The Memory of Blue Sky

SPECULATIVE FICTION/SCI-FI/FANTASY:  The world is teetering on the edge of oblivion, its inhabitants barely existing at a time when blue skies and everything lush and verdant are long lost memories. As the earth fast approaches ruin, a television producer gathers together a misfit crew to journey around the globe and document the last bastions of the living. A father who laments the 20 year absence of his daughter, a no- nonsense machina,  a man belonging to an seemingly otherworldly race and a young woman who searches for a place to belong. One of their number holds the key to humanity’s survival, but with catastrophe looming on the horizon will it be too late?

“The Memory of Blue Sky” is an imaginative pre-apocalyptic story set in an expansive world that has undergone devastating changes. Ms. Bardsley’s cerebral writing style grasps the reader by the collar and refuses to let go! The world building is exquisitely done and the character development is stellar. The author's painstaking attention to detail and her powerfully emotive dialogue draws one deep into each character's psyche. At almost 540 pages, the story is an immense undertaking and would benefit from a more thorough editing. However, Ms. Bardsley has skillfully structured the storyline so that it flows almost effortlessly, allowing the multilayered past to be revealed slowly and organically. Although the length of this novel may be intimidating to the casual reader, fans of science fiction will savor every morsel of this pulse-pounding dystopian saga.

Chantel Hardge