Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Tor Books (2006), Hardcover, 304 pages
Description
Marc Vitrac was born in Louisiana in the early 1960's, about the time the first interplanetary probes delivered the news that Mars and Venus were teeming with life--even human life. At that point, the "Space Race" became the central preoccupation of the great powers of the world. Now, in 1988, Marc has been assigned to Jamestown, the US-Commonwealth base on Venus, near the great Venusian city of Kartahown. Set in a countryside swarming with sabertooths and dinosaurs, Jamestown is home to a small band of American and allied scientist-adventurers. But there are flies in this ointment--and not only the Venusian dragonflies, with their yard-wide wings. The biologists studying Venus's life are puzzled by the way it not only resembles that on Earth, but is virtually identical to it. The EastBloc has its own base at Cosmograd, in the highlands to the south, and relations are frosty. And attractive young geologist Cynthia Whitlock seems impervious to Marc's Cajun charm. Meanwhile, at the western end of the continent, Teesa of the Cloud Mountain People leads her tribe in a conflict with the Neanderthal-like beastmen who have seized her folk's sacred caves. Then an EastBloc shuttle crashes nearby, and the beastmen acquire new knowledge... and AK47's. Jamestown sends its long-range blimp to rescue the downed EastBloc cosmonauts, little suspecting that the answer to the jungle planet's mysteries may lie there, among tribal conflicts and traces of a power that made Earth's vaunted science seem as primitive as the tribesfolk's blowguns. As if that weren't enough, there's an enemy agent on board the airship... Extravagant and effervescent, The Sky People is alternate-history SF adventure at its best.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member RBeffa
When I was young and easy to please, it was hard to beat an Edgar Rice Burroughs adventure in Pellucidar, or on Mars and Venus for fun and adventure. But when you are all grown up, how do you recapture that "Gee Whiz" dinosaurs and cave girls and lost world excitement? Well, S.M. Stirling sure
The big downside was the abrupt, very strange, incomplete end. After this big buildup and climax battle, we get no resolution of the big mystery and furthermore we jump perhaps a year and a half forward to the end scene with still no explanation of what exactly happened and why. It was like being on this great roller coaster that goes barrelling into the big dark cave and then, uh, stops. end of ride. Well, it was a fun Venusian adventure until the anti-climax which nicks a good half star off the fun. I hope the companion volume "In the Courts of the Crimson Kings" resolves a bit of the mystery.
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gives it a try with "The Sky People". It's a modern spin of an Edgar Rice Burrough's type adventure. In an alternate history, both Venus and Mars are alive with life. The Sky People is about Venus and it's life forms. Overall, I'd rate this as slightly above average because I really liked the world that was created on Venus by Stirling; all of it's myriad creatures and environments were vividly created in my mind. There were several downsides to the book for me however - I really didn't care all that much for several of the main characters (and the cajun schtick of the main protaganist got on my nerves and wore a little thin, as well as throwing me out of the story at times). I did like Teesa of the Cloud Mountain people and the bit of her culture we saw. I was also a little non-plussed by the lack of a real U.S.-Soviet rivalry within the story after the set-up. The big downside was the abrupt, very strange, incomplete end. After this big buildup and climax battle, we get no resolution of the big mystery and furthermore we jump perhaps a year and a half forward to the end scene with still no explanation of what exactly happened and why. It was like being on this great roller coaster that goes barrelling into the big dark cave and then, uh, stops. end of ride. Well, it was a fun Venusian adventure until the anti-climax which nicks a good half star off the fun. I hope the companion volume "In the Courts of the Crimson Kings" resolves a bit of the mystery.
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LibraryThing member Shrike58
While not bad, I can't say that I was all that enthralled with Stirling's spin on the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs (among other pulpsters); though it would probably help if I happened to be more of a fan of ERB! Being a fan of Stirling, the problem is that this book is just not as good as the
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Nantucket trilogy or "The Peshawar Lancers." Why this should be the case is probably due to how none of the characters really grabbed my imagination. Actually, the real main character in this book is probably the planet Venus, as Stirling seems to have put most of his energy into reimagining that world as a pulp-adventure thrill park. I'm still looking forward to seeing what Stirling does with Mars. Show Less
LibraryThing member break
I picked The Sky People by S.M. Stirling from the library for the “alternate history” section of my 999 challenge. Based o the description I was expecting a combination of science fiction (set on contemporary Venus which has intelligent life on it) with alternate history. The later part came
I didn't expect the book though being so full of descriptions of nature walks, hunting with a mix of modern and way pre-modern tools and in general being so much focused on the natural environment. But as you can read it on page 140: “[on Earth] you always knew that you were really in an island of wild in a sea of civilization. Here [ on Venus] it was exactly the opposite. There was a world out there, and the base... and its cities were the islands. Tiny little islands, in a sea of living things, all of them mating and killing and eating just as they always had.” Looking at it from this perspective the book's tone made sense. Too bad that hunting adventure stories are not my favorite genre.
