it’s a wonder to imagine having to survive danger, with the goal of going against the gangs in the 80’s. Filled with thrills and chills, this story brings William and also Bloody Billy (not the same person), to life. There is a great chemistry between the characters, and a depth that makes them realistic and flawed. Magnificent story, kept this reader turning the pages. A definite attention grabber. The thrills and intrigue is written clearly and the characterizations are engrossing. Love this story. I look forward to reading more by this author. This book is a definite recommendation by Amy’s Bookshelf Reviews.
William, Randy, Miguel and Brian are stuck … on an island … why? A backpack. Not just any backpack, but one that belonged to Bloody Billy, leader of the Thousand Oaks Gang.
Taking the backpack is something William wishes he never did. It’s his fault he and his friends had to hide away and it’s his fault they came to a deserted house on the lake to escape Bloody Billy and his gang. He never imagined Billy would find them, chase them, and ultimately force them into Sometimes Island…an island that is impossible to get to.
Standed without food or water, William begins to wonder whether they will survive long enough to be rescued. If they are rescued … what waits for them upon their return?
I devoured this book in one sitting. Great writing, characters and story. Reminiscent of Stand by Me and the Lord of the Flies I was filled with nostalgia while reading this. Middle school is an important time in our lives and the friends we make during that time can affect our lives later. This is a perfect book for YA readers and one I would wholly recommend.
I appreciate the author gifting me a copy of his book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone.