2 min to read

Skyward

Title
Skyward
Author
Brandon Sanderson
Published date
06/11/2018
Pages
513
Publisher
Gollancz

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson is an epic sci-fi young adult book, but I can assure you, that everyone can read and enjoy it. I was never let down by this author and this time was the same. I don’t know what exactly makes his writing so great, but every time I take up one of his book I’m swept away with the tale.

This time we learn the story of Spensa, a girl who dreamt about being a starfighter pilot, like her father. She lives on a planet, where her ancestors crashed onto many years ago. Humankind is almost driven to extinction and forced to lived underground by ever present aliens called Krells, who seem to be determined to destroy their hardly build civilisation.

But Spensa’s dreams can’t be easily reached. And it’s not because the tests for pilots are extremely hard to pass, she is determined enough. It’s her heritage that comes in a way. Her father was killed while running away from a battle and branded a coward. Now his daughter has to live every day with this stigma over her head. Will she be able to attend the flight school? Or will she find another way to become a pilot?

I really enjoyed this book. The story was interesting and very easy to read. There was not much science talk that might discourage people from reading sci-fi. Even though there were a lot of air battles I didn’t have a problem with imaging everything and following the story. And believe me, there are some really epic battles there, especially at the end of the book.

Characters in the book seem very real. The whole book give us a feeling of camaraderie and friendship. We don’t have an instant love here (so popular in YA books, which irritates me), just a little hints that maybe there will be something in the next books. Author is more focused on creating bonds between young pilots. All of them are complex and often our first impressions turn out to be wrong.

The book is also full of humour, that’s why even thought it’s a big book (over 500 pages) you can read it quite quickly. Spensa is a really weird girl, but as the story progress she becomes more and more mature and self-conscious. The end is giving us a handful of answers for questions we were dying to know throughout a book, but leave us with even more to wonder. It made me also yearning for the next book to come soon! And there will be four books in this series, so there is a lot of epic battles ahead of us!

Do I recommend it? Of course I do, as all the others books written by Sanderson. I think this book is really easy to read. It’s not as massive and complex as Stormlight Archive so it simply gets you hooked right away. I am also sure you can read it if you don’t know the author or if you’re not exactly fan of sci-fi genre. The story and the characters are simply making this book great entertainment. So if you wonder if you should read it, think no more and go read it now!

*****