Falling Down the Aether Sky

by Sekji Ani

Cloistered in the womb of ‘Space, the consummate hyper-virtual reality, humanity sinks into entropy as the slow decay of life, and the environment await them at the end of time. There are rumors of things in ‘Space, of people disappeared, a seductive destroyer that people at the end of their sanity go to meet in the badlands between the Slabs of virtual reality.

People converge in ‘Space and Flesh and their lives intersect. The intersecting lives are very far away in outlook and distance, but various circumstances occurring in ‘Space slowly shift their intersections tighter and tighter. There is Ruby who comes back to her hometown of Cleveland after an aimless life to work as a Courier transporting samples of information. There is Lin, imprisoned in the secure compound in Wyoming, who spends his time acquiring people, and illegal cyber-weaponry. He also steals memories from a man named DeLote.

Other people and names begin to emerge with their own J’Qwan and Hylinski, Sweetman, Marika and Berke. They all make decisions that impact their lives and slowly shift their intersections both in Flesh and ‘Space. All these lives whirl closer, until one event collides their lives and forever changes the world.

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2014

About the author

Sekji Ani is an interdisciplinary artist and writer, living and teaching in west Texas. She grew up in Ohio, leaving for Morocco with the Peace Corps. For ten years in Morocco, she worked as beekeeper, health volunteer, English teacher and as an exhibiting artist. Sekji learned Arabic and Tashelheit in Morocco and Polish while living near Krakow. She earned her BFA (painting) from Kent State and an MFA from Indiana University, where she studied printmaking, foundry, and digital media. When not exhibiting, writing, or walking her dogs, she studies Shotokan, Kali, Japanese weaponry, and magic. If a pink vardo-inspired 1978 Toyota Huntsmen named Lady Aisha’s Emporium is spotted, Sekji will be trundling her dogs and artwork to an exhibit.

Reviews

[Tim Pyke · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable science fiction novel set in a dystopian future where the Internet and virtual reality have merged. The real world has become a bleak wasteland and people escape into the cyber world. There are some great ideas of how this would look and work. Websites become slabs that you wander about on experiencing various things. Between these slabs is the aether where a friendly spirit lurks. Some great characters, I liked the portrayal hackers literally breaking through the cyber world. The story ends quite abruptly, but I am looking forward to the next book in the series. Overall a well written imaginative book.

[Cindy Ferraresi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a cruel world that Sekji Ani writes about and yet mysterious and intriguing as well. I like the concept of being in 'space and yet there is a menace to all the technology we want. The ghost is my favorite character and Marika is a close second. The female characters are strong and I would like to know more about Marika and Ruby. Looking forward to the next book.

[Sekji Ani · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is my first novel, please pass it on. Read and review it please!!!!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The human race has become addicted to 'Space. The internet has morphed into the all-encompassing super virtual reality of 'Space, leading to a dystopian sociey where people spend most of their time in the fake, stimulating cyber world pumped directly into their brains via ports rather than living a real life, limited by flesh.

Ruby becomes a courier, carrying data through 'Space. Lin is held in a secure compound in Wyoming, hacking his way to cyber weaponry, people and information. Add in other side characters who also flit between fleshly lives and the fantasy world in 'Space until all collide in a single event that will change the world.

It didn't take me long to get sucked into this intriguing, interesting trip into a dystopian, disfunctional world created by extreme virtual reality. Society changes. People change. Everything has evolved, widening a breach between Flesh and 'Space. The characters are engaging. The thoughts the plot evokes are intriguing. I thoroughly enjoyed this story!

The book was definitely written a sequel in mind. There is no final resolution at the end, and the last line is "End of Book 1.'' The second book, Approaching the Well of Still Time, will be forthcoming soon.

This is Sekji Ani's first book. Learn more about the author and her book here.

**I won a copy of this book on Goodreads.com. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.**

[Ann Schlesinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Falling Down the Aether Sky hard to get into, but once I did, it was fascinating.

Sekji Ani has created a very vivid future world, populated with compelling characters living in an all too realistic society where technology, synthetic drugs, and our compulsive need for escapist entertainment have blurred the lines between reality and virtual fantasies. Some of the book's grittiness, with decaying urban landscapes, and aimless anarchists is not that novel. However, I found the structure of the virtual world, 'Space, with 'slabs', 'twinning', and other concepts, worked well to create a fascinating story. The underlying theme of how technology impacts social fabric was thought provoking, and I find myself thinking of this book when I read non-fiction articles about emerging technologies and global social trends.

As I said, it took persistence at the beginning of the book to understand what was going on, and then, once immersed, I thought the book ended rather abruptly. Hence the 4 starts instead of 5. I'm happy that the sequel, Approaching the Well of Still Time, has come out and am looking forward to getting back into 'Space.

[Gretchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last line of this book is "End of book 1." I wanted some resolution.