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When Patricia Delfine was six years old, a wounded bird led her deep into the forest to the Parliament of Birds, where she met the Great Tree and was asked a question that would determine the course of her life. When Laurence Armstead was in grade school, he cobbled together a wristwatch-sized device that could send its wearer two seconds into the future. When Patricia and Laurence first met in high school, they didn't understand one another at all. But as time went on, they kept bumping show more into one another's lives. Now they're both grown up, and the planet is falling apart around them. Laurence is an engineering genius who's working with a group that aims to avert catastrophic breakdown through technological intervention into the changing global climate. Patricia is a graduate of Eltisley Maze, the hidden academy for the world's magically gifted, and works with a small band of other magicians to secretly repair the world's every-growing ailments. Neither Laurence nor Patricia can keep pace with the speed at which things fall apart. But something bigger than either of them, something begun deep in their childhoods, is determined to bring them together. And will. show lessTags
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hairball All the Birds in the Sky made me think about Postsingular and Hylozoic for some reason--maybe it's the Bay Area thing, but it's also something about the attitude.
Member Reviews
Hugo reading.
This is the story of two childhood friends, Patricia and Laurence, who find themselves on opposite sides of the magic/science divide as adults. The first part of the book was incredibly hard to read and I nearly gave up several times because their childhoods were so godawful to the point of being over-the-top. Neglected, abused, and discounted by their parents and bullied at school, and came together reluctantly as common outsiders.
Laurence is a tech genius who ends up working as an adult for a billionaire. Patricia is a witch. Both are part of organizations who are determined to save the world, but how they go about it is at odds with each other. Because the world is dying, with climate change and disease and food and show more energy shortages.
This is a very strange book that is at times oddly charming and compelling. I loved how Anderson took two very different speculative fiction genres and mashed them together into one. A really good read that paid off in the end. show less
This is the story of two childhood friends, Patricia and Laurence, who find themselves on opposite sides of the magic/science divide as adults. The first part of the book was incredibly hard to read and I nearly gave up several times because their childhoods were so godawful to the point of being over-the-top. Neglected, abused, and discounted by their parents and bullied at school, and came together reluctantly as common outsiders.
Laurence is a tech genius who ends up working as an adult for a billionaire. Patricia is a witch. Both are part of organizations who are determined to save the world, but how they go about it is at odds with each other. Because the world is dying, with climate change and disease and food and show more energy shortages.
This is a very strange book that is at times oddly charming and compelling. I loved how Anderson took two very different speculative fiction genres and mashed them together into one. A really good read that paid off in the end. show less
Stop me if you've heard this one before. There's an odd little girl with an oppressive homelife who can talk to animals, and she is whisked away to a secret school of magic to become a witch of great power. And there's a bullied boy who turns to science to make the friends he can't make in real life, and he'll either save the world or destroy it. And they're maybe destined for each other, or maybe not.
Anders plays the tropes of YA fiction, schoolhouse fantasy, and pre-apocalyptic scifi with verve and a kind of post-modern self-awareness. My favorite part was the first third, with how comprehensively terribly everything about Patricia and Laurence's families and schools was. But then they hit puberty, the narrative skips a decade, and show more we catch up with them in San Francisco. Patricia is now a witch, and Laurence is a techie working on an anti-gravity wormhole for an Elon Musk figure. They navigate their own fraught 20s and the possible end of the world. The standard four horseman are already reaping billions, and both magic and science have doomsday devices in the wings to put an exclamation mark on the human experiment.
There's nothing that wholly novel here, but Anders uses old standbys with style, and she has a talent for wry humor and bruising psychological realism. Sure, things don't tie up entirely neatly, but that's life, that's how it is. I'm not sure if this is a four or five star book, but I've read a lot of dross lately, so Anders gets a boost, lucky her. show less
Anders plays the tropes of YA fiction, schoolhouse fantasy, and pre-apocalyptic scifi with verve and a kind of post-modern self-awareness. My favorite part was the first third, with how comprehensively terribly everything about Patricia and Laurence's families and schools was. But then they hit puberty, the narrative skips a decade, and show more we catch up with them in San Francisco. Patricia is now a witch, and Laurence is a techie working on an anti-gravity wormhole for an Elon Musk figure. They navigate their own fraught 20s and the possible end of the world. The standard four horseman are already reaping billions, and both magic and science have doomsday devices in the wings to put an exclamation mark on the human experiment.
