All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders got lots of prepublication buzz. So original and unexpected and really really good. I thought the plot synopsis sounded good and I have read a few of Anders’ pieces on i09 and really liked them so I figured, why not take a chance? I hopped on the library list and got in pretty early in the queue for a change. I am not going to fall in with the “it’s so amazing and original” crowd because I didn’t think it was either of those. Don’t get me wrong, I really liked the book, it was an enjoyable read and the plot was a little out of the ordinary but not so far out I’d call it original.
What is the plot? It follows the lives of Laurence and Patricia from childhood to their mid-twenties. Both of them have insanely draconian parents that I found a bit hard to believe. Patricia and Laurence are both a little odd. Laurence is a super computer genius kid who builds a two-second time-travel watch he found the specs for on the internet. When he decides to go to Boston to see a rocket launch from MIT but doesn’t tell his parents, he meets the designers of the rocket who are all impressed with this little kid and who give him hope that one day he might do great things. His parents aren’t so pleased. They send him to a school where discipline in strict and rote memorization is the teaching method of choice. Laurence’s parents also decide he spends too much time indoors, and somehow are completely clueless that he is building a super computer in his closet (do they not look at their electric bill and wonder why it is so high?), so they regularly send him to outdoor adventure camps.
Patricia has an older sister who likes to terrorize small animals, chopping the heads of birds and squirrels and other creatures. She’s a demented serial killer in the making. But because she follows her parents’ rules and gets good grades in school she is the favorite child. Patricia doesn’t like rules and spends far too much time running wild in the woods behind her house. While trying to save a bird with a hurt wing from her sister, Patricia learns she can understand bird language. The bird asks her to take him to the Parliament Tree so off Patricia goes, deep into the woods. She eventually finds the Tree, the Tree speaks to her, tells her she is a protector of Nature. The birds at the tree all speak to her as well, calling her a witch. When Patricia tries to find her way back home, it is well past dark and when she finally returns her parents are furious. In order to reign her in and try to make her normal, her parents send her to the same school as Laurence.
Of course neither of them fit in. Neither of them want to. They form a friendship that is fraught with outcast angst and eventual betrayal. Eventually both end up escaping from the school, Laurence to go to a special school for smart science kids, and Patricia to run away from home to attend a school for witches. Years pass before their paths cross again.
When they do meet again their values are in conflict. As a witch it is Patricia’s work to heal people, mostly without them even knowing it. But she also casts spells and hexes on people who intentionally harm others. Laurence is now working with a group of super geniuses, funded by a rich tech guy. They are working on anti-gravity. It is science versus Nature magic with both groups believing they are doing the right thing even if it might ultimately mean destroying humanity.
And that is what the book is ultimately about, science versus nature, the rational versus the wild. Patricia and Laurence are kind of like Romeo and Juliet in way, only they get a happy ending. The ending is a sort of weird melding of science and nature that is supposed to somehow save the world. Does it? We don’t get to find out for sure though we are left with a hint that the future is bright and promising.
Other than Patricia and Laurence the characters are not very well developed, their flatness is disappointing because it causes some gaps in our understanding of Patricia and Laurence and why they think and believe the way they do. The story moves along at a good pace as it changes back and forth between Patricia and Laurence. It isn’t exactly an alternating chapter kind of telling which is actually good because that would add a forced feeling to the story. Instead the alternating viewpoints have more of a flow between them that works nicely.
I was hoping for more than I got with this book, that’s the danger of buzz. I did enjoy it however, and don’t regret reading it. I suspect a good many people will like the book quite a lot. It seems to me those who don’t consider themselves avid fantasy or scifi readers would like All the Birds as it is a little bit country and a little bit rock-n-roll but not full out either one; a comfortable read for someone who wants to “try out” the genre.
A pretty quirky sounding book. I don’t know where you find these kinds of books. Of course, I only read the Times and Guardian closely, so I never hear much about the “buzz.” Where is the buzz? And where is this school for witches? The rational (science) and irrational (“nature’) is always an intriguing theme, although I confess the science-fantasy approach doesn’t much appeal to me. Thank you for an interesting review.
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Richard, I suppose you could call it mildly quirky 🙂 Heh, the buzz for the book is on geeky sites like i09 and Tor and B&N SFF. The school for witches is actually somewhere near Portland which I found very amusing.
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Well, if it’s near Portland, I’ll rush right over to enroll.
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Dust off your broom and get going! 😉
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I love your review – detailed and authentic. Thanks! 🙂
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Thanks bikurgurl!
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You’re very welcome – I so enjoy your POV 🙂
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You know what pisses me off about the premise of this? The idea that the male character is “science genius” and the female character is “protector and nurturer of Nature”. It could be an utterly brilliant book and I’d still be five times less likely to pick it up because for God’s sake, haven’t we done this “women are wild creatures, men are reasoned thinkers”approach to death?
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I can’t get too buzzed about this one…..a literary Coldplay? I am a bit geekish myself and welcome geek rehabilitation but a pair of them saving the world in any way? I think no way!
