Book Review: Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell

 

Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell

304 pages, Hardcover
Published September 10, 2024 by Simon & Schuster

 

I am in the process of writing a novel, so book review time is shorter than normal. Sorry about that.

I have mixed feelings about Sky Full of Elephants, a novel that I mostly enjoyed. Lets get some things out of the way. I love a weird apocalypse novel and for us white folk, that is what this novel seems to be on the surface. It is the story of Charlie Brunton, an incarcerated black man who gets his freedom when all the white people walk into the nearest body of water to drown themselves. I know some will be offended at the idea that the survivors of the white genocide will feel free to dance and party, but get over it. Instead of being offended, think about what it is saying about privilege.   

This is not a weird apocalypse, it is high high-concept Utopia. Charlie is suddenly free and is given a mission to help his daughter Sydney, who was raised by her white mother in a white family and suddenly her black dad is the only family she has left. 

I LOVE the concept, which is more surreal and allegory than Science Fiction. The idea that white people disappear, and everyone starts being respectful of political utopia is a little far fetched. That said it doesn’t have to be realistic, it is making a point. I am here for it. I think staying without answers would have helped the book.  

I also really enjoyed the characters of Sydney and Charlie, their journey and growth were good. So what was my problem with the book that lowered it to a three-star rating?  This felt like a first draft, and I don’t think it was ready.  The ending is not well set-up, up and feels anti-climactic.  There is no drive to the finish, and the major information in the final act felt unearned and out of place. Worse, it tried to make the surreal aspects make science fictional sense, and that undid some of the power of the first act for me.

Overall, this book showed promise, it needed another pass, another draft. Cebo Campbell is an interesting storyteller and I will check out more of his work. The Road trip and the character elements were good, but the conclusion left me wanting more.