Defiant

By: Brandon Sanderson

Narrated by: Suzy Jackson

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson comes the final book in an epic series about a girl who will travel beyond the stars to save the world she loves from destruction.

Spensa made it out of the Nowhere, but what she saw in the space between the stars has changed her forever. She came face to face with the Delvers, and finally got answers to the questions she’s had about her own strange Cytonic gifts.

The Superiority didn’t stop fighting for galactic dominance while she was gone, though. Spensa’s team, Skyward Flight, was able to hold Winzik off, and even collect allies to help with the cause, but it’s only a matter of time until humanity—and the rest of the galaxy—falls.

Defeating them will require all the knowledge Spensa gathered while in the Nowhere. But being Cytonic is more complicated than she ever could have imagined. Now, Spensa must ask herself: how far is she willing to go for victory, if it means losing herself—and her friends—in the process?

The final book in the Skyward series will free humanity, or see it fall forever.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

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Form Skyward Flight!

Skud, this book was good. I blasted through the whole thing in one day with Suzy Jackson’s excellent narration letting me fly through.

The story brings Sanderson’s skill of accessible introspection and deep empathy into a realized universe that feels more and more to be Sanderson’s approach to voltron with each book. Defiant shares that series’ brimming optimism and grand space opera setting despite going to some dark places and only just breaking through into the core of that universe.

While I loved it and Sanderson executes the tropes with flying colors, it does share some of the more optimistic tropes of Voltron (the recent one) and similar Saturday morning reimaginings. Some may be put off by it, but I still encourage newcomers to try the series and ANYONE who made it this far to strap and enjoy this conclusion to the Skyward Series. His unique take on this style of world and its hallmarks had me silently cheering, blubbering, and double taking at the different points.

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The story was a delight and delivered on so many of the promises that the previous books made, offering a union of the two sides to the Skyward series thus far: The Girl and Her Companion Adventures, and the Crew of Friends Against the Galaxy. I loved the way these merged, continued, and were realized.

The narration is wonderful, and I love seeing Suzy execute on so many accents, styles, and viewpoints. She brings a life to this world that I’d miss on the page. I’m so pleased with how much she’s brought to this series.

I highly recommend the whole series—and do NOT skip the Skyward Flight Novelas. They add a LOT.

Solid Finish - Less Ideology & More Story

Very satisfying finish to the series with some solid plot development, less use of thought monologues to convey ideology in ways that didn’t add to the story (tho still some), and even some new facets revealed about the Skyward universe.

The plot shifts to revolve significantly around Braid, which gave some interesting character development and created interesting perspective shifts as the story progressed. Sanderson also answered more but not all of the big questions about the universe, even teasing a few new loose ends to get wrapped up in the forthcoming Skyward Legacy series.

Narration was excellent as usual, but with some of the character’s voices sounding a bit too similar for me to distinguish easily.

Overall worth the read/listen both as a book and a series, though get ready for some YA style gender and emotional processing oriented MC monologuing (esp. in the middle books).

Stick the landing

There’s a certain joy I get at the completion of a series. It is especially compelling when the story’s characters, both heroes and villains stick the landing. I’m so glad that Sanderson has put this Story to Page.

Not peak

Definitely a good enough story and worth listening to if you’re already this far along but still felt kind of ehh. I’m not sure if I’m just expecting too much considering Brandon’s other masterpieces but nevertheless didn’t have as much enjoyment. At times the story didn’t see to flow correctly and just felt a tad rushed and not as well thought out. Still a worthwhile read but don’t go in expecting an amazing Brandon Sanderson ending.

Fantastic End

This was a great wrap up to the Skyward Series! I feel like every notable character from the stories or side-stories had at least some time onscreen, though I do wish some interpersonal relationships had more time to be explored between Spen and the new squad members, and it ended well!

Love the slugs

Great ending, laughed out loud few times, made me want cry as well. Love the little delvers. Came together nicely pulled from each books. The growth of Spin was nice she felt much more mature, but she’s still a little crazy. Book felt a bit more dark at times. Wish we’d had a bit more romance at end with Jorgan. Becca Nightshade you rock.

Rocky start, but wonderful conclusion

What an amazing book, I can't wait to reread it. Brandon managed to tie every single plot thread, with both the themes and the plots, so nicely that it feels like a bow on a present. The start of the book was a little rocky, there was a lot of, "and then this" kinda scene transitions, but once the book picked up it really kept up.

Great Brandan Sanderson book, like always

First half was a little dull, but the second half totally made up for it. Great book. Would recommend for everyone. Skyward still remains one of my favorite book series

What an end!

I LOVED this series! I couldn't've asked for a better ending, and I can't wait to read the next book in this world ❤️

What a ride!

Goosebumps. In all the right ways. No words necessary to describe this. Just one.... Goosebumps.