Maybe it’s all Gauguin’s fault that the islands of the South Pacific have a reputation as an earthly paradise, but readers won’t get very far into The Last Heathen before they wonder how the idea ever really took hold.

In 2002, Vancouver journalist Charles Montgomery set out to follow the path of his great-grandfather, a Victorian bishop who attempted to win the inhabitants of the Melanesian archipelago over to the Anglican church. But though 110 years separate the two journeys, the islands don’t seem to have changed much: they’re a bloody, roiling stew of ancestor worship, revenge murders, black magic, skull collectors, wild-eyed prophets, and kava addicts. There are devout Christians who swear their relatives can turn into owls, and a brotherhood of priests who wield magic staffs and cast spells.

It’s hard not to root for the islanders. Instead of being bowed down by legions of murderous traders, disease-bearing missionaries, and consumer-product-rich American soldiers who have entered and exited their lives, the islanders have a kind of unquenchable imaginative spirit that lets them interpret events in a decidedly unique way.

In fact, the final laugh belongs firmly to the islanders. Despite the best efforts of all those missionaries who tried to drill Christianity into their heathen heads, the islanders haven’t become straitlaced, chastened converts. Instead, they have molded the Church’s teaching their own way, wrapping up Jesus with their belief in myths and black magic. Montgomery’s great-grandfather would likely be horrified.

The Last Heathen provides the requisite tales of volcanoes and cannibals, and even a healthy dose of pidgin. Montgomery details the kind of uncharted adventure that hardly seem possible in our overcrowded world any more. But that’s only a fraction of the book’s appeal. There’s also great reportage, with a strong eye for humour, and lessons in history, geography, and the effects of colonial arrogance. The book also might be one of the most thought-provoking accounts of contemporary religion published in the last few years.