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someonelookingpraediti · 2 years

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Currently Reading...

Skyward Flight - Brandon Sanderson

Sunreach

Ok so first off, at the end of Cytonic, I was really hoping that Rig had come out as gay and got himself a boyfriend while Spensa was away. So when this quickly launched into FM having a thing for him, clearly heading towards them having a relationship, I was kinda disappointed.

But then he mentioned that he’d told Spensa about his feelings, and I remembered that whole thing in Skyward where he asked her to find out if FM was interested, so like... that was on me, absolutely my bad, I just was not paying attention.

Very quickly I was really rooting for them. Now I’m remembering my prediction that he would die in the last book, and honestly if that happens now that I’m so invested in FM, I will absolutely riot.

I loved FM’s perspective in this, I actually kind of wish I could get an entire series from her POV, although I’m sure I’d feel that about anyone Brandon decided to write about. I’m kind of gutted that although we’ll get the rest of the story, it won’t be her story, it’ll be Spensa’s.

I loved the new perspective of Rig and Jorgen, and I’m dying to know how Jorgen ended up running the show by the end of Cytonic - I’m really hoping that features in one of the other novellas!!

And I loved the slugs! Obviously Doomslug had massively grown on me by the end of Cytonic, but it was great seeing more of them, each with their own little personalities. And I loved that some people are obviously “slug people” and some people (Jorgen) just aren’t.

It was really interesting seeing them learn their way around the technology, figuring out how to hyperjump, how to make the shields work, how to communicate with other planets. A lot of that was stuff we got to see because the story focused on Rig so much, and I’m going to miss that with Defiant, I think.

ReDawn

It took me a little while to warm up to this one, unlike Sunreach. I think it was that I wanted the next part of the Skyward Flight narrative, and instead I got the UrDail. But I actually really enjoyed it in the end, I read it almost in one sitting, just breaking for lunch. I’m really glad this one picked up where the last one left off. I thought these were going to be mostly unconnected to each other, just random novellas, but actually they really do fit together as a book.

Although I didn’t click with Alanik straight away, I really liked her in the end, and I’m glad she looks set to join Skyward Flight as a permanent fixture. She’s clearly headed toward a relationship with Arturo, which yeah, I’m kind of rooting for, because it’s hard not to root for the relationships Brandon sets up - but to be honest, I’d like just one story where they don’t all conveniently pair off.

The slugs are, overwhelmingly, the best characters in this story. They’re so unbelievably cute, and I desperately want at least six of each. Pets that don’t shed or make me sneeze? That just wander around getting into trouble, eating mushrooms and talking? Too much, I can’t cope. I am praying we get a Taynix plushie in the Cytoverse swag box next year!

I actually guessed that Cobb and the UrDail Ramakin guy had been replaced, like, stupidly early on. There were no plot twists at all in this one, which is so un-Sanderson-like. But I guess it was just a novella, and it still has to work alongside the main series without being necessary for the plot.

The way this one ended, though, was not at all novella-esque. I think, with where it left off, and given that the next one is from Jorgen’s perspective, that we will definitely be seeing Jorgen’s rise to power. But this novella absolutely ended “mid-series”, as it were. You’re definitely meant to immediately follow it up with the next story. I’m glad I didn’t read these as they came out, I wouldn’t have been able to cope with flipping between the main novels and the novellas.

I can’t wait to start the next one, although it’s somehow even longer than the first two?! A Brandon Sanderson novella is the length of another author’s full length novel, and it's... daunting.

Also, it was a bit of a stretch for him to imply Lord of the Rings was based on the UrDail, but it's Brandon, so I'll go for it.

Evershore

This one was the most like an actual novel, it could have literally just been a book in the main Skyward series, rather than a novella. I don’t know if the main series would even work fully without the novellas, this one most of all.

I loved Jorgen's POV, he’s such a good character, and he’s even more relatable now that I've seen his thought process, and know a bit more about his upbringing.

I’m absolute thrilled by the way this turned out, the fact that Jorgen become such a powerful cytonic, probably even more so than Spensa. We know now the Kitsen cytonics didn’t die in the war with a delver, which I'm glad about, because there was such a focus on them in the novels, I’m glad we found out about their past, and I’m even more glad they’re back!

And I love that Jorgen finally broke down crying at the end, the poor lad really needed a good cry.

I’m also glad Cobb didn’t die, but thrilled that he’s passed command onto Jorgen. Honestly, this is all just the absolute best outcome that could have come from all of this.

... I wonder what’s going to happen to ruin it in the fourth book. And so starts the Fourth Human war. Bring on the apocalypse.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

It’s really hard for me to pick a favourite of the three, if I’m honest. I think I most enjoyed reading Sunreach, even though it was probably the one with the least plot. Not a lot actually happened, but it was very character-centric, which I like. It was the most “novella-esque”. ReDawn took a while for me to actually get into, but it had the most interesting plot. Evershore could have been a novel in its own right, it led perfectly into the end of Cytonic, setting us up for Defiant. And I did shed a tear when Jorgen started crying at the end. Overall, Skyward Flight was maybe my favourite book of the series!

#currently reading #major spoilers #brandon sanderson #skyward flight #sunreach #redawn #evershore #summer of sanderson

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