Steel Sky

Steel Sky

Andrew C. Murphy

Young Adult

Steel Sky is a compelling work at different levels, which is what makes it so entertaining ... a variety of intriguing characters help readers explore a bizarre city that has lost its past and is unsure of its future. Those hoping to find a good story within the Hypogeum will not be disappointed!”--SFSITE Featured Review by Susan DunmanCenturies after global disaster, the remnants of humanity endure in a world turned inside out, a bubble of steel in infinite stone. In the Hypogeum the very air is poison, invisible assassins cull the weak, and privacy is a thing of the past.At the top of this radically stratified society sits the Orcus family, corrupt and contentious, but heir to a secret that allows them to wield uncontested power — until the appearance of a mythical, seemingly superhuman avenger disrupts their careful machinations. But behind his mask, the Winnower is a man haunted by his own misdeeds, as much in need of redemption as the people he seeks to champion.“Steel Sky is a great debut novel by a rising talent in science fiction ... with a strong imagination and real storytelling verve.” — DAVID BRIN, New York Times bestselling authorThe Winnower’s arrival precipitates society’s collapse, and possibly an end to all of humanity — save through the interactions of an unlikely confluence of characters: a reluctant dictator, a disfigured outcast, a defiant victim, and an enigmatic artificial intelligence. The true power of Steel Sky lies in the richness of these characters and their personal stories of ambition, bravery, revenge, and love.From Publishers WeeklyThe citizens of the Hypogeum inhabit an enclosed, self-sufficient world, constructed after an ancient global disaster and supposedly buried in a cosmos of stone. This derivative debut borrows heavily from Heinlein and Orwell, but its terse chapters and efficiently defined characters make for brisk reading. Unaware that any other world exists beyond their immediate horizons, the people of Hypogeum are ruled by Orcus, whose villainous family maintains dominion with incestuous intermarriage, complete control of a ubiquitous network of spying cameras and a team of "Deathsmen" who cull the population of the sick. Orcus's boorish son, Hump, is dangerously obsessed with the novel's beautiful heroine, Amarantha, who naturally prefers her lover Cadell. A masked V for Vendetta-style vigilante called the Winnower provides the action as he wreaks moralistic havoc on the decaying society. As in Heinlein's 1941 novella "Universe," the citizens see the majesty of the stars when they finally penetrate the walls.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review"Steel Sky is a compelling work at different levels, which is what makes it so entertaining ... a variety of intriguing characters help readers explore a bizarre city that has lost its past and is unsure of its future. Those hoping to find a good story within the Hypogeum will not be disappointed!"-- SFSITE Featured Review by Susan Dunman "Murphy has contrived a perfect blend of future shock (every bit as meticulous and inventive as, say, William F. Nolan's novel Logan's Run) ... making this not just an above-average science fiction tale, but a superior novel, full stop."--Kilian Melloy (EdgeBoston)"Andrew Murphy is a rising talent in science fiction ... with a strong imagination and real storytelling verve." -- David Brin (New York Times Bestselling Author)
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