This story was quite interesting, it had great bones, but I feel like the author dismissed all of the other political systems in place. I don’t think society would collapse like it did in this story. One passage says they were souring the universities to find doctors, paramedics, attorneys, pilots, etc. as if black professionals did not exist. Hello, have you ever been to Washington DC? Not to mention the brotherhood of the police force and hierarchy of government. I have a very hard time believing that these systems would entirely come to a halt, it would have made more sense to me if this story took place decades after the event. Again, good bones, but I have a hard time with plot holes as large as these.

My largest issue with the book is a massive spoiler so I will post it on my Goodreads, but essentially the idea of genocide to cope with a wrong doesn’t sit well with me. I am conflicted because I understand what the author was attempting to convey, but I feel the book could have explained the event or what caused it without this. IYKYK. Then again, maybe this book is meant to cause conversation around why the event happened, it is controversial to say the least. I think this book’s main aim is to make white people feel uncomfortable, I have yet to see a review from someone lacking melanin (please tag me if you see one) I am very interested in their take on this book.

I will definitely pick up another book from this author as it was just his debut, I love a controversial and thought-provoking book. Another one that comes to mind is Babel: the necessity of violence.

"Like the walkers, she too had conformed her life to the shape of its negative space, defined in the contrast of a bright white background.”

In Cebo Campbell’s debut novel ‘Sky Full of Elephants’ we are taken to a different America, a year after a mysterious and appearingly inexplicable event that has vanished the white population. We follow Charlie Brunton, formerly incarcerated, now a professor at Howard University, as he receives a phone call from his estranged daughter Sidney, biracial, who has been living in isolation since the event that resulted in the loss of her family. What ensues is an adventure that will require you to suspend disbelief to explore self-actualization, black consciousness, labels, trauma, community, redemption, and all its complexities.

When I heard this story’s premise, I was immediately intrigued. But once I watched one of Cebo’s interviews, in which he explained how inspired he was by Toni Morrison's writing outside of the white gaze, I knew I had to read it, and I wasn’t disappointed.

This is not a ‘revenge fantasy’ or ‘wish-fulfillment’ story, so please do not mistake it as such. The setup is to allow space for a meaningful conversation and exploration around the ways black people are shaped by whiteness and what happens if whiteness is not the focal point. This is not a perfect society. Some thrive, but some struggle and crave things to return to what’s familiar, creating drama/tension.

It is poetic prose and an engaging narrative, and I really enjoyed listening to it on audio as I read. I flew through this within a few days. It is thought-provoking, evocative, compelling, and unique, with an ambiguous ending, but the message is sung clearly.

I loved how the focus was not on ‘the event’ but on what is to be made of the world after it—how perceptions of ourselves shift, what holes are left, and what is created to fill its absence.

The title ‘Sky Full of Elephants’ refers to the idea of an unseen heavyweight that hovers above but, if released, can be crushing, making you reflect on that version in real life.

I love stories that challenge, spark conversation, and explore the elephants in the sky in a compelling, unique, and heartfelt way, which Cebo accomplishes.

Overall, I loved the sentiment, and it's ideal for readers who enjoy speculative fiction and magical realism and seek thought-provoking stories.

Thank you, S&S!

**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 that this one 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.

I thought the premise of this book was interesting and unique; the execution fell a bit flat. The first third of the book rides on the premise and kept my attention, but then it got very didactic and long-winded and I just didn't care about the characters enough. I noticed myself starting to skim just to get to find out what happens when they get to their destination. I did enjoy the eerie vibes--similar to The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta. The father-daughter journey story reminded me of "The Last of Us" and I liked that too. I just felt like the story fell flat at the halfway mark.

Sky of Elephants is a speculative fiction base on race: what happens to America when one day all white people, for some mysterious reason, all get hypnotized and all walk toward the closest body of water and drown. Sydney did everything she could to prevent her mother from walking all the way into the water. To no avail. As as result, she loses her mom, step-father, and 2 brothers. She is all alone. She gets a message that there are still some of "them" down in Orange Beach, AL. The only person left in the world would could help her get to Orange Beach is her father, whom she never met. Sydney is mixed race: white mom, black biological dad. But she were raised in "white" household and environment. So meeting her father Charlie is difficult for her. She does not understand the US vs them talk. She is angry.

The book started off great! It gave me Leave the World Behind vibes and I was really into the new-found family storyline between Sydney and Charlie. I wanted to see how they would reconcile and go about create a father-daughter relationship. I was also curious to find out what made white people drown. Unfortunately, I hated the part in Mobile and that royalty storyline. It was idiotic, not interesting, and the book lost me. The story got weak at that point and lost interest.

