Sky Horizon

by David Brin, David Brin

"Some of the Math Club nerds have got a real live alien! They're hiding it in a basement rec room." High School junior Mark Bamford didn't believe the silly rumor. For one thing, California homes don't have basements. Besides. A stranded alien? Such a cliche. A movie rip-off. Couldn't the math geeks think up a better hoax? Only... was it a hoax? What about all those black vans from the super-secret Cirrocco Corp cruising all over town, as if searching for something? Time to do some investigating of his own. Only, who could he turn to for help? The skateboarding "X" crowd? The varsity climbing team? When it it came right down to it, should he turn to the least likely ally of them all? Sky Horizon explores a possibility that has always fascinated, since the days of Homer -- that of strangers from beyond -- and gives it new shape under the deft hand of one of science fiction's modern masters.

Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult

121 pages, Hardcover

First published August 20, 2007

About the author

David Brin is a scientist, speaker, and world-known author. His novels have been New York Times Bestsellers, winning multiple Hugo, Nebula and other awards. At least a dozen have been translated into more than twenty languages.

Existence, his latest novel, offers an unusual scenario for first contact. His ecological thriller, Earth, foreshadowed global warming, cyberwarfare and near-future trends such as the World Wide Web. A movie, directed by Kevin Costner, was loosely based on his post-apocalyptic novel, The Postman. Startide Rising won the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best novel. The Uplift War also won the Hugo Award.

His non-fiction book -- The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Freedom and Privacy? -- deals with secrecy in the modern world. It won the Freedom of Speech Prize from the American Library Association.

Brin serves on advisory committees dealing with subjects as diverse as national defense and homeland security, astronomy and space exploration, SETI, nanotechnology, and philanthropy.

David appears frequently on TV, including "The Universe" and on the History Channel's "Life After People."

Full and updated at:

http://www.davidbrin.com/biography.htm

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have long been a fan of David Brin ever since I read his tales of Uplift. So when I found out that one of his titles was to be published by Subterranean Press I was both fascinated and worried. Fascinated since it was a title I knew very little about and in Subterranean Press's usual style they were rather coy about details of what the story was and where it had come form. I was also a little worried that I would never get to read it - as again the publisher is renowned for limited and number print runs which by their very nature make they rare and expensive.

So you can imagine my surprise and delight when the opportunity arose to not only read but also own this title. Well here is the review resulting from that lucky opportunity.

Okay so what to say without giving anything away about the book first of all even though it is a numbered edition it was in fact intended by the author to be the start of a larger series- although I cannot find any signs of any more titles in the series it most certainly is written as an introduction to a larger and longer story.

I will have to say that at this point although the book is written in most definitely recognisable Brin style the story feels so familiar so much so that I now have the specific TV show running around in my head and I am struggle not to make mention of it here. Suffice to say that the story is interesting but I do not feel the surprise and appreciation of a new and unique story - the feelings I would have from say when I read one of his other books.

Okay so that aside - it is still a good read and I am still pleased I had the chance to read and own it - but I would like to know what happens next and sadly I cannot see any signs of that happening any time soon.

[Johnny · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I were to offer a high concept for Sky Horizon as though I were pitching a Hollywood film, I would call it, “E.T. meets Sweetwater High.” In fact, the text even alludes to the classic film with a “phone home” reference (p. 53). The novel wasn’t shelved in the Young Adult section of our library; it was shelved in science-fiction. It was an attractive hard cover with beautifully rendered black and white illustrations (demonstrative of an artist, one Scott Hampton, who took his commission seriously enough to get the scenes just right) and an autograph from the author (not something I usually see in my library). So, I checked out the book and didn’t read it for several days until I cleared some other volumes. Imagine my surprise when I realized it was directed at an adolescent audience.

But, hey! Spiderman had an adolescent protagonist; he had to deal with bullying and being locked out of the “cool kids” clique.
Since I enjoyed that comic as an adult, I should give this one a try (not to mention the fact that I read all of the Harry Potter novels, right?). This novel seems to be built around, not only the idea of what one should morally do with a “xenoanthropoid,” but seems to be constructed around the following Arabic proverb: “Question the very thing you want to believe.” (p. 33) Later, in the kind of class discussion many of us wish we could have had in a high school history class, the instructor leads the students to realize that the entire entertainment industry seems to be about getting its customers to pay to see something they already believed (p. 65).

