Book Review: Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

I finally got around to reading a Brandon Sanderson book. Took me a while, I’ve been eyeing the Mistborn series for ages, but I think I’ll get it on audiobook, and I had this lying around since Christmas.

I don’t remember how I heard about Sanderson, but his name floats around in writing circles and then suddenly you know who he is. I know he’s the guy who finished the Wheel of Time series after Robert Jordan past (though I’ve never read it), and I love his podcast Writing Excuses which I used to listen to pretty religiously back in the day.

So yeah, I figured I had to read him at some point, and when I got this book for Christmas, I had no idea what it was about (other than what you can gauge from the cover), but I didn’t care. I just wanted to read it.

The basic plot is this: Humans live on a planet where they are constantly attacked by aliens, trying to crush their civilization. Being a pilot and fighting against these aliens is one of the noblest things you can do, particularly for Spensa, a young girl who’s dreamed of nothing but floating among the stars since her dad died when she was little. But the road to becoming a pilot is a long and hard one, and flight school isn’t all what she hoped and dreamed.

I was hooked from the beginning, pretty much. This is a massive, thick book, and I know that Sanderson, like King (who I also love) are known for writing massive tomes. Yet neither of them, and maybe particularly Sanderson, get boring. They have a way of keep it light, keeping it moving, and keeping us entertained. I’ve noticed that with King, the clue seems to be to write a lot about the small stuff, and very little about the big stuff. I feel like that’s true for Sanderson as well.

Looking back, the story is perhaps a little bit long, a little bit drawn out in places, but it’s not something you notice when reading it. I know some people have issues with the ending of this book and well I… no comment.

I’m definitely a fan of Sanderson now. Can’t wait to get on with the Mistborn series. This was awesome.