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Search the Sky
Book by Pohl, Frederik, C. M. Kornbluth
165 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1954
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499 people want to read
About the author
Frederik Pohl
1,151 books1,058 followersFrederik George Pohl, Jr. was an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years. From about 1959 until 1969, Pohl edited Galaxy magazine and its sister magazine IF winning the Hugo for IF three years in a row. His writing also won him three Hugos and multiple Nebula Awards. He became a Nebula Grand Master in 1993.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
September 8, 2011
Quite a decent piece of SF satire, set (roughly) in the same universe as
The Marching Morons
. I liked the planet with the gerontocracy. The hero gets to participate in an election: they wheel out the candidates, all of whom are over 100 and with tubes coming out of their noses. With great fanfare of trumpets, you get to hear exactly how old each one is. The hero is trying to make his mind up, when his native girlfriend tells him not to be silly. "They tell us their ages, and we vote for the oldest one! That's how democracy works!"
Needless to say, this has absolutely nothing to do with our own society. We don't mindlessly vote for the oldest candidate! I can't even explain why I think it's funny.
Needless to say, this has absolutely nothing to do with our own society. We don't mindlessly vote for the oldest candidate! I can't even explain why I think it's funny.
October 30, 2023
Awesome listening 🎧
Due to eye issues and damage Alexa reads to me.
A wonderful will written novella fantasy Sc-Fi space adventure with interesting characters. The main character is assigned the task of solving why planets that once traded with his planet no longer do. I would recommend this novella to reads of Sc-Fi. Enjoy the adventure of reading 2021 ✨🎉🚀😎
I listened to this as part of The 11th Science Fiction Megapack. It was very interesting with will developed characters lots of action and misdirection leading to the conclustion. 2023
pulbished in the 1950s
Due to eye issues and damage Alexa reads to me.
A wonderful will written novella fantasy Sc-Fi space adventure with interesting characters. The main character is assigned the task of solving why planets that once traded with his planet no longer do. I would recommend this novella to reads of Sc-Fi. Enjoy the adventure of reading 2021 ✨🎉🚀😎
I listened to this as part of The 11th Science Fiction Megapack. It was very interesting with will developed characters lots of action and misdirection leading to the conclustion. 2023
pulbished in the 1950s
June 8, 2013
When I'm in the mood for science fiction, I don't usually go in for the humorous or parodic sort, but I must say I was really tickled by this novel. Set in the far future when Earth has lost track of its many colonies (and they with each other), an ordinary man gets drawn into a great adventure, in which he visits a variety of disparate planets and is set a puzzle to solve, for the sake of humankind.
As other readers have pointed out, the main portion of the story -- visiting other planets -- is clearly modeled on Gulliver's Travels, as each planet's civilization is a parody of some cultural tendency taken to an absurd extreme. What I found most interesting, however, was the overall message -- that cultural isolation is deadly and demoralizing, and that humanity thrives when we have access to cultures and ideas different than our own.
I think this story would appeal to those who enjoy parody, as well as those who like adventure tales with a philosophical core.
As other readers have pointed out, the main portion of the story -- visiting other planets -- is clearly modeled on Gulliver's Travels, as each planet's civilization is a parody of some cultural tendency taken to an absurd extreme. What I found most interesting, however, was the overall message -- that cultural isolation is deadly and demoralizing, and that humanity thrives when we have access to cultures and ideas different than our own.
I think this story would appeal to those who enjoy parody, as well as those who like adventure tales with a philosophical core.
March 30, 2019
Search the Sky
Based on their reputation for the quality of their collaborative work, and having read and loved “The Space Merchants” - and it being one of my all time favourite 50’s science fiction novels – preferring it, dare I say, to Bester’s “The Stars are my Destination” which was published the same year, I found “Search the Sky” an unfortunate disappointment.
Ross, a goods trader, fed up with his monotonous existence, is given the opportunity to leave the planet in search of the source of a disconnect between colonized worlds and the FTL technology that is known to an exclusive few on each...
The novel is episodic, thus, it does not flow well. The satire aspect, which is what they are known for, is clumsy and under developed. However, in some of the segments, there are moments of brilliance and decent commentary throughout, but it came off for me as a joke I just didn’t quite get.
I am confident that the other works they did were much better.
Based on their reputation for the quality of their collaborative work, and having read and loved “The Space Merchants” - and it being one of my all time favourite 50’s science fiction novels – preferring it, dare I say, to Bester’s “The Stars are my Destination” which was published the same year, I found “Search the Sky” an unfortunate disappointment.
Ross, a goods trader, fed up with his monotonous existence, is given the opportunity to leave the planet in search of the source of a disconnect between colonized worlds and the FTL technology that is known to an exclusive few on each...
The novel is episodic, thus, it does not flow well. The satire aspect, which is what they are known for, is clumsy and under developed. However, in some of the segments, there are moments of brilliance and decent commentary throughout, but it came off for me as a joke I just didn’t quite get.
I am confident that the other works they did were much better.
July 15, 2012
Pohl and Kornbluth are two of the greatest SF social satirists ever, and had collaborated before to excellent effect (The Space Merchants), but this one just does not connect its punches.
There are fine elements in it, and a few very memorable vignettes, but the effect is more tiring than illuminating. I don't know how much of this had to do with the edition I read being a 1985 fix-up and expansion by co-author Pohl (Kornbluth having unforutnately died in his prime long before), or if it were just as flawed in the 50s.
I will say though that I don't think the work is as sexist as many reviewers say. Rather, I think its a case of the intended satire just not piercing its target effectively. The matriarchal society encountered is certainly not flattering to its female ruling class, but I think this was more intended to illustrate just how repulsive patriarchy and gender-based dominance in general is, rather than how awful women are. Remember that at the time of its original writing, the audience for SF was almost exclusively male, and the authors may have thought that good way to make a point about what patriarchy means to women would be to flip the script and have our point-of-view male character face a gender-dominated world in which his of the subaltern gender.
Our hero Ross is pretty sexist himself in a section where he muses about how a woman has never (paraphrasing) "written great literature or discovered a great theorem", but I read that as the joke being on Ross. The authors and the readers (hopefully) are fully aware of the contributions to literary accomplishment made by women like Emily Dickinson, Sappho, Murasaki Shikibu, and the progenitor of their own genre, Mary Shelley; not to mention the scientific accomplishment of women like Margaret Cavendish, Marie Curie, or Rachel Carson. I read that section as a joke on how blindered Ross is, rather than the authors' polemical take down of women.
There are fine elements in it, and a few very memorable vignettes, but the effect is more tiring than illuminating. I don't know how much of this had to do with the edition I read being a 1985 fix-up and expansion by co-author Pohl (Kornbluth having unforutnately died in his prime long before), or if it were just as flawed in the 50s.
I will say though that I don't think the work is as sexist as many reviewers say. Rather, I think its a case of the intended satire just not piercing its target effectively. The matriarchal society encountered is certainly not flattering to its female ruling class, but I think this was more intended to illustrate just how repulsive patriarchy and gender-based dominance in general is, rather than how awful women are. Remember that at the time of its original writing, the audience for SF was almost exclusively male, and the authors may have thought that good way to make a point about what patriarchy means to women would be to flip the script and have our point-of-view male character face a gender-dominated world in which his of the subaltern gender.
Our hero Ross is pretty sexist himself in a section where he muses about how a woman has never (paraphrasing) "written great literature or discovered a great theorem", but I read that as the joke being on Ross. The authors and the readers (hopefully) are fully aware of the contributions to literary accomplishment made by women like Emily Dickinson, Sappho, Murasaki Shikibu, and the progenitor of their own genre, Mary Shelley; not to mention the scientific accomplishment of women like Margaret Cavendish, Marie Curie, or Rachel Carson. I read that section as a joke on how blindered Ross is, rather than the authors' polemical take down of women.
December 16, 2019
In 1954, this was Frederik Pohl & C. M. Kornbluth’s second collaboration, coming after The Space Merchants (1952). Like The Space Merchants, it was an intentionally tongue-in-cheek exaggeration of contemporary sociological trends. Apparently, the novel was heavily revised in 1985, but I read an original 1954 paperback, that is as old as I am.
Ross is a young man on the stagnant backwater world of Halsey’s Planet, holding a boring job. Human-settled worlds have fallen out of communication with one another, with trade operating only through huge slower-than-light generation ships. One day, he is unexpectedly offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to re-contact those other worlds, and hopefully eventually Earth, in a secretly preserved small FTL spaceship. And so, he is off to episodically visit a few worlds, each featuring its own strange twist on human society. Pohl and Kornbluth explain these societies as degenerate, resulting from the genetic bottleneck that each settlement entailed.
Ironically, given the deluge of feminist sex-role planets which came in the SF of the following decades, one of the strange worlds Ross encounters is a harsh matriarchy. Cruel role reversals are served up, which Ross resents, not even seeing the irony in the unfairness of his own attitudes. I just can’t tell if Pohl and Kornbluth are playing this idea for social commentary or for unnatural bizareness. Perhaps the 1985 revision addresses that.
Overall, the novel is a curious peek into 1950s American science fiction, so different from today. I found it entertaining, definitely not profound.
Ross is a young man on the stagnant backwater world of Halsey’s Planet, holding a boring job. Human-settled worlds have fallen out of communication with one another, with trade operating only through huge slower-than-light generation ships. One day, he is unexpectedly offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to re-contact those other worlds, and hopefully eventually Earth, in a secretly preserved small FTL spaceship. And so, he is off to episodically visit a few worlds, each featuring its own strange twist on human society. Pohl and Kornbluth explain these societies as degenerate, resulting from the genetic bottleneck that each settlement entailed.
Ironically, given the deluge of feminist sex-role planets which came in the SF of the following decades, one of the strange worlds Ross encounters is a harsh matriarchy. Cruel role reversals are served up, which Ross resents, not even seeing the irony in the unfairness of his own attitudes. I just can’t tell if Pohl and Kornbluth are playing this idea for social commentary or for unnatural bizareness. Perhaps the 1985 revision addresses that.
Overall, the novel is a curious peek into 1950s American science fiction, so different from today. I found it entertaining, definitely not profound.
December 18, 2019
I was pleasantly surprised by this sci-fi nod to Gulliver’s Travels in which the authors gleefully blast holes in post-industrial capitalism, mutually assured destruction, the generation gap, the patriarchy, religious fanaticism, the post-singularity nanny state, and eugenics. Amazingly “woke” for 1954!
December 28, 2011
review of
Frederik Pohl & C. M. Kornbluth's Search the Sky
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - December 28, 2011
Reading this is my idea of a good time. I was most reminded of Gulliver's Travels - a journey to various extraordinary societies, each an exaggeration for satire's sake. A businessman on "Halsey's Planet" notices that the society around him is decaying. He gets thrust into a faster-than-light travel adventure to other planets in other solar systems in search of symptoms of a similar decay elsewhere & in search of a solution.
W/o giving away too much of the plot, I will address the 2nd planet: a matriarchy. I suspect this has been taken as misogynistic by many people but I'd have to disagree. 1st, as an anarchist, I think matriarchy is just as reprehensible as patriarchy. Since most people I know seem to think that there're only patriarchies in the world, they also seem to think that matriarchies are a viable alternative. I disagree. Power corrupts. EVERYONE. Kornbluth & Pohl depict the matriarchy as being partially based on the belief that b/c most women are smaller than men, & therefore less capable of hard manual labor, that they are, therefore, natural supervisors. I've met entirely too many women like this who've treated me, personally, as some sort of servant w/o even having any idea of who I am - just b/c I'm a man who fits their stereotype of subhuman.
But keep in mind that this is parody. The protagonist is not particularly intelligent so when he 1st encounters a woman from this matriarchy & thinks: "Not a very attractive woman, for she wore no make-up" he's expressed the sexist bias of the culture he comes from & not necessarily those of the authors. 20pp later when he thinks: "How could any female - no single member of which class had ever painted a great picture, written a great book, composed a great sonata, or discovered a great scientific truth - appreciate the ultimate importance of the F[aster]-T[han]-L[ight] drive?" the joke is ultimately on him (& on the reader) as later events will attest. B/c 12pp later there's "In his snobbishness he never realized that he was guilty of the most frightful arrogance in assuming that what he could do, she could not."
Near the end of the bk, on a planet at 1st mistaken for the legendary "Earth", an ancient text called "Ultra-Jones-Ism, An Infantile Political Disorder" is mentioned in passing. This is, most likely, a parody of Lenin's "Left-Wing Communism, an Infantile Disorder: A Popular Essay in Marxian Strategy and Tactics" (see GoodReads reviews of this latter here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48... ).
Frederik Pohl & C. M. Kornbluth's Search the Sky
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - December 28, 2011
Reading this is my idea of a good time. I was most reminded of Gulliver's Travels - a journey to various extraordinary societies, each an exaggeration for satire's sake. A businessman on "Halsey's Planet" notices that the society around him is decaying. He gets thrust into a faster-than-light travel adventure to other planets in other solar systems in search of symptoms of a similar decay elsewhere & in search of a solution.
W/o giving away too much of the plot, I will address the 2nd planet: a matriarchy. I suspect this has been taken as misogynistic by many people but I'd have to disagree. 1st, as an anarchist, I think matriarchy is just as reprehensible as patriarchy. Since most people I know seem to think that there're only patriarchies in the world, they also seem to think that matriarchies are a viable alternative. I disagree. Power corrupts. EVERYONE. Kornbluth & Pohl depict the matriarchy as being partially based on the belief that b/c most women are smaller than men, & therefore less capable of hard manual labor, that they are, therefore, natural supervisors. I've met entirely too many women like this who've treated me, personally, as some sort of servant w/o even having any idea of who I am - just b/c I'm a man who fits their stereotype of subhuman.