I’m not quite sure how I feel about Sky Full of Elephants. It was more literary than I typically read. I guess I was expecting something more apocalyptic or dystopian which are my preferred genres.

I did really enjoy this story for about the first 75% but became extremely uncomfortable for the last part which is what I’m seeing in many reviews.

I really loved Charlie’s character but wanted to shake Sidney throughout most of the book.

All in all I’m really glad I read this as there was much I learned.

*Thanks so much to Simon Books for the eGalley!*

A speculative fiction novel with dashes of science fiction, dystopian, and magical realism — all wrapped up in a road trip book of sorts. When Sky Full of Elephants begins, we are one year out from a large-scale mass suicide — with no warning one day all the white people in the United States turned and walked themselves into the nearest body of water and drowned.

Charlie Brunton gets a call from the biracial daughter he's never met, who has grown up with her white mother and step-family in Wisconsin. Sidney, calling on the favor of his biological relationship, all but demands he drive to her in Wisconsin and then take her to Alabama, where she believes there is a colony of the few remaining white people.

In typical roadtrip fashion, they stop a few places, meet new people, and head to Alabama. But in Campbell's construct there are some key differences as a result of the sudden and swift absence of white people. The power grid is spotty across the country, and when they arrive at Chicago O'Hare they learn of the new rules that are in place: no money is needed or exchanged, there are no schedules for planes, taking a ticket allows you to stay for seven days in the airport itself, but if you leave you can't return for thirty days. On top of that, Alabama has been sealed off and gained a king to rule over it. There is a no-fly zone over the entire state, so it's up to Charlie and Sidney to persuade a pilot (named Sailor, no doubt) to fly them as close as possible. From there they drive into the Kingdom of Alabama and discover an entirely different way of living than one they ever dreamed of before.

I love the concept of this novel — loved it from the summary, and I even love the part I laid out above in the preceding paragraph. But beyond the vaguest sense of the story there, I struggled the entire time with plot hole after plot hole, oversimplified characters and situations, and a utopia installed, when I emphatically believe utopias are not truly possible. While the story does a good job exploring identity through Sidney and Charlie, but there was not nearly enough time nor space spent with these two so they could build a relationship. For the majority of the second half, they were hardly even in the same room together.

In the end, I felt that Campbell broke the unspoken pact between reader and storyteller on too many points — the ground was absolutely littered with countless Chekhov's guns — and he missed the opportunity for a deeper exploration of the themes on which he touched. However, I read the review in Medium, and I happily agree with Zachary Houle in that I look forward to the books to come that this will no doubt inspire.

4.5-5 ⭐️

I have never read anything quite like this but it pulled me in from the first sentence. The author did a great job explaining the concept and making it easy for me to follow. I thought the ordeal of a biracial woman coming into her own and learning about her identity, while getting to form a relationship with her father was handled well. Super creative, thought-provoking, and engaging story.

*Cebo Campbell’s* *A Sky Full of Elephants* presents a bold and thought-provoking exploration of race and identity in a radically transformed America, where all white people have mysteriously disappeared. The novel follows Charlie Brunton, a Black man wrongfully imprisoned, now a professor, as he reconnects with his estranged daughter Sidney, who was abandoned by her white mother. Their journey across this new post-racial landscape forces them to confront not only their strained relationship but also the complex ways in which race and identity are redefined in this altered world.

Campbell skillfully balances heavy themes with humor and heart, as Charlie and Sidney navigate communities that have each responded differently to the disappearance of whiteness. The novel raises profound questions about belonging, power, and the Black experience, while maintaining a focus on the emotional depth of its characters. With its imaginative premise and poignant exploration of human connection, *A Sky Full of Elephants* offers a compelling and timely reflection on race and self-actualization.

This book was amazing.I like how he put fiction and history together. This is a well Put together book about the black people in how they felt in America.. He tells the story through a man named Charles BUT o. N. And his daughter s I d n y. As you read the book, this man goes through many different changes. But the author puts in black history in to explain what. Happening. The white people die in this book. S I d n y lost her mother and her father when this happened. She stayed alone for a year in wisconsin but she reached out to this man named charlie. She wanted to go to alabama to reach her aunt. Charles goes to wisconsin to get his daughter. This is when the book got really interesting because everything was displaced. They meet a pilot mean sailor who has a Daughter. Charles wanted him to fly him to alabama. Sailor thought this was a bad idea, but they did it.Anyway. This is when the book started to explain black history. Charles had a past and the daughter did not know anything about that. When they got to mobile alabama this was occasionally run by black people . This was interesting because his daughter had no idea about her black culture. So many interesting things happen in this book.I highly recommend you read it

I haven’t read much speculative fiction, and what I’ve read I can’t say I’ve loved. However, this book finally showed me the phenomenal stories that can be told by toying with realism.

