The Future In the Sky

The only hope is to jump. Earth has crumbled. The survivors now live on the revolving ship designed by Mr. Eldridge and his company Empyrean, orbiting the planet. With selection day arriving, Lizzie isn't sure what they want. Salvation or Eradication. Selection is supposed to be the highlight of a student's life. To jump and find your forever life. But one question lingers for Lizzie, more than any other. What if you jump and miss your orb? "In an overpopulated ship revolving above Earth, teens must leap for Salvation. But what exactly does that mean? In The Future In the Sky, a mind-bending post-apocalyptic study of survival, betrayal, and revenge, Stred solidifies his place as a creator of fresh nightmares. Take a leap of faith and read this book." - Lee Murray, three-time HWA Bram Stoker Award - nominee and author of Into the Ashes. "Dark science fiction with a compulsively readable writing style and a strong emotional core." - Tim Waggoner, HWA Bram Stoker Award-Winning author and author of Your Turn to Suffer. "In this coming-of-age tale set on a near-doomed generation ship, Steve Stred blurs the boundaries between internal and external realities. With straight-to-the-point prose and efficient narrative beats, he builds an unsettling portrait of post-adolescent Lizzie that is raw and ambiguous, capturing the uncertainty of every young person who struggles to discover who they will become in an unknown future." - Joanna Koch, Shirley Jackson Award Finalist and author of The Wingspan of Severed Hands "Using a crisp, cut-to-the-chase writing style, Steve Stred has penned a fascinating, dark sci-fi tale with The Future In the Sky. Following Lizzie's quest for truth and purpose in a dystopian world fraught with half-truths and secrets was a page-turning experience I won't soon forget." - Jeremy Hepler, HWA Bram Stoker Award nominated author of The Boulevard Monster and Cricket Hunters "Reminiscent of Bradbury, The Future in the Skies is an intimate, character-driven exploration of coming of age in a grim future. Dread builds from the first chapter and doesn't let up." - Laurel Hightower, author of Crossroads "I was only three pages in when I knew this story would be one I read in a single sitting. A sci-fi work of dystopian existence driven by Lizzie's gut-wrenching fear and a need for the truth. Steve Stred's characters jump from the pages, becoming part of your world, causing you to care what happens. Stred doesn't waste a single sentence in this must-read novella." - Cindy O'Quinn, HWA Bram Stoker Award nominated author of Lydia "Steve Stred has presented a tale of surreal, dark science-fiction here that asks questions of place and belonging, of duty and desire, and might leave you questioning your own choices... or lack of them." - Alan Baxter, award-winning author of Devouring Dark and Served Cold "Stred's venture into dystopian sci-fi sparkles with originality yet, at its heart, there is a darkness that lingers. Ultimately, it is a thing of sinister beauty." - Dave Jeffery, author of A Quiet Apocalypse and Cathedral