But keep in mind that this is parody. The protagonist is not particularly intelligent so when he 1st encounters a woman from this matriarchy & thinks: "Not a very attractive woman, for she wore no make-up" he's expressed the sexist bias of the culture he comes from & not necessarily those of the authors. 20pp later when he thinks: "How could any female - no single member of which class had ever painted a great picture, written a great book, composed a great sonata, or discovered a great scientific truth - appreciate the ultimate importance of the F[aster]-T[han]-L[ight] drive?" the joke is ultimately on him (& on the reader) as later events will attest. B/c 12pp later there's "In his snobbishness he never realized that he was guilty of the most frightful arrogance in assuming that what he could do, she could not."
Near the end of the bk, on a planet at 1st mistaken for the legendary "Earth", an ancient text called "Ultra-Jones-Ism, An Infantile Political Disorder" is mentioned in passing. This is, most likely, a parody of Lenin's "Left-Wing Communism, an Infantile Disorder: A Popular Essay in Marxian Strategy and Tactics" (see GoodReads reviews of this latter here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48... ).
November 23, 2020
Pocitovo standardna 50's sci fi. Z 54ho.
Klise (ale v dobe pisania mozno este neboli tieto klise tak silne ako su dnes):
Hlavny hrdina cestuje po roznych planetach aby nasiel vysvetlenie upadku komunikacie v galaxii.
-prva planeta sa znicila vo vojne
-na druhej planete vladnu geronti, ktori zotrocuju mladsich ludi (a satira na demokraticke volby)
-na tretej vladne matriarchat a zrovnopravnovanie pohlavi je tvrdo trestane
-na stvrtej planete sa geneticky tak zrovnali, ze su vsetci prakticky totozni a nepouzitelni
-a Zem je plna blbeckov ako v idiokracii, ktorych strazi inteligentna mensina, aby si neublizili
Dobre:
Helena z druhej planety, ktora neprijemne narusa silne presvedcenie hlavneho hrdinu, ze zeny maju byt technicky neschopne a prakticky nepouzitelne kvetinky. Celkovo nechapem ako niektori reviewery toto povazuju za sexisticku knizku. Holt ironia, satira a reflekcia zjavne nie su pre moderne publikum...
Vtipna posadka generacnej lode (ked sa na 7 planetach nepodari pristat, uroven v malej skupine ide dost dole...)
Zle:
Epizodicky charakter, vlazny koniec
Tri hviezdicky ako audiobook, dost mozno v papierovej podobe este pol hviezdicky stiahnem a zaokruhlim na dve. Nenadchne, neurazi.
Klise (ale v dobe pisania mozno este neboli tieto klise tak silne ako su dnes):
Hlavny hrdina cestuje po roznych planetach aby nasiel vysvetlenie upadku komunikacie v galaxii.
-prva planeta sa znicila vo vojne
-na druhej planete vladnu geronti, ktori zotrocuju mladsich ludi (a satira na demokraticke volby)
-na tretej vladne matriarchat a zrovnopravnovanie pohlavi je tvrdo trestane
-na stvrtej planete sa geneticky tak zrovnali, ze su vsetci prakticky totozni a nepouzitelni
-a Zem je plna blbeckov ako v idiokracii, ktorych strazi inteligentna mensina, aby si neublizili
Dobre:
Helena z druhej planety, ktora neprijemne narusa silne presvedcenie hlavneho hrdinu, ze zeny maju byt technicky neschopne a prakticky nepouzitelne kvetinky. Celkovo nechapem ako niektori reviewery toto povazuju za sexisticku knizku. Holt ironia, satira a reflekcia zjavne nie su pre moderne publikum...
Vtipna posadka generacnej lode (ked sa na 7 planetach nepodari pristat, uroven v malej skupine ide dost dole...)
Zle:
Epizodicky charakter, vlazny koniec
Tri hviezdicky ako audiobook, dost mozno v papierovej podobe este pol hviezdicky stiahnem a zaokruhlim na dve. Nenadchne, neurazi.
dnf
February 1, 2017Yep, I've done it again and not finished another book. Search the Sky started well, and I had high hopes, but they didn't last long. I quickly came to dislike the main character, and the setting was depressing. Then in the second chapter the authors used about four strong blasphemies in a paragraph. This was offensive to me but I pressed on a little longer, not wanting to ditch another book. I'd been listening to the librivox audiobook, which while convenient, doesn't allow you to take a decent peek ahead. So I downloaded the Gutenberg version, flipped through, and noticed more blasphemies. That killed it for me. So it's off to the unfinished shelf for Search the Sky.