I was so struck by the ambition of this premise, and the writing is beautiful enough to make the plot’s potential swell. I would’ve enjoyed reading more about the immediate aftermath of the event and the coming-to-be of the world we enter. The characters that we meet were unlike anyone I’ve read about, and I could’ve indulged in at least 100 more pages getting to know them. Overall, I’d say the only problem I had with this book is I’d like to spend more time with it which, all things considered, is a good problem for a book to have. And that leaves me most definitely sat for whatever Campbell comes up with next.

Huge thanks to the publishers for the e-arc!!

Sky Full of Elephants, is a novel set in the aftermath of “The Event” . All the white people in America wake up one day and walk to the nearest body of water and drown themselves. It is an exploration of what it means to be Black in America. It dives into cultural power shifts and reconstruction. With any novel that has a “disappearance”, like Y the Last Man or The Last White Man it, it explore the concept of “otherness”, mixed race people walked into the water if they identified as white. Of course utopia is a concept that cannot exist within human society, because well… human nature. This book does have a great plot twist, but with most magical realism you do have to suspend belief to get past plot holes..

I think I maybe would have enjoyed this a lot more if I read it at a different time and will likely be coming back to it for that reason, but it really didn't hit with me this go around.

Thank you to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This story of speculative fiction finds us in a world where white people have basically have disappeared. Sidney who is mixed race contacts her estranged father, Charlie a college professor, and asks for his help as her mother and the rest of her white family are gone, seeing them walk in the lake. Yet, her mother told her that some of them still exist. She wants to travel to Alabama, an unknown land where it is said the "King" lives, to find if other family members still exist. As they make the perilous journey finding out how much has changed in the world and also learning about each other, they meet the King and more importantly the Queen where the world is natural...how it would have been if Black people were allowed to flourish and retain all their gifts and culture. Charlie finds it beautiful and comforting but Sidney is more lost and seeks finding her family. Charlie is then introduced to an amazing invention that has caused the change in the world but may also be its downfall especially for his relationship with Sidney. I enjoyed the story and imagining a post-racial world, although at the cost of most white people; I hope we can find a better solution in the real world. The author brought up many interesting ideas through this new world that have kept me thinking.

I considered reviewing Sky Full of Elephants because I thought it would be a thought-provoking novel. All the white people in the U.S. have walked into the water and drowned. What would people of color do? Cebo Campbell focuses on the lives of black people, though he does mention a few other people of color, in the wake of a white-less world.

As far as a book for potential discussion with a book club, this would be a great one. A lot of questions come up for the reader and there are several points that are worthy of further discussion.

As far as it is for a story to read. I found that it dragged on and the ending kind of petered out. At about 60%, I really considered not finishing it. It didn't feel like it was going anywhere, or worse that it was going in circles.

I would have liked more world-building that would have made the reader (particularly as a white reader) understand the universe Campbell is creating. I spent about a third of the novel trying to figure out if it was an alternate universe similar to our real world but with more distinctive divides or if it was supposed to be set in our world, present-day. If the latter, then where were the black leaders like former President Obama? The White House is wrecked (some of the descriptions made me think of the January 6 riot on the Capitol) and I wondered about the other politicians of color.

I did lean more toward an alternate universe with more strongly drawn divides. The world Campbell has created seems a lot more black and white (pun not really intended) than our current society. Apparently, all the people in prison are people are black and all the guards are white. While this stereotype is true for the majority, there are white people in prison and black people who are corrections officers. As I mentioned, except for a handle of passing comments there are few other people of color featured in the book.

I was confused by a comment about a quinceañera party that Sidney and Zu watch. It seemed that Zu equated the tradition to a white man's institution. But it has roots in the Aztecs. Then, there is the focus on Mardi Gras. I would consider it as a "white" tradition as European Christians celebrated it back in the Middle Ages. I also found the focus on ancient Egypt odd. From my reading, assigning black or white to ancient Egypt would be inappropriate as that classification is so far removed. Plus they were notorious slave owners throughout their history. This is one of the reasons I would have liked more context and world-building.

The characters were okay. The story is mostly about Sidney's and Charlie's journeys but there are some interesting side characters. There is actually quite a bit of time spent developing the transgender character Zu for them to just disappear from the storyline.

I was left with questions at the end. My biggest question is will black readers come away thinking that the only way to heal the past is to rid the world of white people, or as Charlie briefly states that true healing involves all the colors (at least that's what I understood him to be saying).

If you are looking for a thought-provoking book to discuss with others, then you should get this book.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Saturday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2024/09/sky-full-of-elephants-by-cebo-campbell.html

Words cannot describe how I felt during and after reading this book. Some people will be offended and others will feel empowered, but all will feel it deeply. As a mother, I felt Charlie's need to keep his daughter safe and alive on this planet, which has not been very kind to Black folks. As a black woman, I know we are the path and light to greatness. This book grapples with so many things-the concept of whiteness, how biracial children feel, and collective trauma. What would this country have looked like without the trans Atlantic slave trade and the generational trauma that slavery presented? Shout out to the Haitian people who have always known who they are! Cant wait to see what book club will pick this up. Im recommending this book to everyone who will listen and are willing to free your mind. Part sci-fi, part Afro-futurism, all love.

Sky Full of Elephants starts with a college professor, Charles  Brunton, getting a call from his daughter, whom he had not talked to his entire life. The novel also starts a year earlier when all of the white people in America walk into bodies of water and drown themselves. Since then America has changed, with most parts of the country surviving being the large cities. Charlie’s daughter, Sidney, lives in Wisconsin, alone, in a neighborhood that had pretty much drown themselves. She is angry at her mother, stepfather, and brothers drowning themselves in the lake behind their house, and mad at her father for never being part of her life. When she gets a message taped to the front gate of her house from her white aunt, Agnes, saying that some white people are still alive and in Orange Beach, Alabama, she knows that Charlie is the only person left who can help her get there.

Part road trip novel, part story of family, and part story about learning about one’s own identity, Sky Full of Elephants starts very compelling. The tension in what America is like at this time, how people travel, what areas are more dangerous than others and which areas are just abandoned, really drives the first half of this novel. Not only do we learn about the tensions between Charles and Sidney and the reason why they have no relationship, we are also learning about different ways America has changed. Electricity is still everywhere, but pumping for oil is something that nobody seems interested in doing. Traveling and hospitality have become more about helping one another than gaining a profit. Adding to the struggle of getting out of Wisconsin, Charles and Sidney are also going to Alabama, a place where rumor is that it is ran by a king, and airplanes do not even fly there anymore. This road trip and world building half of the novel keeps the tension high, and we can sense the danger that the two characters travel into. The second half of the book is a different type of good. Most of it is learning about identity and who black people have been in their history in America versus their history in the world. Sidney being half white and raised by white people knows very little about the history of black people in the world, so she really struggles with some of the ideas and feelings that she is shown. She knows that the identity of America has changed, and she does not know where she fits anymore. The changing America has given black people the opportunity to incorporate attitudes from countries where black people have always been in leadership. I do like the feeling of togetherness and community that this brings, the sense that everyone who shows up is welcomed and treated like family. 

I wish there was more world building like in the beginning, with more interesting things that have happened in America since there are no white people left. Also the ending really did not resonate as much as it was trying to resonate, but Sky Full of Elephants is a really interesting book with some interesting concepts. I really enjoyed the first half and wish to visit there again soon. 

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a powerful novel about identity and the power of community/connection. I really liked all of the characters in this novel - they were all powerful in different ways - and the struggles they faced felt very real. As a white reader, you may feel uncomfortable at times, but I was just so sucked into the story line, the plot twist that created more issues, and the denoument to worry about myself too much.

"One day, a cataclysmic event occurs: all of the white people in America walk into the nearest body of water. A year later, Charles Brunton is a Black man living in an entirely new world. Having served time in prison for a wrongful conviction, he’s now a professor of electric and solar power systems at Howard University when he receives a call from someone he wasn’t even sure existed: his daughter Sidney, a nineteen-year-old who watched her white mother and step-family drown themselves in the lake behind their house.

Traumatized by the event, and terrified of the outside world, Sidney has spent a year in isolation in Wisconsin. Desperate for help, she turns to the father she never met, a man she has always resented. Sidney and Charlie meet for the first time as they embark on a journey across America headed for Alabama, where Sidney believes she may still have some family left. But neither Sidney or Charlie is prepared for this new world and how they see themselves in it.

When they enter the Kingdom of Alabama, everything Charlie and Sidney thought they knew about themselves, and the world, will be turned upside down."

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

Sidney and her father Charlie, are strangely reunited by a cataclysmic event when all the white people in the world mysteriously commit suicide. In a hypnotic trance, they all walk into the nearest body of water, thus drowning themselves. Having been estranged from her father, and living with her mother and stepdad, when they all disappear, she reaches out to Charlie. Sidney is bi-racial so is spared from the event, but feels neglected, unloved, and out of place. When her aunt reaches out to her and describes a compound where white survivors have relocated, she convinces her father to take her there.
Thus begins their journey to reconciliation as they navigate this new world order which is described in detail by the author. Fuel is scarce as all drilling has stopped, giant mansions are open and unoccupied, and up for grabs, airports are loosely coupled together with a shortage of pilots. He really makes you see how little diversity there was in the world, as African Americans are able to feel a sense of freedom and control over their own destiny.
This is a bold, high-concept novel that explores race and identity in a radically transformed America. The novel delves into deep themes of racial identity, community, and the power dynamics in a society no longer defined by white supremacy.
A unique, clever addition to the apocalyptic genre.

If people could change the world, would they make it better?

Something extraordinary happened which has altered life throughout the world. One day, for reasons no one can understand, every white person walked to the nearest body of water and drowned themselves, an occurrence now known as “the event”. Half of the world’s population suddenly gone, and without them most institutions and industries have no longer been able to run, at least not as they once did. A year later, life has gone on for those left behind…but it is a very different kind of life, in some ways better but not in all. Someone for whom life has definitely taken a turn for the better is Charlie, who before the event was in the midst of a lengthy prison sentence but like most other incarcerated people was released when the hierarchy which ran such institutions no longer functioned. A man who from childhood was gifted with an intuitive understanding of how machines worked and who is able to fix just about anything found his way to Howard University in Washington DC, the closest HBCU which he figured was likely to be a place where people would be working to create a new order. There he teaches students about electrical systems and solar power, his way of contributing what he knows to his community. He lives in one of the many houses left empty by the people who no longer exist, where he has only recently felt comfortable taking down and putting away the previous owners’ photos and other personal things. Charlie gets a phone call out of the blue from Sidney, the daughter he has never met, product of a brief relationship with a young white woman named Elizabeth with whom he was in love prior to his incarceration. Sidney, he discovers, has been left alone by the event…her mother, stepfather Rick, and twin half-brothers Adam and John all walked into the lake behind their home in Wisconsin as she tried futilely to stop them. Sidney is traumatized, feels guilty to still be alive, and holds no warm feelings for Charlie, the father she believes deliberately abandoned her. But she is determined to find her way to a place called Orange Beach in Alabama where she has been led to believe members of her mother’s family and others like them who survived the event have formed a community. She needs help to get there, and can think of no one other than Charlie who might owe her enough to do so. Charlie sets out to help his daughter, and so begins a journey across a decimated country in search of a place where Sidney feels she belongs.
Sky Full of Elephants is an intriguing twist on a post-apocalyptic novel as well as an exploration of identity in a world that has undergone a fundamental shift. Charlie is a man whose life was stolen from him, convicted of a crime he didn’t commit by a white man who hated him because of the color of his skin. He has been given a chance to start fresh, but having lost almost 20 years of his life where does he begin? How can he be happy about the change in his circumstances when it came about due to the death of so many? Charlie must figure out not only who he wants to be, but who he was and who he is. Sidney is a biracial young woman who has never felt that she belonged anywhere. She didn’t look like the rest of her (white) family, and has been taught from a young age that black people are not only different from white people but lesser, more violent, dangerous. Her mother never told her why her father is not part of her life, and consequently holds only negative feelings for him. Her desire to find “people like her” in Orange City is her desire for the familiar as opposed to the unknown…but if she never felt she truly fit in with her family, how will joining a group of people just like them make her feel comfortable? She too has much to learn about who she is, from whom she came and who she can become. Traveling from Wisconsin to Chicago and ultimately to Alabama, where a society led by Vivian, a longtime social activist now considered their Queen, has tapped into the power and beauty of the black experience and seeks to heal the many wrongs to which their people have been subjected over the centuries. From an unsettling premise to the unexpected revelation of what exactly caused the event to happen in the first place, Sky Full of Elephants is a beautifully written story with well-developed and finely nuanced characters who search for connections and direction, working through anger to find hope and peace. I found it difficult to put down once I began reading, and enjoyed taking the journey alongside Charlie, Sidney and the people they met along the way. Readers of James McBride, Torah Shelton Harris and Caroline Leavitt should give this a try. Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me early access to this imaginative tale.