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Swallow the Sky: A Space Opera Kindle Edition

by Chris Mead (Author), Derek Smith (Illustrator) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,101 ratings
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Galactic culture is still reverberating from the nanotech disaster that destroyed Earth. But this is ancient history to Carson, an inter-stellar mailman and a collector of antique technology, until he learns of the secret location of Earth’s lost treasures. Carson is not alone in his discovery and becomes embroiled with a wealthy megalomaniac determined to capture the bounty for himself. As their race across the galaxy accelerates it becomes chillingly clear that far more is at stake than ancient artifacts, leading to the protagonists’ final confrontation in the ruined kingdom of Sol.

Swallow the Sky embodies the essence of classic science fiction: real science, adventure, high spirits, and above all, a sense of wonder.

On sale through December 25th!

"Somewhere, EE Smith, Gene Roddenberry, and Iain Banks are sitting around wishing they'd written a Space Opera as entertaining as Swallow the Sky. Intelligent world-building, strong characterization, and settings that are just rip-roaring good fun! It tells a tale the old-fashioned way - brilliantly!"
Chris Garcia, Hugo award-winning editor

“This book is fun, filled with machines who have sassy personalities, leviathans who enjoy a good-natured game of hide-and-seek, and sentient insects who trust that someday, humans will evolve... Carson really is a unique antique himself, and an adorable good-guy to spend time with as a reader.”
Yvette Keller, Science Fiction in San Francisco Magazine
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Previous page
  1. Reading age
    10 - 18 years
  2. Print length
    340 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publication date
    July 14, 2014
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
    Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  8. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  9. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00LU4NFN4
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ ; 3rd edition (July 14, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 14, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2019 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 340 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,101 ratings

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Chris Mead

Chris Mead

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
1,101 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Phil
5.0 out of 5 stars Worthy of a professional publisher!!!
Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2014
Verified Purchase
I am extremely surprised that this is a self-published book. Extremely. There are no signs of it ... none (or none that I noticed, which may be because of the quality of the storytelling) of the usual evidence of poor or nonexistent proof-reading, for example. The reviews seem to be entirely genuine, too, and not the shills that all too many self publishers resort to and, most of all, the story is of an acceptable length that allows it to be called a 'novel' whereas all too many so-called 'novels' that are self-published are, in fact, little better than short stories.

The story-line and the characters are engrossing from the get-go, and the universe in which the story takes place is fully rounded. If I have any quibbles about some of the background elements (and I possibly do) the author has done such an excellent job of creating 'suspension of disbelief' by the well written action, character building and development, and plotting that is displayed from beginning to end that, frankly, I really can't complain ... the story is *that* well written.

If you read my other reviews, especially of some of the disastrous self-published books it has been my misfortune to pay good money for, you'll understand that everything I have said is *high* praise, indeed.

If there are any publishers agents out there looking for new talent, I reckon you could do worse than sign up this guy!
31 people found this helpful
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J. Keith B
4.0 out of 5 stars This book was good, decent plot line
Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2014
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This book was good, decent plot line, likeable primary characters, good flow. The major criticisms I have is that it was predictable at key points (it was pretty obvious when the antagonist would appear), and the ending was simplistic. There were enough surprises to keep me entertained during the majority of the book, there were some interesting discussions of possible technology & the social impacts of dealing with a catastrophe of a horrendous nature.
The specific criticism of the ending (hopefully without revealing anything) was that it could have been shut off at a cryptic comment from the ants, or provided some self-introspection from the main characters, but instead it left off with a kind of "ta-daa" feeling that was incongruous with the state of affairs. Strange.
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J. Carey
5.0 out of 5 stars Goes a different direction than it first appeared, but a really enjoyable read.
Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2014
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Two warnings to keep in mind when reading this book:

1. Once you've read the whole thing (likely at the cost of a several full nights of sleep) you'll go looking for other books by the same author only to discover this appears to be Chris Mead's first and so far only one.

2. It would be easy to miscategorize Swallow the Sky before you get too far into the book. The first section of the novel takes place on a single planet. The amount of detailed cultural strangeness Chris Mead came up with for that world and the first unpleasant surprise to befall the protagonist had me thinking this would be a novel focused on a single world created in great detail, with a fair bit of time devoted to exploring the ethnical implications of cloning. But that's not what this book turned out to be about at all. The detail and attention to world building I thought was signaling a focus on a single planet is just par for the course and the author has clearly devoted that same level of time and attention to creating distinctly different and fascinatingly detailed worlds everywhere the the plot takes the two main characters. Instead of a universe that exists in order for the story to unfold, Swallow the Sky constantly throws out details that kept me engaged and reading as much to learn more about the universe and history as to follow the central plot itself, which is my favorite kind of science fiction.

Rather than be tempted to post anything that might be considered spoiler, I'll close by mentioning that I'm posting this review in the middle of the night with work in the morning after being unable to to StS down since close to the 50% mark. Thank you Chris Mead for an absorbing and compelling read.
21 people found this helpful
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Ron Anderson
4.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed this book
Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2015
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I enjoyed this book, and consider it overall to be a fun, irreverent romp through various planetary systems. Science is pretty much thrown out the window in this book. If the writer wants something, it exists with only a slight explanation (no scientific basis, just the explanation). For example, listening to a recording from an audio tape recorded several thousand years ago? Ships covered with micro-black holes for faster than light speed travel? Still, I took all this in stride and found the book to be enjoyable. There are many concepts that are much more believable and though not necessarily original, are fresh.

The book needs proofing. There are more errors in this book than any other I have read. Syntactical, improper verb tense, misspelling, even words out of order. It didn't make the book unbearable, but I did find it a bit annoying.
2 people found this helpful
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Lawboss
5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing Read and a Great Value
Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2015
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This read is a mixture of adventure, mystery and suspense told in a time where humans, aliens and AI alike coexist. The story line has a playfulness to it that I found refreshing. The read is well edited with good pace. If you are looking for fleet or ground pounding action, this is not your cup of tea. If, however, you enjoy a bit of hard science, likable characters, a little humor, a nice adventure with a touch of mystery, this read does not disappoint.
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 2, 2022
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This is how a sci-fi book should be written. A great story with great characters and really good technical stuff. I couldn’t put the book down. Shame there isn’t a series.
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Ramon
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in Spain on June 9, 2017
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Correct story, placed in a future where Earth has been destroyed by something that is called "the Melt" (explained towards the end of the book) and a new civilization has been created after an agonizing split between the few survivors of Earth. The Covenant, signed in New Earth, becomes almost a religion. After eight thousand years, it is still untouchable.
But this is not about religion, but rather about intrigue, murder and the search for past treasures related with the earliest days of survival of humanity. The fact that the main character is a mailman actually adds to the twist.
The plot is very good, the storytelling intense. The worlds that are described are different, and not the typical stuff that you usually encounter in SciFi. I especially liked to read how an unexpected astronomical events impacted civilization.
The gadgets that the story employs are credible and actually most of them are very logic, to the extent that I would not be surprised if we had some of those in a few decades. The humor of the intelligent machines is refreshing and the alien species -the Tallis- is simply superb.
I can greatly recommend it. It is a pity that the author passed away, as I would have liked to see a sequel.
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Ralph Tamou
5.0 out of 5 stars Space opera for sure
Reviewed in Australia on May 14, 2015
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Great read loved the characters and the scope of the universes they travelled to I hope the mailman goes on another great ride make it at least 600 pages or more I did not want this book to end
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Chris Halliday
5.0 out of 5 stars The Real Stuff
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 23, 2015
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"Swallow the Sky" is that most rare of beasts, an intelligent science fiction novel that doesn't get wrapped up in its own cleverness or forget how to tell a thrilling story. From the opening scenes to the last, Chris Mead does a great job of describing immense vistas of space and sweeps of time, while retaining the essentially human core of the tale. Characters are well-rounded, the universe is smart, logical and nuanced, and the story itself rolls along at a cracking pace. This is a space opera tale in the classic mould, updated and enlivened with modern sensibilities. A brilliant novel, highly recommended.
One person found this helpful
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Di Hassall
5.0 out of 5 stars love, some very creative thinking (it's not often you ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 24, 2014
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Interstellar travel, 'push drives', old English and the likely fate of mankind are all stuffed into this début book from Chris Mead. The story goes beyond the Milky Way with murder, corporate greed, love, some very creative thinking (it's not often you get a plausible explanation of faster than light travel) and there's some cleverly cynical views on today's technology too.
Grab your birthday suit and get ready for Mailman Carson...
3 people found this helpful
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