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Burn Down the Sky #1
Burn Down the Sky: A Gripping Post-Apocalyptic Thriller – A Mother's Fight to Save Her Child
After the destruction of nature and the death of the world . . .
After the Wicca virus drove billions to madness and suicide, replacing order and reason with violence and terror . . .
In the parched ruins of what once was civilization, one commodity is far more valuable than all others combined: female children.
When well-armed marauders roll in at dusk to brutally attack a fiercely defended compound of survivors, Jessie is unable to halt the slaughter—and she can do nothing to prevent the ruthless abduction of innocents, including her youngest child. Now, along with her outraged teenage daughter, Bliss, Jessie must set out on a journey across a blasted landscape—joining up with the desperate, the broken, the half-mad, on an impossible mission: to storm the fortress of a dark and twisted religion and bring the children home.
After the Wicca virus drove billions to madness and suicide, replacing order and reason with violence and terror . . .
In the parched ruins of what once was civilization, one commodity is far more valuable than all others combined: female children.
When well-armed marauders roll in at dusk to brutally attack a fiercely defended compound of survivors, Jessie is unable to halt the slaughter—and she can do nothing to prevent the ruthless abduction of innocents, including her youngest child. Now, along with her outraged teenage daughter, Bliss, Jessie must set out on a journey across a blasted landscape—joining up with the desperate, the broken, the half-mad, on an impossible mission: to storm the fortress of a dark and twisted religion and bring the children home.
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 26, 2011
98 people want to read
About the author
James Jaros
2 booksJames Jaros is the pen name of the widely praised thriller author Mark Nykanen, the four-time Emmy winning investigative reporter whose internationally best-selling books have been praised by critics as "irresistible," "vivid and emotional," "nerve-wracking," and "furiously paced." Europe's largest newspaper hailed him as "The new master of the psycho-sexual thriller" for his dark psychological tales. Now, as James Jaros, he sweeps readers into a post-apocalyptic world as real as it is horrifying.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
March 30, 2011
If you are easily distressed by child abuse or simply enjoy a good night’s sleep, this book is not for you. When it comes to reading about the end of the world, we all know there are endless possibilities as to what could happen. We hope that when the time comes we will meet it with courage and perseverance, but there are darker possibilities too. Burn Down the Sky is one of those books I could not stop reading, even when night after night I suffered bizarre dreams from its dark setting. The world really has gone to hell when child molesters form their own church.
But I could not stop reading.
The searing heat of the wastelands, the never ending drive of the characters, the amazing spirit of Ananda flung me into Jaros’ world and pinned me to every word. I also learned something about myself along the way. I’m not put off my raw violence. Especially when it involves injustice to children. I found myself shouting (out loud) when the abused girls finally found their courage to fight back. It was one of the most thrilling scenes I’ve ever read. Ever. I shed tears not for of the torture they endured, but for their freedom they seized. Thinking about it, even now, makes my heart pound.
If you can handle it, read this book.
But I could not stop reading.
The searing heat of the wastelands, the never ending drive of the characters, the amazing spirit of Ananda flung me into Jaros’ world and pinned me to every word. I also learned something about myself along the way. I’m not put off my raw violence. Especially when it involves injustice to children. I found myself shouting (out loud) when the abused girls finally found their courage to fight back. It was one of the most thrilling scenes I’ve ever read. Ever. I shed tears not for of the torture they endured, but for their freedom they seized. Thinking about it, even now, makes my heart pound.
If you can handle it, read this book.
August 26, 2011
What surprised me most about “Burn Down The Sky” was that such a random book (seriously, my mom gave me this book, picking it up on a whim) could be such a page-turning, well conceived adventure.
I’ll be the very first to admit that it takes a good 20 pages to get into Jaros’s writing style, but believe you me, it well worth the wait; after those first 20 or so pages, “Burn Down the Sky” takes off and never stops going.
Jaros’s apocalyptical vision is almost the picture of perfection. You have unlucky survivors trapped in a dried out wasteland that was once the U.S. fighting against marauders, diseased psychos, and a cult of sex-crazed crazies, coupled with a race against time and a disease that makes AIDS look like the common cold.
Forget that Global Warming is a myth, and that there is a very obvious liberal agenda in these pages. That alone is not worth the 1 and 2 star ratings you will eventually see. Some folks take things too literally to enjoy this book for what it is: an awesome take on a disastrous future that could very well happen.
I’ll be the very first to admit that it takes a good 20 pages to get into Jaros’s writing style, but believe you me, it well worth the wait; after those first 20 or so pages, “Burn Down the Sky” takes off and never stops going.
Jaros’s apocalyptical vision is almost the picture of perfection. You have unlucky survivors trapped in a dried out wasteland that was once the U.S. fighting against marauders, diseased psychos, and a cult of sex-crazed crazies, coupled with a race against time and a disease that makes AIDS look like the common cold.
Forget that Global Warming is a myth, and that there is a very obvious liberal agenda in these pages. That alone is not worth the 1 and 2 star ratings you will eventually see. Some folks take things too literally to enjoy this book for what it is: an awesome take on a disastrous future that could very well happen.
May 1, 2012
Great concept. I like post-apocalyptic novels. Burn Down the Sky explains the double whammy of climate and plaque in narrative flashbacks. Some author's do it better than others. Jaros is one of the others. He follows the current popular thinking about global warming (He's a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists), but accelerates the crash into the very near future. His Wicca virus is tailor made, so needs no justification.
Then he tosses in incongruities which make no sense. Like, tires. He understands that gasoline will be a rare and precious commodity, but his characters drive hundreds of miles in worse-than-off-road conditions (plus half a dozen tires being intentionally shot), yet there always seems to be enough spares--mounted, aired and ready to go. Or bullets. Magically, everyone has all the bullets they need (and of the correct caliber) for many blazing gun battles. No one has clothes, food or water, but bullets are no problem.
