Skyward

Brandon Sanderson

Nov 2018 · Skyward Book 1 · Sold by Delacorte Press

About this ebook

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

From Brandon Sanderson, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Reckoners series, Words of Radiance, and the internationally bestselling Mistborn series, comes the first book in an epic new series about a girl who dreams of becoming a pilot in a dangerous world at war for humanity's future.

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's chances of attending flight school at 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.

Praise for Skyward:
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year

"Startling revelations and stakes-raising implications...Sanderson plainly had a ball with this nonstop, highflying opener, and readers will too."--Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"With this action-packed trilogy opener, Sanderson offers up a resourceful, fearless heroine and a memorable cast...[and] as the pulse-pounding story intensifies and reveals its secrets, a cliffhanger ending sets things up for the next installment."--Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"It is impossible to turn the pages fast enough."--Booklist

"Sanderson delivers a cinematic adventure that explores the defining aspects of the individual versus the society...[and] fans of [his] will not be disappointed."--SLJ

Praise for Brandon Sanderson's Reckoners series:
#1 New York Times Bestselling Series

"Another win for Sanderson . . . he's simply a brilliant writer. Period."--Patrick Rothfuss, author of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller The Name of the Wind

"Action-packed."--EW

"Compelling. . . . Sanderson uses plot twists that he teases enough for readers to pick up on to distract from the more dramatic reveals he has in store."--AV Club

Ratings and reviews

If you read the storm light archives and looking for more of the same level of writing, this is not the book for you. I struggled through this series to see if it was just the growing pains of reading a young adult novel, but the level of writing is not up to par with Sanderson's other works. The main character's coming of age is tepid at best, her one-dimensionality grinds on a mature reader and frankly the support characters are annoying more than they are not. Perhaps as a 13 to 15 year old this would have entertained me, but instead I'm left feeling like a book about the adults would be FAR preferable in this world of contradictions and poorly plugged plot reasoning (why don't the humans have missiles if they have the means to create radio, rocket engines, and starships?). Overall this was a fun world, but the characters and reasoning lack the depth, logic, and narrative of similar books.

I really like the book, it's got likable characters and doesn't shy away from what happens to child soldiers and choices of the few vs the many. However it sort of just implodes in the last 50 pages and left me let down with the ending. Not his best work, but I still devoured it in a weekend.

I generally liked it, the characters and the pacing were very good but I found the story to not be as deep or complex as Sandersons other works. The ending also felt rushed and incomplete. It feels obvious that it's going to tie into a sequel and possibly another trilogy in the same universe but I still feel like it could have used another chapter focused on wrapping things up at the end. The twist near the end also felt a little underwhelming and somewhat predictable by that point. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the read greatly. I'm just expect any sequels to pick up where this left off

About the author

Brandon Sanderson is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Reckoners series: Steelheart, Firefight, and Calamity, and the e-original Mitosis; the New York Times bestsellers Skyward and its sequel Starsight; the internationally bestselling Mistborn trilogy; and the Stormlight Archive. He was chosen to complete Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series, an adaptation of which is coming to Amazon Prime Video in November 2021. His books have been published in more than thirty-five languages and have sold 22 million copies worldwide. Brandon lives and writes in Utah. To learn more about him and his books, visit him at brandonsanderson.com or follow @BrandSanderson on Twitter and Instagram.