LitPick Review
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Skyclyffe is about an ordinary boy who gets sucked into an amazing world full of alien technology and flying ships. Rex is living with his mom when they take a vacation to visit his aunt and uncle on a farm. On the flight there, Rex sees a girl in the clouds. He stares in disbelief, for it doesn’t seem like a figment of his imagination. He quickly pulls out a sketchbook to try to recreate the image he has witnessed, but Cloudgirl is already gone. When Rex and his mom get to the farm, he finds that his uncle isn’t the fun person he'd imagined—he’s a mean old man who makes fun of Rex and his mom, calling them names and teasing his mom about her past. His aunt, on the other hand, is an extremely nice woman, and she welcomes them with hugs and joyful remarks.
But Rex’s favorite is Radar, the German shepherd that lives with his relatives. Rex spends a lot of time throwing toys for the dog to fetch. One day, his uncle takes Rex, his mom, and Radar out flying in his private plane. When the plane shuts down, they are abducted by what could only be aliens! However, once they get out of the plane and onto the massive airship they were sucked into, they find it is fellow humans who have kidnapped the family. Skycliffe, the airship, is a vast community of people living in peace. But as they stay on the ship, Rex begins to doubt himself.
Opinion:
Skyclyffe is a great book with a lot of good ideas, and the fiction had enough science that it seemed more like electricity and wires than smoke and mirrors. The characters were distinct, and you could tell what someone would do based on their personality. I loved the imagery that the author keeps the tension building throughout the narrative. Can Rex really stay on this airship forever? What is the life-altering decision Rex must make, and what will he decide? What about Rex's aunt? She has no idea where they are or what they are doing! The plot makes sense as it unfolds—as much as any science fiction book can. However, I had a hard time remembering all of the different names throughout the story. Overall, though, it is an amazing science-fiction book.
