Customer Reviews

Forsake the Sky

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

 

 

This is not Powers' best book. Quite the opposite, really. But it IS a fair, light read. I can't honestly recommend it to anyone but a hard-core Powers fan; his writing style does shine through at some points. If you see it used, pick it up, but do not base an opinion of Powers' writing on this book alone.

This was the first sale by Mr. Powers & it shows. It is generic space fantasy with just a few hints of why his fans love his writing now. Established fans may find it an interesting contrast to his current style and skill

This is a bad book by a great author. Do yourself a favor by reading other Powers books first. Then skip this one altogether.

I've loved (or at least liked) all the other Powers books I've read, which is to say all but a few early ones. I finally found this in a used bookstore for $1, which is more than the story is worth. I honestly don't know how it got published it is so bad. It's not worth paying a lot for to complete your collection. Just keep an eye out if you have to have it.

Forsake the Sky is an updated version of The Skies Discrowned, Tim Powers first book. I am a big fan of Power's early work. I enjoy Forsake the Sky and Dinner at Deviant's Palace more than Earthquake Weather. The earlier books are short and tight, albeit sometimes less polished.

Forsake the Sky is set in a futuristic end-of-empire setting. I've long been interested in cyclical theories of history, and doubly so in fiction, because the rise and fall of empires makes for a cracking good yarn. This is more of an adventure story than one of Power's typical secret histories. And what an adventure it is! Francisco de Goya Rovzar finds himself unjustly imprisoned and sentenced to hard labor in the uranium mines before the first chapter is over. Rovzar escapes, finds refuge in the criminal underworld, and works his way to the top. Classic stuff here, the hero's journey, with Power's characteristic themes of providence and the true price of adventure.

This is a great book.

As his first novel, this has none of the byzantine plotting or historical research given life that defines the typical Tim Powers reading experience. Instead, it's more like a rejected Asimov novel featuring a painter's son and his impact on his world in a declining interstellar empire.

His father dies in a political coup, and the main character enters the underworld out of desperation, only to later make a difference. Frank Rovzar hits plenty of moral dilemmas, but simply acts without thinking much about them.

Story is sparse without much trickery or revelation. What's on the surface is what you get, and if you are a true fan of Tim Powers, you'll dislike this novel.

If you take the novel as it comes, it's simply a generic groundside space opera without the 'space' aspect. Tons of better novels are out there, and I don't recommend this one. It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't great, like science fiction can become.