April 2, 2024
Ear read 2024 (6.75hrs) Written by Frederick Pohl & C. M. Kornbluth. Narrated by Phil Chenevert for Libravox
7/10 A classic science fiction planet hopping tale. Of a traveller going from place to place like Gulliver on his travels, but with science gizmos and societal differences explored too. Like the Wizard of Oz companions were collected along the way to find that question they need answered. When I realised this was happening the story went from quizzical to quaint, and I liked the simple ending I think more because of this realisation.
7/10 A classic science fiction planet hopping tale. Of a traveller going from place to place like Gulliver on his travels, but with science gizmos and societal differences explored too. Like the Wizard of Oz companions were collected along the way to find that question they need answered. When I realised this was happening the story went from quizzical to quaint, and I liked the simple ending I think more because of this realisation.
June 27, 2021
A tightly scripted little adventure, and once again not for the offendables.
November 27, 2025
a rather entertaining adventure though space. attitudes to women definitely reflect the time it was published. ending was abrupt and got rather confusing.
September 11, 2013
I had high hopes for this book, having read another by these authors, a satire about advertising gone wrong. This book follows in the same vein of satire, with travel to different darkened worlds, each gone awry with their own comic problems, which are exaggerations of problems or potential problems in our own culture (as seen through a 1950s lens, reimagined in 1985). There are vignettes that flow quite amusingly, but they're stitched a bit awkwardly together.
I agree with another reviewer, that the authors attempted to show men the problems 1950s women had by switching their roles in places. It's just a bit clumsy.
I agree with another reviewer, that the authors attempted to show men the problems 1950s women had by switching their roles in places. It's just a bit clumsy.
March 3, 2015
An excellent example of SF exploring social ideas and trends. The authors were pretty good as individual writers, but as a team they were truly amazing. Good stuff.
May 4, 2016
Pohl and I don't jive. This one is too disjointed and heavy-handed to praise. Pretty much the cover art is the best part. (Love Richard Powers' art.) Otherwise, only for 1950s completists, I guess.
November 12, 2024
3.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews
Summary
On Halsey's planet, the population is dwindling. Ross working for a firm dependent on the rare interstellar trade ships, is disillusioned and desperate for a more meaningful life. When opportunity comes in the form of task to find out why so many planets have gone silent, he seizes it, and finds far more than he expected.
Review
I’ve read The Space Merchants and a few other books by the Pohl & Kornbluth team, but hadn’t been aware of this book until fairly recently. It includes a number of echoes of The Space Merchants, but is overall very much its own thing.
The story is a bit episodic in nature as our protagonist and his cohort explore a variety of worlds that have in one way or another gone off the grid. But Pohl & Kornbluth build on each episode (picking up a new character in each) rather than letting them stand entirely alone. Each functions as a mini if-this-goes-on exploration of ways humanity can go wrong.
While the book overall is clearly open eyed about the flaws of patriarchy, its protagonist never quite seems to internalize the idea. He’s shocked and dismayed about how men are treated in a matriarchal culture, but can’t seem to get past the idea of patriarchy as the norm from which that one planet has sadly departed. It’s a shame, because the book otherwise comes close to acknowledging some of our societies flaws, but can’t seem to get over the final hurdle convincingly. Given that this is a collaboration, I rather assume that one of the two was more progressive, and couldn’t quite drag the other all the way around.
As an adventure, the book is fun, but it’s the larger idea of the danger of specialization that gives the story heft. I can’t claim that it really delves into the idea deeply, but it does successfully set it out while keeping a light, fast-moving tone.
There are some plot holes, including at the end, when you have to wonder why a group that recognize the central problem didn’t do anything about it themselves. But overall, I give the authors credit for raising some serious issues in an entertaining way, giving the story a more serious layer more than many of the the simple adventure of the day offered.
Summary
On Halsey's planet, the population is dwindling. Ross working for a firm dependent on the rare interstellar trade ships, is disillusioned and desperate for a more meaningful life. When opportunity comes in the form of task to find out why so many planets have gone silent, he seizes it, and finds far more than he expected.
Review
I’ve read The Space Merchants and a few other books by the Pohl & Kornbluth team, but hadn’t been aware of this book until fairly recently. It includes a number of echoes of The Space Merchants, but is overall very much its own thing.
