All the Birds in the Sky: 04/03/20

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders is about a friendship and rivalry and romance between a witch and a mad scientist. It opens when the two are children and coming into their callings and it ends years later in San Francisco when they are established adults.

Patricia Delfine learns of her powers through a meeting with the birds. It's a long and poetic scene, one that reminds me of Katherine Lundy's passage into the Goblin Market in In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire (2019).

Laurence Armstead is ostracized for his interest in science and engineering. Of course later both will be an asset, but it's weird for a little kid. He reminds me of a younger version of the present-day Alec Sadler. Like older Alec, Laurence is destined to be a dystopian super-power unto himself.

Like Red and Blue in This is How You Lose the Time War (2019), Patricia and Laurence are destined to be on opposite sides of a world-end battle. Except their friendship keeps getting in the way of the powers that be. If the world is saved it's because two stubborn kids grew up to be two stubborn adults and refused to do what they were told.

The novel also fits into the road narrative spectrum. The two main characters do ultimately become a couple and therefore count as such for the traveler (33). Their destination is San Francisco, aka The City (00). Their route is a convoluted one filled with blind alleys and confusing choices — essentially a form of the maze (CC). Altogether in terms of the spectrum, it's the tale of a couple making their way to the city via the maze (3300CC).

There's a sequel, Clover which was also released in 2016.

Three stars

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