Starsight

Brandon Sanderson remains one of my favourite authors. His ‘voice' is distinctive but very easy to read and always providing a brilliant level of engagement for me. Starsight is the second in his YA scifi series. It does follow some standard YA tropes (youthful person being super heroic) but he does manage to play them in an interesting way. This time we get introduced to a bit more of the wider universe hinted at in the first story. Our heroine, Spensa, gets the opportunity to infiltrate the ‘Krell'. Here she ends up on a pilot evaluation course and gets the opportunity to meet some of the other species inhabiting the universe. Sanderson has a deft touch for creating unique creatures and clever politics and it shows well through this story.

My main criticism of this story is that the deus ex machina mechanism of allowing this infiltration is a bit forced. It makes the suspension of disbelief required a bit more challenging. Once we get passed that though teh story is very entertaining

Sanderson made it difficult for himself by writing Spensa's character to be so resistant and argumentative. It makes any character development feel unlikely. This book doesn't have the same appeal as the first one, mainly because by expanding the world out into the universe, Sanderson starts sounding like a multitude of other sci-fi writers, even while fighting hard for originality. The story is still engaging and enjoyable, though.

Age range: 11-16
This series is on the lighter end of Sanderson works, but still may be a little advanced for younger readers. Adult readers may struggle to get invested in the characters.

The world is developed beautifully in this book, with some really interesting ideas for alien races (novel to me, at least). The figments, kitsen, and dione are really neat and I like how Sanderson develops the history of the universe so that a lot of the first book becomes clear.

Incredibly entertaining read, and the only thing I don't like is how long I'll have to wait for the third book.

Overview: The second volume of a Science Fiction adventure which broadens the story and raises important questions about xenophobia while being a fun action filled adventure story.After 1st Reading: A roaring sequel that expanded the world, deepened the characters and raised mysteries that I am so looking forward to exploring. A real cliffhanger ending though, I can't wait for the next book!After 2nd Reading: This volume had a completely different feeling to the first. The first book had an almost claustrophobic feeling as Spin fought against the literal and social barriers placed around her. This book had very little of that, instead the focus was on the prejudices that Spin had built up about “the enemy”. Spin has been told all her life that they are faceless monsters - now she gets to meet them and - guess what? People are people. OK this is Science Fiction so some of them are cute fox-gerbil-samurai, but they're still people.So yes - a rip roaring adventure in space with plenty of humour and some good morals. A jolly good read.After 3rd Reading: Still loving it!Note: After reading this book I went on to the novellas [b:Sunreach 57903876 Sunreach (Skyward, #2.1) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1632169745l/57903876.SX50.jpg 90713801] and [b:ReDawn 57903879 ReDawn (Skyward, #2.2) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1633436358l/57903879.SX50.jpg 90713832] before reading [b:Cytonic 57571215 Cytonic (Skyward, #3) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1622045953l/57571215.SX50.jpg 67851209]. The novels let you see what FM, Rig, Jorgen and the others get up to (it's huge) and I'm so glad I read them.

If you plan on reading this book without re-reading the first book in the series, you better look up a summary. I read the chapter by chapter summary of Skyward before and it still felt a little jarring with the use of jargon and the places and names mentioned. I found that the first couple chapters weren't enough time to get us familiar with the story and the characters again. Characters took the backseat in this one. It's all just world expansion in the 50% that I read. I don't care for the new characters that are being introduced and since I'm not grasping all of the new information that got introduced in the beginning (because I don't remember much from the first book) I found it hard to care. So, I'm going to stop reading it since it's not enjoyable anymore. Maybe one day I'll decide to binge the whole series to give it the best possible shot.

