Synopsis
Peace in the Sky
Peace-in-the-Sky awakens, captive, after a brutal head injury. With her fractured memories, she knows only that she must protect her daughter Anissa. Even if Peace-in-the-Sky manages to escape the fierce wasteland tribe holding her captive, she and Anissa face a journey through a blasted landscape inhabited by warring peoples scrabbling for subsistence. To find safety, Peace-in-the-Sky must use her developing power of the pillars-of-flame to clear their path. As her memory reveals the secret of her true nature, her body and mind deteriorate. But nothing can stop her from delivering Anissa to the promised paradise of safety and plenty, even at the expense of her life.
Station in the Sky
Donna, once Peace-in-the-Sky, awakens aboard Station-in-the-Sky and rejoins a society that had been her home for thousands of years before knowing Anissa. But she soon discovers her fellow stationers have lost sight of their original mandate to protect Earth. Instead, their new plans will threaten all of Earth’s inhabitants. As her memories return, she becomes suspicious her head injury was actually an attack by another stationer. Framed as being faulty, Donna must navigate the eccentricities of the other stationers without being caught, and covertly assemble proof of their plans before they realize she will do anything to keep Earth safe from their meddling.
Read both of Caye Marsh’s stories together in Station in the Sky!
Review
I happened across this duo novella book as a result of the SFINCS 2024 competition, after Peace in the Sky was part of our allocation for The Secret Scribes team. That novella snuck its way onto my top reads of 2024 list, so when the immediate follow-up, Station in the Sky, I couldn’t resist returning to the post-apocalyptic Earth Caye Marsh envisioned.
This is two novellas rolled into one overarching book and both halves are very different. Peace in the Sky is an on-the-ground, post-apocalyptic story that sees titular character Peace in the Sky awaken in a cage alongside a girl who claims she’s her daughter. Trouble is, Peace in the Sky has a substantial headwound and memory loss.
There follows a hazy trip through the wasteland in Peace in the Sky’s bid to return her daughter, Anissa, to her people and safety. We know little of why the post-apocalyptic world has turned into an arid, unforgiving climate but it’s still a gripping trek through a dangerous future. I liked the degradation of Peace in the Sky’s condition leading to the narrative leaving much to the reader’s imagination. The tunnel vision of these characters is claustrophobic and increasingly desperate. It’s captivating writing.
Through this mother and daughter pairing we meet the people’s of the apocalypse. These are made up of tribal people who either persevere out in the wastes or live in and around a protective dome, shielding them from the harsh radiation of the sun. These microcosms of societies are a duality of hope and tragedy. They revere our protagonist but fear her in equal measures, particularly as she is able to call forth fire from the heavens when threatened. The atmosphere is constantly on a knife-edge. Edge of your seat stuff.
Peace in the Sky is bleak. At its core it’s a desperate clinging on to motherhood as a child outgrows a parent. Marsh scratches and worries a wound before ripping it open by the end of the story. It is a theme that blends well with the post-apocalyptic overtone throughout.
Station in the Sky
Which brings us to part two of the book. The tone takes a shift into the immortal space … station. Peace in the Sky, now Donna, awakens aboard the orbital space station above Earth. At once she sets about uncovering the mystery behind her head wound on the planet’s surface. Where Part 1 focused on a post-apocalyptic trek, this part centres around Donna’s investigation , which leads into an unravelling thread of immortal station shell politics and obsessions.
It answers some questions the reader has from Peace in the Sky without over-explaining. Again, the narrative is claustrophobic as Donna follows the breadcrumb trail available to her.
Where the first part was an introspective on motherhood and a struggling humanity’s determination to survive, this part is a more speculative Sci Fi effort. Was it quite as strong as Peace in the Sky? Perhaps not fully, but it nonetheless demanded I keep reading to unveil its murder mystery. The story’s pulse quickens.
A space whodunnit is an enjoyable theme in its own right but I appreciated a more subtle theme in the station’s purpose. Exploring semi-immortal beings coming to terms with their own dwindling relevance was a different flavour of bleak than what was offered in Part 1. I felt sorry for these beings by the end, even those murderous ones. All in all I left the station in the sky a very satisfied Sci Fi fan.
Final Thought
Station in the Sky doesn’t pull its punches. Although both parts are not fully cohesive when included in the one book they are still gripping stories in their own right. Whether it was on the post-apocalyptic arid planet surface or in a station full of secrets, I had a great time with this book.
Publish date and info about the author are all in my cover reveal for this book, which you can read here: Cover Reveal: Station in the Sky by Caye Marsh | FanFiAddict
You can check out more about Station in the Sky and other titles by Caye’s publisher here: Home | Space Wizard Science Fantasy Books
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