It seems highly unlikely--when roads and building are disassembled for parts--that hundreds of miles of rail track would be intact and usable.
Quirky geography. He contends that people can only tell the season by the sun's angle. Has his Earth straightened on its axis? Don't days lengthen and shorten with the season? Then, he mentions the sun being "directly overhead" in Alabama. Not unless the tropics have shifted (the opposite from straightening).
If it was hot enough to melt all the ice caps and glaciers, evaporate the rivers, lakes and lower the oceans ("Pearl Harbor Falls"), where's all the water? As an environmentalist, Jaros knows that water vapor is an even more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. So, how can "Greenhouse gases are going down"?
Jaros treats RPGs like 500 hundred pound bombs, when they're just Rocket Propelled Grenades. (Hollywood routinely commits the same error.)
Finally, yes, there are religious wackos out there--in every religion. But, if he defamed Moslems as he does Christians, he'd be booking a room next to Salman Rushdie. He does, however, acknowledge the variety of reasons people deny global warming. Bad guys as well as good come in many shades and sizes.
Interesting read, but not especially good.
Then he tosses in incongruities which make no sense. Like, tires. He understands that gasoline will be a rare and precious commodity, but his characters drive hundreds of miles in worse-than-off-road conditions (plus half a dozen tires being intentionally shot), yet there always seems to be enough spares--mounted, aired and ready to go. Or bullets. Magically, everyone has all the bullets they need (and of the correct caliber) for many blazing gun battles. No one has clothes, food or water, but bullets are no problem.
It seems highly unlikely--when roads and building are disassembled for parts--that hundreds of miles of rail track would be intact and usable.
Quirky geography. He contends that people can only tell the season by the sun's angle. Has his Earth straightened on its axis? Don't days lengthen and shorten with the season? Then, he mentions the sun being "directly overhead" in Alabama. Not unless the tropics have shifted (the opposite from straightening).
If it was hot enough to melt all the ice caps and glaciers, evaporate the rivers, lakes and lower the oceans ("Pearl Harbor Falls"), where's all the water? As an environmentalist, Jaros knows that water vapor is an even more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. So, how can "Greenhouse gases are going down"?
Jaros treats RPGs like 500 hundred pound bombs, when they're just Rocket Propelled Grenades. (Hollywood routinely commits the same error.)
Finally, yes, there are religious wackos out there--in every religion. But, if he defamed Moslems as he does Christians, he'd be booking a room next to Salman Rushdie. He does, however, acknowledge the variety of reasons people deny global warming. Bad guys as well as good come in many shades and sizes.
Interesting read, but not especially good.
October 8, 2011
In Burn Down the Sky, James Jaros creates a horrifyingly real dystopia in which humanity’s worst nightmares have come true. Nature as we know it has been destroyed, to the point where those whose ancestors denied climate change are subjects of persecution. Weather patterns around the world have gone wild, and rain is a rare occurrence. A deadly STD virus has made sex deadly, leading to madness and suicide. Sex is only safe with a young girl within a year after she begins menstruation. These young girls are “harvested” by a few small powerful groups who, of course, use them to perpetuate their own gene pool.
Each chapter begins with headlines from news of a ruined planet, which are amazingly still functioning. They report widespread water riots, cannibalism and nuclear attacks, as nations and individuals compete for the dwindling resources.
In the midst of the chaos, Jessie, whose daughter Ananda has been kidnapped by marauders along with three other young girls from their encampment in a depression that was once a lake, sets out across the desert in search of the girls. She is accompanied by her older daughter Bliss and a former nurse who had escaped the marauders herself. They must evade these men and other threats to find the girls and rescue them from the stronghold of a group that calls itself “The Army of God” who will use the girls to procreate.
This book is extreme hyperbole, but hyperbole with a purpose. It touches the reality of our own world enough to evoke a deep sense of sadness. It is a warning, and not easy reading. The characters speak of “box stores,” and how they “killed us in the end.”
I am enough of an optimist to believe that we humans will ultimately have enough compassion for each other to prevent the horrible disaster that James Jaros describes so vividly. I don’t believe I would have found this novel so disturbing if it were not so well-done.
Each chapter begins with headlines from news of a ruined planet, which are amazingly still functioning. They report widespread water riots, cannibalism and nuclear attacks, as nations and individuals compete for the dwindling resources.
In the midst of the chaos, Jessie, whose daughter Ananda has been kidnapped by marauders along with three other young girls from their encampment in a depression that was once a lake, sets out across the desert in search of the girls. She is accompanied by her older daughter Bliss and a former nurse who had escaped the marauders herself. They must evade these men and other threats to find the girls and rescue them from the stronghold of a group that calls itself “The Army of God” who will use the girls to procreate.
This book is extreme hyperbole, but hyperbole with a purpose. It touches the reality of our own world enough to evoke a deep sense of sadness. It is a warning, and not easy reading. The characters speak of “box stores,” and how they “killed us in the end.”
I am enough of an optimist to believe that we humans will ultimately have enough compassion for each other to prevent the horrible disaster that James Jaros describes so vividly. I don’t believe I would have found this novel so disturbing if it were not so well-done.
May 23, 2016
Okay, at first I thought this book had potential. Emmy-winning author. Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian. I dig it. My kind of thing. Promising beginning. Lots of violence. I can deal with that. But then some creepy things start, well, creeping into the book. First, it’s the Wicca virus (nice title, eh?), where it’s spread by sexual transmission, but then eventually pretty much everyone is infected or a carrier – except young girls who have not yet menstruated, and they are not infected for one year, 365 days, after they first begin to do so, at which point they become infected and for all intents and purposes, become disposable. Which means, they’re the only females on earth that horny men can safely have sex with – 11 and 12 year old girls. Think about that for a minute. Then start thinking about the premise of this book. Yeah.