The most valuable part of the book may well be the idea that any kind of “first contact” between modern society and alien culture is liable to be as potentially disruptive as the encounter of Native Americans with the Europeans during the colonial era. Brin does a good job of conveying this concept through both the academic life and thought life of the protagonist. Then, he offers a story that speculates on the potential repercussions of this with an advanced, starfaring civilization when the civilization in question believes it owes a “favor” to the indigenous population. One wonders what kind of “Promethean Fire” such a “favor” (or “gift”) would be.

I won’t risk offering a spoiler on the conclusion of Sky Horizon, but I will go so far as to indicate that it is not an E.T. ending. I rather liked it and I think most readers will find it appropriate and intriguing. Of course, a more cynical reviewer might suggest that the best line in the entire book was the author’s description of high school: “…the modern form of incarceration for those found guilty of being young.” (p. 58) Sometimes, I think that’s how my students would describe their university experiences, too.

[Fred Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this charming story a group of teenagers rescue an alien that has crashed.

Much like in ET the teenagers initially try to hide him but greed wins out and they start displaying him for money. Soon a group of older teenagers steels him with even bigger plans to cash in.

Eventually the alien is recovered by adults intent on communication with the alien, which they do. And they even send a message to the aliens home world.

After the alien is recovered his fellow aliens state that they will give Earth a gift as a reward, which gets everyone chattering about what such a gift could be.

There is a big twist at the end which came as a complete surprise to me and I’m sure will be to you as well.

A light and enjoyable read

[Fiachra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was testing the waters between starting this or a Kelley Armstrong so I read the first chapter of each, it was remarkable how much more comfortable and enjoyable this was by comparison. Just the writing, tone, and narration felt much smoother.

It was an interesting short story and whole I could see the rails this plot was taking I felt at the end it was just long enough to feel like a substantial introduction to a world while not so long as to be a commitment. Interesting plot, dealing with young adults and though by the end of the story they're showing the potential to be interesting people, the process of getting to that point can feel a little underwhelming as they're teenage problems which the grow through overcoming. Left with a feeling like I want a novel to follow it up. This is similar to how I felt having listened to the audiobook for StoneFather by Orson Scott Card, it left me dying to explore any more content in that world. I was grateful to find a trilogy of books (The Lost Gate) to follow it up which is to date one of my favourite series.

I digress, trying to say I look forward to the follow up to this book.

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Brin, and eagerly grabbed this book as soon as it became available, but I think I'm just not the audience for this one (part of the problem is that it's only 120 pages long, and clearly a setup for longer story (which I hope to see someday)). My biggest problem with the book is that the key moment for the main character is when he is faced with a difficult choice - both morally and practically - and comes up with a solution that satisfies both morals and practicalities. This (it seems to me) should be the center of the story, but instead, we skip past the moment of insight when our hero comes up with his (very good) solution, to the aftermath. In a longer work, that would be satisfying - our hero having shown his mettle would then be faced with harder problems in which the readers would be shown the hard work of finding solutions, but here, going onto the aftermath seems like skipping the important part (the effort that went into coming up with a solution to the hero's problem).

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish it. Too lame. Some scientist's kid with an Indiana-Jones background stumbles into a group of nerds who have an alien in the basement or something. Honestly, I didn't get very far because it was too silly and not interesting enough.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't exactly enjoy this book, but let me explain the 3 stars... I loved the idea it's segueing into for a following series of books (which I hope are written soon!), and I enjoyed the author's ideas, thoughts, and concerns about popular modern ideas and propoganda.

[Trixydan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where is the rest of it!?!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice counter-narrative to Independence Day and ET. Wee bit didactic, but a great pop at the end.

[Daniel Cornwall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast read. Fun for what it is. The alien race could have been written by Douglas Adams.