There's nothing that wholly novel here, but Anders uses old standbys with style, and she has a talent for wry humor and bruising psychological realism. Sure, things don't tie up entirely neatly, but that's life, that's how it is. I'm not sure if this is a four or five star book, but I've read a lot of dross lately, so Anders gets a boost, lucky her. show less
I tend to be hard on these kinds of books, but I loved All The Birds In The Sky. It manages to pull off a melding of science fiction and fantasy by getting just far enough into the weeds of each to make the combination workable, but not so far that it becomes weird.
But mostly I loved this book because it captures my experience of the messiness of relationships, both romantic and familial. The characters manage to care a lot about people who hurt them deeply, and not just because of Stockholm Syndrome. I have similar relationships that I cherish despite the known flaws of the other participants, where I both actively oppose the expression of those flaws and still include them in my life. These relationships capture that.
But mostly I loved this book because it captures my experience of the messiness of relationships, both romantic and familial. The characters manage to care a lot about people who hurt them deeply, and not just because of Stockholm Syndrome. I have similar relationships that I cherish despite the known flaws of the other participants, where I both actively oppose the expression of those flaws and still include them in my life. These relationships capture that.
Patricia and Laurence don't fit in very well at their elementary school or get along with their parents, but that's about where their similarities end. Patricia talks to birds and grows up to attend magic school and become a witch. Laurence tinkers with computers and builds tiny gadgets and eventually world-altering machines. Throughout their lives they are frequently drawn toward each other, by either magic or technology, and then violently ripped apart. Together, they might destroy mankind, but only they together can save it.
This is a really fascinating story about the discord between magic and technology - between fantasy and science fiction. I really enjoyed reading it, and it gave me a lot to think about. Charlie Jane Anders' show more experience as a writer of short fiction really shows. The writing is fantastic but the plot feels more like a long series of events than a structured novel, and there's little character growth and almost no dialog. The book is a slim 315 pages, which is a good thing, but everything just seemed to move so fast - my biggest problem with this book was that I liked it and wish it had slowed down so I could savor it more. It felt like it could actually be about 12 books. show less
This is a really fascinating story about the discord between magic and technology - between fantasy and science fiction. I really enjoyed reading it, and it gave me a lot to think about. Charlie Jane Anders' show more experience as a writer of short fiction really shows. The writing is fantastic but the plot feels more like a long series of events than a structured novel, and there's little character growth and almost no dialog. The book is a slim 315 pages, which is a good thing, but everything just seemed to move so fast - my biggest problem with this book was that I liked it and wish it had slowed down so I could savor it more. It felt like it could actually be about 12 books. show less
Patricia, the unfavored younger child, goes out in the woods one day and discovers she can talk to birds who take her to a special Tree and tell her she's a witch, but then she stops understanding them and sees no evidence of magical abilities for years. She becomes friends with another school outcast in middle school, Laurence, who has created a time traveling watch that allows him to jump forward 2 seconds. Their unlikely friendship may be setting into motion forces that will bring science and magic to a head.
