Author: Clarke, Arthur C.
Published: New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Year: 1952
Other Physical Details: 209 p. 22 cm
Once again I am forced to dip into my rather large library to review a book for this week, as I'm still working through the large one (but so far it's really worth it!).
This story is set in the not too distant future (which in 1952 terms likely meant 2001 or there about), still the story in fun to read, and read again. It may be difficult to find in print, but electronic copies are available.
The premise of "Islands in the Sky" is that Roy, a teenager wins a all expenses paid vacation to anywhere that a given company flies to, and he chooses to visit the Inner Station, which is a low earth orbiting satellite likely much like the International Space Station is for us. This is also where the space cadet train, and Roy has to not only learn how to live in null gravity, but interact with others quite a bit older than himself.
He also gets into some exciting adventures as expected, and this set his future course for him.
Islands in the Sky falls definitely into the category of juvenile fiction, and this is one of the places where Clarke excelled, along with Robert A. Heinlein and a number of others. To add to the flavour of the book, Arthur C. Clarke was the scientist credited with inventing the concept of the communications satellite. Today our whole world owes him a debt of gratitude, after all can you imagine what our world would be like today without satellites and what they give us?
Enjoy!
