Customer Reviews

Island in the sky (Avalon science fiction)

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Some books stick in my memory; most do not.

This book was one of a limited number of science fiction books my small-town public library had. I read this book many times while growing up in the 60s, this being one of my favorite SF books that the town library had. Despite forgetting the book's title and author, some aspects of the book stayed with me over the years. So when I recently was able to pin a title and an author to an old memory, I was able to get my hands on the book after a gap of nearly 40 years.

In many ways, this is a very interesting book. Oh, it's not great literature by any means, but it is written reasonably well, and the world and the people it portrays are interesting.

The book deals with Pierce "Blackie" Peyton, who is pardoned from prison after serving 20 years of a life sentence. Blackie served his sentence in a prison shop miles underground, manufacturing a substance used to provide atomic power. Suddenly released, Blackie is forced to deal with a world that has changed completely, and not for the better.

Blackie is a memorable character, quite different from the usual SF pulp hero. While intelligent, it's Blackie's physical attributes - physical strength and quickness of movement from a lifetime of wrestling with the dangerous heavy machinery in the prison workshop - that dominate his character. Blackie is also quick to resort to violence. Not having seen the sun in 20 years, he's also very pale, and his skin glows in the dark.

The dialog is well written; the characters have things to say, sometimes surprising things. Action scenes are good. The supporting characters have hidden motives. In many ways this book is a cut above the mundane SF of the day.

If I had a gripe about the book it's the fact it's too short. The story is deserving of a more complex plot than it receives.

Part of what makes the book interesting is when the book was written; the book gives copyright dates of 1941 and 1961 (I assume 1961 was just a minor update). Our understanding of two subjects that form part of the background for the story - atomic power and the effectiveness of (non-nuclear) aerial bombing - changed radically during that time, something which you can see in the text.

This is a good juvenile Science Fiction work. It is a bit heavy handed, but that was the nature of the medium at the time. If you are looking for a window into the thinking of the period, I would recommend it as an early example of the Baby Boom rebellion against the status quo. It is not a book that will be considered as great literature -- it is a comic book without pictures. Nothing deep here, just fun to read on a lazy weekend.