So, marauders go out to attack different camps, violently, and steal their young girls, and in this southern region based in old Knoxville, take them back to a freakish religious cult called the Army of God, which is armed, powerful, and made up of pedophiliac killers. This happens to a woman named Jessie, whose young daughter is stolen in a raid that kills over 100 of her colleagues. She and her daughter, Bliss, start out tracking this group, just the two of them, against well armed marauders, but they end up joining forces with some other people in their situation and start looking for this fortress.
The things that started disturbing me about this book, though, were the descriptions of the young girls and their bodies and what the dirty old men did to them. Vivid descriptions. Jessie’s daughter, Ananda, lived in fear of getting her first period because then she would be married off to a dirty old man, get impregnated immediately, hopefully give birth to a female child, that they could bring up for more sexual slavery – a boy child would be sold off – and after 365 days, she would disappear, permanently. It happens to all of the girls. There is torture. If you talk back, they wash you eyes out with lye to blind you to teach you a lesson. If you are too resistant, they say you’re in league with the devil, maybe even a witch, and burn you alive at the stake and make all of the girls watch.
Meanwhile, all of the girls have to strip, be washed, especially between their legs and buttocks, cleaned, changed. Ananda is forced to live with the fortress leader and his Nazi-like female companion, sleeping on the floor outside their door. He makes her take her top off and get a doll and practice nursing with it, so he can see her “light colored” nipples, multiple times. We’re given multiple descriptions of her pubic hair, size, shape, thickness. We see other naked young girls through her eyes. What this book eventually, sneakily becomes is not a dystopian sci fi novel, but child porn mixed in with some child torture – kiddie porn. It’s fucking disgusting. I have no idea if this is even legal. I guess if you can sell de Sade, you can sell this, but it’s beyond me why you would market child porn as sci fi and expect people to be okay with this. I found it disturbing, disgusting, repulsive, and appalling, and while part of me admired his writing skills, cause Jaros is a good writer, I was far more put off with the subject material and felt dirty after reading passages of this book. I’ve actually read worse, like when I read The Turner Diaries, but this isn’t a controversial underground white supremacist novel that inspired the greatest act of domestic terrorism in American history. This atrocity is on any sci fi bookshelf in America and that’s disturbing to me. Any 12-year-old kid could pick this up – and be scarred by it. As a writer myself, I’ve never advocated censorship and I’m still not sure I do, but this book belongs on the top shelf, or on its own shelf, or in a glass case – I’m not sure what the answer is, but it’s R to X rated and I don’t think 10 and 12 year old kids should be reading it unsupervised.
This book had a lot of potential and part of me is sorry I’m not going to find out what happens to the family, but I’m not going to subject myself to more and more child torture and child porn to find out. I’m not willing to sell my soul for so little in return. Even though the subject matter merits one star, the writing and originality of the book merits more, so I’m giving it two stars, reluctantly, with the provision that caution should be exercised by any and all who read it, knowing its subject matter is controversial. Therefore, two stars and not recommended.
So, marauders go out to attack different camps, violently, and steal their young girls, and in this southern region based in old Knoxville, take them back to a freakish religious cult called the Army of God, which is armed, powerful, and made up of pedophiliac killers. This happens to a woman named Jessie, whose young daughter is stolen in a raid that kills over 100 of her colleagues. She and her daughter, Bliss, start out tracking this group, just the two of them, against well armed marauders, but they end up joining forces with some other people in their situation and start looking for this fortress.
The things that started disturbing me about this book, though, were the descriptions of the young girls and their bodies and what the dirty old men did to them. Vivid descriptions. Jessie’s daughter, Ananda, lived in fear of getting her first period because then she would be married off to a dirty old man, get impregnated immediately, hopefully give birth to a female child, that they could bring up for more sexual slavery – a boy child would be sold off – and after 365 days, she would disappear, permanently. It happens to all of the girls. There is torture. If you talk back, they wash you eyes out with lye to blind you to teach you a lesson. If you are too resistant, they say you’re in league with the devil, maybe even a witch, and burn you alive at the stake and make all of the girls watch.
Meanwhile, all of the girls have to strip, be washed, especially between their legs and buttocks, cleaned, changed. Ananda is forced to live with the fortress leader and his Nazi-like female companion, sleeping on the floor outside their door. He makes her take her top off and get a doll and practice nursing with it, so he can see her “light colored” nipples, multiple times. We’re given multiple descriptions of her pubic hair, size, shape, thickness. We see other naked young girls through her eyes. What this book eventually, sneakily becomes is not a dystopian sci fi novel, but child porn mixed in with some child torture – kiddie porn. It’s fucking disgusting. I have no idea if this is even legal. I guess if you can sell de Sade, you can sell this, but it’s beyond me why you would market child porn as sci fi and expect people to be okay with this. I found it disturbing, disgusting, repulsive, and appalling, and while part of me admired his writing skills, cause Jaros is a good writer, I was far more put off with the subject material and felt dirty after reading passages of this book. I’ve actually read worse, like when I read The Turner Diaries, but this isn’t a controversial underground white supremacist novel that inspired the greatest act of domestic terrorism in American history. This atrocity is on any sci fi bookshelf in America and that’s disturbing to me. Any 12-year-old kid could pick this up – and be scarred by it. As a writer myself, I’ve never advocated censorship and I’m still not sure I do, but this book belongs on the top shelf, or on its own shelf, or in a glass case – I’m not sure what the answer is, but it’s R to X rated and I don’t think 10 and 12 year old kids should be reading it unsupervised.
This book had a lot of potential and part of me is sorry I’m not going to find out what happens to the family, but I’m not going to subject myself to more and more child torture and child porn to find out. I’m not willing to sell my soul for so little in return. Even though the subject matter merits one star, the writing and originality of the book merits more, so I’m giving it two stars, reluctantly, with the provision that caution should be exercised by any and all who read it, knowing its subject matter is controversial. Therefore, two stars and not recommended.
