Customer Reviews

Carve the Sky

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a gem of a book which I found by pure coinsidence in a small libraby. It is one of those futuristic novels which reawakens ones primal passion for the SF genre. It is a very sophisticated novel with the most lovable heroes. The plot equals the masters of the genre and a language like an aribian tresure. Zelazny said of this book, that it is everything a good science fiction novel should be - memorable characters, a well-realized future milieu, clever plotting, appropriate pacing. And he loved every minute of it. What more can be said?

Carve the Sky is the only book by Alexander Jablokov that I have read. It was a great story and I want to read more stories by him. The setting for Carve the Sky takes place several hundred years in the future, humanity has spread throughout much of the solar system and each place has developed its own distinctive culture. The characters are highly intelligent and complex individuals whose outlooks and actions are influenced by their cultures. The futuristic settings and the characters in this novel are as interesting as the story itself (maybe even better). If you liked Frank Herbert's Dune books, I think that you will like Carve the Sky as much or more. Highly Recommended..

It's so rare to find a futuristic SF novel that dares deal with main stream art: painting / sculpture / whatever. To find a book that does it beautifully, in the background of a great detective plot full of interesting social structures and characters, well... I loved it. Oh yeah, I read it almost a year ago. This really is a book you'll remember.

"Carve the Sky" has it all: romance, murder, interplanetary intrigue, gorgeous art, and an ending to surprise even the most jaded. I didn't believe that an art historian could change the course of history, even in Jablokov's beautifully detailed gothic future. But Anton, the young Seneschal for the Interrogator of Boston, has laid hands upon a piece of artwork whose significance he truly cannot fathom. It is worth a million lives to the religious fanatics who commissioned it. It contains a forture in artificial gems. And finding its maker will enable Anton to save his love, his life, and -

I won't give away the ending; it's too good a surprise to spoil.

I doubt whether I can recommend this book highly enough. It's fabulous fun, and incidentally explains a lot about the craft of the art historian - hardly standard fare for this genre. Go read it!

It has been a long while since I have read a truly amazing book, and now that time has ended. I found this book hiding away on the shelves in our guest bedroom, while I was aimlesly wandering my house. I was just grazing through the many books that were on the shelf, and happened to pick this out, thinking it may be a pretty good book. It turned out to be one of the best I've ever read, and ever will read. I've read many good books, and this is one of them, and always will be. I was securely hooked by it, and couldn't stop reading. I just wish, after finishing it, that there was more. That the book would go on, so that I could read more of the outstanding work. This book will greatly entertain a vast variety of readers, from people looking for romance, to science fiction fanatics, to spy and espionage lovers, to just regular people looking for a good book to read. And when finished, it will leave you with a longing in the pit of your stomach, wanting more, forced to look for another book of the same dream-like greatness. This honestly is one of the best you'll ever read, one you'll never forget, and will forever more remain one of my favorites.

It took me a LONG time to decide on that most ellusive of decisions: My favourite book. This book isn't that book. But it took only about half a chapter OF this book for it to become my second favourite book. Of all time.

When i suggest Mr. Jablokov's work, i say "You might enjoy them out of order... if you think you really will read all his novels, you might want to save the best for last. And that (so far) is his first novel: Carve the Sky."

Warning: before taking my word on that read this: IF you aren't captivated by his other (also excellent) novels, go to Carve the Sky.
Please.
I think any intelligent and intellectually inquisitive life-form should read this. So don't let the other works deflect you from absorbing this exquisite work. I beg you.

I think i've loaned all three of my copies out and they've never come home... i think i'll have to buy another.

No spoilers here. If you find works of art the least bit fascinating, there is an entire "bonus layer" to this work. It works on many levels, but this man describes fictional works of art - that i am not sure any artist could ever match for quality.

I've gushed enough.


{{I expect a few may ask my first favourite. Also an SF work, the second (at least in the original release order) in the Ender's Game Trilobyte/series/obsession. "Speaker for the Dead" by Orson Scott Card.}}

Hard to believe that was written in 1991. Boring and hokey as...