Review for publication elsewhere.
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Car-En, a ringstation anthropologist on her first Earth field assignment, observes a Viking-like village in the Harz mountains.

I don't normally read sci-fi/fantasy, but I made an exception with The Sky Woman and I'm glad I did. This is a solid story with a great lead character and a pretty good plot. I thought the concept of Earth in the 28th century was cool and highly plausible. I dig anthropology and really enjoyed how Car-En observed the community, then engaged after her technology no longer worked.

The story is well researched. I thought it was cool that humans live in ring stations orbiting Earth. All of those things could actually happen. The Sky Woman is a solid story all the way around.

I went into The Sky Woman expecting hard science fiction but this entertaining story which follows multiple narratives is actually an intriguing mix of sci-fi and fantasy. The opening chapter follows Tron, a strong and powerful smith who lives in a simple Viking-like village where he makes arrowheads for a mysterious sounding Burning but must also forge weapons and bodkins to sew leather armour which will protect the villagers against attacks from Haakon, the cruel and dangerous leader from a neighbouring village who has already twice raided Happdal. One in three men and one in five women in the village sicken in early adulthood and his uncle, Bjorn is the latest to be Afflicted. Tron treats his uncle's talk of the gast - an evil forest sprite who destroys minds and steals bodies - to be merely a result of the fevered dreams of a dying man but this turns out to be an important secondary storyline - although more of that later in the review.
When Car-En is introduced in the second chapter, the science-fiction elements of the story come into play as learn about her mission on Earth. As the novel progresses we discover more about why humans who live on a ringstation orbiting Earth are technologically and biologically advanced while those on Earth have devolved to live primitively without much of the knowledge that had been learned over the centuries of human advancement. This, for me, was one of the most fascinating parts of the book and I really enjoyed the occasional excerpts from a paper entitled 'The Four Phases of Earth Depopulation' which serves as an interesting and cautionary explanation of the history of the planet and the reasons behind depopulation and knowledge loss.
Car-En's mission is to observe but not to interact but she finds she becomes attached to the villagers - and Trond's brother, Esper in particular. It's perhaps not surprising that despite their differences, she should feel empathy for what are her fellow humans and can't resist ignoring her orders to just bear witness, instead revealing herself to the villagers and offering to help when Trond and Esper's sister, Katja is abducted. Katja's disappearance is the catalyst for the secondary storyline which is woven well into the plot and involves a complex but engaging subplot involving a sentient quantum framework which has become a sort of prison. I didn't fully understand the physics here but nevertheless found this challenging and ambitious part of the book hugely enjoyable.
My only criticism of The Sky Woman would be the speed at which Car-En and Esper's relationship blossoms. It's not a major problem, however, and is understandable in a fairly short book with such a thoroughly developed and engaging plot which expands on so many different themes and ideas - including the long-term climatic and cultural impacts our current lifestyles may have on the planet, the possibilities for genetic advancements creating almost super-humans, and more relatable questions about home and the universal need to belong. I loved the juxtaposition between the two disparate groups of humans, and the various antagonists who present different yet no less deadly risks to the villagers and Car-En. The Sky Woman is a compelling and vividly imaginative novel which considers a thoughtful and plausible future for humankind and there's definitely scope for more. I would love to find out what happens next, particularly to Car-En whose experiences lead her to make huge decisions about how she wants to live her life. I haven't read as much SFF as I would have liked this year, The Sky Woman has reminded me of what I've been missing and I'll certainly be looking out for more of J.D. Moyer's books in the future.

The Sky Woman, aka Car-En, is an anthropologist sent down to Earth to observe and provide data on a particular village of survivors after specific events reduce the population and send a remaining collection of humans up into space.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, its strength being the novelty of some of the evolutionary aspects along with the yet to be fully understood Crucible, but (and it may be because I’m currently binge watching The 100) some of the apocalyptic aspects felt unoriginal and overplayed.

Only complaint and it’s not something I’d need out of every book, but I just didn’t feel like I connected with any of the characters. Adrian and Katja who were secondary characters for the most part were both pretty intolerable and everyone else was just... there. Not unlikeable but also not someone I was routing for. Would I read more? Absolutely, and that’s the basis for my rating, but maybe flesh out the characters a bit more.

Thanks as always to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

Great book! Car-En, is anthropologist living in a space station above Earth, in the not to distant future. Most of mankind lives in space stations. There are small populations of people left on Earth, that have evolved with new skills. As the story plays out, we hear what caused Earth to depopulate. I found the story fascinating. Car-En becomes emotionally attached to a small village of people. She intervenes against her space stations protocols. Looking forward to the sequel.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review.
Unlike some other reviewers I found this an intriguing and interesting story. Mostly sci-fi with a touch or two of medieval and post-apocalyptic hints. Car-En, the sky woman, of the title, is from a ringstation that orbits an earth that suffered a cataclysmic eruption. Only a smattering of humans survive on the earth, while people from the ringstations watch. There is a plot or two. Bad guys on and off the planet. A little romance and basically a warning to not look a gift planet in the mouth.
All in all I really enjoyed the story and look forward to more in this world.

