Start reading City of the Falling Sky (The Seckry Sequence Book 1) on your Kindle in under a minute. Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

 
 
 

Try it free

Sample the beginning of this book for free

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

Read books on your computer or other mobile devices with our FREE Kindle Reading Apps.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

City of the Falling Sky (The Seckry Sequence Book 1) [Kindle Edition]

Joseph Evans
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (102 customer reviews)

Digital List Price: $0.99 What's this?
Print List Price: $14.00
Kindle Price: $0.99 includes free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
You Save: $13.01 (93%)

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition $0.99  
Paperback $12.60  
Summer Reading
Summer Reading
Browse the best books for every age and adventure including popular series, classics, and editors' picks in our Kids Summer Reading Store.

Book Description

When Seckry Sevenstars is forced out of his village by the greedy Endrin Corporation and relocated to the daunting metropolis of Skyfall City, he harbours resentment for the company and vows to get them back one day for taking away his home, his school and his friends.

Fortunately, the marvels of the city do a good job in distracting Seckry from his anger and homesickness, and it isn’t long before he’s competing at Friction (the city’s most popular multiplayer video game), slurping awe-inspiring multicoloured milkshakes, and getting butterflies on his first date.

Then, when a mysterious email asks Seckry to break into the headquarters of the Endrin Corporation and steal a container full of worms for a hefty sum of money, his anger resurfaces, and he can’t resist the revenge he promised himself.

Alone at night, Seckry creeps through the sewers whilst wondering what experiments Endrin might be doing on the worms, and emerges into the silent complex. But the worms aren’t the only thing that he finds. Staring at him through the darkness, with wide, innocent eyes, is something that makes Seckry’s heart almost stop.

A girl.

She’s shaking, petrified, and has no recollection of who she is or what she’s doing there.

Floodlights bleach the area and Seckry has no choice but to grab a hold of the girl and escape with her.

Suddenly the question of what Endrin were doing with a few worms becomes the last thing on Seckry’s mind. What were Endrin doing with a human?


Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Joseph Evans grew up in Cardiff, South Wales, UK, where he spent a lot of his childhood playing video games and watching anime. His love of books originated from his love of the fantastic stories and narratives he found in both of these. He is still a big video games fan (can you tell?) and his favourite game of all time is Final Fantasy VII. He has a 1st class degree in Interactive Media and alongside writing he is a freelance motion graphics designer as well as a bookseller in the Cardiff branch of Waterstones. If you’re ever in the area, pop in and say hello!

Product Details

  • File Size: 411 KB
  • Print Length: 394 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0957291205
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B005E8YZ2M
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Enabled
  • Lending: Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #241,333 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • Would you like to give feedback on images?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
Even though City of the Falling Sky has a number of elements that are cliche, it is still entertaining and easy to read. There are quite a few pieces in the story that feel like they were pulled from other books, like the one teacher everyone hates, the one teacher that the hero latches to, the hero's newly found outlet that suddenly makes him popular, the hero's innate ability of befriending just about anyone, two or three people constantly sharing a glance of concern or amusement, and the evil bad guy's constant head shaking and pompous speech. There were other things that popped out, but I think you get the idea.

The book suffers from some inconsistencies or irregularities. Concerning technology, the popular game kids love to play, Friction, is indicative of highly advanced technology. Yet, we experience a moment where Seckry is setting up and using a computer that makes technology sound no more advanced as we are today. Physical keyboards, external hard drives, email addresses and websites? Are we really approaching the 23rd century or stuck in the early 21st? I do not know what technology will be like roughly 180 years from now, but I would imagine it being significantly different from what we use today. For the characters, you will not see anything that sets itself apart from the pack and in several cases, see what will happen a mile away. And the names of people in the story fit a fantasy, not a science fiction, setting. All these ultimately trivial things added up, and some served as mere plot devices.

