Sky by John Palmerlee

A unique take on the speculative-fiction genre, John Palmerlee’s Sky is a book of hope like none other. What started as a free-writing session that brought the opening words, “The sky chose to ripen,” led to the question, “Now what’s the story behind that?” and launched a literary journey spanning several years.

The story of Sky begins with the arrival of Jama and Duan on an unknown and seemingly uninhabited planet. They are part of a species longing to find other intelligent life in the universe. Little do they know that the planet's ocean floor is home to a small civilization surviving a significant global catastrophe.

Jules is a deep-sea technician living a claustrophobic life on the ocean floor, in a culture torn between the extremes of basic survival and the hope of someday returning to the surface. One night, Jules dreams of walking on the surface, overwhelmed by the vibrant living world and an inexplicable feeling of not being alone. With the love of fellow tech Kevin and the support of her friends, Jules aims to bring her people back to the surface, regardless of numerous obstacles. When they do finally arrive, unexpected events give meaning to her dream and expose a startling, hopeful future.

Sky is truly an immersive literary experience and is full of many carefully crafted details that all work in harmony to add meaning to the story. Every creative, artistic, typographical, and grammatical element of Sky is created with intention. Author John Palmerlee has created a handy guide for readers that breaks these details down, including the reasoning behind them.

This story is one of small action but big emotion and is not for readers who want instant gratification or heart-pounding action. It has a slower pace and reads more like a meditation of ideas that invites you to take a breath and evaluate characters' emotions to get the most out of the reading experience. Through emotional identification, readers experience the constant state of danger that comes with life on the ocean’s floor, as well as the intoxicating happiness from the warmth of wind against their skin as they reach the surface for the first time.

The best quality of Sky is its overwhelming and contagious sense of hope that permeates the entire novel. It is a hope, if translated into our world, that if people took the time and care to communicate with and understand each other, perhaps the world could be a better place.

It is possible to read Sky and find more information about the book and its author at johnpalmerlee.com. John has hand-created fifteen hardbound copies of the novel for early readers, and he is seeking a publisher willing to take on a full-color project with unique graphical and tactile elements. He is currently working on a sequel to Sky entitled Song.

Review By Sarah Hinrichs