Skyward

Skyward is an absolutely incredible book that I would recommend to everyone who is looking for a book to read. Heartache, defiance, intense action, amazing dialogue, frustration, exhaustion, excitement, and success are all emotions or experiences that I faced listening to the audiobook version of Skyward. I cannot express enough how this book has taken me for a roller coaster of emotions. I would willingly climb into my own Poco-class starfighter, climb into the sky, and fly through these emotions, conflicts, and victories over and over again.

Brandon Sanderson has quickly become one of my favorite authors through this marvelous tale of Spensa Nightshade, callsign “Spin,” as she goes on a journey to become a pilot for the Defiant Defense Force and try to reclaim her family name, all while “setting her sights on something higher” and “claiming the stars.”

I absolutely loved this book! Even though it is written for teenagers, I feel like everyone can benefit from this book. Brandon Sanderson really brings his characters to life with their own fears and motivations. There is great humor throughout the entire book, but there are also some truly touching and inspirational scenes. An absolute must-read!

Damn it!!! Couldn’t put this down. I could have read this book even if were three times as long. Can’t wait for the next one!

Skyward revolves around a young girl named Spensa and her desire to become a pilot. Spensa lives on a small planet called “Detritus.” Located far from Earth, the planet Detritus is surrounded by a layer of orbiting space debris. A wicked alien civilization known as the “Krell” lives just beyond the debris layer, and incessantly bombs the humans on the surface; the Krell apparently aim to wipe out the last remnant of the human race. Thus, the people on Detritus generally live their lives underground.

Spensa finds her way into flight school, hoping to become a ferocious war who will help to defeat the Krell. Yet, many obstacles get in her way. To make it to the top, she’ll have to survive numerous battles with the enemy and with her peers. She’s a rough girl, used to climbing through underground caverns and hunting rats for food; yet, the flight school experience often leaves her feeling unprepared.

Though it’s an exciting read, this novel does include some implausible elements. How realistic is it for an alien world, far from our solar system, to support rodents, algae and humans? Readers know nothing about the gravitational pull of this planet, nor whether it possesses a magnetosphere to protect humans from cosmic radiation.

Still, if you can suspend your disbelief, you’ll enjoy the story of Spensa’s growth as a person. Spensa clearly has a strong bond to her family, and the family element was refreshing. There is also a relative innocence to the book, so it would not be hard to recommend it to teenagers and children.

This was a such a fun roller-coaster read. Now I’m ready for the second book, and I have to wait two months! If you loved Ender’s Game, you’ll love Skyward’s female space pilot-trainee.

Sanderson really stepped up his game with this book! I’d been hearing it was good, but yeah, he writes good stuff. However, in Skyward, Sanderson lets his fabulous worldbuilding take a back seat for once for the characters. This is an excellent character-driven story, even more so because it’s YA. I know when I’m reading a really good book when I stop doing other things I need to be doing to read. That hasn’t happened in a while, but it happened with this book.
Oh, and I listened to the audiobook version and then discovered it has pictures (of course it does) so I guess now I need to buy the paperback…

Top notch world creation made this plotline easy to sink into. Skyward follows Spensa, a young girl that lives on the planet of Detritus. She and the remaining humans are descendants of the crew that originally crashed on the planet escaping the Krell, a hostile alien race. The battle continues throughout the decades with the Krell regularly attacking and trying to wipe out the last human settlements. The daughter of an alleged coward, Spensa strives to become a pilot like her father despite continuous obstacles orchestrated by Ironsides, a leader that served with her father during the mission when he allegedly fled the battle.

I spent at least the first 25 percent of the book cringing whenever Spensa spoke to someone. Loud, boisterous and with a chip on her shoulder, it felt like Spensa’s grandstanding was closer to what I would expect out of a 13-year-old boy than a teenaged girl. I know this was Sanderson’s way of showing Spensa’s distress regarding the death of her father and growing up weighed down by the label of “coward’s daughter” and it served as an easy marker to measure growth as the story continues on but it was very difficult for me to sit through. Eventually, Spensa started to show some character growth and I was able to appreciate her character more. I admired her determination even with the bureaucratic red tape that stood in the way of her achieving her dream of becoming a pilot.

The bevy of secondary characters truly made this story a five star read for me, especially as Spensa dispensed with the bravado and began interacting with her flightmates and forging friendships. M-Bot is without a doubt my favorite character. His dialogue often reminded me of Mordin from Mass Effect and had me giggling and texting quotes to my husband. Cobb is a close second. Most of the secondary characters were colorful and engaging almost in a way that you expect from the main character. Sanderson truly has a talent for creating relatable characters.

I highly recommend Skyward for basically everyone. It would be a great choice if you are thinking about reading some science fiction for the first time but don’t want to be overwhelmed with techy jargon. The young adult aspect helped water down the tech nonsense to a palatable form. It was a wonderful surprise to love this book as much as I did. I had plenty of rage moments, and I honestly thought about sending a scathing letter to Sanderson after a particular moment but that just shows how invested I became in the world he created. I am anxiously waiting for the next book in the series to get some answers about the Krell and history of humanity.

WHAT’S IT ABOUT
Defeated, crushed, and driven almost to extinction, the remnants of the human race are trapped on a planet that is constantly attacked by mysterious alien starfighters. Spensa, a teenage girl living among them, longs to be a pilot. When she discovers the wreckage of an ancient ship, she realizes this dream might be possible—assuming she can repair the ship, navigate flight school, and (perhaps most importantly) persuade the strange machine to help her. Because this ship, uniquely, appears to have a soul.

MY TAKE
This was an action-packed story. Once again, Sanderson creates a fascinating culture and almost bizarre world. Spensa is a girl full of bravado, even when she was little. But it hides her insecurities and fears and comes in handy after the disaster that happened to her father and the resulting shame and stigma that fell on her family. Her dogged determination gets her into trouble and saves her and her friends’ necks on more than one occasion.

The sentient ship was amusing. I’ve seen some reviews that said he’s as endearing as Toothless in How to Train Your Dragon. Maybe the Toothless in the book which I didn’t like, but not anywhere near as charming as in the movie. Perhaps it was that which led me to think I’d feel the same way as I do for that dragon that led me to expect more from the ship.

As with all of Sanderson’s books, there’s an epic battle at the end with a satisfying conclusion.

I’m glad to see this is listed as #1. This book is finished, but obviously the story is not. I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.

I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator did a great job.

Skyward was my first YA novel by Brandon Sanderson, and I don’t think I could have picked a better one to start with.

I always loved the idea of being special, having special skills or being the only one that has control of something special. Spensa is pretty much my ideal childhood dream all wrapped in one.

Even though the book is pretty long I never got bored. I love the author’s writing, and absolutely enjoyed Spensa’s journey and all the revelations that came about. It shouldn’t have shocked me how much this plot kept me enthralled. I loved it all!

I think what I enjoyed the most was Spensa going to flight school, and her time with her ship. Her gradual relationships with the rest of her flight crew gave her a family above ground, support and a group of kids her age that understood her better than anyone else. And her AI ship allowed her to finally find answers to all of her questions. It gave her a sense of belonging, and a deep knowledge of being in a place she was meant to be.

Skyward was brilliantly written. And it had a compelling, captivating and engaging storyline. I love unique characters, and Spensa’s ship was the most distinctive of all in Skyward. Spensa, herself was a strong willed, tenacious and fearless teenager. Rebellious but also loyal she successfully overcame the odds to become a pilot.

As it often happens, the book ended just when it got interesting, good thing there is more to come.

Adult or YA, Sanderson doesn’t disappoint! Great start to a new series. Can’t wait for the next one!