Now for the good. Joseph Evans' writing style makes this a breeze of a read and if he were to write adult fiction, I would be willing to give it a shot. Given that this is a YA book, the writing simplified character development. Despite some similarities with other books, though, what really kept me going was the book's plot. Evans places several different nuggets throughout the story and brings most of them together near the end to bring a satisfying, yet predictable, conclusion. Some aspects are unresolved, obviously, to make way for the sequel, but City of the Falling Sky weaves an entertaining story that is well worth the time spent reading it; you might even find yourself surprised by how much you enjoyed it. I liked it more than Dan Wells' YA novel, Partials, which had more originality than City of the Falling Sky, but was far less enjoyable for different reasons. Though I rated this with three, I would easily give it 3.5 stars.

Keep writing Evans, I believe you will continue to improve.
Was this review helpful to you?
25 of 31 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Good Story, Rough Writing November 30, 2011
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
The story was cohesive from start to finish. The beginning was a little rough and fairly predictable, but the ending was excellent! Definitely worth reading through to the end.
The grammatical and spelling errors were quite frequent throughout the work. I found that many times the character's actions were overplayed. Instead of allowing the reader to make his own conclusion about what might have motivated a character to respond a certain way, it was spelled out for him. While at times this may be necessary to make sure the reader is tracking with you it seemed a little excessive. The transistions could have been smoother also.
This book is definitely worth the $.99 if you enjoy Sci-fi young adult books. It really did get better the farther along I got. The author did a good job of wrapping up the story, but still make you wish for more.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
13 of 16 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable read April 15, 2012
By kdoyle
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
3.5 stars. I downloaded a sample of City of the Falling Sky and liked it enough to buy the book. There are the obvious tie-ins with Harry Potter--strange creatures and foods--but it's hard to find a YA fantasy book that doesn't have any, these days. I liked Seckry's character; it was realistic enough that he didn't come off as the perfect protagonist who has no flaws. On the whole, the writing level seemed more MG than YA, and there were some rough edges that could easily be fixed by a good editor. Still, an enjoyable, well-plotted read. I wouldn't place it in the same class as J K Rowling, though.

Note added: My comment about Rowling is because the copy I purchased had a promotional blurb claiming it was "better than Harry Potter."
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow
Just Wow!!! I was glued to every page. The suspensful undertones kept me reading into the wee hours for the night. :)
Published 23 days ago by MoonTrace
3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad.
I thought this was a good story. I liked the video game/anime feel to it, and I thought the concept was pretty unique. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Christina Daley
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book
It is a very interesting story. This new author has a lot of potential; I’m looking forward to read more of his work.
Published 3 months ago by Lily
5.0 out of 5 stars The Seckry Story.....
A most enjoyable read, even for an adult ! Looking forward to the follow ups and further offerings from this author.
Published 3 months ago by Mr P J Fryer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read!
City of the Falling Sky (The Seckry Sequence Book 1)I really enjoyed this book, it was a relaxing read which had laugh out loud moments and feel good pieces. Read more
Published 3 months ago by CT Melrose
4.0 out of 5 stars City of the Falling Sky
I did like this book. It had the elements of a mystery and making new friendships and I new start. I didn't give it 5 stars because I was confused by who some of the characters... Read more
Published 3 months ago by my opinion2U
3.0 out of 5 stars Unfortunately an anti-Christian theme
I found it a little annoying that Evans copied so many ideas from Harry Potter but, more importantly, he makes a mockery of Jesus Christ. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Tura Lura
5.0 out of 5 stars I LOVE THIS
I absolutely love this book! It has become one of my favorite books and I NEED TO READ THE SECOND ONE! So please hurry up Mr Evans!
Published 3 months ago by Rochelle
5.0 out of 5 stars Imaginative
When I started the book I thought....Sigh another Harry Potter knock off. But I was pleasantly surprised at the unique imaginative prose and situations presented. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Labscientst
4.0 out of 5 stars An Very Enjoyable Read
City of the Falling Sky is a fun sci-fi novel. The world the author creates, while not especially unique, is thoroughly realized and the characters are relatable. Read more
Published 4 months ago by KR1L3Y
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Book Extras from the Shelfari Community

(What's this?)

To add, correct, or read more Book Extras for City of the Falling Sky , visit Shelfari, an Amazon.com company.


More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?



Forums

Topic From this Discussion
No more free books? Be the first to reply
Have something you'd like to share about this product?
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions


So You'd Like to...


Create a guide

Look for Similar Items by Category