Search the Sky

Frederik PohlProject Gutenberg · United StatesMar 2023

3.8

Word count: 310K words
Chapters: 32

Summary

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Search the Sky by C. M. Kornbluth and Frederik Pohl

Author: Pohl, Frederik, 1919-2013, Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jun 3, 2016

Editor's review

Search the Sky is a full-length science fiction work co-written by Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth, made available as a free ebook by Project Gutenberg. Pohl was a major figure in twentieth-century American science fiction, and this book continues the Golden Age SF imagination of interstellar society and the human condition. The story revolves around interstellar exploration, with a satirical edge aimed at closed societies and civilizational stagnation; it moves at a brisk pace, its setting is ingenious, and it serves well as an introduction to early co-authored science fiction. The electronic edition is convenient for reading in segments on a phone or tablet, and is also suitable as discussion material for science fiction courses or book clubs. Note that this is a public-domain English-language original, so some English proficiency is required; and since it was written long ago, some social attitudes and narrative methods bear the marks of their time, which readers may understand in the context of science fiction history.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy Golden Age science fiction and want to explore Pohl's early work
English learners who need public-domain English originals as reading material
Science fiction book club members looking for a novel with room for discussion
General readers interested in themes such as interstellar society and civilizational stagnation

Not a good fit for

Readers with limited English reading ability who would prefer a Chinese translation
Readers who prefer contemporary hard science fiction or fast-paced space opera
Readers sensitive to the era-bound attitudes in early science fiction

Reading tips

Read one chapter first to gauge the language difficulty, then decide whether to read closely or extensively
While reading, note the author's satire of closed societies and take brief notes
Pair the reading with background material on the Golden Age of science fiction to understand the work's historical place
Use the vocabulary lookup function on your e-reader to assist with English reading

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book in Chinese or English?

This is the original English-language ebook released by Project Gutenberg. The text is in English, and no Chinese translation is included with the book, so it suits readers with some foundation in English reading.

What is the relationship between Pohl and Kornbluth?

Both were twentieth-century American science fiction writers who collaborated several times. Search the Sky is credited to both, and is one of the works from their period of collaboration.

What are the features of the Project Gutenberg edition?

Project Gutenberg provides free public-domain ebooks, usually in plain text or a variety of electronic formats, easy to download and read offline, and suitable as a low-cost source for reading originals.

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About the author

Frederik Pohl Author · American · 1919–2013

Frederik Pohl (1919–2013) was an American science fiction writer and editor, born in New York on November 26, 1919, and died on September 2, 2013. He began editing science fiction magazines at the age of nineteen and co-wrote The Space Merchants with Kornbluth. His representative works include Gateway, Man Plus, and Jem, and he won the Hugo, Nebula, and National Book Awards multiple times, making him one of the most important figures in the history of science fiction. The library also holds The Tunnel Under the World, Wolfbane, Search the Sky, The Hated, and Survival Kit, among others, spanning short stories and novels. His work often explores social criticism, commercial alienation, and the human condition with fertile imagination and a cold, sharp tone; some titles are classified here under motivational growth.