The story is a bit episodic in nature as our protagonist and his cohort explore a variety of worlds that have in one way or another gone off the grid. But Pohl & Kornbluth build on each episode (picking up a new character in each) rather than letting them stand entirely alone. Each functions as a mini if-this-goes-on exploration of ways humanity can go wrong.
While the book overall is clearly open eyed about the flaws of patriarchy, its protagonist never quite seems to internalize the idea. He’s shocked and dismayed about how men are treated in a matriarchal culture, but can’t seem to get past the idea of patriarchy as the norm from which that one planet has sadly departed. It’s a shame, because the book otherwise comes close to acknowledging some of our societies flaws, but can’t seem to get over the final hurdle convincingly. Given that this is a collaboration, I rather assume that one of the two was more progressive, and couldn’t quite drag the other all the way around.
As an adventure, the book is fun, but it’s the larger idea of the danger of specialization that gives the story heft. I can’t claim that it really delves into the idea deeply, but it does successfully set it out while keeping a light, fast-moving tone.
There are some plot holes, including at the end, when you have to wonder why a group that recognize the central problem didn’t do anything about it themselves. But overall, I give the authors credit for raising some serious issues in an entertaining way, giving the story a more serious layer more than many of the the simple adventure of the day offered.
November 25, 2020
"Yes. You had to find us yourself, you know".
A classic line delivered brilliantly, in a restroom, and by an unexpected messenger. That messenger's admission changed my perspective on life and one I have remembered since 1973 when I first read this book. Prior to 1973 and raised in the infallibility of the Catholic Pope, Priests, and really unquestioning obedience to those in power this book opened my eyes to the need to be skeptical of everything from those in authority over others. Or, as one of our presidents once said "trust but verify".
In Search the Sky, the protagonist "Ross" was driven by the need to find the answers to both unanswered questions but also to find answers where the status quo did not make sense. On his planet, Ross was fortunate to have access to a secret warp speed capable spaceship (of course) and his intergalactic travels brought him to many civilizations that had evolved different leadership styles than their home planet of Earth. All his experiences cemented the belief that getting back to Earth would bring him into contact with wise counsels who would provide the answers to all his questions about "why ...?".
Upon landing on Earth Ross was stunned that everyone of working age he met had a meaningless job to keep them busy and to provide a sense of purpose during the day and the primary objective after working was to party. And yet the planet Earth, teaming with cities from coast to coast, seemed to function wonderfully. Finally, after much searching for someone who understood why humanity had evolved this way, in a public restroom, Ross found his answers when the shoeshine man looked up and responded to his exasperated cry.
My takeaway; 1) we need leaders but we should be skeptical of their moral compass and the depth and breadth of their process for decision making, 2) our world is populated by people with a servant's heart who may not be suited for leadership but are essential for the forward progress of our society's Life, Liberty, and our pursuit of Happiness and 3) be always curious and seek the truth
A classic line delivered brilliantly, in a restroom, and by an unexpected messenger. That messenger's admission changed my perspective on life and one I have remembered since 1973 when I first read this book. Prior to 1973 and raised in the infallibility of the Catholic Pope, Priests, and really unquestioning obedience to those in power this book opened my eyes to the need to be skeptical of everything from those in authority over others. Or, as one of our presidents once said "trust but verify".
In Search the Sky, the protagonist "Ross" was driven by the need to find the answers to both unanswered questions but also to find answers where the status quo did not make sense. On his planet, Ross was fortunate to have access to a secret warp speed capable spaceship (of course) and his intergalactic travels brought him to many civilizations that had evolved different leadership styles than their home planet of Earth. All his experiences cemented the belief that getting back to Earth would bring him into contact with wise counsels who would provide the answers to all his questions about "why ...?".
Upon landing on Earth Ross was stunned that everyone of working age he met had a meaningless job to keep them busy and to provide a sense of purpose during the day and the primary objective after working was to party. And yet the planet Earth, teaming with cities from coast to coast, seemed to function wonderfully. Finally, after much searching for someone who understood why humanity had evolved this way, in a public restroom, Ross found his answers when the shoeshine man looked up and responded to his exasperated cry.
My takeaway; 1) we need leaders but we should be skeptical of their moral compass and the depth and breadth of their process for decision making, 2) our world is populated by people with a servant's heart who may not be suited for leadership but are essential for the forward progress of our society's Life, Liberty, and our pursuit of Happiness and 3) be always curious and seek the truth
August 17, 2025
Pohl and Kornbluth, every one by himself and together, are amazing world-builders, and they have proved it repeatedly through books like Space Merchants or Wolfsbane, from where Matrix probably took one idea or maybe two.
