Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

My husband has picked up Brandon Sanderson on the recommendation of Daniel Greene, a YouTuber he subscribes to. He's devoured his Mistborn series, so I was familiar with the name. I put this particular book on my reading list because I wanted to expand my genres. When it comes to science fiction, my interest typically runs to movies or TV shows. Star Trek, Star Wars, Firefly are all on my watch again list. But when it comes to science fiction books, I can't honestly name any I've read. I mean yeah, maybe you could count Andy Weir's The Martian. So I guess I have one or two sci-fi books under my belt.

Skyward is the first in a series that follows Spensa Nightshade, who dreams of being a pilot like her father, but there's just one problem. Her father was branded a coward during one of the most historic battles against an enemy called the Krell. Spensa has to fight her way into flight school and prove that she isn't like her father. when she makes a discovery deep in a forgotten cave, her world becomes less about proving herself worthy of a pilot's pin and more about saving humanity and finding out what lies beyond the stars.

Sanderson spent a lot of time researching for this book and it shows. His passion shines through the descriptions of the aerial combat and training that Spensa and the other cadets go through. He does take some liberties, but considering the book is set on an alien world you can forgive him for breaking physics. The detail Sanderson uses when Spensa is training and when she's in the various battles creates a great deal of suspense. The writing is fast paced and you feel in the moment with Spensa. 

I really enjoyed Spensa's journey. She was a unique voice in YA because her goals weren't about winning a guy's approval; they were about proving her abilities as a pilot. She started out as such a hot head who grew up on the stories of heroes like Beowulf, so she adopted a warrior attitude, drinking wine out from the skulls of her enemies and all that. Spensa is a flawed character. Her attitude as she goes into flight school is very cocky and unfortunately when she gets into the cockpit, she's knocked down a few pegs. She's definitely not a Mary Sue and I think that's why I enjoyed her. She struggles, and makes mistakes and the stakes are high. 

The lack of romance in Sanderson was refreshing. Unfortunately, many YA books, especially ones with a female protagonist, are mostly focused on a romance. The point of the plot is to get the character together with their love interest. I'm not saying these books are any less enjoyable, but it's just interesting to see a book that can be easily relatable to both male and female readers.

I give this book 5/5. I'm looking forward to the second installment and I'll definitely be picking up more of Sanderson's novels.