Charlie Barley is a drifting ex-Royal Navy sailor with a failed marriage, a battered past, and no plans beyond the next bottle of rum. Living hand-to-mouth in the Caribbean, he believes the sea has already taken everything it ever will from him.
He is wrong.
A chance meeting with a reclusive old mariner draws Charlie into the legend of the Splitwind-a shimmering boundary on the open ocean where the laws of nature break down. When Charlie crosses it alone, he is cast into Mondeguinee, a hidden world shaped by living magic, ancient spirits, and brutal enemies who will kill to keep its secrets safe.
Stranded in this parallel realm, Charlie becomes an Incomer-a dangerous anomaly in a society still scarred by past invasions. As he struggles to survive among strange cultures, sentient magic, and monstrous forces, he forms an uneasy bond with Zethina, a powerful woman sworn to protect her world at any cost. Together they face aerial beasts, ruthless raiders, political intrigue, and a truth more devastating than exile: returning home may be impossible.
Blending nautical adventure, Caribbean folklore, and epic portal fantasy, The Incomer is a sweeping, character-driven odyssey about belonging, sacrifice, and what it truly means to cross the point of no return.
Perfect for readers who enjoy immersive world-building, morally complex heroes, and fantasy rooted in myth rather than medieval tropes.
'"Write about what you know and write truly" was the rule Ernest Hemingway (my 15th cousin, according to ancestry.com) lived by. He believed in utilizing personal experiences and true emotions to make a story believable. And that's what informs my own writing. You don't need to know the sea to be swept away by it. My thrillers are not written for sailors alone. They are written for anyone who loves suspense, danger, strong characters, and stories that pull you irresistibly onward. Because it's what I know, the maritime world provides the setting, but it is never a barrier: the language is clear, the stakes are human, and the drama is universal. You won't need a chart, a glossary, or any nautical experience to follow the story-only a taste for tension, intrigue, and adventure. '
Michael Rothery
Michael Rothery is a lifelong writer whose fiction is shaped by decades at sea. He began writing poems and letters long before turning to full-length fiction in 2012. He served twenty-five years in the Royal Navy, gaining extensive operational and maritime experience that now underpins the realism of his novels.
Alongside his writing career, he qualified as a yachtmaster and worked for a time on yacht deliveries. In 2015, he bought a sailing yacht in Greece and sailed solo to the Caribbean via the Atlantic Islands. He went on to cruise the Lesser Antilles for several years before crossing to the Azores. In 2024, he sold his boat and came ashore, bringing with him a lifetime of naval service, blue-water sailing, and firsthand maritime knowledge that informs every aspect of his writing.
