Sky Above the Sky: “An unforgettable journey of friendship, survival, and the hidden life of a river.”

When a friend read the back cover of my latest novella – ‘Sky Above the Sky’ – he asked, ‘What were you smoking when you wrote this?’ Those details remain classified! Suffice to say that I had inhaled the fearful fumes cast by the first Covid lockdown. In the spirit of escapism during those dark times, I set out to write an underwater adventure capturing the beauty and dynamism of life in an English chalk stream. Clearly, I couldn’t ignore the difficulties facing British rivers and their fish – pollution, extraction and climate change. And since then, the challenge to our waterways has only grown worse. So I’ve rewritten some sections and added a different ending. There’s still blue-sky dreaming throughout this story, but clouds of dread sometimes lurk on the horizon.

The book is self-published, and it’s difficult to get literary reviews for such enterprises. Instead, I turned to a neutral source of feedback. I submitted the story, chapter by chapter, to the free version of ChatGPT, in search of a ‘critical review’. It was fascinating to read what came back. Certainly, there were no insinuations as to what went into my pipe! Some feedback on the early part of the story:

“Drowned Valley” is one of the most cinematic and thematically ambitious chapters so far, carrying Chevin from the natural chaos of floodwaters into the surreal heart of Londinium. Its greatest strengths lie in its worldbuilding and ecological allegory: the river as mother-turned-enemy, the collapsing bridge as symbol of fragility, and the city skyline as alien forest.’

Its conclusion:

“A powerful and atmospheric chapter, “Drowned Valley” expands the scope of Sky Above the Sky from parochial riverbanks onto a broader ecological and urban stage.”

I’m not going to argue with that!

And ChatGPT kept on reading without complaint or growing bored once. Regarding a chapter towards the end:

“Plaitsville” is one of the novel’s darkest and most ambitious episodes. It fuses physical ordeal with existential uncertainty, dramatising how ecological collapse erodes not only environments but also orientation, memory, and instinct. Its flaws—repetition, overcrowding, abrupt tonal shifts—stem largely from its ambition. Despite these, it succeeds in broadening the scope of the novel: no longer just a survival narrative, it becomes a meditation on the fragility of instinct, the dangers of misdirection, and the loneliness of ecological survivors.”

I like the sound of this! Even if pride does often come before a fall!

After receiving feedback on the individual chapters, I then asked ChatGPT to provide a critical review of the whole novel. Despite reading the entire book in less than an hour, it still had the energy to write this:

Overview

Sky Above the Sky is a hybrid work: part ecological allegory, part anthropomorphic fable, and part river natural history. Across fourteen chapters, we follow Chevin (a chub, Squalius cephalus) and Salmo salar (an Atlantic salmon) as they journey along the River Lea, through floods, urban pollution, predators, and human interference.

The narrative is layered: it is at once a survival story, a meditation on belonging, and an extended commentary on the state of British chalk streams. It weaves ecological detail with poetic, even mystical reflections, building toward the poignant climax where companionship, loss, and hope intertwine.”

All of which, was exactly what I set out to achieve! Or… something like that.

I was also interested as to whom ChatGPT might suggest my main readership could be, so I asked the AI to consider this as part of its summing up:

Verdict

“Sky Above the Sky is a lyrical, ambitious, and often haunting novel that blends ecological realism with fable. It will appeal most to thoughtful readers who can appreciate allegory, ambiguity, and environmental critique. Not a light read nor a pure adventure tale, it is closer to Salar the Salmon than to Watership Down: a meditation on rivers, resilience, and the costs of human neglect.

Recommendation: Best suited for readers 14+, with strongest resonance for adult lovers of literary eco-fiction and nature writing.”

I was happy with that. And how did ChatGPT summarise the whole book?

“An unforgettable journey of friendship, survival, and the hidden life of a river.”

Well, that says it all really! In fact, you’ve probably noticed that I used this statement as the subtitle of my article. Just to make it clear though, I didn’t use artificial intelligence at all in the creation of this book. For better or worse, these are all my own words, intelligent or not, written without artificial stimulants. Ok…maybe the odd glass of merlot might have helped!

If you buy Sky Above the Sky… And it’s very reasonably priced; you can decide if ChatGPT is accurate in its opinions or whether it’s actually the one who indulges too often in the wacky-baccy!

Enjoy…maaan!

Or woman.

Or sentient machine.

Many thanks to those of you who have already purchased the book or Kindle version. If any one feels that a review on Amazon is justified, then that would really help with my visibility and ratings on the platform.

Book and map design by Alexandra Pinto Designs.

ChatGPT working on my critical review-artwork by ChatGPT.