Editorial Review: A Sky of Engines by Fearghus Heatley

Editorial Review: A Sky of Engines by Fearghus Heatley

With distinct awe of adventure and a firm but cynical grasp on reality, A Sky Of Engines: Book One of the Space Hobo trilogy explores the mundane and everyday life of a normal person living in the high-tech sci-fi future.

Broke, crude, and kind of contemptible Murton Klapp is no one’s favorite business owner. Murton’s lifelong dream of exploring the distant planet of Esperella is permanently put on hold by life - but once Murton loses everything, he will stop at nothing to get there.

Introduced to the story by a self-assured flawless narrator we are dropped into Murt’s life mid-crisis. His business is failing, his son barely knows him, and his wife isn’t thrilled with how anything has turned out. When everything he cares about is lost to him, he almost gives up on life itself. Whatever his failings, Murt does possess a drive to work that many would envy and starts to get his life on track until - of course - it all falls in a heap, and he finds himself stealing an already stolen rocket ship.

What makes A Sky Of Engines so good is that Murton is a genuinely normal person. He isn’t who you would choose for a hero - he isn’t our mysterious narrator’s first choice in hero either – and yet his simple and often ridiculous choices are exactly what lands him smack bang in the middle of an adventure.

The story of Murt is a tragic tale of trials, tribulations, and loss – which has no business being as funny as it is. For a story that is packed to the gunnels with woe and despair, it is a shockingly humorous book with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments woven irreverently through the disaster that is Murton Klapp’s life.

With remarkable style, Fearghus Heatley has created an interesting and believable world, and written characters who you cannot help but cheer for. A Sky Of Engines ends just as the arc peaks and is perfectly poised to drag readers into Murt’s world with great writing and a fantastic plot, then leave them desperate for the next installment. The reading appeal for A Sky Of Engines is broad; fans of sci-fi, witty writing, and interesting character development will find something to love here.

An engaging and hilarious story, A Sky Of Engines: Book One of the Space Hobo trilogy is a phenomenal debut novel from Fearghus Heatley.