Haydon switches between first and third person. The first person narrative sections are pieces of Ven Polypheme's journal, which serve as the basis for the book. In these sections, Ven discusses his own journey in his own words, and these first person narratives are vital to understanding what is happening in the novel. They allow the reader to hear Ven's thoughts and feelings first hand, and as they often contain information that is used in the recreation of Ven's whole story. Without these first person narratives to set up changes to the storyline, the story would seem much more distant from the characters, and would no longer seem to be Ven's own story.
The Floating Island