I don't know what I was expecting from the book, but somehow I think it missed my expectations. I think I somehow thought it would be epic in scope, but instead it felt more like a fable. Patricia and Laurence are really the only show more realized characters. Patricia's parents lock her in her room for punishment like fairy tale parents. One character is an assassin and wants to kill Patricia and Laurence before they grow up and ruin the world. The start is slow, focusing on middle school, and picks up after that - but events come suddenly, and years pass and are only ever mentioned as memories, making the pacing uneven. And because of that slow start, there's not much I can say to explain the actual point of the plot without giving away spoilers. show less
I don't know what I was expecting from the book, but somehow I think it missed my expectations. I think I somehow thought it would be epic in scope, but instead it felt more like a fable. Patricia and Laurence are really the only show more realized characters. Patricia's parents lock her in her room for punishment like fairy tale parents. One character is an assassin and wants to kill Patricia and Laurence before they grow up and ruin the world. The start is slow, focusing on middle school, and picks up after that - but events come suddenly, and years pass and are only ever mentioned as memories, making the pacing uneven. And because of that slow start, there's not much I can say to explain the actual point of the plot without giving away spoilers. show less
Like another Hugo finalist I read this year, Every Heart a Doorway, this book plays with common genre conventions in interesting ways. The novel begins with two kids, one of whom could be the protagonist of a YA fantasy novel (she's a weirdo and a witch), the other who could be the protagonist of a YA sci-fi novel (he's a weirdo and tech genius). They become... not fast friends, exactly... but the only solace the other has in a very hostile and isolating world. The novel covers their youth, their junior high years, and then skips ahead about a decade to when the witch has recently graduate from magic school and the tech genius is working with an Elon Musk-esque visionary.
The beginning of the book is great: it very much does feel like show more the collision of the openings of two different YA novels. It's also very funny; Anders writes well, and is conceptually inventive, and draws her main characters and their insecurities very sharply. With the jump ahead, and the emergence of the actual plot, the novel (like Every Heart, actually) loses something: if I were to keep talking about genre, it starts to feel a bit "new adult" and not always in a good way. There are also some oddities of writing, in that certain key parts of the book are sort of glossed over, in a way not consistent with the deep interiority Anders gave the characters at the beginning of the novel. It kind of felt to me like this part of the novel had actually been written earlier, or revised less, than the first sections.
Still, I did enjoy it in the end. There's definitely a message, but it's one that works in how it reconciles the two genres and promises a future for a world that seems like it doesn't deserve one. Twenty-five pages from the end I was wondering how it was gong to tie up satisfactorily, but it definitely did, and cleverly at that. show less
The beginning of the book is great: it very much does feel like show more the collision of the openings of two different YA novels. It's also very funny; Anders writes well, and is conceptually inventive, and draws her main characters and their insecurities very sharply. With the jump ahead, and the emergence of the actual plot, the novel (like Every Heart, actually) loses something: if I were to keep talking about genre, it starts to feel a bit "new adult" and not always in a good way. There are also some oddities of writing, in that certain key parts of the book are sort of glossed over, in a way not consistent with the deep interiority Anders gave the characters at the beginning of the novel. It kind of felt to me like this part of the novel had actually been written earlier, or revised less, than the first sections.
Still, I did enjoy it in the end. There's definitely a message, but it's one that works in how it reconciles the two genres and promises a future for a world that seems like it doesn't deserve one. Twenty-five pages from the end I was wondering how it was gong to tie up satisfactorily, but it definitely did, and cleverly at that. show less
"Indestructible"
Or to put it in milder terms, "I just got ran over by a mac truck."
This novel is just too important to miss, whether or not you're into SF or Fantasy, because it is both. It's a long and delightful and REAL conversation between the two, a heartfelt exploration and a synthesis, a heartbreaking tale and a true wonderment of fiction.
I guess I kinda liked it.
It's a lot more than a magical realism novel, and it's no experiment. There's nothing unreadable about it and it doesn't have tons of clever word adornments. From the start we're thrown into a futuristic society and a world full of fairytale (or birdlike) magic, and we follow Laurence and Patricia in a long-entwined tale of equal proportions and dialogue, their uneasy show more alliance, their estrangement, and finally, their enduring love.
This is all about us, the readers, too. Science Fiction and Fantasy have gone through rough patches, denigrating each other, running from each other, saying spiteful things to each other, but in the end, we're so much more alike than anything else can be in the universe. So whether you're a cyborg or a wizard, know one thing: We Are All The Same, and We Are Loved.
Did I say this was a true book? It goes way beyond just this dialogue. I feel the heart of it pumping and changing the universe. It's my New Favorite Book, and it's not so much strange and powerful as it is deeply and profoundly hopeful, and by everything that's holy, I appreciate that.
I bawled tears of joy and horror, people. No joke. I sat in my chair and couldn't read from all the sobs.
