Skyward

by Brandon Sanderson

No cover — Brandon Sanderson: Skyward (2018, Orion Publishing Group, Limited)

400 pages

English language

Published Jan. 1, 2018 by Orion Publishing Group, Limited.

ISBN:: 978-1-4732-1786-7

View on OpenLibrary

(6 reviews)

SPENSA'S WORLD HAS BEEN UNDER ATTACK FOR DECADES.

Now pilots are the heroes of what's left of the human race, and becoming one has always been Spensa's dream. Since she was a little girl, she has imagined soaring skyward and proving her bravery. But her fate is intertwined with her father's--a pilot himself who was killed years ago when he abruptly deserted his team, leaving Spensa the daughter of a coward, her chances of attending Flight School slim to none.

No one will let Spensa forget what her father did, yet fate works in mysterious ways. Flight school might be a long shot, but she is determined to fly. And an accidental discovery in a long-forgotten cavern might just provide her with a way to claim the stars.

This description comes from the publisher.

14 editions

Pixel reviewed Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

The real MBot stands for Mushroom not Murder

4 stars

Sure, she jokes that her ship with huge guns should really be classified as a fighter ship, a murderbot even. But no, the ship disagrees: with a partial fungal database, the stealth features must have been intended for swiftly foraging across the land. Fuck yes, finally some good mushroom loving representation in fiction, where mushrooms are cool and neat to check out - not mind controlling monsters.

I think a former classmate recommended the author to me. At first, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it. YA can be really cringey, and there were the seeds that could have been hard cliches. A part of me worried it was going to be an attack on titan or hunger games. In the end, the story really matured to be unique along with commentary on classism. I could tell how committed the author was to building an immersive world and I found the flight combats surprisingly engaging. It wasn’t too overtly romantic either which was a relief. Still, it would be nice to have some queer trans rep given this is supposed to be a far flung future.

Fans of the murderbot diaries might enjoy this too. It’s not an incredibly difficult read but is very lengthy to keep you company for a while.

I’m dreading that the first two audiobooks are audible exclusives. The rest aren’t though!

loppear reviewed Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

I'll read the next one

3 stars

Satisfying coming of age and coming to terms with fraught systems of power, with an interesting world at war to make sense of and plenty of sarcasm. But, a lot of military and courage and fight filling in for connections.

Strakul reviewed Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

Review of 'Skyward' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This was a very enjoyable read. I approached it as a standalone novella, yet was surprised to see it's a full length novel (~500 pages) and the first in a series. This means there's more cool things to see in this world. It's among the few Sanderson sci-fi works I've read so it's good to see he can also excel here as he does in fantasy. The characters were cool (especially the ship!) and the plot, though at times predictable, is paced perfectly. This will be a series to look out for.

For a full review, check out my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2018/12/book-review-skyward-by-brandon-sanderson.html