The Sky Man

The Sky Man (1910) is a novel by Henry Kitchell Webster. Written at the height of Webster’s career as a popular author of magazine serials, The Sky Man is a story of invention, mystery, and murder. Inspired by recent advances in human aviation, Webster crafted a thrilling work of science fiction that continues to entertain and astound over a century after it appeared in print. “For many hours―Cayley was too much of a god today to bother with the exact number of them―he had been flying slowly northward down a mild southerly breeze. Hundreds of feet below him was the dazzling, terrible expanse of the polar ice pack which shrouds the northern limits of the Arctic Ocean in its impenetrable veil of mystery.” Looking on the world below, Philip Cayley entertains thoughts he has never had before. Is he human, or something greater? What limits stand before him now that he has mastered the sky? A seasoned veteran of the United States army, Cayley is an aviator and self-taught inventor who struggled for years to perfect human flight. Now equipped with an aerodynamic wingsuit, he soars above the Arctic on a research mission. Crossing the expanse of ice, he sees a man below in similar leather clothing. Behind him, a group of men in walrus skin jackets begins to gain ground. From the safety of the sky, Cayley watches in horror as the man in the lead is struck by a deadly dart, tumbling down an immeasurable crevasse. Careful to avoid discovery, Cayley circles back to his ship, entirely unprepared for what lies ahead. This edition of Henry Kitchell Webster’s The Sky Man is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Henry Kitchell Webster (1875-1932) was an American novelist and short story writer. Born in Evanston, Illinois, Webster graduated from Hamilton College in 1897 before taking a job as a teacher at Union College in Schenectady, New York. Alongside coauthor Samuel Merwin, Webster found early success with such novels as The Short Line War (1899) and Calumet “K” (1901), the latter a favorite of Ayn Rand’s. Webster’s stories, often set in Chicago, were frequently released as serials before appearing as bestselling novels, a formula perfected by the author throughout his hugely successful career. By the end of his life, Webster was known across the United States as a leading writer of mystery, science fiction, and realist novels and stories.