All the Birds in the Sky

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The book is full of quirkiness and playful detail...but there's an overwhelming depth and poignancy to its virtuoso ending.” —NPR My biggest fear about the apocalypse isn’t being eaten by cannibals,” a character says wryly. “It’s the fact that in every other postapocalyptic movie you see someone with an acoustic guitar by the campfire.” All the Birds in the Sky takes two very distinct genres and blends them together seamlessly. Lovers of science fiction and fantasy will be deeply drawn into this world, which hangs in the balance between a couple of extraordinary young people.” – Veronica Belmont, Sword & Laser podcast

Whereas Egan is very much a writer of New York, however, Anders is rooted in San Francisco, and the dual nature of that city -- hippy haven, then tech mecca -- runs through All The Birds in the Sky like a golden thread. "I wasn’t explicitly writing about San Francisco when I wrote the book, but it inevitably is in there," she says. "Both of those transformations have been really fascinating and have had a lot to offer. It’s interesting to see how they come together." You are a mean cat,” Patricia said. “You are a bully, and I’m going to leave you up there. You should think about what you’ve been doing. It’s not nice to be mean. I will make sure someone comes and gets you tomorrow. But you can stay up there for now. I have to go do something. Goodbye.” Laurence is a genius and, like most of his caliber, is terribly misunderstood. While he’s already busy building supercomputers and time machines, his parents worry that he spends too much time in his room and in front of a screen. They want him to go outside and make friends—you know, like a “normal” kid. Throughout the opening chapters, the parents try to force their children to conform, but it’s clear that both of these characters have different destinies. Laurence wondered if there was some other kid, named Larry, who would have a “let’s go” attitude about being dropped on a mountainside somewhere. Larry might be the alternate-universe version of Laurence, and maybe all Laurence needed to do was harness all the solar energy that hit the Earth during a period of five minutes or so and he could generate a localized space-time fissure in his bathtub and go kidnap Larry from the other universe. So Larry could go out and get tormented instead, while Laurence stayed home. The hard part would be figuring out a way to poke a hole in the universe before the judo tournament in two weeks’ time. Anyone suffering from midwinter blues should read Charlie Jane Anders’s between-categories fantasy, “All the Birds in the Sky.” The scenario is (almost) Harry Potter, the tone is (quite like) Kurt Vonnegut, the effect is entirely original… Charlie Anders is a new voice, witty, charming, thoughtful and sometimes mordant.“ — Tom Shippey, Wall Street JournalAn exploration of the stories we tell ourselves about why we act the way we do… highly absorbing and enjoyable - 4 stars.” — SFX Magazine I’m already a big fan of blurred lines, genre-bending novels and this one blew me away and was every bit as unique as I had hoped it would be. For a debut novel, I really think this is something special, and think it would also make an amazing movie. Fingers crossed it gets the accolades it deserves.” — Bookshelf Butterfly The craziest thing about Charlie Jane Anders’ book is how it remains so intimate and accessible despite genre jumping. All the Birds in the Sky moves from a coming of age story to a millennial romance and then a dystopia — and it’s filled with so much of the uncanny. That includes, but is not limited to, a shapeshifting teacher, talking birds and an anti-gravity gun...A truly fun read.” — New York Daily News Anders, Charlie Jane (2016). All the Birds in the Sky (e-booked.). London: Titan Books. ISBN 978-1-7856-5056-7.

Yeah.” Laurence cut into his dad’s flow before the conversation got away from him. “That’s right. Milton Dirth. And I really want to go see it. This is like a once-in-a-lifetime chance. I thought maybe we could make it a father-son thing.” His dad couldn’t turn down a father-son thing, or it would be like admitting to being a bad father. I have a pretty reasonably shrewd idea of where we go from here,” said Dirrp. “At least, a sort of a notion.” Thrilling, moving and fantastically well written, All the Birds in the Sky is a book that revels in its own geekiness, and transcends it to create an immensely satisfying tale about people, the planet, life, witches, robots – don’t walk to the bookshops for this one, RUN!” — The Bookbag The craziest thing about Charlie Jane Anders’ book is how it remains so intimate and accessible despite genre jumping… All that magic and science only highlights how special it is to find that someone whose companionship feels like it could defy tragedy.” — Cesar R. Bustamante, Jr.,New York Daily News As All the Birds in the Sky rushes to completion, Anders puts Laurence and Patricia through their paces -- arguing, falling in love, being torn apart -- without ever making them tools of the theme. This is a love story, after all, not a philosophical treatise.

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