Sunreach by Brandon Sanderson, Janci Patterson Narrator: Suzy Jackson
Series: Skyward #2.1
Published by Listening Library on September 28, 2021
Genres: Science Fiction Fantasy, Space Opera, Young Adult
Length: 5 hours, 21 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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When a planet-destroying Delver suddenly appears in the sky of Detritus and vanishes just as suddenly, FM knows that the last free human society got lucky. Her Skyward Flight companion, Spensa, figured out how to draw this Delver away, but it won’t be so easy next time.
The forces of the Galactic Superiority will be back—and if the Defiant Defense Force can’t figure out a way to escape the planet, humanity’s destruction is only a matter of time. Spensa’s mission to infiltrate the Superiority unveiled the secret to their hyperdrives—a cytonic slug species called the Taynix. Now FM’s flightleader, Jorgen, has found a large group of Taynix hiding in the caverns far below Detritus’s surface.
FM and Jorgen must work together with the engineer Rig to awaken the mysterious alien Alanik and unlock the powers of the Taynix, or humanity will be trapped. With Spensa’s friend Minister Cuna of the Superiority stranded at the outpost of Sunreach, they need to figure out how to rescue her—or the Superiority government will be in the sole clutches of those who want to wipe out Detritus once and for all.
Sunreach is the first novella of three Sanderson has planned for his Skyward series and should be read after the second book. It is different in that he has teamed up with another writer to give us a view point from one of the side characters of the series FM. She is one of the only cadets that graduated in her flight class and with Spensa in whereabouts unknown, it is up to her and what is left of the team to try and figure out how to get off the prison of a planet they are on.
Skyward and Starsight were told mostly from Spensa’s POV which can be limiting in a few ways. That is why I really liked this novella fleshing out one of the side characters a little better while also exploring the Tanix creatures and how they are possibly the greatest kept secret in the galaxy. FM has accidently been appointed the health and wellness director of the Tanix. She is busy trying to keep track of the doomslug creatures who should be slow but seem to be popping up all over the station. Now if she can only figure out how to get them to help her.
This novella accomplished all the things it set out to do:
- It fleshed out a side character in the story.
- It helped explain what the Tanix a.k.a. doomslugs are and what they can do
- It opened up a little romance that had been hinted at in the other books. Really they were cute.
- It brought some of the important characters together that were left hanging in Starsight
- It hinted to where Spensa ended up at the end of Starsight
- And finally it made me so excited for not only the next novella in the series but also the next book.
Overall, for a novella it was great and moved a few key points along to bring certain players together. It really will be a must read before getting to the third book of the series. Plus it is a fun read with just enough action, drama and humor to really captivate the reader with a small sprinkling of romance.
Narration:
Suzy Jackson, I honestly cannot say enough good things about her and her narration of this series. She is a perfect fit to the story and I love how she brings every character to life. Her voice really adds to these books and they are better for her performance of them.
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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Sounds like a great series and I’m glad you’re enjoying it. So interesting that he brought in another author.
He seems to do that on some of his Novellas. Not sure if it is just to give the side characters a different perspective or just give some more unknown authors a leg up. Could be both.