April 27, 2011
Review provided by Black Lagoon Reviews:
Never before have I read such a vivid, intense novel as Burn Down the Sky by James Jaros, the pen name for acclaimed journalist and author Mark Nykanen. This bleakly oppressive read definitely hits chords that resonate unease and suspense by the bucket load focusing on subjects that send shudders down the spines of parents everywhere. If you are squeamish about graphic, brutal violence or child abuse, then this is certainly not for you! With disturbing plot lines and thrilling, nail-biting action, this is definitely not bed time reading!
From the first paragraph, Jaros's amazingly descriptive writing set the stage for a word that was bleak and filled with hardships from not only the chaos left by the sky rocketing temperature, but from the sheer plight of resources. It is painfully obvious that nothing comes easily in this broken world and that the dangers that lurk in the blazing sun are beyond numerous. The tone and atmosphere were intensely created, bringing the reader directly into a frightening, brutal world where simply surviving is as good as it gets. The absolutely chilling thing though was the plausibility of this barren world. The sheer horror of the possibility is what definitely sets this novel apart as it keeps a very realistic edge.
The characters weren't exactly what I had been expecting. They're brutal and violent, far removed from hope for a better world. But, despite this, there is still an unyielding love and sense of loyalty about family that drives these characters passed survival as they feel the only hope possible-the safety of their children. Each is complex, making the toughest possible decisions with tragic and complicated histories that have shaped them, some for the better, but some for the worse. But, because of the horrific consequences of a raid that stole young girls to be delivered into a church formed of child molesters, the young girls really stole my heart with their strength and bravery. Their never ending faith that their parents would come, that someone would stand up and recognize how wrong and disturbed this world had become waiting really sparked great emotion, especially as the girls realized that while you can hope for the best, ultimately you have to fight for your own survival as well. There was also a lot of twists as characters surprised me throughout, something that I didn't think possible. But, by the end I was so conflicted about some of the characters that I simply had to say that this is one world truly dominated by shades of gray and black with little to no white.
There was a lot of great action within this story with each chapter propelling you deeper and deeper into darker territory. The gripping suspense as the girls are drawn closer and closer to a church built around child molestation and the thrilling chase of the parents bent on rescuing their them truly made this an adrenaline packed novel. But, there was definitely a lot that left me cringing on the verge of feeling violated myself. The writing style definitely pulls you into the moment, which at times is a good thing and at others simply makes you feel dirty fearing the possibilities that this future holds.
Overall, this was an intense read that really took my breath away. But, while it was a marvelously well done work, it definitely left me quite conflicted about how to rate it. There was a lot of merit to the author's writing style as well as the development of the world and characters, but there was just so much that put me on edge, which was definitely the purpose of the novel. Burn Down the Sky is without a doubt NOT for the light hearted as there are a lot of elements that are disturbing and brutal, I would definitely not recommend it to younger readers. That said, if you can handle a dark, intense read focused on disturbing and bleak subject matter, this is definitely an interesting and gripping read that definitely illicits some strong emotional responses.
Never before have I read such a vivid, intense novel as Burn Down the Sky by James Jaros, the pen name for acclaimed journalist and author Mark Nykanen. This bleakly oppressive read definitely hits chords that resonate unease and suspense by the bucket load focusing on subjects that send shudders down the spines of parents everywhere. If you are squeamish about graphic, brutal violence or child abuse, then this is certainly not for you! With disturbing plot lines and thrilling, nail-biting action, this is definitely not bed time reading!
From the first paragraph, Jaros's amazingly descriptive writing set the stage for a word that was bleak and filled with hardships from not only the chaos left by the sky rocketing temperature, but from the sheer plight of resources. It is painfully obvious that nothing comes easily in this broken world and that the dangers that lurk in the blazing sun are beyond numerous. The tone and atmosphere were intensely created, bringing the reader directly into a frightening, brutal world where simply surviving is as good as it gets. The absolutely chilling thing though was the plausibility of this barren world. The sheer horror of the possibility is what definitely sets this novel apart as it keeps a very realistic edge.
The characters weren't exactly what I had been expecting. They're brutal and violent, far removed from hope for a better world. But, despite this, there is still an unyielding love and sense of loyalty about family that drives these characters passed survival as they feel the only hope possible-the safety of their children. Each is complex, making the toughest possible decisions with tragic and complicated histories that have shaped them, some for the better, but some for the worse. But, because of the horrific consequences of a raid that stole young girls to be delivered into a church formed of child molesters, the young girls really stole my heart with their strength and bravery. Their never ending faith that their parents would come, that someone would stand up and recognize how wrong and disturbed this world had become waiting really sparked great emotion, especially as the girls realized that while you can hope for the best, ultimately you have to fight for your own survival as well. There was also a lot of twists as characters surprised me throughout, something that I didn't think possible. But, by the end I was so conflicted about some of the characters that I simply had to say that this is one world truly dominated by shades of gray and black with little to no white.
There was a lot of great action within this story with each chapter propelling you deeper and deeper into darker territory. The gripping suspense as the girls are drawn closer and closer to a church built around child molestation and the thrilling chase of the parents bent on rescuing their them truly made this an adrenaline packed novel. But, there was definitely a lot that left me cringing on the verge of feeling violated myself. The writing style definitely pulls you into the moment, which at times is a good thing and at others simply makes you feel dirty fearing the possibilities that this future holds.
Overall, this was an intense read that really took my breath away. But, while it was a marvelously well done work, it definitely left me quite conflicted about how to rate it. There was a lot of merit to the author's writing style as well as the development of the world and characters, but there was just so much that put me on edge, which was definitely the purpose of the novel. Burn Down the Sky is without a doubt NOT for the light hearted as there are a lot of elements that are disturbing and brutal, I would definitely not recommend it to younger readers. That said, if you can handle a dark, intense read focused on disturbing and bleak subject matter, this is definitely an interesting and gripping read that definitely illicits some strong emotional responses.