From the very start, the first hook, I knew I was going to want to savour this novel, and I did. I'm likely going to re-read it many times and be filled with amazement and hope and joy, even as I cringe at the young years or feel the Fear coming for the adult years.
It's brilliant and if there's any justice in the universe, this novel needs to be one that Endures.
And by the way, this is already on my Hugo Picks for 2016. show less
Or to put it in milder terms, "I just got ran over by a mac truck."
This novel is just too important to miss, whether or not you're into SF or Fantasy, because it is both. It's a long and delightful and REAL conversation between the two, a heartfelt exploration and a synthesis, a heartbreaking tale and a true wonderment of fiction.
I guess I kinda liked it.
It's a lot more than a magical realism novel, and it's no experiment. There's nothing unreadable about it and it doesn't have tons of clever word adornments. From the start we're thrown into a futuristic society and a world full of fairytale (or birdlike) magic, and we follow Laurence and Patricia in a long-entwined tale of equal proportions and dialogue, their uneasy show more alliance, their estrangement, and finally, their enduring love.
This is all about us, the readers, too. Science Fiction and Fantasy have gone through rough patches, denigrating each other, running from each other, saying spiteful things to each other, but in the end, we're so much more alike than anything else can be in the universe. So whether you're a cyborg or a wizard, know one thing: We Are All The Same, and We Are Loved.
Did I say this was a true book? It goes way beyond just this dialogue. I feel the heart of it pumping and changing the universe. It's my New Favorite Book, and it's not so much strange and powerful as it is deeply and profoundly hopeful, and by everything that's holy, I appreciate that.
I bawled tears of joy and horror, people. No joke. I sat in my chair and couldn't read from all the sobs.
From the very start, the first hook, I knew I was going to want to savour this novel, and I did. I'm likely going to re-read it many times and be filled with amazement and hope and joy, even as I cringe at the young years or feel the Fear coming for the adult years.
It's brilliant and if there's any justice in the universe, this novel needs to be one that Endures.
And by the way, this is already on my Hugo Picks for 2016. show less
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Has as a commentary on the text
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Tous les oiseaux du ciel
- Original title
- All the Birds in the Sky
- Original publication date
- 2016-01-26
- People/Characters
- Patricia Delfine; Laurence Armstead; Theodolphus Rose; Roberta Delfine; Isobel; Milton Dirth (show all 7); Ernesto
- Important places
- San Francisco, California, USA
- Epigraph
- In the game of life and evolution there are three players at the table: human beings, nature, and machines. I am firmly on the side of nature. But nature, I suspect, is on the side of machines. -George Dyson, Darwin Among the... (show all) Machines
- Dedication
- To Annalee
- First words
- When Patricia was six years old, she found a wounded bird.
- Quotations
- "You never learned the secret,” said Roberta. “How to be a crazy motherfucker and get away with it. Everybody else does it. What, you didn’t think they were all sane, did you? Not a one of them. They’re all crazier th... (show all)an you and me put together. They just know how to fake it. You could too, but you’ve chosen to torture all of us instead. That’s the definition of evil right there: not faking it like everybody else. Because all of us crazy fuckers can’t stand it when someone else lets their crazy show. It’s like bugs under the skin. We have to destroy you. It’s nothing personal."
You know … no matter what you do, people are going to expect you to be someone you’re not. But if you’re clever and lucky and work your butt off, then you get to be surrounded by people who expect you to be the person y... (show all)ou wish you were.
nature doesn’t ‘find ways’ to do anything. Nature has no opinion, no agenda. Nature provides a playing field, a not particularly level one, on which we compete with all creatures great and small. It’s more that nature... (show all)’s playing field is full of traps.
Boredom is the mind’s scar tissue. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Then Laurence took Patricia's arm and they led each other out into the brand-new city.
- Publisher's editor
- Nielsen Hayden, Patrick; Weinberg, Miriam
- Blurbers
- Chabon, Michael; Fowler, Karen Joy; Doctorow, Cory; Grossman, Lev; Hodgman, John
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.6
- Canonical LCC
- PS3601.N428
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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