The Sky Woman is an interesting blend of historical and sci-fi elements, that really brings a rather unique voice to the genre.

Some of you may know this about me, but I was/am an anthropology nerd. I went to college for it (didn't finish) and I love a book that incorporates it in some way, so I jumped on the chance to review The Sky Woman. It's so rare to have something like this in the sci-fi genre, and I thought that the idea of it taking place in the future on Earth even more intriguing. I have to say that The Sky Woman didn't disappoint in providing a unique story and setting.

Earth has gone through a major shift, or a series of severe depopulation cycles and humans have been set back to a new Iron Age. There are however those that live in the ring stations in orbit around the earth, where the technology has continued to advance. There are four narratives at play here. One is with Car-en, an anthropologist charged with observing the local village of Happdal but not interfering. She is set to uncover more about the world that is the aftermath of an over burgeoning of technology and gene modification. The second is with Trond and Esper, two brothers from Happdal that work to protect and provide for their village. The third is Katja, a young woman and sister to Trond and Esper; and lastly Adrian, a politician the ring station who oversees Car-en's progress. I really love getting to know these characters and seeing them interact with each other, though admittedly I didn't precisely connect with any of them. They have rather unique voices and points of view, and they all go through something different. It takes some time but their stories all blend together in a rather unexpected way. The one major issues I had with the characters was the relationship that forms between Car-en and Esper. I just didn't see where it came from or the basis of it.

The setting and history of this version of Earth are really cool! I loved the blind of science fiction technology with the rustic iron age advancements, and how these two conflict and join together all at the same time. I enjoyed getting to know more about the downfall of humanity and how most of the history has been lost to those in the earth villages, even though much of the remnants remain in some way. The one issues I had was with the 'articles' included, which were interesting but very info-dumpy in terms of background information. I appreciated getting to see the how's and why's of the situation, but it didn't just flow as well as the rest of it.

There are a lot of elements in the novel as you can see, and for the most part all of it works. I only have a few issues. Overall I think this is one to check out if you like a more deliberately paced and careful sci-fi. I will definitely be looking forward to the second book when it comes out!

In determining the fate of planet Earth (actually the history of Earth at this stage in the story), so many popular disaster theories have been brought into the mix. A series of events has de-populated Earth. Low birth rates, extreme economic decline, cultural collapse, and natural disasters, culminating in the catastrophic eruption of a Mediterranean supervolcano. The Sky Woman takes place on and above a post-apocalyptic Earth, centuries later when the earth is becoming habitable and civilization is making a comeback. This is a fascinating future Earth, where those that escaped the apocalypse live in the sky, in ringstations.

The viking-like village of Happdal that Car-En is assigned to observe seems to be very much like their ancient ancestors. The practices and rituals seem to have Norse influence. Before the discovery of this village and a few other similar pockets of civilization, it was thought that technologically oriented cultures were extinct.

But discovery of such a village challenges the ringstation people and their plans for repopulating Earth. The people of the ringstations are centuries ahead of the people of Earth – technologically. In their lofty position, they think they are trying to do what is best for Earth and for themselves. Many opinions, and therefore, politics, argue for the best way to move forward. Car-En’s supervisor, Adrian, is one such politician and he will use Car-En to further his own agenda. And when I say use, I actually mean abuse. Technology is not always a good thing. I will leave it at that.

There is a second story line developing alongside the ringstation Repop efforts. It is linked the Repop story line through the residents of Happdal. That is the story of the gast. The gast is thought to be a supernatural creature that abducts people and they are never seen again. Happdal daughter Katja is one such abductee. However, Katja refuses to accept her situation and her efforts to go home will reveal a strange truth about the gast. This seemingly supernatural aspect is intriguing and, giving away nothing, I will tell you that I am anxious to see how it will mesh with the ringstaton Repop story line.

I really like the character of Car-En, the unobjective anthropologist. Watching the village people, she gets caught up in their lives which leads her to defy her boss and go off the grid, so to speak, in order to help them. The book blurb might lead you to believe she will become involved romantically with Happdal resident Esper. In fact, the sub-title inludes the phrase “an Epic Struggle of Love….”. It’s not really that. It is just two characters that become a couple, but the romance aspect of their relationship is not part of the story. It just happens. I just wanted to let you know in case you are looking for romance. It’s not really there, except as implied.

Which does not detract from the story at all. The Sky Woman scores on so many points. Great characters (I include the ostensible bad guy Adrian), several intertwining complex stories, a highly imaginative future Earth for a setting and the possibility of exciting future installments.

I also love the cover!

The end of The Sky Woman definitely leaves some things hanging. At the end of the book, there is an interview style Q&A with J.D. Moyer where he states, the next book, The Guardian, is in the works. I do classify this as a cliff-hanger, but because so much was resolved, I deduct only a half of a star, making this a 4 ½ star book. So yes, I’ll round to 5 for the popular review sites.

Through NetGalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A pretty good premise for a story. But for me, it just dragged on in way too many places, unfortunately. Really enjoyed getting to know the characters.