October 25, 2012
A family is torn apart after their village is attacked by marauders looking for young girls in the hope of repopulating a devastated America. This book has it all: bleak desert landscapes, post-biological weapon breakdown and a religious cult with ominous beliefs. Throw in not one, but three strong female protagonists and it's a recipe for one unforgettable thrill.
January 15, 2016
At least the author got his love for incomplete sentences out of the way early.... Aside from that, it felt like he had quite a few axes to grind, which unnecessarily detracted from the flow of the book.
July 24, 2022
Jaros, an accomplished investigative journalist, dives right into a world of hopelessness. In the late 21st century a run away Greenhouse Effect has ravaged the earth. "Faster than expected". Although never mentioned directly, the Methane Gun has perhaps been pulled, the proverbial bullet of death.
The methane stores, buried under the earth in the Arctic (permafrost) can melt and release tons of carbon into the atmosphere. The potential warming is a whopping 80 percent stronger than carbon. Although some climate scientists, such as Penn State's Michael Mann are hesitant to confirm the possibility of catastrophic release in the 21st century, other scientists have sounded the alarm:
"Oceanography and ice expert Prof Peter Wadhams disagrees. He says loss of Arctic sea ice from the shallow continental margins could trigger such a release which “could happen very suddenly and … is the greatest single threat that we face”. He says that mainstream science, represented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), does not generally recognise the threat (7)."
In 2020 a group 0f Russian scientist went down 350 feet in the Laptev Sea off Russia and found much new release from sea sediment.
"Igor Semiletov, of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who is the chief scientist onboard, said the discharges were “significantly larger” than anything found before. “The discovery of actively releasing shelf slope hydrates is very important and unknown until now,”
The world created in Burn Down the Sky seems, to me, to illustrate the result of almost a Venus Effect (or as my other Collapsiks, refer to as "Venus next Tuesday!") The vital jet stream in the Atlantic, which allows the UK a temperament climate, has stalled, plunging Europe into an ice age of sorts. The south eastern region of the US (namely the corridor from northern Alabama to Knoxville- I believe Guntersville Lake and dam are "the reservoir mentioned) is basically a desert. The water is gone, leaving a crusted wasteland of dust. No growing trees, no wildlife (save for panthers and snakes), just death, barren.
Jessie, a former biologist, and her family have eked out a reasonable albeit hard life by huddling in this dry lake bed and struggling to grow food, conserve water from the rare rain, and seek shade from the monstrous rays from a white hot sun. There are many others, good people who seek an existence in this humble community that they've created over the years. A different world indeed. Oh, and let us not forget, a deadly, mind twisting virus is on the loose. Wicca is transmitted through sex and a female can only have intercourse and conceive 6 months after her first period. Obviously there are evil folks out there, right on the exterior of this seemingly safe hovel, who burn with want for any young woman on the verge of puberty. One day they just show up at the door, and will not take no for an answer.
I enjoyed the book until the end. Maybe I wasn't focused enough, but the intense and nonstop action was difficult for me to follow. It was literally-nonstop-! The world building by Jaros is excellent and raw. The broken brown landscape is brilliantly rendered and I must admit to craving water while taking in Jaros's prose.
I stayed hooked because the characters are...gosh, so well written here and not one dimensional, which I've found rare these days. Lots of kick a-- women here! The writing is also very good, I found myself falling right in and escaping into this scary future world of heat, hate, and terror. A world where surviving is the name of the game. An eye for an eye. Not to mention the utter lack of sustenance, imagine no brightly lit Acme supermarket down the road with a bevy of brightly colored fruits and vegetables all for the taking. No pre-packaged meat or bread or sugar... No water.
As a huge fan of cli-fi since...well forever, and someone deeply interested in climate change, collapse, sustainability, conservation, community, ecology, and future topics, I thought Burn Down the Sky was great . I've read a lot of them such as Clade, Vigil Harbor, etc. and hadn't heard of this one, written in 2011.
Recommended for the non squeamish (warning there scenes depicting horrific abuse towards women, similar to Atwood's The Handmaids Tale) and readers with an affinity for cli fi and dystopian stories.
The methane stores, buried under the earth in the Arctic (permafrost) can melt and release tons of carbon into the atmosphere. The potential warming is a whopping 80 percent stronger than carbon. Although some climate scientists, such as Penn State's Michael Mann are hesitant to confirm the possibility of catastrophic release in the 21st century, other scientists have sounded the alarm:
"Oceanography and ice expert Prof Peter Wadhams disagrees. He says loss of Arctic sea ice from the shallow continental margins could trigger such a release which “could happen very suddenly and … is the greatest single threat that we face”. He says that mainstream science, represented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), does not generally recognise the threat (7)."
In 2020 a group 0f Russian scientist went down 350 feet in the Laptev Sea off Russia and found much new release from sea sediment.
"Igor Semiletov, of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who is the chief scientist onboard, said the discharges were “significantly larger” than anything found before. “The discovery of actively releasing shelf slope hydrates is very important and unknown until now,”
The world created in Burn Down the Sky seems, to me, to illustrate the result of almost a Venus Effect (or as my other Collapsiks, refer to as "Venus next Tuesday!") The vital jet stream in the Atlantic, which allows the UK a temperament climate, has stalled, plunging Europe into an ice age of sorts. The south eastern region of the US (namely the corridor from northern Alabama to Knoxville- I believe Guntersville Lake and dam are "the reservoir mentioned) is basically a desert. The water is gone, leaving a crusted wasteland of dust. No growing trees, no wildlife (save for panthers and snakes), just death, barren.
