Skyward
Throughout my first year in college, I’ve read several books in my free time and found a community of people who love reading as much as I do. But if I had to pick which book has been my favorite read this year, I’d have to go with Skyward by Brandon Sanderson.
This sci-fi novel was such a fun experience. It felt like every aspect of the story added something to the table without overpowering the others.
The protagonist, Spensa Nightshade, was so entertaining to see on the page and she always had the craziest one-liners. (I will consume your shadow and laugh at your misery was my personal favorite)
In Skyward, Spensa lives on the wasteland planet of Detritus with her mom and Gran-Gran (who is an underrated powerhouse imo), along with the remains of the human race in an underground city.
For the past century leading up to the book, humans have been fighting a fleet of alien spaceships called the Krell, who are determined to extinguish the human race. Life on Detritus revolves around keeping the Krell at bay and ensuring the human race’s survival. The most honorable way to do that is to become a fighter pilot, and Spensa has always dreamed of going to flight school and training to become a warrior pilot.
When her father (a fighter pilot) is killed by his wing mate for desertion, Spensa’s family is disgraced, and her chances of getting into flight school go down the drain. Regardless, when Spensa is old enough she takes the flight school entrance exam along with her best and only friend, Rig. After passing the exam, Spensa realizes that test was the first and easiest of many to come because the leader of the Defiant Defense Force–the Detritus’ military–is doing everything in her power to make Spensa drop out of flight school.
As the Krell’s grip tightens on the planet and humanity’s survival hangs in the balance, Spensa and her flightmates discover the long-hidden truth about humanity’s past to create its future. And in her spiteful quest for her father’s justice, Spensa finds the unsettling truth about his death and herself.
Sanderson does a really good job balancing conflict in this book. When it feels like the book is starting to get slow or predictable, he’ll throw in something to add tension that makes sense to the storyline and doesn’t overpower the overall plot. One example is Spensa’s first day of flight school, when her class flies into a confrontation with the Krell. Even though they’re meant to only scare off the enemy fighters, it still puts you on the edge of your seat.
One character that I unexpectedly enjoyed was M-Bot, the AI programmed in an abandoned ship with a weird obsession with mushrooms. You’d think that a robot would have a blunt personality with no understanding of sarcasm, but M-Bot is the exact opposite. His sassy personality matched with Spensa’s recklessness makes for some incredible dialogue, especially during dogfights.
Another part of this book I enjoyed was Spensa’s character arc. I’ll keep it vague to avoid spoilers, but it does an amazing job weaving a coming-of-age arc with her flight training. Spensa soon realizes that the world isn’t always like the epic stories she grew up with. I’m sure several of you readers can relate.
One important note for Skyward is that you NEED to read the epilogue. Sanderson drops a bunch of lore about the Krell and the Skyward Universe, and if you skip to the second book, you will be VERY confused.
Anyway, that’s going to be all for Skyward by Brandon Sanderson! Let me know your thoughts down in the comments, or if you just want to talk about the book in more detail. Be sure to follow my instagram @alex_and_tux and happy reading!