Nevertheless the book was page turner, exciting and had enough twists for my liking. The linguistic, racial, gender and political mix was just right. Glad I read it; it was good entertainment, that didn't make me think much.
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into play when the discovery of life on venus influenced human politics on Earth starting from the 1960s. As depicted in many other books (and hoped by the SETI crowd) such knowledge would make humanity realize that our local fights are so petty that they get abandoned. Other, more optimistic authors assume that humanity will just join forces in pursuit of learning more about the global outsiders. Stirling is more cautious and turns the cold war into a competition of who can get to the Venus first and establish presence there. But all of this is in the pat compared to the mainline of the book. Both the EastBloc and the US has establishments on the new planet while the EU is trying to catch up.I didn't expect the book though being so full of descriptions of nature walks, hunting with a mix of modern and way pre-modern tools and in general being so much focused on the natural environment. But as you can read it on page 140: “[on Earth] you always knew that you were really in an island of wild in a sea of civilization. Here [ on Venus] it was exactly the opposite. There was a world out there, and the base... and its cities were the islands. Tiny little islands, in a sea of living things, all of them mating and killing and eating just as they always had.” Looking at it from this perspective the book's tone made sense. Too bad that hunting adventure stories are not my favorite genre.
Nevertheless the book was page turner, exciting and had enough twists for my liking. The linguistic, racial, gender and political mix was just right. Glad I read it; it was good entertainment, that didn't make me think much.
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LibraryThing member Erinys
The book has boring characters and an unimaginatively constructed alien world. The plot does somewhat explains the latter, but that doesn't make it fun. If you like the idea of a an imperialist romp in a new New World then go for it.
LibraryThing member cajela
This is a jolly romp through an Edgar Rice Burroughs kind of world. Excellent fun, eh what? Venus is a tropical world housing dinosaurs, neanderthals and a fur-bikini clad princess. Back on Earth the Cold War still rages, but now it's over the colonisation of space. Our valiant American hero and
You know this mission has to end badly, so it's not much of a spoiler to say that their aircraft also crashes. And they will have to walk back - meeting and romancing the fur bikini princess along the way. There is some flimsy excuse/minor plot point of alien intervention to explain the setup, so eye-rolling over the biology is not required. I was a bit sad about the Evil Neanderthals, though. Surely they don't deserve such a bad rap.
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his comrades embark on a rescue mission for a downed Russian shuttle. You know this mission has to end badly, so it's not much of a spoiler to say that their aircraft also crashes. And they will have to walk back - meeting and romancing the fur bikini princess along the way. There is some flimsy excuse/minor plot point of alien intervention to explain the setup, so eye-rolling over the biology is not required. I was a bit sad about the Evil Neanderthals, though. Surely they don't deserve such a bad rap.
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LibraryThing member Cataloger623
Get this one from your local library. I enjoyed reading it but would not buy it. As an alternate history story it does ok.
LibraryThing member lavaturtle
A fun story, and an interesting hard science take on classic science fiction ideas about Venus. I liked that it thought through the implications of the pulp Venusian climate. A bit too much White Saviour trope for my taste, tho... Also, one of the more interesting mysteries never really got
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resolved in a satisfying way. Show Less
LibraryThing member teknognome
The novel has an interesting premise, that of an alternate history where Mars and Venus are inhabited by Earth-like life, including primitive humans and dinosaurs, and Russia and the USA have begun to colonize and explore them by the early 1980's. However, the novel bogs down in extended, repeated
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descriptions of scenery and unimportant details, far beyond what is necessary to give a detailed feel of the place. The characters are underportrayed, given their potential from what Stirling tells about them. The ending, except for one detail, is easily foreseeable from much earlier in the novel, making it much less satisfying, if providing some good action. Show Less
LibraryThing member DabOfDarkness
In the 1960s, probes to Venus discovered something completely unexpected – life on Venus. Subsequent probes revealed plenty of animal life including dinosaur-like creatures and human-like people complete with civilizations. Now in the 1980s, the US and it’s allies have set up a small scientific
Marc Vitrac, born in Louisiana and complete with Cajun accent, is the hero of this tale. He’s got the smarts and the muscles and the skills while also being friendly to Venusian canines and respectful of women. It’s rare to find such a man in science fiction (and even rarer to find one in real life). I really enjoyed this character partially because of all that stated above but because he’s also put in extraordinary circumstances in which he manages to keep his wits about him.