Jessie, a former biologist, and her family have eked out a reasonable albeit hard life by huddling in this dry lake bed and struggling to grow food, conserve water from the rare rain, and seek shade from the monstrous rays from a white hot sun. There are many others, good people who seek an existence in this humble community that they've created over the years. A different world indeed. Oh, and let us not forget, a deadly, mind twisting virus is on the loose. Wicca is transmitted through sex and a female can only have intercourse and conceive 6 months after her first period. Obviously there are evil folks out there, right on the exterior of this seemingly safe hovel, who burn with want for any young woman on the verge of puberty. One day they just show up at the door, and will not take no for an answer.
I enjoyed the book until the end. Maybe I wasn't focused enough, but the intense and nonstop action was difficult for me to follow. It was literally-nonstop-! The world building by Jaros is excellent and raw. The broken brown landscape is brilliantly rendered and I must admit to craving water while taking in Jaros's prose.
I stayed hooked because the characters are...gosh, so well written here and not one dimensional, which I've found rare these days. Lots of kick a-- women here! The writing is also very good, I found myself falling right in and escaping into this scary future world of heat, hate, and terror. A world where surviving is the name of the game. An eye for an eye. Not to mention the utter lack of sustenance, imagine no brightly lit Acme supermarket down the road with a bevy of brightly colored fruits and vegetables all for the taking. No pre-packaged meat or bread or sugar... No water.
As a huge fan of cli-fi since...well forever, and someone deeply interested in climate change, collapse, sustainability, conservation, community, ecology, and future topics, I thought Burn Down the Sky was great . I've read a lot of them such as Clade, Vigil Harbor, etc. and hadn't heard of this one, written in 2011.
Recommended for the non squeamish (warning there scenes depicting horrific abuse towards women, similar to Atwood's The Handmaids Tale) and readers with an affinity for cli fi and dystopian stories.
December 10, 2017
A post-apocalyptic version of The Searchers, with some A Handmaid's Tale thrown in. Sometime in the future (the farthest confirmed date is 2027 but the date it's set in may be many years later) a virus has wreaked havoc on the majority of the population, and the survivors live in an unforgiving landscape where prepubescent girls are the world's most important asset. Jessie's camp was attacked and her younger daughter kidnapped, so she sets out on a mission to rescue her daughter and the other girls.
The story is not one-hundred percent on the plausibility scale but it was absorbing and bleak. The headlines at the beginning of each chapter, which soon devolve into heard reports and graffiti, provide a good background. The book can be overly pedantic and moralistic, and the current political divide gets incorporated into the story, which will probably alienate some of the readers. It is not the most ingenious or original as far as plots go, but the author does a wonderful job of conveying what is and what might be going on the world and how the current landscape came to be.
It does get horrifying in some parts. One major horrifying element is that a lot of the subjects addressed are actually happening in the world. The biggest one would be sex trafficking of children. The cult that absorbs the kidnapped girls seems modeled on a cult that has made the news in the past couple of decades, though taken to bigger extremes. The chapters that focus on Jessie's daughter and the other girls taken are grim, but portray the girls as realistically complex characters whose personalities, strengths, and weaknesses shine past their status as victims. One can't help but be reminded that real girls are living this type of life, before the worldwide apocalypse has hit.
It would have been nice to see more of how Jessie's life at her home camp was like before the marauders came: how people managed in what looked like a nice, functional community, even though safety could never be a guarantee with so many bloodthirsty people roaming around.
The story is not one-hundred percent on the plausibility scale but it was absorbing and bleak. The headlines at the beginning of each chapter, which soon devolve into heard reports and graffiti, provide a good background. The book can be overly pedantic and moralistic, and the current political divide gets incorporated into the story, which will probably alienate some of the readers. It is not the most ingenious or original as far as plots go, but the author does a wonderful job of conveying what is and what might be going on the world and how the current landscape came to be.
It does get horrifying in some parts. One major horrifying element is that a lot of the subjects addressed are actually happening in the world. The biggest one would be sex trafficking of children. The cult that absorbs the kidnapped girls seems modeled on a cult that has made the news in the past couple of decades, though taken to bigger extremes. The chapters that focus on Jessie's daughter and the other girls taken are grim, but portray the girls as realistically complex characters whose personalities, strengths, and weaknesses shine past their status as victims. One can't help but be reminded that real girls are living this type of life, before the worldwide apocalypse has hit.
It would have been nice to see more of how Jessie's life at her home camp was like before the marauders came: how people managed in what looked like a nice, functional community, even though safety could never be a guarantee with so many bloodthirsty people roaming around.
July 25, 2022
DNF at 60%. I am a huge fan of post-apocalyptic fiction but this one gets a hard no from me. I was hoping for a look at life after extreme climate change and instead found myself reading pedophilic torture porn. I'm extremely anti-censorship but I wonder how the heck this got published. Not engaging, over-the-top shock value for its own sake, author clearly has a sexual interest in young girls.
One main plot point: A virus called "Wicca" that makes sex deadly unless the female is within a year of menarche, so basically men can only have sex with children. Wicca is of course an existing religion, there would have been no reason to use this name unless the author has an axe to grind. Plus there is a disabled female character who is tortured for no reason I can discern other than to make the book more upsetting.
The descriptions of young women's bodies and the obsession with menarche was just sick. In particular, scenes of young women being checked for "virginity" using a speculum was both repulsive and laughable- of course a male author would not be aware that checking a young girl for "virginity" with a speculum would destroy the exact evidence being sought, and I was confused by the start as to why virginity would be relevant at all, other than so that the author could indulge his own pedophilic fantasies.
Poorly researched, poorly written. Gave up because it wasn't clear who was doing what to whom and why between scenes of pedophilia, female slavery, and torture of the disabled.
