All the Birds in the Sky - by Charlie Jane Anders (Paperback)

About the Book

"From the editor-in-chief of io9.com, a stunning novel about the end of the world--and the beginning of our futureChildhood 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.But now they're both adults, living in the hipster mecca San Francisco, 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. 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. Little do they realize that something bigger than either of them, something begun years ago in their youth, is determined to bring them together to either save the world, or plunge it into a new dark ages.A deeply magical, darkly funny examination of life, love, and the apocalypse"--

Book Synopsis

Entertainment Weekly's 27 Female Authors Who Rule Sci-Fi and Fantasy Right Now
Winner of the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novel
Finalist for the 2017 Hugo Award for Best Novel
Paste's 50 Best Books of the 21st Century (So Far) List

"The book is full of quirkiness and playful detail...but there's an overwhelming depth and poignancy to its virtuoso ending." --NPR

From the former editor-in-chief of io9.com, a stunning Nebula Award-winning and Hugo-shortlisted novel about the end of the world--and the beginning of our future

An ancient society of witches and a hipster technological startup go to war in order to prevent the world from tearing itself apart. To further complicate things, each of the groups' most promising followers (Patricia, a brilliant witch and Laurence, an engineering "wunderkind") may just be in love with each other.

As the battle between magic and science wages in San Francisco against the backdrop of international chaos, Laurence and Patricia are forced to choose sides. But their choices will determine the fate of the planet and all mankind.

In a fashion unique to Charlie Jane Anders, All the Birds in the Sky offers a humorous and, at times, heart-breaking exploration of growing up extraordinary in world filled with cruelty, scientific ingenuity, and magic.

Review Quotes

"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

"What a magnificent novel--a glorious synthesis of magic and technology, joy and sorrow, romance and wisdom. Unmissable." --Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians

"Into each generation of science fiction/fantasydom a master absurdist must fall, and it's quite possible that with All the Birds in the Sky, Charlie Jane Anders has established herself as the one for the Millennials...highly recommended." --N. K. Jemisin, The New York Times Book Review

"Charlie Jane Anders has entwined strands of science and fantasy, both as genres and as ways of experiencing life, into a luminous novel." --John Hodgman

"Has the hallmarks of an instant classic." --Los Angeles Times

"Genius....My fave read this year." --Margaret Cho

"Do yourself a favor and go pick up All The Birds in the Sky! You will lurve it." --Amber Benson

"Thoughtful and hip and fantasy and sci-fi all wrapped up. A+." --Felicia Day

"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

"Read it immediately. Thank me later." --Laurie Penny

"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

"The craziest thing about Charlie Jane Anders' book is how it remains so intimate and accessible despite genre jumping. All the Birds in the Sky moves from a coming of age story to a millennial romance and then a dystopia -- and it's filled with so much of the uncanny. That includes, but is not limited to, a shapeshifting teacher, talking birds and an anti-gravity gun...A truly fun read." --New York Daily News

"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

"Anyone suffering from midwinter blues should read Charlie Jane Anders's between-categories fantasy All the Birds in the Sky. The scenario is (almost) Harry Potter, the tone is (quite like) Kurt Vonnegut, the effect is entirely original." --The Wall Street Journal

"Heartfelt, ambitious, and dynamic. Fantastic stuff." --Financial Times

"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." --Independent

"Highly readable and imaginative, All the Birds in the Sky will sing to Philip Pullman fans." --Mail on Sunday

"An entertaining and audacious melding of science, magic, and just plain real life that feels perfectly right for our time." --BuzzFeed, "5 Great Books to Read in February"

"Like the work of other 21st century writers -- Kelly Link and Lev Grossman come immediately to mind -- All the Birds in the Sky serves as both a celebration of and corrective to the standard tropes of genre fiction. [...] Like William Gibson, Anders weaves a thrilling, seat-of-the-pants narrative with a compelling subtext." --Elizabeth Hand, Los Angeles Times

"Two crazy kids, one gifted in science, the other in magic, meet as children, part and meet again over many years. Will they find love? Will they save the world? Or will they destroy it and everyone in it? Read Anders lively, wacky, sexy, scary, weird and wonderful book to find the answers." --Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club

"Impossibly hip fiction with the voice and cultural inflections of the millennials.... Often quirky and amusing but rising to encompass a moral seriousness and poignancy...an engaging book." --The Sydney Morning Herald

About the Author

CHARLIE JANE ANDERS is the former editor-in-chief of io9.com, the extraordinarily popular Gawker Media site devoted to science fiction and fantasy. Her SF and fantasy debut novel, All the Birds in the Sky, won the 2017 Nebula Awards for Best Novel and was a finalist for the 2017 Hugo Award's Best Novel category. Her Tor.com story "Six Months, Three Days" won the 2013 Hugo Award and was subsequently picked up for development into a NBC television series. She has also had fiction published by McSweeney's, Lightspeed, and ZYZZYVA. Her journalism has appeared in Salon, the Wall Street Journal, Mother Jones, and many other outlets.