Both parents worried endlessly about Laurence spending every waking minute in front of a computer and turning out socially dysfunctional, like his Uncle Davis. So they forced Laurence to take an endless succession of classes designed to make him Get Out of the House: judo, modern dance, fencing, water polo for beginners, swimming, improv comedy, boxing, skydiving, and, worst of all, Wilderness Survival Weekends. Each class only forced Laurence to wear another baggy uniform while the kids shouted, “Larry, Larry, Quite Contrary!” and held him underwater, and threw him out of the airplane early, and forced him to do improv while holding him upside down by his ankles. Like Gibson, Anders weaves a thrilling, seat-of-the-pants narrative with a compelling subtext. Through Laurence and Patricia, she explores the tension between those who would exploit our world’s increasingly limited natural resources to save humanity and those who believe that humanity isn’t just part of the problem, it is the problem. The final showdown between Science and Magic lends to a satisfying cliffhanger ending that feels, despite being a clear setup for a second novel, genuinely earned. a b c Webb, Richard (August 30, 2016). " All The Birds In The Sky. Book Review". British Fantasy Society. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020 . Retrieved April 11, 2017.

The book was translated into German by Sophie Zeitz and published in Germany as Alle Vögel unter dem Himmel by Fischer Tor in April 2017. [20] Sequels [ edit ] When Patricia was six years old, she found a wounded bird. The sparrow thrashed on top of a pile of wet red leaves in the crook of two roots, waving its crushed wing. Crying, in a pitch almost too high for Patricia to hear. She looked into the sparrow’s eye, enveloped by a dark stripe, and she saw its fear. Not just fear, but also misery—as if this bird knew it would die soon. Patricia still didn’t understand how the life could just go out of someone’s body forever, but she could tell this bird was fighting against death with everything it had. WHEN PATRICIA WAS six years old, she found a wounded bird. The sparrow thrashed on top of a pile of wet red leaves in the crook of two roots, waving its crushed wing. Crying, in a pitch almost too high for Patricia to hear. She looked into the sparrow’s eye, enveloped by a dark stripe, and she saw its fear. Not just fear, but also misery—as if this bird knew it would die soon. Patricia still didn’t understand how the life could just go out of someone’s body forever, but she could tell this bird was fighting against death with everything it had. You are a mean cat,” Patricia said. “You are a bully, and I’m going to leave you up there. You should think about what you’ve been doing. It’s not nice to be mean. I will make sure someone comes and gets you tomorrow. But you can stay up there for now. I have to go do something. Goodbye.”It’s fantastic when someone who is so important in the scifi world can flat-out write as well as critique and analyze.” —Scott Sigler, New York Times bestselling author of Alive Patricia vowed with all her heart to do everything in her power to save this bird. This was what led to Patricia being asked a question with no good answer, which marked her for life. I haven’t heard anyone answer the Endless Question before,” said a goshawk. “This is more fun than Question Time.” This geeky, spiritual love story is strong enough to keep listeners riveted, and [Alyssa] Bresnahan’s performance is the icing on a very tasty cake.” — Audiofile Magazine

Reviewers of All the Birds in the Sky have noted the similarity between Anders and Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians. But her knowing wisdom bears more resemblance to Jennifer Egan, another ingenious writer of immediate futures. Both have the ability to take the present and twist it just enough to make it strange. Both share the understanding that technology cannot be separated from the people who use it.

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Captivity is worse than death for a bird like me,” the sparrow said. “Listen. You can hear me talking. Right? That means you’re special. Like a witch! Or something. And that means you have a duty to do the right thing. Please.” Highly readable and imaginative, All the Birds in the Sky will sing to Philip Pullman fans.” — Mail on Sunday What a magnificent novel—a glorious synthesis of magic and technology, joy and sorrow, romance and wisdom. Unmissable.” — Lev Grossman( The Magicians) The very short list of novels that dare to traffic as freely in the uncanny and wondrous as in big ideas—I think of masterpieces like The Lathe of Heaven; Cloud Atlas; Little, Big—has just been extended by one."—Michael Chabon

a b Holloway, Samantha. "All the Birds in the Sky". New York Journal of Books . Retrieved June 29, 2017. Everything you could ask for in a debut novel — a fresh look at science fiction’s most cherished memes, ruthlessly shredded and lovingly reassembled.” —Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing

Charlie Jane Anders

I’m sorry, ma’am,” Dirrp said. “But it’s okay. She can talk. She can actually talk.” Dirrp pivoted, to speak into Patricia’s ear. “Show them. Show them!” The only response, for a long time, was silence. Then an eagle raised itself up, from near the top of the Tree, a white-headed bird with a hooked beak and pale, probing eyes. “You should not have brought her here,” the eagle said. A fairy tale and an adventure rolled into one, All the Birds in the Sky is a captivating novel that shows how science and magic can be two sides of the same coin.” — The Washington Post

All the Birds in the Sky…might have suffered under the weight of high expectations if it didn’t so easily soar above them…. All the Birds in the Skyis a triumph.” — Shelf Awareness Yeah.” Laurence cut into his dad’s flow before the conversation got away from him. “That’s right. Milton Dirth. And I really want to go see it. This is like a once-in-a-lifetime chance. I thought maybe we could make it a father-son thing.” His dad couldn’t turn down a father-son thing, or it would be like admitting to being a bad father. Childhood friends Patricia Delfine and Laurence Armstead didn’t expect to see each other again, after parting ways under mysterious circumstances during middle school. After all, the development of magical powers and the invention of a two-second time machine could hardly fail to alarm one’s peers and families. Laurence is a genius and, like most of his caliber, is terribly misunderstood. While he’s already busy building supercomputers and time machines, his parents worry that he spends too much time in his room and in front of a screen. They want him to go outside and make friends—you know, like a “normal” kid. Throughout the opening chapters, the parents try to force their children to conform, but it’s clear that both of these characters have different destinies.

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Patricia hadn’t thought she was laughing, at all, but now she was terrified she looked that way. She tried extra hard to fix a serious expression on her face. Imagine that Diana Wynne Jones, Douglas Coupland and Neil Gaiman walk into a bar and through some weird fusion of magic and science have a baby. That offspring is Charlie Jane Anders’ lyrical debut novel All The Birds In The Sky… a brave, genre-bending debut that, as satisfying as it is, perhaps hints at even more greatness to come.” — David Barnett, The Independent Besides, jumping forward in time just underscored the basic problem: Laurence had nothing to look forward to. What a magnificent novel—a glorious synthesis of magic and technology, joy and sorrow, romance and wisdom. Unmissable.” —Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians