Series: Skyward Flight
Release Date: April 5th 2022
Publisher: Gollancz
Pages: 623
Find it on: Goodreads. BookDepository. Waterstones.
Source: The publisher kindly sent me a copy of this book to review
Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis

In Sunreach, after a planet-destroying Delver suddenly appears in the sky of Detritus and vanishes just as suddenly, FM knows that the last free human society got lucky. Her Skyward Flight companion Spensa figured out how to draw this Delver away, but it won’t be so easy next time. Humanity has to be prepared . . . and when FM’s flight leader Jorgen finds a large group of Taynix – the space slugs then enable hyperdrives – they may have found their chance, if FM, Jorgen, the engineer Rig and the mysterious alien Alanik, can unlock the secrets in time . . . .

In ReDawn, Alanik has recovered from the shock of answering a distress call and finding a planet of humans making a stand against the Superiority, only to be dismayed to discover they’re considering a peace overture from their enemy. Worse, when she returns to her home planet of ReDawn, she find her own people falling into exactly the same trap. With her mentor captured, she turns to her new friends to help: can Alanik, FM, Jorgen and Rig coax an ancient technology into life in time to save both their planets from disaster?

And in Evershore, the government of Detritus is still in disarray following Superiority treachery, and no word has come from Spensa, on her mission deep in the Nowhere, leaving Alanik, Jorgen, FM and Rig to pick up the pieces. So when the Kitsen send word from the planet Evershore, saying they have some humans and wish to return them, they have to decide if the strange message can be trusted . . . all while Jorgen struggles to master his new cytonic powers which threaten to spin out of control . . .

A gripping collection of novellas, told from the perspectives of three different characters, these superb adventures are essential Skyward reading!

Review

The Skyward series is the first full series I’ve picked up from Brandon Sanderson and I’ve really been enjoying this epic space story. I was really intrigued by this series of novellas set in the Skyward world and featuring some of Spensa’s crew. In each of the three novellas, we follow someone different – FM in Sunreach, Alanik in ReDawn and Jorgen in Evershore. This collection is a great opportunity to see the characters from a different perspective and learn even more about the world of Skyward Flight.

All three stories have plenty of action in them and on the whole, I really enjoyed reading them. I did feel in places they were a little long. I really enjoyed Sunreach and Evershore but I did find myself struggling a little bit toward the end of ReDawn. Overall the stories are fun and fast paced, with lots of the humour I’ve come to expect from the series. While it was really nice to have the perspective of different characters, I did find myself missing Spensa a little bit. Evershore was probably my favourite out of the three and that final novella does set things up for the final installment in the series and I am definitely intrigued to see where Sanderson is going to take the story next.

If you’re a fan of the Skyward series this collection is definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for something to keep you going until the release of Defiant!