Skyward by Brandon Sanderson Narrator: Sophie Aldred
Series: Skyward #1
Published by Delacorte Press on November 6, 2018
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 515
Length: 15 hours, 22 minutes
Format: eBook, Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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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 combat the enemy. Pilots are the heroes of what's left of the human race.
Becoming a pilot has always been Spensa's dream. Since she was a little girl, she has imagined soaring above Earth 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, but she is determined to fly. And the Krell just made that a possibility. They've doubled their fleet, which will make Spensa's world twice as deadly . . . but just might take her skyward.
Bless My Stars this was fantastic! You know how you are going along in your life thinking that most of the stuff you are reading is good, and it is, but then you read something and it makes everything else seem dull by comparison. Skyward (most Brandon Sanderson books actually) was like that for me.
Let me tell you that this book has absolutely no kissing in it, like none and I still LOVED it. Not liked, but thought if it has more romance it would be better, no I LOVED this book and thought everything about it was perfect. Sure, I’m hoping long term we are warming up and there will be a romance but SCUD it, I’ll be okay if there isn’t one, you can *gasp* in amazement now.
So you probably want to know why this is in my TOP 3 books for 2018 at the moment. First, there is the MC Spensa a.k.a. spin. She is just this wonderfully fun character so full of anger, bravado and temper. Plus she has a great imagination and I love every single time she tells someone off, it is hilarious and slightly barbaric. She even gets a doomslug for her mascot and finds and incredibly funny talking ship along the way.
Second is the mystery of this world. Why are the humans even fighting the Krell, how come the Krell never field more than 100 ships, what is the truth behind the death of Spensa’s father, what is the history of these people and how they came to this planet, where did M-bot come from etc, etc. Sanderson always does a great job of surprising me and this book had some big surprises in it.
Third is the side characters. Spensa’s flight school classmates make up a wide blend of different characters and it is so much fun to watch them go from a disjointed collection of kids to a group of friends and team mates. Alas this is a dangerous place and not all the kids are going to make it to graduation. The danger is real and I felt every second of the suspense in each battle wondering who wouldn’t be coming back. Still I loved getting to know all of them and each brought something special to the story.
Fourth is M-bot, I know I mentioned him above (talking ship) but I think I highlighted almost everything M-bot said in this book. He was hilarious and brought some much-needed comic relief to the story. Truly my favorite side character in the story.
And lastly was the Son of a Supernova ‘Jerkface’ himself. I love when your perceptions of someone can be changed over the course of a story. I pretty much hated him at the beginning but by the end I guess I could say that a ‘ship’ might be in my future for this series. I could definitely get on board a Spensa/Jerkface ship in the long run.
I haven’t read a lot of space opera but I think this book has something in it for every fantasy lover and most readers. It was entertaining, emotional and had just about everything I want in a book (I mentioned the no kissing already). I have over 230+ highlights and can’t wait to reread it sometime in the near future, probably right before the next book comes out. So if you didn’t get that I’m very enthusiastic about this book let me say 3 final words. READ THIS NOW!!!
Quotes – You have no idea how hard it was to just pick a few.
“That music the water makes,” she said. “Isn’t it the most wonderful sound ever?”
“The most wonderful sound ever is the lamentations of my enemies, screaming my name toward the heavens with ragged, dying voices.”
“You have large twin destructor emitters on each wing, along with a light-lance turret underneath. That’s as much firepower as our larger ships. You’re a warship.”
“Clearly not,” M-Bot said. “I’m here to categorize fungi. Didn’t you listen to my last orders? I am not supposed to get into fights.”
“Then why do you have guns?”
“For shooting large and dangerous beasts who might be threatening my fungus specimens,” M-Bot said. “Obviously.”
“Is my father why I’m such a mess of anger, bravado, and temper? Is the fact that they call him a coward the reason I walk around with my sword in hand, screaming that I’ll make a pile of everyone’s skulls, then stand on that to help me behead the people who were too tall for me to reach?”
Kimmalyn smiled fondly.
“Bless my stars?” I asked her.
“Every single one of them, Spensa. Every single bouncing star.”
Narration:
I have never been disappointed with a narrator for a Sanderson book and the streak still holds. Suzy Jackson was fantastic. She performed this book splendidly and I always knew who was talking. Her portrayal of Spensa was great and M-bot so funny. I haven’t listened to anything she narrated before but I’ll definitely look through her catalogue to see what else I might like. I listened at my normal 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip:
About Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson was born in 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska. As a child Brandon enjoyed reading, but he lost interest in the types of titles often suggested to him, and by junior high he never cracked a book if he could help it. This changed when an eighth grade teacher gave him Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly.
Brandon was working on his thirteenth novel when Moshe Feder at Tor Books bought the sixth he had written. Tor has published Elantris, the Mistborn trilogy and its followup The Alloy of Law, Warbreaker, and The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance, the first two in the planned ten-volume series The Stormlight Archive. He was chosen to complete Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series; 2009’s The Gathering Storm and 2010’s Towers of Midnight were followed by the final book in the series, A Memory of Light, in January 2013. Four books in his middle-grade Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series have been released in new editions by Starscape, and his novella Infinity Blade Awakening was an ebook bestseller for Epic Games accompanying their acclaimed Infinity Blade iOS video game series. Two more novellas, Legion and The Emperor’s Soul, were released by Subterranean Press and Tachyon Publications in 2012, and 2013 brought two young adult novels, The Rithmatist from Tor and Steelheart from Delacorte.
The only author to make the short list for the David Gemmell Legend Award six times in four years, Brandon won that award in 2011 for The Way of Kings. The Emperor’s Soul won the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novella. He has appeared on the New York Times Best-Seller List multiple times, with five novels hitting the #1 spot.
Currently living in Utah with his wife and children, Brandon teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University.
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Wow! You really loved this one. I’ll be sure to check it out now! Thanks for the fabulous review.
Sanderson is one of my favorite authors ever. But that said he is one of the few authors that I even attempt to read YA for anymore. I really just love everything he brings to a story.
I haven’t tried this book by the author but I love Sanderson so I’m curious to try it too!
Melliane…I love his Stormlight Archives but this is probably my favorite non cosmere book. Spensa and M-bot are a fantastic duo.
I have loved some of the author’s previous works, but wasn’t sure since this is YA..sold. I will grab on audio.
I’ve shied away from YA in the last few years. Sometimes it feels ridiculous to me. But there are a few authors that I know are going to do YA up right. Sanderson is one of them. Just as good as his other worlds. Stormlight Archives is still by far my favorite but if you want a solid book that isn’t 1100 pages I think this is a great one.
It sounds like I need to get more Brandon Sanderson in my life.
Well, I might be a little biased but I think most people need more Sanderson in their lives.
I knew that I was going to need this book. I really do need to read more Sanderson and this one sounds fabulous. Off to check my library for this one. Glad you loved it, Robin!
I hope you enjoy it. I thought it was a great time. Plus Spensa has a pretty cool Mascot.
I still haven’t read him, as many times as I have read a review of his work. Honestly, this is not a genre that I read/listen to, but you make it sound fun and I love the quotes. M-bot sounds pretty funny too. Glad this was such a good one for you!
This is totally in my wheelhouse and I do step out of it occasionally. So if you ever decide to try the genre out I think Skyward or Steelheart might be a fun read.
OK, this was on my radar but I’m definitely bumping it up the list now. And I’m pretty sure my child, huge Sanderson fan that they are, would enjoy it too.
I like your child already and think they have discerning tastes. I hope you both enjoy it Lark.
I have been hearing about Sanderson’s books right and left 🙂 but I haven’t read anything of his yet! This sounds great, and lovely review 🙂 talking ship! <3