Search the Sky

Search the Sky is a satirical science fiction novel set in the far future, at a time when humanity has long since colonized the stars. It begins on a planet called Halsey's which is in a state of decline. When a "Longliner" generation ship arrives, having failed to make contact with at least six other colonised planets, Ross (the main protagonist in the story) is sent to investigate what is going on at the other colonies. He is given access to a faster than light spacecraft that can make each journey almost instantly. It transpires that this technology had been shrouded in secrecy and hidden away behind a secret code, due to the risk of interstellar war. However, the isolated colonies that Ross and his crew encounter are affected by their own lack of genetic diversity in different ways from Halsey's planet, resulting in a decline in their uniquely strange societies. Search the Sky is the second novel that Fredrik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth produced using their extreme endurance form of creative collaboration.