Skyward

By: Brandon Sanderson

Narrated by: Suzy Jackson

Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's Summary

From Brandon Sanderson, the number one New York Times best-selling author of the Reckoners series, Words of Radiance, and the internationally best-selling Mistborn series, comes the first book in an epic new series about a girl who dreams of becoming a pilot in a dangerous world at war for humanity's future.  

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.

©2018 Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Has Sanderson been reading Craig Alanson???

Brandon Sanderson is one of my favorite authors. I can not recall a single book of his that I have not loved. (Note: I have not purchased or read his books for children, such as Alcatraz series) It was not a surprise that I would love this book to the point that I listened to the entire 15 1/2 hours, within a two-day period.

This novel appears to exist outside of the Cosmere Universe; but it is as enthralling as just about any other series he has ever written. (The Way of Kings has its own place at the extreme apex of Sandersons works.) I will not provide a synopsis of the book, as it would be redundant. You can get that from the Publishers summary and countless other reviews. One noticeable difference between this book and most of Brandons other works, is the level of snarky humor that has been intertwined throughout the book. While his other novels are not void of humor, they do tend to take a more serious tone. With this book, it feels as if Brandon was somewhat inspired by Craig Alansons Expeditionary Forces series, including what I will call [Skippy-lite.] I choose to avoid any spoilers; so fans of the E.F. Series, will need to listen or read Skyward to fully understand.

Overall, this is a somewhat lighter, less-complex novel than many of Sandersons other works; but that should not be considered as criticism. It was truly enjoyable to listen to, and I look forward to the next installment.

Note: My apologies for somewhat poor punctuation. Writing this review on an iPad, and every time I tried to use quotes or apostrophe punctuation, the previews replaced those with garbled text, such as ‘ and “. I had to remove all contractions and just avoid using problematic punctuation.

55 of 56 people found this review helpful

Imagination and Brilliance

First, I saw a comment mentioning the quality of audio but assumed that it must've been the person's headphones. Audible has been doing this a long time and wouldn't put out an inferior sound quality that makes it unbearable to listen to....so don't let that comment turn you off this book!

Second, I can't wait to see how this new Sanderson series unfolds! I enjoyed the way the book weaved it's story while still wrapping enough up at the end to stand on it's own.....but am excited and eager for the next release!

30 of 33 people found this review helpful

If you like Ender's Game or Sanderson check it out

Skyward is a bit of a change for Sanderson. Rather than his typical Fantasy works, this is very much a science fiction. Even his other most ‘sci-fi’ type series, Reckoners, is superheros. This is spaceships, strange planets, artificial intelligence, and aliens. In some ways it reminds me of Ender's Game - teens training to fight in an alien war.

Set on an alien planet, with the scattered survivors of a war with aliens, the story follows a young lady from the lowest rungs of society. He father was a military pilot, who died in disgrace and thus she is now living in disgrace. She becomes a cadet pilot, to try follow in her father’s footstep and redeem his name. Due to her father’s actions she is living outside the main society, which enables her to stumble upon a broken down spaceship unlike any the human or enemy aliens have. If she can fix it and learn to fly, she might just be able to redeem her family’s name and make a difference in the war.

The book is Young Adult, like Reckoners and Rithmatist. The characters are mostly teens, and there is the typical tropes of the YA genre in here. But it is an exemplar version of YA sci-fi. Like much YA it is told in first person, from the point of view of the young lady. It tells her inner monologue of discovery, self-doubt and (possible) romance. There is the grizzly 'drill sergeant with a heart of gold' type character who trains the cadets.

Narration by Suzy Jackson is good. She is clear and well paced, with no issues. She differentiates the characters from one another, and the internal voice of the main character from spoken words or general narration. It makes it all very easy to follow. I found the narration to be enjoyable and well done. No audio or production issues at all either.

