Sea-Horse in the Sky

by Edmund Cooper

This little-known story begins when over a dozen people awake in coffins. They find themselves in an area made to look like a town--it contains a stocked store, a hotel, a inoperable car & plastic coffins, each containing a passenger from an international flight, each apparently snatched out of midair, since there's no flight wreckage & all seem alive & unharmed. The people slowly gather in the hotel & find themselves able to understand one another, even tho they don't all speak the same language. None of them has an idea what they're doing in this new place & there isn't anything for miles around their little settlement except a seemingly endless expanse of grass.
After weeks of waiting for rescue that never arrives, a few of them explore & discover this mysterious land is also populated by a group of what appear to be medieval people & a group of what seems to be cavemen. That accounts for the human population on the island. The only other creatures around are sinister metal spiders.
This story is as much mystery as it is sf, because these people must figure out how they got to this place, & why they were chosen. But they also have to survive.--Kaduzy (edited)

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

191 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1969

About the author

Excerpted from wikipedia:
Edmund Cooper was born in Marple, near Stockport in Cheshire on April 30, 1926. He served in the Merchant Navy towards the end of the Second World War. After World War II, he trained as a teacher and began to publish short stories. His first novel, Deadly Image (later republished as The Uncertain Midnight) was completed in 1957 and published in 1958. A 1956 short story, Brain Child, was adapted as the movie The Invisible Boy (1957).
In 1969 The Uncertain Midnight was adapted for Swiss television, in French. At the height of his popularity, in the 1970s, he began to review science fiction for the Sunday Times and continued to do so until his death in 1982.
Apart from the website mentioned above there was another Edmund Cooper website full of information about the author and his publications.

Known Pseudonyms:
Richard Avery
George Kinley
Martin Lester
Broderick Quain

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sea Horse in the Sky (which was also published at various times as Seahorse in the Sky and Sea-Horse in the Sky, which minutiae I find interesting) is my favorite of the Cooper novels I've read. It's an intriguing study of a group of people who mysteriously find themselves in an unfamiliar environment and their explorations and speculations about how they came to be there. It's been compared frequently to Farmer's Riverworld, but it's a very pastoral and slow-paced (though I never found it boring) setting and set-up, that reminded me more of a lot of several of Clifford D. Simak's later works. (Though Cooper's characters engage in a lot of sexual activity; Mr. Simak tended to a G rating whereas Mr. Cooper pushed the R setting.) It also presents some thought-provoking ideas about a non-religious afterlife. The first U.S. edition, a Putnam/SFBC hardback, has a very cool green Paul Lehr cover with a big eyeball in the middle that follows you around the room if you set it down with the title side facing upwards.

[Graham P · Rating 1 out of 5]

Edmund Cooper on the origins of life:

"They saw that the world was lifeless yet possessing great promise. So the Vruvyir came and they quickened the planet. They quickened it by defecating into the rich and vacant oceans..."

Edmund Cooper on proper foreplay with a cave woman:

"After he and Ora had lain down for a while, his hand moved experimentally to her exposed breast. He took her left nipple between his fingers and tweaked it. Ora did not open her eyes, but her body responded. Thus encouraged, Ireg tweaked a little more."

A fatality of storytelling, Edmund had only the title right (coupled with Paul Lehr's magnificent cover art) before submitting readers of SF to suffer through this limp and error-prone Twilight Zone rip.

16 strangers appear on a planet where there is a road, a supermarket and a hotel. There is lots of drinking, lots of pairing up, and a mystery that has them under the all-seeing eye of the mysterious Vruvyir. Toss in medieval knights, horny cave-people, metal spiders who are merely unglorified UPS carriers, and enough casual misogyny to make even Ian Fleming say 'enough is enough.'

Nothing is offensive however. Only that the book exists, and that I purchased a copy and actually read it.

[Vajnis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this novel very much, it is like a short version of "Riverworld" by Philip Jose Farmer. It is a simpel story with lots of holes in it but I find it entertaining. And it has a short and non-disappointing ending like many, even some of the greatest, scifi-classics dont have.
Five stars for pleasant reading and nourishment to my imagination/fantasy/dreams!

[megan lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Thus do ghosts create ghosts…”
the last thirty pages of this book are just perfect.

[Kurt Reichenbaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

“My dear,” he said lightly. “You must allow me the privilege of a certain quaint hypocrisy. A gentleman never does his nut in the presence of a lady.”

Sea-Horse in the Sky, by Edmund Cooper is the first old (from 1969) Science Fiction novel that I've recently read that provided some of that sense of wonder that turned my on to the genre when I was a kid. No, it hasn’t made the upper echelons of Sci-Fi classics, but it’s a pretty cool book anyway.

The novel begins with 16 strangers waking up in coffin-like containers on an empty street in the middle of a plain in seeming wilderness. On one side of the street is a hotel, and on the other side sits a grocery store. An empty cab is parked in front of the hotel, and an empty Saab is parked by the grocery store. The street seems to exist as something seen on a film set, disappearing into forest land in either direction. A hotel, a supermarket and the road, and 16 strangers waking in coffins, with no memory of how they got there.

It’s one of those setups that was all the rage a couple years ago with shows like LOST and PERSONS UNKNOWN.

I should mention here that Edmund Cooper was a prolific science fiction novelist and reviewer and gained the reputation of a misogynist, so I couldn't help but look for examples of it in the novel. I didn't have to look hard. The women, except for Russian beauty Anna Markova, (who wisely pairs off with Russell Grahame) are mostly relegated to positions of cooking and housekeeping. None are considered apt enough to handle the homemade crossbows and weapons devised by British civil servant Robert Hyman. One is even jettisoned via suicide early in the novel. Even so, I've been exposed to far more overt piggery by other authors, many of whom don’t have the disadvantage of living in another generation than ours. Also, there is a strange sidestep into a diary entry that is worth mentioning. It’s only one chapter, and is written by Robert Hyman, who reveals to the reader that he’s homosexual. Apparently, Edmund Cooper didn't feel like exploring this dynamic any further than this one brief diary entry, because no mention of it is made again. Also, Cooper was an atheist (not exactly unusual with science fiction authors) so I expected a little bit of religion bashing here and there. The only notable aspect of that is that no mention of God or a Higher Being was brought up. There was no argument among the castaways of a heaven, hell, death or afterlife other than Anna Markova admitting, as something of an afterthought, to Russell that she’s an Atheist. This seemed a little bit strange; however Cooper decides to hold those wildcards for the final chapters, which I won’t give away here.

It’s all pretty cool, and Cooper paces the novel rather well, in spite of a lot of narrative summary. Perhaps the ending is rushed a bit, but I don’t really have a complaint about that. After all, it’s a paperback science fiction adventure. It’s pretty much a page-turner to be enjoyed and consumed and shelved, or traded in for a Mickey Spillane novel afterward.

[Hugo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fairly generic (even in the late '60s) conceit—strangers transported to an alien landscape, something you'd find in Star Trek or The Twilight Zone—is neatly expanded here, with an involving survival and exploration storyline, strangers working together for a common good, exhibiting the best of themselves, setting up a well-handled cosmic ending. It's not often, these days, that an old SF book can manage a 'sense of wonder', but this is one of the best examples of its plot device I've read, with a strong ending.

[Paulo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars. This could have been a classic but suffers from the lack of proper character development, and with many stereotypes mixed in.
However it's written in a way that keeps you glued to the pages wanting to know what's going to happen next, and when the big mystery is final unfolded, even if not being very original and partially predictable early on, it doesn't disappoint. Will definitely read more from Edmund Cooper.

[Jesse Leenders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple, but well orchestrated. I think an unfortunately under-appreciated story.

“Here is one whom I cannot kill. Here is one upon whom I may turn my back. Here is one in whose presence I may sleep. Here is one with whom my women may speak. If I forget these things, may a shameful death remind me. Thus by the robe it shall be.”

“The burden of knowledge is heavy, is it not?”

[SciFiOne · Rating 5 out of 5]

1982 Grade B
2022 Grade A-/B+

This book turned out to be much better than my grade from 40 years ago, especially the start. Sixteen people wake up in the middle of a 100 yard street that goes no where. There is nothing but a hotel on one side, a market on the other, and "grassland" for miles around. Surviving and figuring out the puzzle are very interesting. The world building is excellent. It is so well mixed in with the character activities the reader does not realize it has happened. The characterizations are wonderful. It is only near the end when they start solving the puzzle that the story becomes a little too abstract and bogs down slightly. It certainly did not take long to read.

Expertly written! Recommended.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent.

[alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love this book

[Stonebender · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been feeling nostalgic recently. So I'm rereading old faves or reading authors I haven't read since I was a kid. This was one of those, I read Mr. Cooper as a child, but haven't read this particular book before.

This story is very reminiscent of a Twilight Zone '50's style. The fun part is really the beginning. 16 people who were on the same flight from Sweden to England suddenly wake up in plastic see-through coffins on an asphalt road. As they escape their boxes they find they have awakened in a world that consists of a small hotel, a mile of road and a grocery store on the other end. There are a few small shacks along the road and empty landscape all around it. Of course other things happen, we meet a couple of groups of other humans and adventures ensue.

There are no real big plot twists or character revelations, but I found myself enjoying the quick read. I can't say I recommend it to anyone unless this description intrigues you, but I had fun.

[melydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Russell Graham is a member of Parliament on a flight from Stockholm to London when things get interrupted and he awakens in a strange green coffin in a fake town containing only a store and a hotel. The road goes nowhere and the cars on it have no engines. He and a handful of his fellow passengers are stranded and must figure out what's going on. I really enjoyed this one, especially the journey through the story, slowly discovering the truth along with the characters. I can honestly say I did not predict the Big Reveal, and that made it even better. Definitely unlike any science fiction I've read recently - refreshingly so. I'm a little surprised I'd never heard of it.

[Ian Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Sea-Horse in the Sky” by Edmund Cooper (1969) This Edition, First Paperback Edition 1970



Overall Rating 9/10 – A World Beyond



Plot
Sixteen people off a flight from Sweden to London find themselves suddenly marooned on a supposedly alien planet. Investigations and explorations lead them to discover some other strange groups of people and a freezing wall of mist encircling everything. Who are their captors? What do they want? What is behind the impenetrable wall of mist?

Writing Style
The writing is pretty standard for 1969 but almost doesn’t show its age (just a few areas where you would suspect you are not reading a totally modern novel). Sentences are short and crisp, the words are easy to digest with very little repetition of adjectives and verbs.

Point of View
Written in the 3rd Person / Past Tense (standard convention)

Critique
I started reading this book with great excitement, eager to learn as much as I could about this strange new world. I was massively rewarded very quickly but this led quickly to disappointment. A short while later, I came to realise that the incredible “idea” was seemingly turning towards a tired “clique”. I stuck with it through the mid story and then, towards the last third, I was met with the most incredible writing and story telling that I have ever seen. Assuredly, the last eight or nine chapters blew my mind and my respect for the author surpassed that which I have ever had for any other.

Someone once said to me, of a television series, that it was worth watching the series just to experience the ending. I countered that if I had not seen the series I could not possibly be missing anything and that the ending was therefore futile. I watched the series anyway and saw the truth of it – it was the best thing I has ever seen.

And so it is with “Sea-Horse in the Sky”

As an aside, here we experience “the quickening”, a concept used in “Highlander”. I always thought it was original there – but it was not!

The novel is shouting out to Hollywood and no one there is listening.

[S.j. Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up a copy of this old paperback recently and was intrigued by the cover. Such a fun, pulpy sci fi art promised a good read. Since it was published in 1969, I overlooked the blatant sexism, and excused the mid century limitations of technology in the story.
So, the story opens with 16 people waking up inside coffin shaped capsules on what looks to be a deserted street with a hotel, a grocery store and not much else. The people don't know where they are, how they got there and who would have taken them there. Eventually they realize they must have been kidnapped, but the questions of who and why is still unknown. The captives begin to explore their surroundings, adapt to their new life and discover that they are not alone. A group of what appears to be medieval settlers and also a group of stone age people are found near their hotel. The story progresses fairly slowly, the modern folks make friends with the medievals, and the two groups also contact the stone age people with a measure of success. Eventually they figure out how they can escape their odd zoo-like environment only to discover much more than they bargained for. At this point the story spirals into a freakish conglomeration of implausible and unexpected revelations. The ending also left open a lot of deep plot holes, which i was hoping to have answers to. I definitely didn't see the ending coming but it was still a fun, fast read.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Russell Grahame MP awakes in a green plastic coffin on a deserted road resembling an abandoned film set, with a hotel on one side and a supermarket on the other. Around these is barren countryside. He and a group of other passengers on a plane flying from Stockholm to London have been hijacked by aliens and taken to another planet, together with two other groups of humans from two other planets. There, they build a community, and then a world as they realise their purpose, to go forth and multiply. A good little classic story from Edmund Cooper, a little dated in its attitudes, but not surprising, as it was written in 1969. Still fun, and the interactions between the modern, middle-ages, and stone-age communities are fun and well handled. Again, I like Cooper's characters. They feel like real people, even if they all get along a little too easily. Maybe EC was an optimist. Good.

[Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cooper is an underrated gem in the hall of sci-fi writers. This is my 4th book from him thus far, and each one has been great.
This book centers on a group of people from different backgrounds who suddenly wake up in green coffins in a strange place with odd surgical bumps on their necks. They can all understand each other, despite speaking different languages. They are in a replica of a small town with a hotel and grocery store that replenishes itself. They come across other groups of people that appear to be from other times in history, such as a medieval knight and some cavemen. Their goal is trying to figure out who their captors are. But in order to do that they must figure out how to cross the deadly wall of fog that surrounds them.
Highly recommended, along with his book "All Fools Day".

[Paul Woodhouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different perspective

I read this book many years ago and decided to read it once again.
What a difference fifty years ago years makes.
Once I would said this was my favourite Sci fi novel. However, reading with more mature eyes I found that it had not aged well.
The treatment of women, the infallible protagonist and in some places the simplistic writing style detracted from the story I remembered.
I guess you can't step on the same stream twice and I am not sure that reading the book again was such a good idea.
It has certainly colored my memories of this novel

[Glyn Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one a bit like a old twilight zone show or outer limits.
Dated in its old fashioned ways, flawed even but like those old shows it breaks free of its shovanistic and dated stereotypes, to have a wonderful mysterious adventure,some great charactes and more importantly a cracking end.
Yes it could have been fleshed out a bit more but I kind of loved its brevity of prose. Four enjoyable stars .

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published in 1969 the hero/protagonist of this quirky novel is a middle-aged Labour Party Member of Parliament. He’s not looking for votes, but answers, along with his diverse companions, a Stone-Age tribe and a bunch of derring-do Medieval persons (quoth thou?). Finding himself in an absurd situation he eventually discovers that ………….. no, not going there. Just to say that this was a fascinating tale delivered with a Wyndham-esque panache. I really, really liked it. A lot.

[Slytano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't remember this book being amazing, but the experience of reading it was: in the back of a truck on a trip from Moab to Winston-Salem without stopping to sleep. When I finally got home, In Rainbows by Radiohead had just been released, and my apartment had just been cleaned by a maid. It was a great trip. I'm sorry this book review sucked. I think this book briefly reminded me of LOST.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

So Good! A book that I randomly picked up at a used bookstore, I knew nothing about this book, I just liked the way this books front cover version looked (the one with the green bubble on a colum).

1⭐️ DNF or Forced myself to Finish
2⭐️ It's Just a book
3⭐️ A Good Book
4⭐️ On My Reread List
5⭐️ god mode

[Nathan Shumate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a good little unknown novel. It's usually a rush and a letdown when a novel begins with people who don't know where they are or how they got there (or even really who they are), because most authors squander the potential of that opening. This one didn't.

[Andrew Orange]

Not the author's best novel.
Transit is on the same theme, but better.

[Eric N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twilight Zone type mystery on another planet. Really liked it.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Entertaining pot boiler. Terribly dated even for its time. Daft views on women and culturally "inferior" races.

[Bob Pony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starts off as a Twilight Zone episode, and that's kind of what it is. But it's a one-note idea, and the characters are a little wooden. Okay, but not great.

[Vincent Darkhelm · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of Edmund Cooper's best. And probably the inspiration for Stephen King's Langoliers.

[David Moth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable romp which I think I read in just over a day the first time I read it.

[V.W. Singer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The thing about Edmond Cooper is that he still remembered that Science Fiction was all about how science, human or alien, affected humans, and sometimes vice versa.

Sea-Horse in the Sky is an excellent example of the "what if" school of SF. A plane load of passengers wake up in green plastic/glass coffins in a world that is obviously not Earth. Despite that, the air is breathable and the planet actually rather nice.

The MC, the "hero" if you will, is, like most of Cooper's heroes, fairly unremarkable. He is a middle aged, somewhat unsuccessful politician, who tries to rally the passengers.

But where most writers would bring in the ray guns and little green men, Cooper lets us see the strengths, weaknesses, and foibles of each of the passengers. Like in his other book "Transit" the contents of their luggage is revealing.

Eventually stranger things happen, some good some bad, but always the plot stays strongly centred upon the people, and that is the strength of this book. It is the exact opposite of space operas such as E.E. Doc Smith's "Lensman" series.

I found his work refreshing and very ... human. And I liked it, very much.