Here we go again with the space thing. NASA is launching satellites. Elon Musk is on his way to Mars. Seems like it’s the Space Age 2.0 these days. If automakers bring back the fins, I might get could on board. I’ve read (and watched) plenty of science fiction in my life, and basically all of it takes place in space. How many different ways could there possibly be to write a heroic tragedy set in that vast vacuum? Can Skyward step away from the cliches and be something entirely new? I’m not so sure, but it’s Sanderson. Of course I’m going to read it.

Skyward is the first in a series by Brandon Sanderson that follows our young hero, Spensa, or Spin, for short. The daughter of a pilot who infamously betrayed his squadron. Her family is ridiculed by society, but determined, she sets out to prove it’s a lie and her father was an honorable man. Humans have been chased across the galaxy and fight for their existence on a deserted planet, surrounded by a field of machines that black out the stars. They spend all their efforts fighting the Krell, who descend through the debris and fight to keep the humans from recovering wreckage from the machines above. It’s a constant state of survival. The plot is not unheard of, but I can get into it.

I’ll say that right off the bat, I was a little surprised. The writing style was way more elementary than all of Sanderson’s other novels. Obviously Spin is a child, so I don’t expect a Charles Dickens level of verbiage, but it’s not like Sanderson hasn’t written children before. In fact, I feel like the Mistborn series featured a pretty similar main character, and I didn’t get the same impression reading those. I mean, Sanderson is Sanderson. He’s an extremely gifted writer. I was still engaged and eager to read the story, but I felt like maybe this one wasn’t written for a 30 year old man.

Faced with a multitude of hurdles to overcome, and a rebellious attitude, Spin enlists in flight school. Her teacher being none other than her daddy’s wing mate. She quickly realizes that this isn’t going to be a walk in the park when the Commander doesn’t allow her to live or eat at the school. Instead, Spin stumbles across a cave out in the wilderness that contains a wrecked ship. Suspicious… With the help of her friend, and upcoming mastermind engineer, Rig, they get the ship turned back on, and it speaks! M-Bot is an older ship, unrecognizable to the studied Spin, but is outfitted with much more advanced technology.

M-Bot is… quirky. This was another hurdle for me as I continued reading the book. Wit is probably one of the best characters in all of Sanderson’s library, and the humor he wrote for Wit’s dialogue is incredible. Subtle, clever. M-Bot is kinda corny? Again, I started thinking that maybe this is a young adult novel. It’s weird though because the stuff Spin deals with - life, loss, living in the shadow of her traitorous father - is not exactly YA stuff. There were chapters in Skyward that cut pretty deep. M-Bot was jus a little off for me, personally.

The majority of Skyward revolves around Spin and her classmates going through training. Most of it in a simulator, but some of it out in the open air in real ships. And people die. Like, right off the bat, two of her classmates die in a fight with the Krell. I was surprised. Not that I expected Sanderson to go all George R R Martin on us here, but it’s YA! this obviously hits the class pretty hard, but that’s what happens when you fight for your survival every day against an unfamiliar alien horde.

It’s a very strange thing. After 6 paragraphs of me criticizing the book, you might think that I didn’t enjoy my time reading it. You’d be wrong. This shit was awesome. I loved it. The story telling was incredible. Every time I felt like it was about to get repetitive, something would happen that would throw a wrench in status quo. All the various plot lines wove in and out of each other, all culminating in a climactic scene at the end. The characters grew up as a turned the page. Each chapter and life experience developing their character deeper and enriching the connection I had with each of them. By the end, whenever M-Bot would say something wild, even Spin would ask, “Did I really sound like that?” I felt like Sanderson was reaching through the pages and slapping me in the face. Like, “Come on, man, I know what I’m doing.”

Reading on my Kindle, at about 85% I thought to myself, it’s a good thing that there are already 3 of these written. I have to know what happens next. I want more of this world. I want more of this story. So many mysteries were solved, but just like always, they only created more questions. I finished Skyward during lunch on a Tuesday. I can’t remember the last time I finished a book when the sun was still out.

Was the story groundbreakingly original for the science fiction genre? No. Was it an incredibly well written and entertaining take on a familiar plot? Yes, 100%. Sanderson did it again. He got me. I would recommend this to anybody. I can’t wait to read the next one.

P.S – The name of the planet is Detritus, which is pretty funny.

★★★★★

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