Review: Sky Full of Elephants

Author: Cebo Campbell

Genre: Science Fiction, Literary Fiction

Rating: 4 /5

Features:

• Road trip across a post cataclysmic American

• Estranged father and daughter going on a journey together

• A challenging, philosophical exploration of race and identity

Summary

The day all of the white people in America suddenly disappeared into the nearest body of water was the day Charles Burton was freed from prison. A year later, Charles finds himself at Howard University working as a respected professor of electric and solar power systems. But even as Charles helps the world move forward, he still finds himself haunted by his past. When Sidney, the daughter he has never met, calls to ask for his help, Charles is forced to confront the shadows that have been following him even before that fateful day. For Sidney, Charles is her last hope to get to Alabama, the only place she might belong after watching her family drown. But as the two make the perilous journey South, they will learn more about themselves, each other, and the world than they could ever have imagined.

Thoughts

This thought provoking book encourages you to embrace discomfort and go on a philosophical journey centered on race and identity. I think it is important to state from the start that this book does an excellent job framing the disappearance of all white people as a traumatic, cataclysmic tragedy while simultaneously celebrating the fortitude of the Black community and how those left behind are trying to embrace this new world. Charles is a fascinating and complicated character and I love how his own experiences are juxtaposed to Sidney’s. Their literal and philosophical road trip gets more and more fascinating as they see more of the new world and begin to question and change. This book definitely took some unexpected turns and I was definitely there for the journey. Not a lot of books will make you pause and reflect the way Sky Full of Elephants does, and I really appreciate it for that alone. If you are willing to embrace a little discomfort and suspend a little disbelief, this story is a wonderful thought experiment to engage with. 

This book’s approach to the “what if” scenario it introduces definitely focuses more on the exploration of social identity rather than a literal, nuanced depiction of ‘the world after’. Though the world as a whole is believable (despite some of the magical realism elements), I couldn’t help but feel like things would be a whole lot more complicated than how they were presented. The characters mention some of the broader implications of losing so many people at once, but I felt the emptiness of the world more than I got to see some of the complicated dynamics of a society redefining itself. This got much better in the later half of the story and some of this could have just been due to the limited world view of the characters through whom the story was told. Still, there were definitely some avenues I wish were explored a little more. 

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Special thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!