Under the Smokestrewn Sky by A. Deborah Baker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars rounded up**
Under the Smokestrewn Sky is the 4th-installment of Seanan McGuire’s, writing as A. Deborah Baker, Up-and-Under series. A magical Middle Grade series loosely-connected to McGuire’s Alchemical Journeys; an Adult SFF-mindblower.
While technically this is classified as Middle Grade Fantasy, it is actually perfect for Readers of all ages, containing quite a few philosophical and science-based elements.
Speaking of elements, each book in this quartet is constructed around one of the four classical elements: earth, air, fire and water. The first book was earth, the second, water, the third, air and then in this one, we feature fire.
The series follows two children, Avery and Zib, the A-to-Z of our tale, who upon a normal commute to school one day encounter a giant wall where it shouldn’t be. Together they decide to go up and over this wall, thus finding themselves in a magical world, known as the Up-and-Under.
Each story follows the kids as they journey through different lands in this world, journeying along the improbable road, trying to find their way home.
After a short recap at the beginning, we slip back into the story where we left off. It had a bit of a slow start for me and did seem more philosophical in nature, as far as the conversations between the various characters went.
Personally, I could have used more action, but Baker’s writing, per usual, was intentional and fluid. Every detail is there for a reason and I would love to go back at some point and read all four of these back-to-back.
I feel like I forgot so much about the functionality, history and politics of the Up-and-Under in between books, that I wasn’t able to appreciate the over-arching story as much as I could have. I would also love to reread Middlegame after I do so, to see if I can pick up more details in that as well.
And I guess this is it. I actually wasn’t sure if this was going to be the conclusion to this series, but it certainly felt like it. I’m sad to see these characters go. It’s hard not to grow attached to them after all we’ve been through.
I also have some thoughts regarding this series and a possible, or maybe even existing, connection to the Wayward Children series…
I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a fantastical Middle Grade Adventure story, or anyone who has enjoyed previous works from Seanan McGuire, including the Wayward Children series.
I feel like the concepts are similar to that and now that you can read the entire series at once, all the better. With likable characters, suspense, magic and intrigue, this series is sure to be a hit with Readers of all ages.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Tor and Macmillan Audio, for providing me copies to read and review. This is a great series and will live in my heart for a long time to come!