The Sanderlanche is strong here, bringing Spensa’s tale to an explosive and cliffhanging end. Skyward diverges from this issue in the final 100 pages or so. It doesn’t tread a ton of new ground, but it does celebrate the rad stuff that makes sci-fi fun and great. In other words, you might not find anything new or fresh in Skyward. While these tropes are fun and Sanderson lends his own special flair, I think each is is done better elsewhere within the genre.

There’s an outwardly gruff but warmhearted seargent, a privileged rival (complete with two cronies!), and world-ending stakes that put students in constant danger. Here, Sanderson doles out SFF-school tropes with reckless abandon. Her father’s legacy follows her everywhere, and the powers that be don’t want her reputation ruining the buttoned-up flight school program on Detritus. Skyward sees Spensa enter flight school against all odds. In typical Sanderson fashion, the author leaves plenty of juicy morsels on the table for the second helping ( Starsight, which I plan to read next). It isn’t perfect, but it’s a fun space romp with plenty of mystery, action, and character development. I say this as a skeptic who steers clear of YA and despises Top Gun, but I adored this book. Still, Spensa plans to gain access to flight school and take to the stars to prove cowardice doesn’t run in her family.

The man was branded a coward and his family veiled in shame across Detritus, the planet they live on. However, her dad-once a decorated pilot-fled from battle and had to be shot down by his own flight crew. She aims to follow in her father’s footsteps. Her world is besieged by the Krell, and she wishes to join the fight in her own ship and defeat them once and for all. Skyward ’s high-flying sci-fi vibe is oodles of fun, and it’s got all the trappings of a classic Sanderson tale.

I finished Rhythm of War some months ago, and I wanted some Sanderson to tide me over until November, when The Lost Metal releases. That’s how I found Skyward, a pleasant surprise of a book that explores ideas better left out of Sanderson’s Cosmere. What’s a Brandon Sanderson fan to do after he’s all caught up on the Cosmere? Read Brandon Sanderon’s other books, of course.

Skyward sanderson