The Sky Is Yours

October 9, 2017
Smith’s hyperimaginative debut takes place in a futuristic, decaying variation on New York City called Empire Island that has two dragons—one green, one yellow—constantly circling overhead and menacing the population below. Eighteen-year-old Duncan Humphrey Ripple V, star of the reality series Late Capitalism’s Royalty, has been engaged to the Baroness Swan “Swanny” Lenore Dahlberg (who has been homeschooled by her single-minded mother, Pippi) by his parents (financier Humphrey and former model Katya). While exploring beyond the city, Duncan meets a wild girl named Abby and brings her back to his family’s mansion. On his wedding night, he decides to run away with her, but the mansion is invaded by marauders from the self-governed prison colony of Torchtown, forcing Duncan, Swanny, and Abby to run away together. They escape into the dark heart of the city; Duncan learns how to fight fires—a constant in this dragon-threatened metropolis—Abby befriends a magic rat, and Swanny winds up in Torchtown. Smith’s novel calls to mind the works of Nick Harkaway and Game of Thrones. Although the story is overlong, it gathers momentum in its last third, bringing this novel home with a hopeful conclusion. It’s an auspicious debut with enough inventiveness for two novels. Agent: Bill Clegg, the Clegg Agency.

Narrator Kirsten Potter has an attitude that says "bring it on." In this futuristic story, which includes fire-setting dragons flying overhead, she meets the three main characters head-on. None is particularly likable at the start, but each is a work in progress. Potter pays the requisite attention to the minor characters, among whom is the only truly unredeemable character. As the characters respond to a surreal world and transformative events, Potter captures the story's dark humor. Her easy conversational style doesn't lag through the world-building explication and narrative twist and turns, which include graphic sexual content. Overall, Potter unabashedly portrays the excesses of the privileged few and the truly despicable. J.E.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine