Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

In a world without white people, what does it mean to be black?

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

September 2024; Simon & Schuster; 978-1668034927
audio, ebook, print (304 pages); post-apocalyptic fiction

I considered reviewing Sky Full of Elephants because I thought it would be a thought-provoking novel. All the white people in the U.S. have walked into the water and drowned. What would people of color do? Cebo Campbell focuses on the lives of black people, though he does mention a few other people of color, in the wake of a white-less world.

As far as a book for potential discussion with a book club, this would be a great one. A lot of questions come up for the reader and there are several points that are worthy of further discussion. 

As far as it is for a story to read. I found that it dragged on and the ending kind of petered out. At about 60%, I really considered not finishing it. It didn't feel like it was going anywhere, or worse that it was going in circles.

I would have liked more world-building that would have made the reader (particularly as a white reader) understand the universe Campbell is creating. I spent about a third of the novel trying to figure out if it was an alternate universe similar to our real world but with more distinctive divides or if it was supposed to be set in our world, present-day. If the latter, then where were the black leaders like former President Obama? The White House is wrecked (some of the descriptions made me think of the January 6 riot on the Capitol) and I wondered about the other politicians of color. 

I did lean more toward an alternate universe with more strongly drawn divides. The world Campbell has created seems a lot more black and white (pun not really intended) than our current society. Apparently, all the people in prison are people are black and all the guards are white. While this stereotype is true for the majority, there are white people in prison and black people who are corrections officers. As I mentioned, except for a handle of passing comments there are few other people of color featured in the book. 

I was confused by a comment about a quinceañera party that Sidney and Zu watch. It seemed that Zu equated the tradition to a white man's institution. But it has roots in the Aztecs. Then, there is the focus on Mardi Gras. I would consider it as a "white" tradition as European Christians celebrated it back in the Middle Ages. I also found the focus on ancient Egypt odd. From my reading, assigning black or white to ancient Egypt would be inappropriate as that classification is so far removed. Plus they were notorious slave owners throughout their history. This is one of the reasons I would have liked more context and world-building.

The characters were okay. The story is mostly about Sidney's and Charlie's journeys but there are some interesting side characters. There is actually quite a bit of time spent developing the transgender character Zu for them to just disappear from the storyline. 

I was left with questions at the end. My biggest question is will black readers come away thinking that the only way to heal the past is to rid the world of white people, or as Charlie briefly states that true healing involves all the colors (at least that's what I understood him to be saying). 

If you are looking for a thought-provoking book to discuss with others, then you should get this book.

Buy Sky Full of Elephants at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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