All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

Can’t decide what you like more: Fantasy or Sci-Fi? Well, how about a mix of both then? C.J. Anders transcends the boundaries convention to create a roller-coaster of a story which will leave you wondering if your assumptions about the rules of the genre were ever right.

In the first part of the book, we meet two kids that can’t be more unlike each other. Patricia can talk to birds and animals and can occasionally do magic. Laurence is a tech genius who creates a time-machine and builds artificial intelligence in his wardrobe. What they have in common is that their parents don’t understand them and try to make them “normal”. Well, good luck with that. Anyway, these two form a friendship which doesn’t seem to die even though they don’t see each other for ages. When they meet again as grown-ups on a backdrop of the world apocalypse, they find support in each other’s company once more. And who knows, maybe together they can stop the end of the world?

This novel is very entertaining and fun to read. First, the characters are very likable, although flawed. It’s really touching how they try to find themselves in the turmoil that the humanity has brought upon itself. Speaking of which, the impending apocalypse is never the focus of the story, but it’s still there. There are no info dumps telling you what exactly is happening – it’s kinda in the background. Everybody knows it’s happening, but don’t discuss it for the sole purpose of enlightening the reader. I like this unobtrusive approach. Finally, there are sly jokes that make fun of the typical Fantasy/Sci-Fi cliches – if you read a lot from these genres, you’ll giggle at them like hell.