Echoes Sneak Peek: Gildra & the Barrier

Note: This sneak peek was provided in the Spring 2024 newsletter.

Echoes of the Tides is set on and around Gildra, an island inspired by Iceland. Like Iceland, Gildra features glaciers, ice lagoons, caves, hot springs, volcanoes, rivers, black sand beaches, and waterfalls.

But unlike Iceland, Gildra has magic.

Most of the magic is useful. Essential, even. It enables the aquatic people known as Breathless to grow food in unfavorable conditions, carve their homes from solid rock, defend their cities, and heal themselves. But there is one aspect of Gildra’s magic that is not beloved: the Barrier, an impermeable, near-invisible dome that holds all life on the island (and in its coastal waters) captive.

Like all Breathless, Endryn Kingdotur (the main character of Echoes) does not know why the Barrier is there. Here is an excerpt of her trying to make sense of it:

The Barrier was not made of rock or wood or sand or bone, but of an intangible substance that was nonetheless impassible. It encircled the island and trapped them within its coastal waters like a catch in a net. Only the net was not made of rope, but of light and sound and, perhaps, something they did not have the means to sense. It was not a living thing, though sometimes, when humming light surged along its strands, Endryn got the feeling she was witnessing its blood flow in its veins. And more than once, when it stirred the dark silence of the sea like a ripple, she wondered if it was taking a breath.