Nightstrike's Reviews: Skyward

Departing from my usual, Skyward by Brandon Sanderson (the author of Steelheart), is one of those novels that explains what's happening as it goes, and by the end of this first installment of the series, we have an understanding of the "who," "what," and "why." Taking place rather far in the future, Spensa is the daughter of a former pilot who had been deemed a coward by the DDF(Defiant Defense Force), the force that protects what remains of the human population and the crew of the wrecked ship, Defiant.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Warning: Extremely Spoiler-Heavy Ahead!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Long ago, in a galaxy not actually that far away, humankind had achieved space travel. However, due to a series of as-of-yet unknown events, a war began, between an alliance of other species, and humans. Due to numbers, or lack thereof, humankind lost, and was moved to the planet Detritus, which would act as both a prison, and a preserve for the remnants. The "wardens," who soon became known as the Krell, ensured that the population remain scattered, so as to prevent an uprising. What the current population did not know, was the real reason they were there. The simply assumed that it was some sort of war between the Krell and the humans. Ironically enough, Detritus was supposed to be a safe haven for the people, as the engineering crew recognized the need to take shelter. That's when things start to go wrong. The commanding members of the crew were in disagreement with the engineers, and lost the fight, seeing as the engineers were the only ones who could make the ship work. The event, as time passed, became known as a mutiny, and the DDF began searching for those with a supposed "defect." Spensa's father, displayed the same traits as the engineers, claiming to hear the stars. The book follows Spensa's attempts to become a pilot, and hopefully clear her father's name.

I was actually quite surprised to find that I liked this type of sci-fi, as I normally stick to dystopian novels.

Overall rating: 4.5/5