Skyward
4 primary works • 9 total works Complete
Book 1
From Brandon Sanderson, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Reckoners series, Words of Radiance, and the internationally bestselling Mistborn series, comes the first book in an epic new series about a girl who dreams of becoming a pilot in a dangerous world at war for humanity's future.
Spensa's world has been under attack for decades. Now pilots are the heroes of what's left of the human race, and becoming one has always been Spensa's dream. Since she was a little girl, she has imagined soaring skyward and proving her bravery. But her fate is intertwined with her father's--a pilot himself who was killed years ago when he abruptly deserted his team, leaving Spensa's chances of attending flight school at slim to none.
No one will let Spensa forget what her father did, yet fate works in mysterious ways. Flight school might be a long shot, but she is determined to fly. And an accidental discovery in a long-forgotten cavern might just provide her with a way to claim the stars.
Praise for Skyward:
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
"Startling revelations and stakes-raising implications...Sanderson plainly had a ball with this nonstop, highflying opener, and readers will too."--Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
"With this action-packed trilogy opener, Sanderson offers up a resourceful, fearless heroine and a memorable cast...[and] as the pulse-pounding story intensifies and reveals its secrets, a cliffhanger ending sets things up for the next installment."--Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
"It is impossible to turn the pages fast enough."--Booklist
"Sanderson delivers a cinematic adventure that explores the defining aspects of the individual versus the society...[and] fans of [his] will not be disappointed."--SLJ
Praise for Brandon Sanderson's Reckoners series:
#1 New York Times Bestselling Series
"Another win for Sanderson . . . he's simply a brilliant writer. Period."--Patrick Rothfuss, author of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller The Name of the Wind
"Action-packed."--EW
"Compelling. . . . Sanderson uses plot twists that he teases enough for readers to pick up on to distract from the more dramatic reveals he has in store."--AV Club
Book 2
The #1 New York Times bestseller!
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Reckoners series, the Mistborn trilogy, and the Stormlight Archive comes the second book in an epic series about a girl with a secret in a dangerous world at war for humanity's future.
All her life, Spensa's dreamed of becoming a pilot and proving herself a hero like her father. She made it to the sky, but the truths she learned there were crushing. The rumors of her father's cowardice are true--he deserted his Flight during battle against the Krell. Worse, though, he turned against his team and attacked them.
Spensa is sure that there's more to the story. And she's sure that whatever happened to her father that day could happen to her. When she made it outside the protective shell of her planet, she heard the stars--and what they revealed to her was terrifying. Everything Spensa has been taught about her world is a lie.
Humankind has always celebrated heros, but who defines what a hero is? Could humanity be the evil the galaxy needs to be protected from? Spensa is determined to find out, but each answer she discovers reveals a dozen new questions: about the war, about her enemies, and even, perhaps, about Spensa herself.
But Spensa also discovered a few other things about herself--and she'll travel to the end of the galaxy to save humankind if she needs to.
"Sanderson delivers a cinematic adventure that explores the defining aspects of the individual versus the society. . . . Fans of Sanderson will not be disappointed." --SLJ
"It is impossible to turn the pages fast enough." --Booklist
"He's simply a brilliant writer. Period." --Patrick Rothfuss, author of the New York Times bestseller The Name of the Wind, on Brandon Sanderson.
Book 2.1
From #1 bestselling author Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson comes the first of three Skyward series novellas, each told from the perspective of a different member of the team back on Detritus. Read FM’s story between Starsight and Cytonic.
When 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.
The forces of the Galactic Superiority will be back—and if the Defiant Defense Force can’t figure out a way to escape the planet, humanity’s destruction is only a matter of time. Spensa’s mission to infiltrate the Superiority unveiled the secret to their hyperdrives—a cytonic slug species called the Taynix. Now FM’s flightleader, Jorgen, has found a large group of Taynix hiding in the caverns far below Detritus’s surface.
FM and Jorgen must work together with the engineer Rig to awaken the mysterious alien Alanik and unlock the powers of the Taynix, or humanity will be trapped. With Spensa’s friend Minister Cuna of the Superiority stranded at the outpost of Sunreach, they need to figure out how to rescue her—or the Superiority government will be in the sole clutches of those who want to wipe out Detritus once and for all.
Book 2.2
From #1 bestselling author Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson comes the second of three Skyward series novellas, each told from the perspective of a different member of the team back on Detritus. Read Alanik’s story between Starsight and Cytonic.
“Don’t trust their lies. Don’t trust their false peace.” That is the warning that Alanik of the planet ReDawn gave the human pilot Spensa after Alanik’s ship crash-landed on Detritus. While accepting an invitation to meet with her people’s enemy, the Galactic Superiority, Alanik heard Spensa’s cry for help across the vastness of space, and she used her cytonic powers to hyperjump her ship to the source of that cry. What she found there was a shock—a whole planet of free humans fighting against the Superiority. Were they the allies her people desperately needed?
When she recovered from her injuries and met the friendly humans Jorgen and FM of Skyward Flight, she found that her warning to Spensa had gone unheeded by the government of Detritus, and they were considering a peace overture from the Superiority. Now having returned to ReDawn, Alanik is dismayed to learn that her own people are falling into the exact same trap.
The faction in ReDawn’s government that wants to appease the Superiority has gained the upper hand. With Alanik’s mentor, Renakin captured, she has no one to turn to but Jorgen, FM, and their friend Rig. An ancient technology may have the power to save both of their planets from disaster, but can they discover its secrets before it’s too late?
Book 3
Spensa’s life as a Defiant Defense Force pilot has been far from ordinary. She proved herself one of the best starfighters in the human enclave of Detritus and she saved her people from extermination at the hands of the Krell—the enigmatic alien species that has been holding them captive for decades. What’s more, she traveled light-years from home as an undercover spy to infiltrate the Superiority, where she learned of the galaxy beyond her small, desolate planet home.
Now, the Superiority—the governing galactic alliance bent on dominating all human life—has started a galaxy-wide war. And Spensa’s seen the weapons they plan to use to end it: the Delvers. Ancient, mysterious alien forces that can wipe out entire planetary systems in an instant. Spensa knows that no matter how many pilots the DDF has, there is no defeating this predator.
Except that Spensa is Cytonic. She faced down a Delver and saw something eerily familiar about it. And maybe, if she’s able to figure out what she is, she could be more than just another pilot in this unfolding war. She could save the galaxy.
The only way she can discover what she really is, though, is to leave behind all she knows and enter the Nowhere. A place from which few ever return.
To have courage means facing fear. And this mission is terrifying.
Book 3.1
From #1 bestselling author Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson comes the final of three Skyward series novellas, each told from the perspective of a different member of the team back on Detritus. Listen to Jorgen’s story along with Cytonic.
With the government of Detritus in disarray because of Superiority treachery, and with Spensa still away on her mission in the Nowhere, Jorgen must work together with the alien Alanik to pick up the pieces. They intercept a strange transmission from the planet Evershore and its Kitsen inhabitants, who say they have some of Jorgen’s people and want to return them—but can the Kitsen be trusted? And can Jorgen learn to master his increasingly erratic cytonic powers before they spiral out of control and destroy all hope of forming an alliance against the Superiority?
Book 4
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.
The final book in the Skyward series will free humanity, or see it fall forever.
Books 2.1, 2.2, 3.1
Journey with Skyward Flight to Detritus—humanity’s final refuge from the hostile Galactic Superiority government. In Skyward, Spensa Nightshade became a starfighter pilot in the Defiant Defense Force’s Skyward Flight to battle Superiority forces. In Starsight she impersonated the alien Alanik to infiltrate a Superiority space station and steal their hyperdrives. And in Cytonic she traveled the strange dimension of the Nowhere to discover the secrets of the planet-destroying Delvers and unlock her own Cytonic powers.
As she is stuck in the Nowhere, Spensa’s companions FM and Jorgen in Skyward Flight are left on Detritus with a new mandate: figure out how to use the hyperdrives so that humanity can escape the planet and find allies among other species oppressed by the Superiority. First comes a distress call from Minister Cuna and other diones on the abandoned outpost of Sunreach. Alanik’s people on the planet ReDawn and the Kitsen from the planet Evershore also need Skyward Flight’s aid in their desperate battles.
The tales of FM, Alanik, and Jorgen combine to expand the universe of the New York Times bestselling Skyward series to new action-packed heights. Once you’ve claimed the stars, can you keep them free?
Books 1-3
Skyward:
Spensa's world has been under attack for decades. Now pilots are the heroes of what's left of the human race, and becoming one has always been Spensa's dream. Flight school might be a long shot, but an accidental discovery in a long-forgotten cavern might just provide her with a way to claim the stars.
Starsight:
Spensa's made it to the sky, but the truths she learned there were crushing. Everything Spensa has been taught about her world is a lie. But Spensa also discovered a few other things about herself--and she'll travel to the end of the galaxy to save humankind if she needs to.
Cytonic:
Spensa has flown through the sky and voyaged past the stars in her quest to save humankind from the forces that threaten to destroy it. But now she must navigate a dangerous new frontier, which not one person has returned from alive: the mysterious realm of the Nowhere. But in a place where nothing is real, the truth can be slippery--and nothing is black and white.