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Ian, it’s the melding of science and nature dontacha know! 😉 Geeks of the world unite and all that. We can all live together and not be at odds. In many respects it really is a fantasy novel 🙂
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Elle, you know I didn;t even notice that but it might be because Laurence was persecuted for not being like a “normal” boy and the head of the MIT rocket program was a woman and there were other geek women so it didn’t seem completely unbalanced. On the witch side the head of the “coven” was a man and one of the other more powerful witches was also male so that felt balanced too. But yeah, it might have been more interesting if Patricia was the science nerd and Laurence was the witch.
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That makes me feel a bit better, actually. Pleased to see some geek ladies and witchy men.
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It sounds a little bit like someone read Orson Scott Card’s series about Ender’s siblings Valentine and Peter and decided to write a book in which they’re not related.
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Jeanne, heh, since I haven’t read that series I can’t comment on any similarities. It does take place on Earth though and in a time obviously ahead of ours but not all that far ahead. Climate change looms large and in the background there are wars of various kinds going on around the world. It’s kind of a science will save us v Nature will save us thing that angles for a both/and conclusion rather than an either/or.
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I’m #4 in the queue at the library for this. I read about it somewhere but can’t remember where. Maybe the same place I read about Flight of Dreams (I’m also #4 on the wait list for that one). My turn will probably come up at the same time for them both; and, I’ll probably be stuck in the middle of something else and will not get to one or the other. I appreciate your very honest review It is always so disappointing to read raves about a book and then when I have a go, it falls flat. (The Nightingale comes to mind). But this sounds worth the time.
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Grad, yes, definitely worth the time and I hope when your turn for it comes up at the library you get to read it and enjoy it. It reads pretty fast and isn’t a fat book so just maybe it will land in your hands at a good time 🙂
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I enjoyed your review – this one is on my Goodreads TBR. Michael from the Books on the Nightstand podcast really loved it, I think that’s where I heard of it. I tend to like books that are a bit sci-fi-ish/fantasy-ish and a bit literary.
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Laila, thanks! I think this might be one of those cross-over kinds of books like Station Eleven was. Looking forward to your thoughts on it when you read it 🙂
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Thats why I love my bloggy friends. They help me escape those easy pitfalls! Brilliant review Stefanie…heard much about the book, but think will skip it for now. I think I have many other great reads to attend to!
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cirtnecce, it’s still a good book, I just had higher expectations. One of the dangers of getting excited by the buzz.
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I’m in the middle of this and loving it. Part of it may have to do with the fact that I know Charlie from way back (acquaintences — it would be a stretch to call us “friends”) and so I was excited for her that this book is getting a lot of buzz. I am really enjoying it so far — it’s not perfect, but it’s quite good and very enjoyable. I am mostly loving the little funny asides, like how, for cats, birds are “basically toys with meat inside.”
(also: hi! I am not dead, just busy and crazed with life.)
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(not that we’re not friendly… I didn’t mean it that way! just that we aren’t like, close friends.) hello, awkward!
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Hi Daphne! How ya been? That’s really cool that you know Charlie. She seems like a neat person. I liked that cat bit too 🙂 I really did enjoy the book, all the buzz had my expectations so high I think it ended up doing the book a disservice. The dangers of buzz! Glad you’re doing well!
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I read a lot about it, and I am glad you reviewed it, Stefanie. I am not sure if I want to read this. If I have to go by my first opinion, then I am going to let this book go. 🙂
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Deepika, it is a good read so don’t let my failure to be awed by it dissuade you if you were thinking of reading it. I just had too high expectations 🙂
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Love the cover! This sounds interesting, but probably not a must for me. I do like books that look at nature, science, wild and civilisation. And, how often does it happen that parents don’t see the heart in the more apparently rebellious child?
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I love the cover too whisperinggums with all the little swallows diving around on it. I would look at it and smile over it every time I sat down to read. I suppose parent can become rather stubborn and resistant to a rebellious child but these sets of parents just seemed to go to extremes. But then the extreme is what pushed the kids to become the people they did so I guess there is that!
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Buzz can be a killer! (A buzzkill ho ho ho.) I think with this one, I’ve heard good things about it but not SO much that I’m expecting it to be magnificent or anything. And I’m surprised that you’ve heard so much about its extreme originality. I’ve heard that it’s GOOD, not that it’s, like, startlingly different from anything else I’ve ever read. Anyway — I think my expectations are sufficiently regulated that it won’t be a problem. 🙂
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Oh Jenny you crack me up! Well good, if you aren’t expecting the book to be magnificent you will enjoy it quite a lot I suspect. There is much to like 🙂
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Sometimes it is so hard to read a book that has so much buzz isn’t it? You have so many expectations and in my case I tend to be more critical and almost like I’m ready to find fault. Anyway, this one does sound intriguing to me so I’m glad you reviewed it for us. I’ll have to keep my eye open for this.
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Iliana, oh yes, I should have waited a little while until my expectations weren’t sky-high. But I was too eager. I still enjoyed it though. I hope you do too should you decide to read it.
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I have this on hold at the library, but I’m glad you’ve lowered expectations a bit!
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Carolyn, I hope you enjoy it when it is your turn. It really is good, promise 🙂
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I’ve seen this one around but had not read the description–I think it might be one I could comfortably try–I want to read outside my normal genres, though have not done so yet this year. Does there seem to be more genre straddling books these days? Or am I just noticing them more?
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Danielle, I think you might like this one if you ever decide to give it a try. I do think there are more genre straddling books these days of various sorts. I like it!
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