The Transcendent Tide (The Enceladons Book Three) by Doug Johnstone.
Published 14th August 2025 by Orenda Books.
From the cover of the book:
It’s been eighteen months since the Enceladons escaped the clutches of an American military determined to exterminate the peaceful alien creatures.
Lennox and Vonnie have been lying low in the Scottish Highlands, Ava has been caring for her young daughter Chloe, and Heather is adjusting to her new life with Sandy and the other Enceladons in the Arctic Ocean, off the coast of Greenland. But fate is about to bring them together again for one last battle.
When Lennox and Vonnie are visited by Karl Jensen, a Norwegian billionaire intent on making contact with the Encedalons again, they are wary of subjecting the aliens to further dangers. But when word arrives that Ava’s daughter has suffered an attack and might die without urgent help, they reluctantly make the trip to Greenland, where they enlist the vital help of local woman Niviaq.
It's not long before they’re drawn into a complex web of lies, deceit and death. What is Karl’s company really up to? Why are sea creatures attacking boats? Why is Sandy acting so strangely, and why are polar bears getting involved?
Profound, ambitious and immensely moving, The Transcendent Tide is the epic conclusion to the Encedalons Trilogy – a final showdown between the best and worst of humanity, the animal kingdom and the Encedalons. The future of life on earth will be changed forever, but not everyone will survive to see it…
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Eighteen months have passed since the devastating events at the secret American military base, New Broom. The Enceladons have now fled Scottish waters in favour of a peaceful existence in the Arctic Ocean, off the coast of Greenland, and the humans that chose to go with them are adjusting to a new kind of life as part of Sandy's alien community - including Heather.
Ava yearns for some normality for herself and her daughter Chloe, while Lennox and Vonnie are hiding out in the highlands, keen to avoid any further attention. But their hopes for a quiet life are disrupted when Chloe suddenly becomes ill; and Lennox and Vonnie are approached by Karl Jensen, a Norwegian billionaire who knows far too much about their secrets.
The friends head to Greenland for a reunion with the Enceladons, where Heather has been questioning what is going on between the formerly peaceful aliens and the Arctic wildlife in the wake of strange animal attacks - something local woman, Niviaq, has also been wondering about.
Will the Enceladons be able to help Chloe? Can they trust the motives of a man who has made his fortune from exploiting others? Or are they just walking into another trap...?
Welcome to The Transcendent Tide, the blistering conclusion of Doug Johnstone's epic speculative trilogy, The Enceladons, which builds upon all the twists and turns of The Space Between Us, and The Collapsing Wave, to make a third instalment packed with all the action, excitement, and riveting themes that I was hoping for.
Fate brings humans and aliens face-to-face once more in Arctic waters, and Johnstone keeps the thrill level at max through the introduction of a new character, billionaire Karl Jensen, whose motives are unsettlingly murky... and by doubling down on the 'who can you really trust' factor, he takes the Enceladons in a more confrontational direction (hardly surprising given past events) which raises questions about their intentions too.
Through the combined perspectives of Heather, Ava, Lennox, Vonnie, and the fabulous Niviaq, Johnstone steers the plot through many shades of suspicion as the consequences of lies, deception, and starkly different philosophies propel the characters towards a final, violent showdown - with the people of Greenland slap bang in the centre of the battlefield.
Against the Arctic backdrop, a suitably stormy blizzard of themes about the environment, friendship and community juxtapose those around the short-sighted interest of greedy corporations, and I loved how Johnstone has a ball with notions of 'the enemy of my enemy' and 'it's just business' throughout. Prepare to have your emotions get a through work-out, and have you thoughts provoked...
I am bereft that this is the final book of the series, but applaud Johnstone for leaving these characters on a hopeful note. He has certainly showed his hand when it comes to speculative fiction that does exactly what it should, and I very much hope he will decide to write more novels like this. Every scene, whether quiet and tender, or brutally visceral, has its place in making for a story that is so beautifully cinematic that if this series does not get an adaptation, it will surely be a crime against humanity (which certainly needs to learn the lessons Johnstone aims to teach his readers).
The Transcendent Tide is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats. You can support indie publishing by buying direct from Orenda Books HERE.
Thank you to Orenda Books for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review, and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the author:
Doug Johnstone is the author of Fourteen novels, including
The Great Silence, the third in the Skelfs series, which has been optioned for In 2021,
The Big Chill, the second in the series, was longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. In 2020,
A Dark Matter, the first in the series, was shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year and the Capital Crime Amazon Publishing Independent Voice Book of the Year award.
Black Hearts (Book four), was published in 2022, with
The Opposite of Lonely (book five) out in 2023.
Several of his books have been bestsellers and award winners, and his first science fiction novel, The Space Between Us, was a BBC2 Between the Covers pick. He’s taught creative writing, been writer in residence at various institutions, and has been an arts journalist for twenty years.
Doug is a songwriter and musician with five albums and three EPs released, and he plays drums for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers.