Under the Smoke Strewn Sky by A. Deborah Baker



This 4th (and presumably final) book in the Up and Under series by A. Deborah Baker, Seanan McGuire’s second pseudonym, was a worthy conclusion to this series.

Once again, I will say that I love Seanan McGuire. (Note: I review a bunch of her books so I am copying part of some of my other reviews here to save time.). She has quickly become my favorite living writer and I feel very lucky that she is so prolific. I was first introduced to her work when her book Parasite, written as Mira Grant, was nominated for a Hugo Award. I loved it and quickly devoured the Newsflesh series before I realized that Mira Grant and Seanan McGuire were the same person.

I started reading her works under her own name, starting with Sparrow Hill Road, which is amazing, but I picked it because I was intimidated by her long running October Daye series. I had read some Urban Fantasy before, and I fondly remember Mercedes Lackey’s Diana Tregarde books, but my tastes run more to science fiction and then secondary world fantasy, so I was hesitant to dive into such a long series. I picked up the first book, Rosemary and Rue, when it was on sale as a kindle daily deal, and I found it somewhat disappointing compared to her other work. I reminded myself that it was her first published novel, so I cut it some slack. Then Incryptid was nominated for the Best Series Hugo in 2018 and I dove into that instead. I loved it! So I vowed to give Toby another chance. And I was so glad that I did! It is no one of my favorite series.

I really enjoyed Middlegame when it came out and voted for it as best novel on the Hugo Awards at the time. The writing there was lyrical and a little dreamlike in a way that was a little different from most everything else of hers (but reminded me of the Parisitology books a little).

One thing about Middlegame that especially reminded me of the Parasitology books was the excerpts from a children’s book included in the novel. In the world of Middlegame, A. Deborah Baker was an author who wrote the Up and Under Books. And Seanan McGuire, being the incredibly talented and prolific author she is, wrote out the entire book of Over the Woodward Wall as part of the process of writing Middlegame.

That was quickly followed by book 2, Under the Saltwise Sea, and book 3, Into the Windwracked Wilds.

In this final volume, some secrets are revealed that I truly did not see coming until about a page beforehand, but in retrospect made perfect sense. This is just another example of how excellent Ms. McGuire is at storycrafting and why I keep coming back. A wonderful conclusion to an unexpected companion series. Now, to just get more followups to Middlegame!

I listened to an eARC of the audiobook, thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, who gave me the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Heath Miller was a perfect fit for this tale. I listened to the book at 2x speed.

This book was disappointing, to say the least, but slightly better than the third book.
It might do better as a physical book than an audiobook. The narrator was okay. If there’s a fifth book, I’m not sure if I’d give it a chance…

(I received this audiobook ALC via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you.)

When you go on a journey such as this with books such as these, it requires an inordinate amount of trust in your narrator. You will have to go in knowing there will be peril, and perhaps things may not go according to plan for your favorite. Happy endings are often impossible things even though we like to pretend they are always what happens. Do we deserve anything less?

In the finale of this series, A. Deborah Baker (Seanan McGuire), crafts a beautiful story with layers that are incredibly well-crafted. It's a satisfying ending that isn't just an ending - because you know you're going to re-read these books to catch anything you may have missed the first time around, or the second, or the third. So, it's more like a beginning.

It's an adventure that winds you through different lands and introduces you to a full deck of characters who are never as simple as they seem. It's a treasure trove for both children and adults to explore, and thus the value in revisiting it again and again.

Simply put, I loved it and plan to read it again in the future, when I've had some distance.

I'd like to thank Netgalley for an advanced listener copy. Opinions are entirely my own. The narration was splendid. I'd recommend it.

It took less than two minutes of this audiobook for me to feel all the warm, comforting, cozy feelings this series brings. I was instantly happy to be back in this world, and the conclusion to this journey did not let me down.

Under the Smokestrewn Sky starts with a quick (and much needed) recap of the series as a whole before jumping in right where we left off. I can't say that the reveals in this book are surprising; I don't think they're supposed to be. The path we follow is one that's been thoughtfully laid out and properly foreshadowed, but no less satisfying.

It's strange to think that I initially picked up Over the Woodward Wall simply because I loved Middlegame and thought it would be interesting to check out the story within a story. I did not expect to adore that book so much, to fall in love with these characters, or to become invested in their quest. Four books later, I'm sad to be saying goodbye to this world, although I know I'll likely re-read it at least a couple more times in the coming years.

Under the Smokestrewn Sky
by A. Deborah Baker
Narrated by Heath Miller

I received an ARC (advanced reader copy) of this audiobook through Netgalley.

I love this series by Seanan Mcguire (aka A. Deborah Baker). I’m sorry to see this series end, but glad too, because it was such a satisfying end to the story.

This book is about two children stumbling into an alternate universe, and experiencing a wonderful adventure. This tale is as good as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz.

The way this fairytale is told is so familiar deep down in my bones that I have a hard time believing I never heard it before. Some stories just seem that incredibly true.

I am jealous of the children that get to first read this when they are young.

To movie studios: Choose this story for a movie -Pleeeeeease! It’s meant to be lived or the closest approximation thereto.

To Parents: I would say that children 8 years & up are safe to listen to this story.

To my followers: This story is not to be missed. It’s golden and perfect.

I really liked this series, although I definitely think the first two books were stronger than the last two. I did enjoy the narrator and thought she did a very nice job differentiating the characters without ever feeling overdone or overly dramatic, even when the story could have easily let her in that direction.

It never ceases to amaze me how Baker / McGuire/ Grant is able to write in such distinctive voices depending on which pseudonym she uses, and her imagination and world building really are second to none.

This is a wildly inventive universe that I found wholly engaging, but I did feel that things wrapped up rather tidily and quickly and without a lot of resolution in this final installment, particularly given the deliciously slow build in the first two books. Still, it was a fun series and a great listen and if she were to bring Avery and Zib back, I would definitely be curious to see where the Up and Under took them next!

I feel like this series kind of lost steam for me after book 2 but I wanted to read the concluding volume to see how things tied up. Under the Smokestrewn Sky was I think a little bit better than book 3 but still felt kind of bland compared to previous books. There were some interesting reveals, but I have mixed feelings about the way it wrapped things up just because I wanted the stakes to feel higher. I think this series went on for too long for the amount of story it offers, but it's an interesting and whimsical project and overall I still enjoyed it. The audio narration is well done and gives the right story-telling vibes. I received an audio review copy of this book from NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

I have been a fan of the portal-fantasy genre since childhood; I suppose I thought I would grow out of it. However, the Over the Wayward Wall and Every Heart a Doorway series have relieved me of that burden.
Under the Smokestrewn Sky is a satisfying conclusion to the series. I love all of these characters so much and I will be reading them all over and over again.

There wasn’t much to this one. It was a little less profound than the books had been up to this point (like even the narrator-character and all of the other characters were kind of weary of the whole journeying thing) and even the seemingly scary permanent things didn’t have consequences per se. Plus Zib is profoundly absent for a good chunk of things, the Crow Girl’s new persona is rather boring, Niamh is less present, and Jack Daw hasn’t had much time to ingratiate himself in the party.

Overall, it just felt like the series losing steam rather than feeling like a true conclusion. It wasn’t bad, but it was a good backdrop for, say, assembling furniture (which is what I was doing while listening).