In this case, it’s a very classical space-opera setting: space explorer jumping from world to world looking for something, in this case Earth and why every world that was colonized little by little went into stagnation and possibly death. He gets in on the secret, and a FTL ship for his troubles, and tries to look for other people who also share the secret and are able to explain or stop the decay.
The first world he falls into is a gerontocracy, where old people literally dominate the rest of the population. Second one is a matriarchal society. Third one is populated by people called Jones who are stupid and look the same (and not looking the same is punished). Finally, they reach earth where everybody knows how to party but little else.
I am not totally sure what to make of this book, written in the 60s; namely, how to split what characters say and how they act from what they authors think; I tend to think, looking at Space Merchants and others, that they try to be ironic rather than catastrophists, which is why I give it 4 stars instead of just 2 or 3. The message, however, is close to the one in the movie “Idiocracy” and it is kinda of on point, but sometimes the background is too neo-Malthusian for comfort.
At the end of the day, it’s a classic, entertaining sci-if as they used to write. And in a free edition too.
In this case, it’s a very classical space-opera setting: space explorer jumping from world to world looking for something, in this case Earth and why every world that was colonized little by little went into stagnation and possibly death. He gets in on the secret, and a FTL ship for his troubles, and tries to look for other people who also share the secret and are able to explain or stop the decay.
The first world he falls into is a gerontocracy, where old people literally dominate the rest of the population. Second one is a matriarchal society. Third one is populated by people called Jones who are stupid and look the same (and not looking the same is punished). Finally, they reach earth where everybody knows how to party but little else.
I am not totally sure what to make of this book, written in the 60s; namely, how to split what characters say and how they act from what they authors think; I tend to think, looking at Space Merchants and others, that they try to be ironic rather than catastrophists, which is why I give it 4 stars instead of just 2 or 3. The message, however, is close to the one in the movie “Idiocracy” and it is kinda of on point, but sometimes the background is too neo-Malthusian for comfort.
At the end of the day, it’s a classic, entertaining sci-if as they used to write. And in a free edition too.
February 12, 2019
Part echoes of "Gulliver's Travels," part foreshadowing of "Idiocracy," this slim satirical novel is every bit as compelling as the authors' previous collaboration, "The Space Merchants." This is not high-brow stuff, and at times it can be a bit predictable. But that in no way detracts from its charms, which have aged well since this book was first published 65 years ago. At its core there is actually a thought-provoking premise surrounding the subject of genetic drift, but the authors keep their tongues in their respective cheeks from beginning to end, sometimes with laugh-out-loud results which the passage of time has hardly diminished. Naturally, the mores of the 1950s are on prominent display, but this is hardly an egregious flaw. Once again the authors manage to incorporate a central female character who defies expectations and obtains the upper hand more than once, despite the cultural stereotypes of the era. As a quick, light read which is genuinely funny, this comes highly recommended.
October 31, 2019
extremely boring and anti climactic, you wait the whole book for something to happen.......really..and I love kornbluth.......this must have been most pohl......kornbluth is supposed ot have been co author.......I could write better easily.......Jack Vance and AE Van Vogt destory this easily......no ideas......not even a resolution as to the big question......and a bad democrat scifi idea that a homogenous poulatin is bad perhaps political in promoting the evil of free trade and migration.....which vox day and ian fletcher on youtube easily disprove.....sneeky democrat politics in book for brainwashing......much prefer planets for sale by van vogt or the great explosion by eric frank russel which is liek my favorite book ever.......I wish geln cook would do a book about space travel to colonies that don't want to be centally controlled......the voyage to yesteryear is alos a way better novel on this space colony theme.......many of these I mentioned could be fantastic movies
October 3, 2021
From a time (1954) when Science fiction was going through a largely critically overlooked golden age, this doesn't disappoint, even if it isn't quite up to the ridiculously high standard set by 'The Space Merchants' (Inexplicably only available in its magazine form on Kindle) and 'Gladiator-at-Law'. Good plot, patchy detail, but likeable. There's a eugenics-based sub-text which I find somewhat unsettling (basically, they aver that, as stupid people give birth to more children than clever folk, so the world will become progressively more stupid... which ignores the actuality that sometimes stupid peopel give birth to clever ones). Despite this, a great read from an underrated team. I also recommend Kornbluth's 'Syndic' and Pohl's 'Slave Ship' (Also inexplicably unavailable on Kindle) from their solo output...
