Review: Starsight - Brandon Sanderson

All her life, Spensa has dreamed of becoming a pilot. Of proving she's a hero like her father. She made it to the sky, but the truths she learned about her father were crushing. The rumours of his cowardice are true - he deserted his flight during battle against the Krell. Worse, though, he turned against his team and attacked them.

Spensa is sure there's more to the story. And she's sure that whatever happened to her father in his starship could happen to her. When she made it outside the protective shell of her planet, she heard the stars - and it was terrifying. What she learned turned her world upside down. Everything Spensa's been taught is a lie.

But Spensa also learned a few things about herself - and she'll travel to the end of the galaxy to save humankind if she needs to.

Cytonic Series:
Defending Elysium (Free short story)
Skyward
Starsight

Visit the Brandon Sanderson's website for more information

Review:
Starsight is the second book in Brandon Sanderson's Cytonic series and a brilliant follow up to the first book. It took everything I loved in Skyward but then ramped it up a gear and took us in a totally unexpected direction with Spensa taking on an additional role as spy as well as fighter pilot. It's hard because there is so much I want to talk about but I don't want to give even a hint of a spoiler and ruin the story for anyone so I'm deliberately going to keep this review as vague as possible but trust me, if you enjoyed Skyward you're going to love Starsight!

Spensa is such a fun character to spend time with, she's fierce and sometimes a little over-confident but events in this book push her beyond her wildest nightmares. She is so far out of her comfort zone and doesn't have the rest of her flight squad on hand to back her up so she's forced to make some new allies. I'll admit I missed a few of the old faces but M-Bot and Doomslug were on fine form and I loved some of the new characters she meets along the way too (watch out for the Kitsun who happen to be my favourites).

So much is revealed in this instalment about the Krell, about human history and about the entire universe that Spensa lives in. We find out more about her abilities which she ends up testing to the limits, and we spend time with some of the other alien species too. New allies, shock betrayals and so much action really made Starsight impossible to put down. This series is going from strength to strength and I can't wait to get my hands on the next instalment. Please don't make us wait too long Brandon Sanderson, I'm willing to beg or send bribes!

Source: Received from Gollancz in exchange for an honest review

Other reviews of this book:
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Hardback / Kindle:

Review: Defending Elysium - Brandon Sanderson

This story originally appeared in the October/November 2008 Asimov’s Science Fiction (in the US) and the UPC Science Fiction collection (in Europe).

"An image came to him. An image of humankind escaping into space. An image of human merchants trading and cheating, of human tyrants capturing the Varvax, Tenasi, and Hommar. Images of wars, of fighting, of a paradise destroyed."

Oddly enough, the ones who made first contact were an outdated, nearly bankrupt phone company. Second contact was made by the United Governments Military when they accidentally shot down a Tenasi ambassadorial vessel. The Phone Company negotiated Earth out of danger following the Tenasi incident. The Phone Company had brought FTL communication to humankind.

And Phone Company operative Jason Write has sworn to keep the galaxy safe from the barbaric humans who would ruin the Elysium that the galactic races currently enjoy.

Cytonic Series:
Defending Elysium (Free short story)
Skyward
Starsight

Visit the Brandon Sanderson's website for more information

Review:
This short story is set in the same universe as the Skyward series and can be read for free on Brandon Sanderson's website here or you can even listen to it via the StarShipSofa podcast (episode 339) here.

Although this story is set decades or centuries before the start of Skyward I would recommend reading it after that novel as it does contain answers to questions that are only raised in that book. I don't want to go into too much detail because it's far too easy to accidentally spoil a 40 page short story but I will say it gives more information about humanity's first interaction with alien species and it definitely explains certain things that we find out towards the end of Skyward.

Having really enjoyed this short I'm now even more excited to start the second book in the series, Starsight, I can't wait to see what happens next for Spensa and her friends.

Source: Read for free on Brandon Sanderson's website

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Review: Skyward - Brandon Sanderson

Spensa's world has been under attack for hundreds of years. An alien race called the Krell leads onslaught after onslaught from the sky in a never-ending campaign to destroy humankind. Humanity's only defense is to take to their ships and fight the enemy in the skies. Pilots have become the heroes of what's left of the human race.

Spensa has always dreamed of being one of them; of soaring above Earth and proving her bravery. But her fate is intertwined with her father's - a pilot who was killed years ago when he abruptly deserted his team, placing Spensa's chances of attending flight school somewhere between slim and none.

No one will let Spensa forget what her father did, but she is still determined to fly. And the Krell just made that a possibility. They've doubled their fleet, making Spensa's world twice as dangerous . . . but their desperation to survive might just take her skyward . . .

Cytonic Series:
Defending Elysium (Free short story)
Skyward
Starsight

Visit the Brandon Sanderson's website for more information

Review:
I've been wanting to read more books by Brandon Sanderson ever since I read the last few books in the Wheel of Time series so what better place to start than with Skyward, the first book in his new YA sci-fi series. I'm happy to say that this has now solidified my position as a fan and I'm looking forward to working my way through his huge backlist!

Spensa grew up wanting to be a fighter pilot like the father who was a hero to her, even when he was killed in action after being branded a traitor all she wanted to do is follow in his footsteps and find a way to clear his name. Being the daughter of a coward has followed her everywhere, her family are looked down on and she is picked on constantly but she refuses to give up on her dream - no matter how many people try to stop her joining flight school and fighting to protect her people.

You see Spensa's people have been at war with an alien race for hundreds of years and their situation is getting more and more desperate. They have been under attack ever since they crash landed on their planet and the Krell seem determined to destroy what is left of the human race. Nobody knows quite why the Krell keep attacking but it is getting harder and harder to fight them off as they loose ships and fighter pilots more and more frequently. Flight school is dangerous and only a tiny percentage of cadets even survive the course but Spensa is determined to be one of them and she will do whatever it takes to earn her chance to fly.

Skyward was a fantastic start to this new series, the world building was brilliant and I loved the fight training missions and battles with the Krell, there were a lot of edge of your seat moments because things are so dangerous and Brandon Sanderson isn't afraid to sacrifice his characters so that heightens the sense of fear as you're reading. Spensa is such an interesting character, she has a bit of a chip on her shoulder thanks to the way she's always been treated and she puts on a layer of bravado to face the world so she can come across as a little aggressive and full of herself but underneath all of that she's scared and vulnerable and very, very easy to like. I loved getting to know her and the rest of the kids in the Skyward Flight, these characters were all very complex with their own motivations, fears and dreams and they all changed and grew throughout the story (well the ones who survived did anyway!).

I have to give a shout out to M-Bot and Doomslug who were both fantastic additions to the story, M-Bot was hilarious and I loved the way he looked at the world while Doomslug was just super cute. I really enjoyed the way Brandon Sanderson slowly reveals information about events surrounding the death of Spensa's father, and all the questions he raised about the Krell and why they were so determined to fight humans. Some of those questions are answered by the end of the book but others are left open for future instalments, I'm definitely going to be first in the queue for the sequel when it's published.

If you're looking for a book with daring aerial battles, fantastic characters, a talking spaceship, alien invasions and a character who just won't take no for an answer then you can't go wrong with Skyward!

Source: Received from Gollancz in exchange for an honest review

Other reviews of this book:
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Hardback / Kindle:

Don't forget to check out the rest of the stops on the Skyward blog tour!