A Gravity-Defying Tragedy Unfolds

Firstly, let me express that I thoroughly enjoyed Skyward. It was a captivating read with excellent visuals, making it a satisfying overall experience. Now, let’s delve into the plot.

Spoilers ahead!!!

The story begins with a young couple who recently welcomed a baby girl. The wife is preparing to leave for work, leaving the husband at home with their newborn. As he tends to something in the kitchen, he accidentally knocks over a cup of coffee, only to discover that it starts floating in the air. He remarks, “I knew his day would happen.”

Realizing his wife is already on her way to work, he maneuvers himself to the door while still suspended in the air. Peering outside, he observes people in cars also floating, creating a hazardous environment. Amidst this chaos, he spots his wife desperately holding onto a pole. They try to communicate and reach each other, but despite her attempts to jump towards him, she gets hit by a floating car just before their hands nearly touch. It’s a tragic moment — she is sent hurtling off into space, never to be seen again.

Simultaneously, the husband hears the baby crying in the other room and rushes to check on her. Initially torn between attempting to save his wife and attending to the crying baby, he discovers that the infant is perfectly fine, calmly floating in the air.

My Low G Life

So, the book then jumps to 20 years later. The baby girl, Willa, is now all grown up, having matured in a world without gravity. The adaptation to this gravity-free world is evident through the construction of various contraptions designed to navigate the air without the presence of gravity. The young woman seems to be enjoying herself, working and moving around effortlessly. At one point, two guys attempt to mug her with a knife, demanding her belongings. In response, she pulls out a gun, and they express disbelief, stating that it won’t work in this environment and that she’ll only go flying off. She retorts that that’s the point of having the gun, uses it, flies off and manages to escape from the muggers. It becomes clear that guns in this world no longer serve the same purpose they once did.

Despite this intense encounter, it is revealed that she was carrying a package for some kids – a container of milk, indicating her benevolent nature. Essentially, she works for a delivery service, a common job in this world. Another character from the same service catches her eye; she flirts with him. We learn that he doesn’t have his legs – they have been amputated. Despite his condition, he appreciates the low gravity, remembering a time before it existed. He reflects on the cessation of gravity, referring to it as one of the best things that ever happened to him – an intriguing perspective to ponder. No longer tethered to the ground, he can move around just as well as anyone else.

The Complicated Journey Home and the Quest for Answers

So, the girl literally goes back home with her dad, Nathan. The dad is equipped with rubber bands and ropes, testing the house for something. He’s working out, and a small detail worth noting is that as he sweats, the sweat floats in the air. When the girl enters the house, the floating sweat hits her in the face, almost causing her to swallow it. Despite this, she seems accustomed to such occurrences, as she heads home. Additionally, we learn that her dad has been staying in the same apartment for the last 20 years, never leaving apparently obsessed with the change in gravity and losing his wife. This has taken a toll on him mentally, and he was never able to leave, adding a layer of stress to the family.

The girl notices stress on her father, and she learns from a TV program about a rich and famous man named Roger Barrow. He earned his wealth by selling products designed to help people navigate low gravity. One of his products is magnet boots that help people stay grounded. It turns out that the girl’s dad and Roger Barrow used to be coworkers or friends. The girl believes that if she talks to Roger Barrow, he might be able to help her persuade her eccentric dad. However, she doesn’t have a well-thought-out plan, and when she decides to find him, she encounters someone who kneels on the ground and hints that things on the ground aren’t the same as they appear. These individuals are still in denial about the changed world, making it a challenging and surreal place.

So, she descends to the ground, a place she has never been before. She has never walked before this, so she floats down. On the ground, everyone is walking around in magnet boots, and the city is set up just like it was in the old times before gravity disappeared. She attends an event that Barrow, the guy she heard about on TV, has organized. She manages to reach him and reveals her identity and her father’s. Initially, he seems pleased to hear that his colleague is still alive, but it soon becomes clear that he has ulterior motives.

The Plot Thickens

Essentially, the guy wants to discover the whereabouts of the dad to eliminate him. This is because her dad has spent the last 20 years working on a plan to reverse gravity. Barrow has made his fortune from the gravity anomaly, possibly even causing it, and he wants to prevent her dad from undoing everything. At one point, the guy corners the girl, interrogating her and resorting to physical violence, punching her in the face once or twice. He pressures her to reveal her dad’s location. Eventually, she manages to escape and makes it back to her apartment with the help of some friends.

Confrontations, Sacrifices, and Reflections

So, she finds her dad facing the same assailants from before, attempting to break into her apartment and steal something. Despite their previous encounter, the dad, being in good shape, manages to fend them off. Eventually, she informs her dad about her actions, and this motivates him to leave the house.

During this time, the girl’s friend, whom she had a crush on, gets captured by Barrow. Barrow discovers that when she descended to the ground, the friend had given her some magnet boots to help her navigate. One of those boots belonged to him, leading to his capture for ransom. The dad realizes that all of this is happening because of him, and he decides to turn himself in. This becomes the first time he’s motivated to leave the house.

Attempting to sneak away without his daughter knowing, he faces a challenge. A thunderstorm is happening, and thunderstorms in low gravity are different from what he’s used to. Unfamiliar with this, he goes outside and ends up caught in a large water bubble, risking drowning. The daughter discovers him, saves him, and, at some point, Barrow and his associates locate them. A scuffle ensues, resulting in both Barrow and the girl being sent floating up in the air, facing the possibility of a dire outcome.

I’m trying to recall what happened. Somehow, the girl manages to escape from them, but she’s still heading upward. Eventually, her dad catches up to her. In a bid to save her, he utilizes physics, using his inertia against their motion. However, he is forced to push her back down while he ends up floating off into space. Before he floats away, he hands her his notebook, urging her to finish what he started and help save the world by reversing G Day.

As the guy fights against the pull of gravity in open air, looking down, he remarks, “You know what, this life? It really is beautiful.” Whatever his fate, the book concludes with the girl holding the notebook in some corner of a house, contemplating the idea.

Conclusion

Again, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I liked the concept. I liked the plot. I loved the artwork. Cudos to Joe Henderson, Lee Garbett, and Antonio Fabela. Highly recommend.

The rights to adapt this into a movie were acquired by Sony years ago. Hopefully, it all comes to fruition.

Why I Chose this Book

It’s been a while so I don’t exactly remember why I chose it, but I think I was just looking around on a website, probably hoopladigital.com and saw this title and thought it looked interesting. I constantly think about getting the art cover framed too.

Original draft written in June 2019.