The Laws of the Skies

By: Gregoire Courtois, Rhonda Mullins - translator

Narrated by: Daniel Matmor

Winnie-the-Pooh meets The Blair Witch Project in this very grown-up tale of a camping trip gone horribly awry.

Twelve six-year-olds and their three adult chaperones head into the woods on a camping trip. None of them make it out alive. The Laws of the Skies tells the harrowing story of those days in the woods, of illness and accidents, and of a murderous child.

Part fairy tale, part horror film, this macabre fable takes us through the minds of all the members of this doomed party, murderers and murdered alike.

©2016; 2019 Le Quartanier and Gregoire Courtois; English translation copyright Rhonda Mullins (P)2022 Coach House Books

Critic reviews

“The Law of the Skies is not an easy book to digest, and I’m sure it won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but I found it exhilarating to read a novel that’s this unflinching, this nihilistic, and also this deeply profound.” (Locus Magazine)

“That is what Courtois aims to do - shock and destabilize - and that is what he does in this slim novel about a children’s camping trip gone horribly wrong.” (New York Times, Summer Reads)

“Unflinching in its savagery, the nightmarish poetry of this modern Lord of the Flies is undeniable.” (Publishers Weekly)

Gore but hard to believe

I got this book because a tiktok recommended it haha.

The narration is eh, it takes some time to adjust to. Pleasant voice but has a tiny accent that is just noticeable enough to be distracting until adjusting to.

The story is brutal and riveting, especially in the beginning, but very difficult to believe as the story and characters progress. The maturity and logic of all of the non adult characters is next to impossible and kind of ruins the immersion. Which I suppose with this content matter is a blessing otherwise this book could be considered a crime haha.

I found myself imagining the characters as either much older or all the way to adults. Many of the plot points were predictable.

That being said, while listening and not paying attention to the time I was shocked by a story moment and figured it was the climax, only to find I was a little over a quarter into the book. Which was amazing to find.

I’m glad the book is so short because it gets old quickly and if not for the ages of the characters it would not be so devestating. Their ages is brought up enough to remind the reader it seems like a crutch.

All this being said, if you want brutality and death laid out in vivid detail, the last 15-20 minutes is a buffet of darkness unlike anything else I’ve read thus far.

Fun little story

It was a pretty fun ride, a little short and not so grusome as some say

It was OK….

I felt like there wasn’t much character development, so whenever something happened to a character, I didn’t feel anything. I felt like a lot of scenes were drawn out, but still lacking energy. Honestly, a book that I think is the rated R version of Laws of the Skies and recommend is the Troop by Nick Cutter

Very.. detailed

I don’t see the point of this book really, but there some intense body horror that definitely makes this stand out.

Twisted and eerie

Want a book to make you feel good, warm, and happy!? Keep looking!

This story unveils true sickness and madness possessed by a young boy. Every moment you think things will turn for the better, think again.

Moral of the story? Don’t be something or someone you are not?!

Well.

Shocking & makes me terrified of 1st graders. Some parts were confusing & hard to follow. Overall not a complete waste of a credit

Very dark story

Super dark but it certainly grabbed me. The ending was great and felt like a fitting fate.

Truly Horrifying

French horror never disappoints. It is truly a traumatizing and horrifying story. If you are a person who does not like horror that deals with child injury, don't listen to this tale.

Tragic

Like others have said, this is not for the weak of heart. (There is a lot of violence.)
In some ways, this story reminded me of Lord of the Flies and their similarities on the loss of innocence hits hard. It’s almost impossible as adults to wrap your head around the horrors of other’s terrible actions or why bad things happen, but how much more difficult is it for children to understand? This book did an excellent job exploring that concept.

Intensely disturbing but loved it

This is not a book for the faint of heart. But if you’re looking for a great horror novel you’ve found one.