A review by jess_mango
Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley

3.0

hmmm. How to describe this book...

Skyward Inn is set on Earth in the near/semi-distant future in a time after a big war and after we've made contact with an alien race via a gateway. Earth established a base on Qita in order to help collect natural resources from that planet. Many Earth troops were sent to "the raid" which ended up being kind of less than expected since the Qita seemed open and welcoming.

Back on Earth, veteran Jem lives in The Protectorate, a corner of England where a group of people have closed themselves off from the rest of the world in an effort to live in the "old way" with reduced/no technology. Jem operates the Skyward Inn, where she serves up brew with her partner Isley, a native of Qita. Then an old friend of Isley's shows up asking for help.

So, this was definitely a slow burn and a more literary approach to sci-fi. It starts much more about life on Earth in The Protectorate and how Jem, her son, and other residents are getting along with life.
There is some prejudice against Isley since he is from Qita and Jem tries to push back on that. The premise held promise for me but didn't quite gel for me in the end .

Spoiler

(which is ironic giving the plot line, you'll see if you read the book...).

I will poke around and see what else this author has available because I see a spark of something I like there. :)

What to listen to while reading...
Alien Days by MGMT
A Lot's Gonna Change by Weyes Blood
Call it Fate, Call it Karma by The Strokes
Space Song by Beach House
Love and Truth by Mother Mother
Summer Breeze by The Isley Brothers
Across the Universe by The Beatles

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!