All the Birds in the Sky

Did You Know?

• Anders wrote a short story titled Clover about Patricia's cat from the novel, published by Tor.com in October 2016.
• Clover was later included in Anders' short fiction collection Six Months, Three Days, Five Others, published in October 2017.
• Time magazine placed the novel No. 5 on its Top 10 Novels of 2016 and selected it as one of its 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time.

Plot summary

Set in the near-future, the novel follows Patricia, a witch, and Laurence, a techno-geek. As a child, Patricia discovers she can talk to birds but cannot control her magic. Laurence builds gadgets, including a two-second time machine from a watch and later a supercomputer. They meet in junior high school, ostracized by peers, but soon separate: Patricia runs away after being accused of witchcraft, is intercepted by a magician, and enrolls in a school for witches; Laurence is sent to a military reform school.

Ten years later, they reunite at a party. Patricia has joined a witch's cabal, and Laurence, having escaped reform school, works with a think tank building a wormhole generator. Their relationship strains under divergent philosophies as the world deteriorates with superstorms, earthquakes, and wars—the Unraveling. The story culminates in a showdown between science and magic, ending with the pair reconciling and combining their abilities to stop the Unraveling.

Background

Anders' first novel, Choir Boy, was published in 2005, written mostly in 2001 and described as very weird literary fiction. After working on several novels including All the Birds in the Sky, she focused on it following her Hugo Award for Best Novelette for Six Months, Three Days. In a 2016 interview, Anders said All the Birds felt like something only she could have written, unlike her other works. She spent most of 2011 on the book.

Tor Books acquired it in March 2014, with publication planned for 2015. Earlier drafts included aliens and an evil wizard, and Anders recalled overstuffing it with genre elements to the point of spoof. Around the sixth draft, she made it about a witch and a mad scientist, Patricia and Laurence, initially rivals but later friends, inspired by the relationship in Six Months, Three Days. Anders cited Cory Doctorow's Little Brother and Jo Walton's Among Others as inspiration for the coming-of-age sections.

Reception

Critic James Wallace Harris described the novel as three weddings: of science fiction and fantasy, YA and adult, and genre and literary, handled with a light touch that is joyful yet deep. David Barnett in The Independent called it a blend of Diana Wynne Jones, Douglas Coupland, and Neil Gaiman, mixing science fiction, fantasy, and fun, and deemed Anders an important new voice in genre fiction. Michael Berry in the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that the mix of science fiction, fantasy, and coming-of-age should satisfy readers of each genre, calling the novel clearly special and level-headed despite whimsical aspects.

Samantha Holloway in the New York Journal of Books noted the book's ability to be simultaneously terrible and dangerous yet beautiful and charming, tackling heavy themes like fate and ecological disaster with a light touch, and praised Anders' gift for dialogue and description. Gary K. Wolfe in Locus found it one of the most surprising and delightful novels of the year, achieved through masterful control of tone; the first part is an absolutely terrific YA novel, and while the later shift from fixing a relationship to fixing the world wobbles, the likeability of the flawed characters carries the story.