Broken Sky by John Harvey was a intriguing and action oriented with some interesting world building and character surprises. The backstory of the Travelers and how it all works was thought provoking with many layers of possibilities and ways to expand on the prophecy. The motivation of the antagonist is a bit shallow and not well thought out but was still in character for the villain.

Jack and Sarah are teenagers living on a space station named Cirrus - a ring-shaped, planet-sized space station orbiting the Sun built by humans as a resource colony and also for relocation from the crowded, overheated, and ecologically failing Earth. Jack and Sarah are best friends, but have never met in person - in their world of ubiquitous connectivity, they "go" to school and make friends online, and they even use their phones to get tap water and energy and whatnot, since each phone is connected to a tiny portal that can open and release all those needed goodies. Oh, and their world is supposed to end any moment now - as predicted by Sir Isaac Newton (hence "Newton" as shorthand for the expected event) and more precisely dated by so-called Travelers, people who can remember their own future after traveling through portals (human-sized, not phone-sized, of course).

How about that for complex world-building? And I haven't even started with the plot: the teens (Sarah and Jack, and Jack's cousin Ethan) inadvertently attract the attention of a greedy businessman who wants to profit from the alleged end of the world, so they are now on the run for their lives and freedom, after both Jack's and Ethan's parents have been kidnapped by unknowns. The thing is, there are no police in the normal sense on Cirrus, only corporate security, so if one of the big corporations is allegedly behind the crime, there's really no one to turn to in such a case. (Wild West vibes, but for the space age).

There are so many good things about this book. For one, I really liked the worldbuilding. Not just the general idea of the space station and the portals, but the detail with which the setting of Cirrus is described. You know, if there's a mountain or a lake or a forest on the way the characters cross, it's not because it's necessary for plot development, but because it's part of how this strange and unique space station is imagined.

This is also a technically well-written adventure story - with narrow escapes and interspersed details that seem part of the scenery in the midst of the adventure encounter, but become significant for the story development later (and I can imagine how many more of these will become significant in parts two and three).

With that, I can't say that I was that invested in the fate of the characters, which is a pretty big requirement for an adventure story to elicit the right response from the reader. So I read on more out of curiosity about the world-building than out of any particular interest in how the main characters will end up. We seem to spend a lot of time with our protagonists on their adventure, but we don't really get to know them closely enough to learn about their values and aspirations, to identify with them. And the same goes for the "villains" of the story: we meet several of them early in the story, they are clearly named, described, and identified by their role in the company, but narratively they are so indistinguishable that I honestly confused them until about two-thirds of the way through the book. Now, I realize that this wouldn't be a deal-breaker for every reader of YA adventure, but I'd like to share my experience to help set expectations correctly. And I just realized that all of the "flaws" (for some) I mentioned in this paragraph would make this story great for a visual adaptation: in visual storytelling, somehow we don't usually expect a lot of introspection and backstory that fleshes out the characters' values and life aspirations in order to get invested in the story. A few distinctive character traits, like the ones Harvey uses for his protagonists (e.g., Jack is really good with machinery and has anxiety in crowds, Ethan is good with computers and always wants to eat, Sarah really cares about ecology, etc.) are usually enough in an action-adventure movie.

I also really like all kinds of plots about time travel or knowing the future, which sets up all kinds of paradoxes and self-fulfilling prophecies. There's a lot of that in Harvey's book, but it doesn't always click into place, with that "aha" moment, sometimes paradoxes are just brushed off as "well, a paradox, I guess".

For those wondering about (and disliking) cliffhangers: this first book doesn't end with one. The ending does establish a whole new setup which will only be explored later, and of course there are loose ends to be picked up in the next books, but it's a complete narrative arc in its own right, which I appreciate.

Now I am really on the fence about whether I want the next book in the series now (or wait a bit, or not at all). But it's already out there, and the third one is coming out next month (May 2025).

I am grateful to the author/publisher for providing me with an eARC via NetGalley. The above review is entirely my own.

Loved the characters and their story but the technical aspects kinda got lost on me. I'm going too read the next in the series in hopes to get a better idea. Thanks #Netgalley and #OnSiteCreative for the eARC in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are mine.

While the premise and characters begun as interesting, I ended up getting lost in the complexity of the technical layers. I think this would appeal better to a reader with a predisposition for the technical aspects of solving a problem. I personally would have enjoyed more background context and personality behind the main characters as they all blurred together as the one similar voice towards the end, it was very busy! I would probably encourage spacing out some of these characters when introducing to allow readers to mentally anchor each character.

Thanks to NetGalley, John Harvey and the publisher for this readers copy. Opinions expressed are my own.

John Harvey is the author of three novels. Broken Sky was published in 2021 and is the first book in The Cirrus Chronicles series. It is the 10th book I completed reading in 2025.

Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to minor scenes of violence, I categorize this novel as PG.

The primary character is 16-year-old Jack Scatter. He lives on the ring-shaped space station known as Cirrus. He has developed as a mechanical whiz. He can fix almost anything. He lives in a remote farming community on Cirrus and does his schooling virtually. Close friends, though they have never met in person, are Sarah Rogers and her best friend Jada.

A major part of the plot line is the prediction by Sir Isaac Newton that the world would end before 2090. Portal crystals are used to deliver everything from water to power. A limited number of people in the time when the novel is set are Travellers. People who can remember the future, move objects with their minds, and control the thoughts of others. The Travellers support Newton’s prediction, and the deadline is rapidly approaching. When Jack’s cousin Chase and his parents arrives from Earth, odd things begin to happen.

Pieter Reynard is very wealthy and has business interests both on Earth and Cirrus. He is also a Traveller and has used that skill to build a business empire. With Newton’s prediction of an Apocalypse looming ahead, he is willing to risk everything to make himself even more wealthy and powerful.

The parents of both Jack and Chase are arrested by Corporate Police on Cirrus at the direction of Reynard. He is looking for Jack’s grandfather and the secret private portal he is believed to have. The kids must strike out on their own to avoid Reynard’s thugs. They struggle to stay a step ahead of the security forces.

Jack, Chase, Sarah, and Jada seem to be the only ones standing in the way of Reynard. They meet a policewoman, Priya Singh, who believes them and is willing to help. With the funds and personnel available to Reynard, they seem to have little chance of success. Jack seems destined to eventually confront Reynard.

Will Jack and his friends survive? Can they save Earth? Can they save Cirrus?

I enjoyed the 8 hours reading this 358-page young adult fantasy. I like the chosen cover art. I give this novel a rating of 3.9 (rounded to 4) out of 5.

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Not sure how to feel on this one. It was a premise that I found intriguing but lacked in execution. I wish there was more to it.