All her life, Spensa’s dreamed of becoming a pilot. Of proving she’s a hero like her father. She made it to the sky, but the truths she learned about her father were crushing. The rumors of his 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 in his starship could happen to her. When she made it outside the protective shell of her planet, she heard the stars—and it was terrifying. 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.
Review:
“A hero does not choose her trials.”
Characters |
There are so many new characters introduced, and so many types of aliens (e.g. dione, figment, delvers, etc).
The most interesting to me was Morriumur, who is considered a dione (draft), which means he’s technically not born yet. It’s such an interesting / weird concept. I didn’t really understand it. His parents could decide whether or not they wanted him to be the type of person he was starting to become.
Vapor was also an interesting character. She was quite literally just a smell. Her scent changed depending on her mood. Her kind is called a figment, and a lot of them died during the human wars. They can pilot ships by infusing the electronics, and they can interrupt signals from the controls.
Spensa finally learns to tone her impulses down. She learns that she’s not invincible. Spensa struggles with not getting attached to other characters. Helping everyone is probably her biggest flaw. Even on an enemy planet, she helps other pilots that are there.
“Perspective. When you’re young, you can assume that everyone older than you has life figured out. Once you get commend yourself, you realize we’re all just the same kids wearing older bodies.”
Doomslug is still around and just as cute as can be. I know that’s what y’all came here for!
One part that made me sad—M-Bot wanting to be human and have human emotions. It reminds me a little bit of Murderbot in the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells.
Story |
I enjoyed the adventure in this one more than the first book, Skyward. It drags a little here and there, but I had loads of fun the rest of the time.
You learn about Starsight, ran by Winzik, who is the head of the Department of Protective Services. He is tasked to resolve any issues and threats involving the Superiority. Humans are the biggest threat, and the Superiority is recruiting many life forms from different planets.
Alanik of the UrDail is the one that Spensa finds out about. She’s a cytonic like Spensa, and the Superiority wants her to be a pilot for their army. If her people send more pilots, then they could be offered primary citizenship.
Spensa finds Alanik’s ship already damaged, and the girl is about to slip into a coma when she tells Spensa about Starsight. This could be Spensa’s chance to steal a hyperdrive from the aliens. It’s extremely risky though. Spensa isn’t the type to back down from a challenge, and when she brings it up to Jorgen, he agrees to let her go.
She uses holograms to camouflage her and M-Bot to look like Alanik and her ship. The Superiority has no clue what she is supposed to look like, so getting into Starsight shouldn’t be too large of a task. When she gets in and starts training, she learns much more than she could’ve ever imagined.
There were a ton of twists and turns involved. I cannot wait to see where the universe takes Spensa and her pals—doomslug and M-Bot.
Writing |
I liked that the writing didn’t feel like I was reading a young adult novel, but it was still super fun. It’s very similar to Skyward, so if you enjoyed the way that one is written, then no worries about this one.
Overall |
If you have read and enjoyed Skyward, then I would totally recommend this one. I like when there are more politics and world-building. There is a lot of action in this one, too! Was it my new favorite science fiction novel? No, but I still had so much fun reading it. It was over 400 pages, and it only took me about four days to read it—without an audiobook! That’s a record for me. Just go pick it up.
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