Skyward - Brandon Sanderson

Published by Gollancz/Hachette UK: London, UK, 2018.
Book 1 of the 'Skyward' series. Followed by 'Starsight.'

This is the first Sci-Fi (as opposed to Fantasy) book by Brandon Sanderson that I have read, and it is a good read. It is also much more in the YA vein of literature, with a quick-fire pace and easy chapters to get through (not that Sanderson is usually tricky to get through - I just am used to his 'denser' fantasy series').

Spensa 'Spin' Nightshade is the daughter of a disgraced former pilot who was shot down and killed for cowardice during the Battle of Alta. Spensa, who doesn't believe that her father was a coward, seeks to become a pilot in order to regain her family honour - as well as to satisfy her warrior-urges and desire to seek revenge against the Krell (alien invaders). She is pressured not to join by Admiral Ironsides (the primary antagonist of this book), who believes that Spensa will follow in her father's footsteps, but is allowed to join as a cadet by 'Mongrel', who trains the cadets and was her father's wingmate.

The training program promises that most of its applicants will not make it to graduation, and this proves to be the case - a number of characters either drop out or are killed by the Krell along the way. This would be enough to justify the plot of a book like this, by Sanderson adds in extra wrinkles; Spensa is excluded from the training base's accommodation facilities by Ironsides, and instead begins sleeping in a cave she has discovered. While there she comes across a crashed starship of unknown origin, and begins to repair it in secret. 

Sanderson often sprinkles a bit of humour through his books, and this is no different. Spensa's gung-ho attitude is often a little exaggerated, and various other characters (including some surprising ones) also have amusing dialogue. The action is plentiful, the mysteries are mysterious enough to keep the reader guessing, and there is even just the lightest hint of romance on the cards.

Worth a read, and one that I could easily see fitting on to my class shelf at high school.

Completed 15 January 2024.

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