Defiant (Skyward, #4)

by Brandon Sanderson

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson comes the final book in an epic series about a girl who will travel beyond the stars to save the world she loves from destruction.

Spensa made it out of the Nowhere, but what she saw in the space between the stars has changed her forever. She came face to face with the Delvers, and finally got answers to the questions she's had about her own strange Cytonic gifts. 

The Superiority didn't stop in it's fight for galactic dominance while she was gone, though. Spensa's team, Skyward Flight, was able to hold Winzik off, and even collect allies to help with the cause, but it's only a matter of time until humanity--and the rest of the galaxy--falls. 

Defeating them will require all the knowledge Spensa gathered while in the Nowhere. But being Cytonic is more complicated than she ever could have imagined. Now, Spensa must ask herself: how far is she willing to go for victory, if it means losing herself--and her friends--in the process.

• ISBN10: 0593309715
• ISBN13: 9780593309711
• Publish Date: 21 November 2023 (first published 1 November 2023)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Delacorte Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 432
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780593309711

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

Book Summary:

It all comes down to this. One of the last human colonies in the galaxy has been resisting the Superiority, and from the looks of things, they'll be making their final stand soon. Either they will win, or all will be lost.

Spensa has become a hero of her people. She is a Cytonic, but she's more than that. She survived hiding under the Superiority's nose. She made it into and out of Nowhere. She faced a Delver (and survived). Now, she'll have to find an even more impossible way to survive with her allies at her side.

My Review:

The time is here! Skyward is finally ready to come to an end. Okay, I'm a few months late in reading the finale (I had to amp myself up for the goodbye, as usual), but you understand. Defiant is the fourth and final novel in the Skyward series, and we all know it will go hard.

Admittedly, it did take me a little bit to get back into the swing of things with Defiant. I probably should have re-read Cytonic as preparation; oh well. But once I was in, I was hooked! This was the perfect storm of an ending, with everything coming together (including events/characters from the novellas).

Learning more about the Delvers helped add to the battle's complexity. It quickly became clear (to readers and characters alike) that this wouldn't be an easy battle. More importantly, Defiant made us question if a battle was the right way to go about things, which I appreciated.

That said, the actual battle was fantastic – all the more so because of the weight it carried, alongside the secondary events kicking off behind it. It was a bittersweet ending, but perfect for the world (universe) our characters have been working for.

I'll admit one part of the ending was particularly satisfying. It's nice to see all the slugs getting what they deserve (and I mean that in a "they deserve the world" sense, obviously). So, major bonus points for that.

Highlights:
YA Science Fiction
Space Adventures/Battles
Cytonic Characters
Multiple Perspectives

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