One main plot point: A virus called "Wicca" that makes sex deadly unless the female is within a year of menarche, so basically men can only have sex with children. Wicca is of course an existing religion, there would have been no reason to use this name unless the author has an axe to grind. Plus there is a disabled female character who is tortured for no reason I can discern other than to make the book more upsetting.
The descriptions of young women's bodies and the obsession with menarche was just sick. In particular, scenes of young women being checked for "virginity" using a speculum was both repulsive and laughable- of course a male author would not be aware that checking a young girl for "virginity" with a speculum would destroy the exact evidence being sought, and I was confused by the start as to why virginity would be relevant at all, other than so that the author could indulge his own pedophilic fantasies.
Poorly researched, poorly written. Gave up because it wasn't clear who was doing what to whom and why between scenes of pedophilia, female slavery, and torture of the disabled.
July 26, 2012
I love it when a book surprises me and Burn Down the Sky did just that. With its ominous cover and title, I was prepared for a stern literary lecture on climate change, what I got was a page-turning thrill ride.
A quick skim of the reviews on this page will give you the basic premise of the story and, yes, it is every bit as scary as many reviewers suggest. So instead of a re-hash of the plot, I’d like to talk about what I feel is the book’s greatest strength: characters.
Jaros’s world is bleak and unforgiving. A hard land filled with hard people, desperate to survive, some driven to madness. It would have been easy for the author to take a more ‘politically correct’ path--there’s no doubt some readers will find some of the subject matter disturbing—but this reader is glad that he did not. His is the perfect environment for characters that show us the best and worst of humanity.
Among the psychos , savages, and fanatics of this novel, are a few villains that elicit, if not sympathy, understanding. In fact, by the end, I found myself cheering for one of the story’s most loathsome characters, and hoping for his redemption. Complex, three-dimensional antagonists are a joy to read and Jaros succeeds beautifully here.
It is the female characters of Burn Down the Sky, however, that most impressed me. Jessie and her daughters, Bliss and Ananda, are the center of a well-rounded cast of women and girls. These three characters are strong, determined, capable, and courageous, but they are not men with breasts, these are unmistakably women. As an adventure-seeking former stuntwoman, I felt that Jaros perfectly captured the essence of what makes ‘tough’ women tick. And it is from the female characters that this otherwise grim and tragic world gets a ray of hope.
The sequel to this book comes out August 1, 2012 and I can’t wait to catch up with these amazing characters and follow them on what promises to be a rocky road to a new world!
A quick skim of the reviews on this page will give you the basic premise of the story and, yes, it is every bit as scary as many reviewers suggest. So instead of a re-hash of the plot, I’d like to talk about what I feel is the book’s greatest strength: characters.
Jaros’s world is bleak and unforgiving. A hard land filled with hard people, desperate to survive, some driven to madness. It would have been easy for the author to take a more ‘politically correct’ path--there’s no doubt some readers will find some of the subject matter disturbing—but this reader is glad that he did not. His is the perfect environment for characters that show us the best and worst of humanity.
Among the psychos , savages, and fanatics of this novel, are a few villains that elicit, if not sympathy, understanding. In fact, by the end, I found myself cheering for one of the story’s most loathsome characters, and hoping for his redemption. Complex, three-dimensional antagonists are a joy to read and Jaros succeeds beautifully here.
It is the female characters of Burn Down the Sky, however, that most impressed me. Jessie and her daughters, Bliss and Ananda, are the center of a well-rounded cast of women and girls. These three characters are strong, determined, capable, and courageous, but they are not men with breasts, these are unmistakably women. As an adventure-seeking former stuntwoman, I felt that Jaros perfectly captured the essence of what makes ‘tough’ women tick. And it is from the female characters that this otherwise grim and tragic world gets a ray of hope.
The sequel to this book comes out August 1, 2012 and I can’t wait to catch up with these amazing characters and follow them on what promises to be a rocky road to a new world!
September 13, 2016
I hated, hated, hated the context of this book. It was vile. It was disgusting and quite frankly, a lot of it was practically child porn. So perverted that I could only read this book a little at a time before foaming at the mouth with rage.
I am really wondering what it is that Jaros has against women. I mean, sure, the way women were treated in this book is exactly how it would go--girls too, but did he really NEED to stick it to them by having them all die off with Wicca? Men, although few, were able to survive it but no women at all? And then having women be conveniently immune until after their first period...good lord.
When I told my husband the plot, he was like "Oh, great, so this is about a bunch of perverts raping little girls." And I was like, "Surely not, right? I mean how disgusting would this guy have to be to base his whole novel off something like that?" Boy was I wrong. Next time I will listen to my husband.
There are so many instances in this book that were entirely inappropriate and really unnecessary to the plot. And because of those things, I just can't give this book more than one star, even though if this had been about anything else, I probably would have given it a higher rating.
Now, just because I hated what he was writing about and most of the content, doesn't mean that he can't write. Because he can. His action scenes were really good. His characters were well fleshed out. His world building was pretty good, I could see what he was trying to show me--that was quite the double edged sword. And if it weren't for the unnecessary things that you were shown in this book, I probably could have forgiven him for the context and maybe even somewhat enjoyed this book, but I really just couldn't stomach it.
I am really wondering what it is that Jaros has against women. I mean, sure, the way women were treated in this book is exactly how it would go--girls too, but did he really NEED to stick it to them by having them all die off with Wicca? Men, although few, were able to survive it but no women at all? And then having women be conveniently immune until after their first period...good lord.
When I told my husband the plot, he was like "Oh, great, so this is about a bunch of perverts raping little girls." And I was like, "Surely not, right? I mean how disgusting would this guy have to be to base his whole novel off something like that?" Boy was I wrong. Next time I will listen to my husband.
There are so many instances in this book that were entirely inappropriate and really unnecessary to the plot. And because of those things, I just can't give this book more than one star, even though if this had been about anything else, I probably would have given it a higher rating.