Executive Summary: Another enjoyable entry in this series, thought probably not quite as enjoyable as [b:Skyward 36642458 Skyward (Skyward, #1) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531845177l/36642458.SY75.jpg 58411143].Audiobook: Suzy Jackson does a good job with this one. She has a good read voice and cadence and does a few voices to give it that little extra something. The nature of these books make them work really well in audioFull ReviewA few years ago I swore off an “non-cosmere” Sanderson books. Then I went ahead picked up [b:Skyward 36642458 Skyward (Skyward, #1) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531845177l/36642458.SY75.jpg 58411143] last year anyways when I was looking for a light/fun read for a holiday road trip.I'm glad I did. While I'm not necessarily going to run out and read other non-cosmere stuff I'm a lot more open to it now than I was after [b:Calamity 15704486 Calamity (Reckoners, #3) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1437098338l/15704486.SY75.jpg 21366542].I really enjoy Spensa. She can be frustrating at times, but she's easy to root for. The supporting characters are also fantastic. M-bot especially, but all of her squad is great.It was kind of sad we didn't get too much of her squad in this one, but I found the new supporting characters in this book to be almost as enjoyable. I especially loved the Kitsen.As with most Sanderson books, the world building has me hooked in. I want to know all the secrets, and at times wonder how these series couldn't fit itself into the cosmere somehow.This was once again another fun/light read and I'm looking forward to picking up the next one whenever it comes out. In the meantime I have a new cosmere book to look forward to!

You can check out my video review on youtube

https://youtu.be/MT7BmKqCn6o

This is the second book in the skyward series and I love it!

Spensa is a cytonic who can see into the nowhere, an alternate dimension or realm where the delvers live. Space travel and communications via the dimension of nowhere calls out to the delvers and puts all life in the known universe at risk

This really is a fun, fast paced action packed series. Spensa is a strong character faced with impossible odds and is ovrrall just a great read. See my full review on youtube

2023 Update:

I've been rereading the Skyward series to prepare for the finale coming this November. I already knew the first book to be excellent, but Starsight was one of those books that I've forgotten how good it was. Sequels are always difficult to accomplish and upholding the premise that is setup in the first book and this one does a good job at that. Don't get me wrong, the pacing slows down in the middle a tad, but the conclusion is memorable and awesome.

__Original Review (2020):One of the greatest things about the Skyward series is how it's the easiest Sanderson books to recommend. It's not as long as the majority of his books, and in this case, it does a great job showcasing his world building and character development. It's pretty easy to become a fan of Brandon after reading this series alone.The greatest difference from Skyward to Starsight is its transition in the motif. Since I won't spoil what the theme of each book actually are, I'll say the change here is so diverse in a way that, in most cases, would usually compromise the development in the story and character arcs. Starsight didn't miss a beat.__

Audio read by: Suzy Jackson

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1st Read: Audio (2020)Re-read: ebook (2023)

This story lost me at multiple points unlike the first of the series. It's attempts to broaden the world with Starsight actually hurt it in my opinion. Taking the lead away from her friends and flight really took a lot of the more enjoyable parts away.

However, the climax was big, enjoyable, and left off with enough to make me want a third.

Audible did have another 5* performance from Suzy Jackson if that's a route you would consider...

4.5* overall.

Obsessed with this series

As my title says. I love the characters, I love the writing, I love that every chapter is filled with action and intrigue. My favourite character didn't feature quite as much (M-Bot) as I'd have liked and he appeared to have a little bit of an existential crisis, but I guess it made their character a little more in-depth.

The story takes place in a much larger expanse and introduces you to some great new characters and species that made it feel like it has far more longevity and possibility for other sub-stories. Can't wait for the next one!

I loved this sequel!

I must admit, I wasn't overly excited to continue with the series, despite enjoying Skyward. Yet as soon as I picked up this book, I was hooked and used any spare time I had to read it.

It follows mostly Spensa, with a brand new team of secondary characters and brief appearances from the old crew.
We get to explore new places and cultures, and we get to know more about the mysterious entities we briefly saw at the end of Skyward, as well as the history of humanity and the circumstances of them ending up on Detritus.

I really loved the character development Spensa went through and the many twists in the plot.

I simply can't wait to pick up the next book in the series!