The setting was gripping. First, we know today that we are very unlikely to find Earth-like people and animals on Venus, but imagine if we had? Wouldn’t that raise all sorts of questions? That’s partially what these scientists are here to investigate. They also simply need to explore Venus, learning about it’s peoples and resources. I loved all the geeky science stuff about archaeology and paleontology.
There’s dinos! Yes! I loved seeing Terrans and Venusians interact with these beasties in all their variety. There’s also some intimidating predator mammals, like this large canine. In fact, Marc gets himself a puppy, Tyo, who becomes quite the novelty and Marc’s best wingman.
Meanwhile, the Venusians have several different cultures going on. There’s the ‘civilized’ Venusians of Kartahown city which is nearby the US outpost Jamestown. There are other cities as well. Then there’s the semi-nomadic and mostly peaceful human-like groups, such as the Cloud Mountain People lead by Teesa, a princess and shaman all rolled into one. Lastly, there’s the mostly nomadic and violent Beastmen, which are Neanderthal-like. Toss in tensions with the Soviet outpost, Cosmograd, then you’ve got some politicking as well (most of which happens behind the scenes).
The cast has a fair amount of diversity. Cynthia Whitlock is an African American geologist, and resistant to Marc’s charms. Christopher Blair is our British bloke with the RAF. Much later in the story we get a Russian woman who is doing her best to retrieve a downed Russian outpost exploration vehicle that had her husband, Captain Binkis, on it. Teesa has her moments, sometimes leading her people and sometimes playing the helpless princess.
Despite the well traveled tropes in this story, I got much enjoyment out of it. For me, the weakness is in the women. Sometimes these ladies are well drawn out with skills, brains, and opinions. Yet sometimes they fall into helpless damsels in distress that need rescuing (and I felt that was too easily done and just for drama). Still, I really enjoyed the story.
The Narration: Todd McLaren makes a really good Cajun Marc Vitrac. He kept all the characters distinct and had feminine voices for the ladies. There were some emotional moments in this book and McLaren was great at expressing those emotions through the characters. I liked his various accents (Cajun, standard American, British, Venusian, Russian, etc.).
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outpost on Venus. The Soviet East Block has done the same thing. Venus comes with plenty of dangers but now it seems there might be a saboteur among the American & Allies crew.Marc Vitrac, born in Louisiana and complete with Cajun accent, is the hero of this tale. He’s got the smarts and the muscles and the skills while also being friendly to Venusian canines and respectful of women. It’s rare to find such a man in science fiction (and even rarer to find one in real life). I really enjoyed this character partially because of all that stated above but because he’s also put in extraordinary circumstances in which he manages to keep his wits about him.
The setting was gripping. First, we know today that we are very unlikely to find Earth-like people and animals on Venus, but imagine if we had? Wouldn’t that raise all sorts of questions? That’s partially what these scientists are here to investigate. They also simply need to explore Venus, learning about it’s peoples and resources. I loved all the geeky science stuff about archaeology and paleontology.
There’s dinos! Yes! I loved seeing Terrans and Venusians interact with these beasties in all their variety. There’s also some intimidating predator mammals, like this large canine. In fact, Marc gets himself a puppy, Tyo, who becomes quite the novelty and Marc’s best wingman.
Meanwhile, the Venusians have several different cultures going on. There’s the ‘civilized’ Venusians of Kartahown city which is nearby the US outpost Jamestown. There are other cities as well. Then there’s the semi-nomadic and mostly peaceful human-like groups, such as the Cloud Mountain People lead by Teesa, a princess and shaman all rolled into one. Lastly, there’s the mostly nomadic and violent Beastmen, which are Neanderthal-like. Toss in tensions with the Soviet outpost, Cosmograd, then you’ve got some politicking as well (most of which happens behind the scenes).
The cast has a fair amount of diversity. Cynthia Whitlock is an African American geologist, and resistant to Marc’s charms. Christopher Blair is our British bloke with the RAF. Much later in the story we get a Russian woman who is doing her best to retrieve a downed Russian outpost exploration vehicle that had her husband, Captain Binkis, on it. Teesa has her moments, sometimes leading her people and sometimes playing the helpless princess.
Despite the well traveled tropes in this story, I got much enjoyment out of it. For me, the weakness is in the women. Sometimes these ladies are well drawn out with skills, brains, and opinions. Yet sometimes they fall into helpless damsels in distress that need rescuing (and I felt that was too easily done and just for drama). Still, I really enjoyed the story.
The Narration: Todd McLaren makes a really good Cajun Marc Vitrac. He kept all the characters distinct and had feminine voices for the ladies. There were some emotional moments in this book and McLaren was great at expressing those emotions through the characters. I liked his various accents (Cajun, standard American, British, Venusian, Russian, etc.).
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Subjects
Original publication date
2006
Physical description
304 p.; 9.3 inches
ISBN
0765314886 / 9780765314888
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