Review – Skyward (Skyward, Book 1) by Brandon Sanderson (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 528 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: November 6, 2018
ISBN-13: 978-0399555770
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Skyward series
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars
“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.”
This is the first book in the four book Skyward series. It was very good and very well written. I enjoyed it but didn’t love it. I thought the story was a bit slow to start and wasn’t a huge fan of the setting or main character. However, Spin did grow on me over time as she matured and started to think more about her actions.
Spensa (call name Spin) lives on a world constantly under attack by aliens. The only hope against these attacks are the pilots that fight daily to save humanity. Spensa desperately wants to go to flight school and become a pilot, however her father was labeled a deserter and this means that Spensa and her family are pariahs to society. Spensa manages to fight her way into flight school but is slowly finding out that she doesn’t have the whole story about her father’s past.
I loved all the interesting characters and enjoyed some of the twists presented at the end of the book. The story was engaging and flowed nicely. There are lots of excellent action scenes and I also enjoyed some of the survival things in here.
I am not a huge fan of miltary books, especially when they are about flying. This isn’t a topic that’s ever really appealed to me; but Sanderson made it interesting enough and fast-paced enough that I enjoyed it.
Overall I ended up enjoying this story and I plan on continuing with the series. This book is more similar to “The Reckoners” in writing style than Sanderson’s other epic fantasy series. I still enjoy the epic fantasy stories more but these sci-fi series are intriguing too.
