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Claire Zorn
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The Sky So Heavy Paperback – April 1, 2014

by Claire Zorn (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 99 ratings
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This haunting dystopian novel thrillingly and realistically looks at a nuclear winter from an Australian perspective.

For Fin it’s just like any other day—racing for the school bus, bluffing his way through class, and trying to remain cool in front of the most sophisticated girl in his universe. Only it’s not like any other day because, on the other side of the world, nuclear missiles are being detonated. When Fin wakes up the next morning, it’s dark, bitterly cold, and snow is falling. There’s no internet, no phone, no TV, no power, and no parents. Nothing Fin’s learned in school could have prepared him for this. With his parents missing and dwindling food and water supplies, Fin and his younger brother Max must find a way to survive all on their own. When things are at their most desperate, where can you go for help?

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Previous page
  1. Reading age
    12 years and up
  2. Print length
    304 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Dimensions
    5 x 0.9 x 7.75 inches
  5. Publisher
    University of Queensland Press
  6. Publication date
    April 1, 2014
  7. ISBN-10
    0702249769
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0702249761
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Claire Zorn has a bachelor of fine arts degree and a postgraduate diploma in writing. This is her first book.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Queensland Press (April 1, 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0702249769
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0702249761
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 12 years and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.9 x 7.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 99 ratings

About the author

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Claire Zorn

Claire Zorn

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
99 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

age2603
5.0 out of 5 stars especially when people go out of the their way to perform common courtesies like holding open a door
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2018
Verified Purchase
Very interesting, thought provoking look into what can happen when society breaks down to its bare survival instincts. Parts of this book haunt me days later, especially when people go out of the their way to perform common courtesies like holding open a door, offering a woman a seat on the subway, or saying, "good bless you," when a stranger sneezes. This book makes you think, how many of these people would try to kill you for your food if our world changed tomorrow. You definitely look at life through a different lens after reading, Sky So Heavy.
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Rhonda
4.0 out of 5 stars Nuclear winter ....it couldn't happen here?
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2014
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John Marsden's " When the War Began" reminds me of this story and was one of the few books my 14 year old son would read. I worried over the plight of the characters in this book. What would you do if abandoned, starved and threatened by others in the same predicament?
Couldn't put it down.
One person found this helpful
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Duchess
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book.
Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2021
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I wanted to read it because of the gaping hole that completing the Tomorrow When the War Began series left in my life
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Chris Webb
5.0 out of 5 stars Ripping Yarn!
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2013
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This story grips you from the beginning and it's hard to resist reading it in one sitting! The characters are true to life and interesting. I particularly admire the way Zorn manages to have her characters debating big issues and differing world views in the midst of a suspenseful adventure.

A book that the target audience will enjoy as well as being a catalyst for thinking through bigger issues in life.
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Fiona
5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2013
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Loved this book and struggled to put it down - action packed, suspenseful with really captivating characters. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of places I recognised from Sydney/the Blue Mountains and the way it thought-provokingly explored themes including asylum seekers, spirituality, friendship etc. Looking forward to her next book.
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Catriona McKeown
4.0 out of 5 stars an amazing dance between the story and what a post-apocalypse Sydney ...
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2014
This book caught my attention from the beginning. I initially picked it up because it was short listed for The CBCA, read the first couple of pages because of the cover, and then knew I had no choice but to take it home to read the rest. With engaging characters, an amazing dance between the story and what a post-apocalypse Sydney would look like, and a run of stressful-situations that made me constantly ask 'what would I do', the novel is a cant-put-it-down from start to finish. Literally. I started reading at 2pm and would have had it finished by 11:30 if the need for sleep hadn't overpowered me to demand I leave the last chapter and a half for the following morning.
I would have given The Sky So Heavy 5 stars, but held off because of the heavy language used throughout the novel. I appreciated the stress the characters are under, and see the hard-core swearing as serving a purpose. However, it frustrated me because I would love my thirteen year old to read it, I believe she would love it. And what a fantastic book it would be to recommend for analyses and conversation starters in the classroom! But in good conscious I can't suggest such things, or that my young teen read a book with the level of swearing in it, which increases toward the end of the novel. I wish Claire Azores had been able to find a way of getting the sentiments across without needing the explicit language.
One person found this helpful
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River2Sea
5.0 out of 5 stars heart of darkness with a moderm Australian twist
Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2013
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Australian Teenagers facing the ultimate fear of starving to death and a nuclear winter with literary references to classic novel "Heart of Darkeness" - gripping, raw and interesting context being Blue Mts, Western Sydney and Eastern Sydney...
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Aussie bookworm
5.0 out of 5 stars Review by Aussiebookworm
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2013
Most of you know me well enough now, that you know I don't read books in male POV, I made an exception for this book for a couple of reasons, one it is written by a fellow Australian and two It seemed similar to Tomorrow when the war began, which was my favourite book.

The toughest question you could ask a reader like me is what is your favourite book? mostly because I read so many and fall in love with so many it is hard to pick a favourite. To be a favourite it has to invoke all my emotions, I shouldn't be able to put it down without a fight or the opposite that I can't bring myself to finish it because I don't want it to end. Most of all it needs to make me think long and hard after I finish reading, to take time to extract myself from the novel's world.

The Sky so Heavy by Claire Zorn ticked all these boxes, It is the most haunting, heartbreaking and at time heart stopping book I have ever read. I stumbled upon The Sky so Heavy while doing my weekly stalk of publisher pages to see what new books were coming up, I was drawn immediately to the cover, while nothing flashy It portrays a desolate and scary picture of what appears to be kids standing surrounded by bleakness. Straight away I needed this book, Thankfully Penguin Australia were nice enough to send me a copy for Review.

We meet Fin the protagonist while someone is screaming at him in another language pointing a gun to his head, a truly action packed start to the novel, after a few flashbacks we find that Finn has been left in charge of his younger brother Max, after the world goes to hell when someone sets of a Nuclear Bomb and plunges the world into a nuclear winter. We follow Finn and Max as they struggle to survive, Finn gets a bit paranoid about the snow falling worried that it may be radioactive, This instinct keeps his brother alive while others around him start to get sick and die. Food becomes Scarce and the government abandons the people hoping to keep a select few alive, Finn Teams up with other teenage survivors as they set off in hope of finding Finns mother in Sydney who might be able to save them.

Claire Zorn is not afraid to get to the nitty-gritty and makes you question what could you do to survive, how far could you be pushed and could you abandon what you believe is right in order to survive. I would never have thought about the government abandoning the majority of the population in a situation like this, how could someone in charge make that decision? to let women, children, elderly and men die of starvation and radiation to keep just a few alive, how do you make the decision of who is worthy to live and who should perish.

This book like John Marsden's Tomorrow series really strike a chord for me, because here in Australia we think we are safe, we don't go looking for trouble and we back up our allies when we are needed. To consider that a nuclear war elsewhere in the world would destroy so much for everyone, is terrifying, It leaves us, our little country trying to save itself or in the case of The sky so Heavy everyone for themselves. Most dystopias I read are usually set in places such as america or a made up-country after there were no more borders or countries left. Reading books that are set in your own country can really give you nightmares.

This is a brilliant piece of work that I would recommend to anyone who loves Apocalyptic tales of survival, especially Australian's as it hits so close to home. It is a Hauntingly beautiful tale about survival and how resilient the human spirit can be confronted with the unspeakable.

I cannot wait till the next book in the series.

Favourite Quotes

"isn't there some philosophy about how it's the arts that separate humans from animals?
Really? I thought it was not eating our young."
― Claire Zorn, The Sky So Heavy

"It doesn't sound like a gunshot. But then if I've been shot in the head, my perception of these things is probably off."
― Claire Zorn, The Sky So Heavy

"Do you want to walk for a bit? It's probably ridiculously dangerous, but YOLO and what not."
― Claire Zorn, The Sky So Heavy

aussiebookworm.wordpress.com
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Top reviews from other countries

Chris
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing overall
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 7, 2023
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Got off to a good start, but quickly deteriorated.
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Fea
5.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent Claire Zorn novel
Reviewed in Australia on December 20, 2020
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Claire Zorn writes characters that live and breathe. The kind of people you miss long after the book is finished. A Sky So Heavy was full of such characters - as well as scary but terrifyingly real threats. This book is excellent. I loved it.
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Tanmaier
4.0 out of 5 stars Sad, heavy! grimly hopeful.
Reviewed in Australia on June 20, 2014
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Enjoyed the characters and the story was frighteningly real. Survival stories raise questions of ethics and show how goodness in people is our only hope, the only chance of human salvation. Innocent and poweless people around the world live desperate lives, and by setting this novel in familiar Sydney may help middle class white Australians understand what desperation really means, though of course those who should read this never will. Young people show their strengths, older people their wisdom, and the masses display their selfishness and greed. I was hooked on this novel though it was a bit of a slow start. The writing is good but not out of the ordinary. Its strength is in its characters and the way they deal with the unthinkable - a nuclear holocaust that changes everything.
3 people found this helpful
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Tania M C Lewis
5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievably good!
Reviewed in Australia on July 8, 2017
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From start to finish, this book is gripping. I was totally drawn into this icy world. I loved the characters p, flaws and all. This was so much better than Children of the Dust, which in itself is not bad.
Now I want to know what happened to the characters next. Another book please :)
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Carmeli
4.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in Australia on January 28, 2021
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It was nice to read an Aussie doomsday book for a change. Seemed more realistic. Very well written and had me on the edge the whole time.
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