Now, just because I hated what he was writing about and most of the content, doesn't mean that he can't write. Because he can. His action scenes were really good. His characters were well fleshed out. His world building was pretty good, I could see what he was trying to show me--that was quite the double edged sword. And if it weren't for the unnecessary things that you were shown in this book, I probably could have forgiven him for the context and maybe even somewhat enjoyed this book, but I really just couldn't stomach it.
Read
May 6, 2012This book was terrible. I mean, just a complete stinker. Too bad for a real review with paragraphs and things, and so instead I give you the bullet points:
- global warming that causes complete global devastation in under a decade
- nothing green or growing left alive, but somehow snakes, crows, and panthers remain to attack people
- a deadly virus that plans and thinks and only allows for sex with young girls
- not to mention, if a disease is ONLY passed by hetero-sex, as laid out here, there would be a hell of a lot more homo-sex, not just a bunch of chaste couples not fooling around
- poor, poor writing where everyone says exactly what they are doing and thinking
- stock characters, such as Former Rebel Leader Turned Outlaw With Heart of Gold and Plucky Young Woman Who Can Survive Any Adventure (But Mostly Rape)
- even the cover is ugly
Until I read this book, I thought America 2014 was going to be the worst thing I slogged through in the name of dystopia. Oh, how wrong I was.
- global warming that causes complete global devastation in under a decade
- nothing green or growing left alive, but somehow snakes, crows, and panthers remain to attack people
- a deadly virus that plans and thinks and only allows for sex with young girls
- not to mention, if a disease is ONLY passed by hetero-sex, as laid out here, there would be a hell of a lot more homo-sex, not just a bunch of chaste couples not fooling around
- poor, poor writing where everyone says exactly what they are doing and thinking
- stock characters, such as Former Rebel Leader Turned Outlaw With Heart of Gold and Plucky Young Woman Who Can Survive Any Adventure (But Mostly Rape)
- even the cover is ugly
Until I read this book, I thought America 2014 was going to be the worst thing I slogged through in the name of dystopia. Oh, how wrong I was.
May 31, 2012
In James Jaros’s BURN DOWN THE SKY, global warming has scorched the earth, resulting in mass die-offs over several hundred years, and a new virus, passed on through sex, infects millions of the survivors, making them suicidally or homicidally insane. In this MAD MAX America, a small community struggles to survive–until a marauding gang comes to steal its prepubescent girls, who are able to produce children, and sell them to a local elite. The story is fairly gripping, with strong characters, particularly the women, brought to life through good writing and pacing. Overall, it’s a highly enjoyable apocalyptic read.
June 30, 2014
Exciting action sci-fi. Did feel like I was being preached at in some spots--(It's very much an environmental warning novel.) Also thought the writing was awkward in spots, and I think the "wicca" illness was totally unbelievable and never explained very well.
I did like that most of the protagonists were female and that many of them were intelligent and capable throughout the book (no one tripped and sprained their ankle!). The mom (Jessie) was very strong, made the hard decisions that had to be made, and was good with weapoons. The "cultists" that the group faced off against were truly creepy and scary.
I'll probably pick up the sequel.
I did like that most of the protagonists were female and that many of them were intelligent and capable throughout the book (no one tripped and sprained their ankle!). The mom (Jessie) was very strong, made the hard decisions that had to be made, and was good with weapoons. The "cultists" that the group faced off against were truly creepy and scary.
I'll probably pick up the sequel.
October 9, 2011
Wow. This was the first book I've read in a long time that I couldn't put down. I'm not the fastest reader in the world, but I powered through this one in about four days. This is a book I wished I'd written. The pacing, the urgency, the raw power of the violence is as close to perfect as anything I've read. The Road Warrior movie may have set the bar for what people think of as a post-apocalyptic setting, but Jaros used that bar as a ladder and took it a whole bunch of notches higher. I don't give a lot of books five star ratings; this one earned it.
November 12, 2012
You know what, I'm just not going to finish this book. I feel like I should because I really love this genre (post-apocalyptic fiction) and I've already read more than half, but I'm not liking it much, not the characters, or the events, or the unlikely future the author imagines, or his weird and endless similes. I don't want to read anymore gratuitous horrific happenings and I'm pretty sure I know how it's going to end, so I might as well stop here.
July 14, 2012
It truly is the apocalypse when having sex will kill you. Extreme climate change and a deadly virus at the same time make for a unique scenario. The post apocalyptic world in this book is very believable. The glimpses of the world as it collapsed are great and left me wanting to know more.
May 9, 2013
Oh, I really loved this one. It started out slow for me and I have to admit the whole '1 year exactly after menses' precise-ity bugged me at first but once the storyline got rolling I really got into it. I usually don't like action but the scenes that involved fighting and warring were well described and I didn't lose interest for once. Thank you James Jaros for a great dystopian novel.
July 16, 2014
It was decent book that took a couple of days to read. The plot was straight forward and but very basic and boring at times. As the reader you want to know more of the past of the planet and how it had fallen but brief mentions is all you get. Still a good a book and worth a read if you have some time to kill.
May 9, 2011
Brutal. Intriguing. Engrossing. All those things. Review coming 5/5 at http://suzanne-johnson.blogspot.com
October 23, 2011
An interesting twist on the post-apocalyptic theme -- downfall due to catastrophic climate change and a virus that spreads via sex and drives everyone literally insane.
Want to read
April 8, 2012Why haven't I heard of this book before? This looks great.
January 2, 2013
Global warming and the end of civilized life...a (fictional?) apocalyptic scenario.
January 15, 2013
I enjoyed this book just found some of the concepts odd
December 21, 2013
It started out not very good. But by the end I wanted to know more and even bought the second book.
October 13, 2013
Got boring quickly. Put it down after about 50 pages...
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