I started it about 2:30 pm (with a late lunch) and finished it that night about 1:30 am. I was getting a tiny bit depressed by Barnes' book (good, but sad) and since I haven't yet read a bad Asaro, just jumped right in. I was in the middle of The Sky So Big And Black when fate and my local bookstore lady dropped The Moon's Shadow on me. As in all good stories, your thoughts will return to this story and an ending that could be described as 'a happy ending', for the now extremely rich Teri and her Shrink go out ecospecting together, but the ending is also sad and bleak and though foreshadowed, is still a sad surprise.

I could go into some details regarding Teri and her dad, ecoprospecting on Mars, broken hearts and broken skies, but it would be better if you just go get the book and read it. He has some well thought-out bitter words about the state of the educational system today, and discusses the 'War of the Memes' with The One True, after hive-minding Earth, trying to take over the (for now anyway) free Mars. Earth has been co-opted by a man-created mental virus called 'The One True', which is also called a 'meme', and Barnes explains why it is called such. Although Teri is a teenager, this is NOT a book aimed at the 10-16 year old crowd. The Sky So Big And Black is set in the same universe as Candle and Kaleidoscope Century but by no stretch of the imagination is a sequel. There is much extremely well done foreshadowing, and we get deeper into the hearts and minds of both Teri-Mel, and the Shrink.

Why clunky? Because for some reason there is this framing story told from the point of view of a police 'shrink' who is reviewing the tapes made by one Terpsicore Melpomene Murray, starting from when she is 17, just before she goes in for her FA, 'Full Adult' test.Īs one delves into the book, what appeared on the surface as a lighthearted 'coming-of-age' romp set on Mars slowly moves deeper into darkness. When I first started reading The Sky So Big And Black I thought it was going to be a somewhat clunkily done Heinlein juvenile clone. I don't care if 'the mantle of Heinlein' falls on John Barnes I just want him to write more good fiction. John Barnes is another of the 'Children of Heinlein'.

The Sky So Big and Black by John Barnes