March 11, 2019
I was hoping for a grand old time but, unfortunately, this wasn't it. I quite enjoyed Pohl & Cornbluth collaborations in the past - particularly their epic satire The Space Merchants. I was hoping for more but was let down. If this was a classic satire, it is now less so and quite dated. The storytelling is not very smooth, either. It seems to jump around with gaps in action and logic that need some explanation. It does have a Gulliver's Travels kind of feel to it, it is obviously inspired by that story. Alas, it's a bit too cliched regarding its satire and social commentary. Some amusing bits but not much else here.
My copy is a first edition paperback from Ballantine Books.
My copy is a first edition paperback from Ballantine Books.
August 4, 2021
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
I like that the characters travel to the different colonized planets and get to experience what happened on each planet with the culture as they try to discover what happened to the satellite that kept them in communication with earth. It very thought provoking as to what could happen with the different cultures and colonies of the people of earth left to colonize other planets.
This book particularly was not my cup of tea. But it was an interesting book nonetheless. If you like space adventures, learning about cultures then this is the book for you.
I like that the characters travel to the different colonized planets and get to experience what happened on each planet with the culture as they try to discover what happened to the satellite that kept them in communication with earth. It very thought provoking as to what could happen with the different cultures and colonies of the people of earth left to colonize other planets.
This book particularly was not my cup of tea. But it was an interesting book nonetheless. If you like space adventures, learning about cultures then this is the book for you.
January 27, 2020
Improbable and a little too obviously allegorical, neither the fiction nor the philosophy behind it is particularly impressive and neither the writing style nor much of the content has aged particularly well into the 21st century. It's not a total loss. The parts that aren't painfully drawn out are somewhat entertaining and, despite being culturally anachronistic to a fault, a couple of the characters and situations strike curiously close to our current reality in a haphazard, unintentionally ironic way. I wouldn't go out of my way to pick this up, but it's not a complete waste of time.
February 7, 2020
This is real sci-fi and it carries a message. In a way, this story, published in 1954, can be considered "woke" being as the message is pro-diversity. I liked the pacing. The story sub-genre is a sort of travelogue in that the protaganist goes from planet-to-planet where he faces a different set of challenges. Dorothy Gale in the Wonderful World of Oz is the same. In one chapter, she and her companions face the Hammerheads (ouch!) or the Wheelers or the Flatheads. But Pohl and Cornbuth stiche the pieces into a coherent whole.
August 12, 2024
I rated this novel " B " when I read it January 3, 1973.
My rating system:
Since Goodreads only allows 1 to 5 stars (no half-stars), you have no option but to be ruthless. I reserve one star for a book that is a BOMB - or poor (equivalent to a letter grade of F, E, or at most D). Progressing upwards, 2 stars is equivalent to C (C -, C or C+), 3 stars (equals B - or B), 4 stars (equals B+ or A -), and 5 stars (equals A or A+). As a result, I maximize my rating space for good books, and don't waste half or more of that rating space on books that are of marginal quality.
My rating system:
Since Goodreads only allows 1 to 5 stars (no half-stars), you have no option but to be ruthless. I reserve one star for a book that is a BOMB - or poor (equivalent to a letter grade of F, E, or at most D). Progressing upwards, 2 stars is equivalent to C (C -, C or C+), 3 stars (equals B - or B), 4 stars (equals B+ or A -), and 5 stars (equals A or A+). As a result, I maximize my rating space for good books, and don't waste half or more of that rating space on books that are of marginal quality.
August 3, 2017
Satiirilise alatooniga romaan inimkonna geneetilisest degenereerumisest. Teema eest võiks saada lausa neli tärni, teostuse eest annaks kaks tärni, kokku tulebki nende kahe keskmine, ehk 3. Minu meelest üks akuutsemaid teemasid üldse, eriti idee inimkonna jagunemisest füüsiliselt arenenud, ent vaimselt alaarenuteks (hedonistlikud lõbutsejad) ning vaimselt arenenud, ent füüsiliselt alaarenenud osaks.
July 2, 2018
Search The Sky was a re-read for me, but I hadn't read it for 20+ years so if was fairly fresh. Its a simple tale that in some ways reminded me of Gulliver's Travels in that an explorer visits different lands or in this case planets that have gone "off the air". Its entertaining, but suffers from the fact that science fiction style has move one and this one is left behind in the 1950s.
Worth a read to look back, but not a book I will read again anytime soon.
Worth a read to look back, but not a book I will read again anytime soon.
September 7, 2018
It was just ok for me. Of course it's a satire, but I was unsure if the writer actually expected it to be funny. I certainly never chuckled, let aone laughed out loud while reading it. Overall, I guess it made some good points. My interpretation of the ending and overall meaning was that diversity in necessary to a positive, successful culture. I believe that was forward thinking at the time of it's writing, so definitely it deserves credit for that.
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