#tagsgiving #sweepstakes #suspenseful #artificialIntelligence #Aliens

12 of 13 people found this review helpful

Another fantastic story from Sanderson.

Brandon Sanderson has once again proven himself as the best fantasy without of our time. Skyward manages to take the tired "Boy and his Dragon" trope and turn it into something fresh and interesting. His talent for natural world building combined with Suzy Jackson's flawless performance create an immersive experience that I did not want to pause for one second. Just like with each of his other series I am left salivating for the next instalment.

18 of 20 people found this review helpful

Awesome!!!

a lot of lovable characters in a Awesome adventure, good, exciting and satisfying till the very end.

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

awesome!

Brandon Sanderson has done it again! That was amazing! The audio performance by Suzy Jackson was also incredible!

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Sadly disappointing

I’m a huge BS fan. The Storm light Archives, Mistborn, reckoners, warbreaker, and elantris. I keep all of those books in both audible and word form on all of my devices and book mark them like the Bible. I LOVE his writing, the twists and cataclysmic build ups in the stories that we have each experienced and enjoyed.

Unfortunately, for Skyward this was not the case. The twists were minimal and expected, I’m used to some great “oh lord that changes everything moments” and this had at best one of those, but still not to the level I expected. When the long anticipated build up occurred it was rushed, poorly explained, and not all that interesting.

Coward - I felt beaten over the head with this word. It must have been used 500 times over the course of the book. I understand that it was important to the story, but there are synonyms that should have been used to diversify the dialogue.

The Soul of the Machine - besides having a rather lame name, M-Bot’s character felt bland and continuously annoying. From Brandon’s description of this book where he compares the relationship between Spensa and M-Bot to a young explorer who encounters a dragon egg and develops a relationship with it. I was disappointed by the lack of development and time spent on nurturing and maturing their relationship. M-Bot’s character progression was non-existent and even when opportunities were presented to delve deeper into a meaningful dialogue between Spensa and him, the conversations either stopped after just scratching the surface or were redirected back at Spensa to determine if she was a coward or not.

I felt like a hamster running on a wheel, reading and reading hoping to find either a pivotal or progressive moment where I could say “yes! I emotionally connect with this” but I never found it in Skyward.

All that being said, will I still buy the next book? Yes, of course. But it will be with the hope of re-discovering a universe that I actually want to explore.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

Bless my stars

It's not totally surprising that Sanderson would, once again, subvert my expectations and deliver a compelling story. He's done it time and time again. But I'll never tire of the experience.

As for as I know, this is the farthest Brandon has taken us into the science fiction genre in his writing and Skyward serves as a caller to let us know it's going to be a comfortable journey. Don't expect everything to adhere to standard tropes, however. Brandon still has a few tricks up his sleeve and by the end you'll be wondering whether or not their wasn't a touch of magic to be found.

The book proves to be well paced and emotional. The main characters are interesting, but can be a bit archetypical and there are a few extras whom I feel should have played more of a role in the story. Still, the wait if the decisions these characters play and the party their journey take have some hefty weight to them. Spin, of course, has the most interesting story arch and I'll admit to wondering at times to really questioning where she would end up.

It is a given this is part of a larger series and while I hate waiting, I'm excited to see where we will go next. Skyward 11 signing out.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Thank You Brandon Sanderson

Childish, crazy, and absoulotely... magnificent. Spin strikes you as an incredibly unrealistic character similar to David from the reckoner series and I was a little disappointed at first however I am glad I kept listening. There where many times where I would realize I was grinning from ear to ear, and the end... I don't want to spoil anything but I might just name all my children Spen.
The performance was also fantastic. I am telling all my friends to read or listen to this.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Brandon Sanderson does it again

I haven't read a book by Brandon Sanderson that I haven't loved, and this one is no exception. Loved it! Also I haven't listened to a book narrated by Suzy Jackson before but I really enjoyed her narration. She probably has taken over the top spot over Michael Kramer and Kate Reading.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful