Sky's End (Above the Black)

Product Information

Ofcom have been investigating Sky's compliance with end of contract notifications since December 2020, almost a year after the regulation came into force. What was weird and definitely Mary Sue-ish is how every male (human or alien) Cassiel meets is enamoured with her. She's everyone's object of desire. What's most desirable about her? Her virginal innocence. I mean... I mean, really. There was enough writing talent here to preclude the need for this... whatever this is. Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review. You cancel Sky TV and Sky Talk. Your TV is out of minimum term but Sky Talk is in minimum term and you're not moving to another provider). Early Termination Charges are due for Sky Talk.

Overall, despite finishing the book, the only reason I want people to read it is to see if maybe I overreacted, I want to know how other’s reacted to this book. I found it highly problematic which was such a let down considering the wonderful set up it had. Sometimes you can tell a book is going to be problematic right from the synopsis, and you still read it and hope you’re wrong. This time, the book felt like one I would automatically like, and it wasn’t until I read it that I discovered all the issues I had with it. Because of that, I still love the idea of what this book could have been, if it were rewritten/reworked, I would be willing to give it another try.EDIT (6/15/23): I've added content warnings at the bottom of the review to help inform readers if Sky's End is right for them, or for the teen in their life. Once the book starts going out into the world, let me know if there is anything else I should add. Where Gregson diverges from the masses is that he takes the time to build believable YA characters and grows them up despite their stupid choices. Conrad gets tossed out on his ear, lives like a feral in the gutters and seeks revenge in a myriad of ways. His choices are generally missteps and the ones he settles on are the result of coersion as he is under the onus of a programmatic system. There was a lot of… different vocabulary in this story. Everything was original, but it also made it difficult to keep up with. That's one reason why I've found it so hard to fall in love with science-fiction and fantasy novels--not because they are bad, but because they are so detailed and literally out of this world. I could've used a glossary, and an explanation of the characters. Besides that, some grammatical issues, and sloppy sentence structure I found within the text, I really enjoyed this story. I will most definitely be reading the next book. I look forward to seeing what comes next in Cassiel's life. There is so much that could be done with this story, I cannot wait to read where the author takes it! This book really surprised me because I hated the beginning. It didn't catch me off the bat, the writing felt weird, and the naming structure for the world... high, medium, low? It felt like everything was a place holder. Sky’s End is set in a world of floating Islands, ruled through a brutal meritocracy and harsh classist system. In this world giant gargantuan (sky serpents with scales of metal?!) hunt and it’s one sect’s job to hunt them in turn. In steps our MC, Conrad. Conrad has already experienced a lot in his life by the time we meet him but we get swept up in his journey of revenge, self discovery and ultimately his growth as he embarks on the Hunter’s Gauntlet (a deadly competition between sky skips racing to kill the most of these gorgantaun!)

Sky does not consider that its standalone pay-TV services fall within the definition of an electronic communications service and maintains it is not required to comply with GC 1.10 for such services. I would recommend this novel for sure, especially for those that enjoy science fiction novels. And for those that don’t, I mean, why not? Time to break out of the shell and experience new things, as I always say. But Cassiel was the exact type of heroine I expected her to be. I especially love the way that the story was vivid in detail and just made it come to life. I did not think I would like this novel based on how much I cannot stand YA drivel. "Gee I am 10-16 yo and know everything about anything and even adults follow me as a leader blah blah". Purest bullshjt genre ever invented by greedy publishers. If this came out when I was younger, it definitely would've been up there with my other YA favorites—like Collins' "The Hunger Games" or Marie Lu's "Legend"—in middle school. I would definitely recommend this book to all fantasy lovers, especially if you love a good underdog story. Conrad is a great protagonist to follow, and this first book promises an epic continuation of this series. I'm super excited for the next book, and I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for it. Cassiel was such a big win for me. I loved her character. She's insanely feisty and sarcastic. She's extremely head strong and determined. She's also SUPER stubborn. She trusts some people too easily, she doesn't trust others enough. When she puts her mind to something, she WILL do it. Even if it isn't the best decision. She drove me nuts in this regard but I wouldn't have had her any other way. She made SKY'S END such an amazing story to read. I'll warn you, she's got a mouth on her. But honestly, it's what made Cassiel Cassiel.In addition, Ofcom's own guidance states that, "services are not ECSs unless they consist wholly or mainly in the conveyance of signals." A wider debate about how Britons receive television is under way, with doubts raised over the long-term future of the network of transmitters that provide Freeview services to most British homes through rooftop aerials. From the very beginning, when he was first introduced, I never trusted Damien King based on everything Cassiel told us about him, yet she did not trust him at all. I also do not understand her loyalty to him after having gone on only one date and sharing one kiss and barely knowing him as anything but her brother’s friend who she spoke with sometimes. I don’t understand her feelings of being “torn between” when there was no real established relationship for her to feel that way and plenty of reason for her to mistrust him. It's these above definitions where Sky and Ofcom seem to be disagreeing over whether or not Sky's use of a satellite dish service to deliver Sky TV is enough to classify them as an ECS or not.