Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
Reviewed By: Katie Smith, Reference Specialist
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy
Suggested Age: Teen and Adult
What is the book about? Spensa has never been good with confinement. Her planet, bombarded by alien attacks and surrounded by a crumbling metal sphere, is what keeps her people trapped in caverns below the surface. In order to find freedom, she dreams of becoming a pilot – but her father, the legendary pilot called Chaser, was shot down and branded a coward during a fateful mission nine years ago. Guilty by association, her family inherits the label of “coward” and are now shunned by those who once idolized them. However, when colony leaders try to thwart her efforts in joining the pilot’s academy, Spensa refuses to accept defeat. She also happens to stumble upon the abandoned wreckage of a spaceship, which is equipped with a sassy, fully functional AI system called M-Bot. Together, Spensa and M-Bot will attempt to fight off the full force of the Krell – the alien space-race determined to battle her colony into extinction.
My Review: When I first heard about Skyward, I thought it would be similar to Ender’s Game – and even though there’s a flight school where teens are trained to fight aliens in space combat, that’s really where the similarities end. Sanderson is an amazing storyteller, crafting worlds and peoples that are equally unique, fascinating, and mysterious. The humans in this story survive insurmountable odds and find thrilling new ways to defeat their adversaries, though their society is similarly flawed and broken. Spensa is head-strong, courageous, and even (delightfully!) barbaric. She aspires to clear her father’s name and become a fighter pilot, which is noble and inspiring – and as for the space action, the stakes for Spensa just keep rising! Why are the Krell attacking? Who abandoned M-Bot in the caverns? What is this strange power that allows Spensa to feel the stars? With each new discovery, there were so many more questions to answer – and even though it was an emotional roller coaster, I loved every second of it.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Heroic, Thrilling, Epic
Give this a try if you like… Star Wars (movies), Battlestar Galactica (TV series), or The Illuminae Files series by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Rating: 5/5
About FDL Reads
FDL Reads is a series of weekly book reviews from Fondulac District Library.
