My personal favourite of this new bunch is Hesho, a totally not the king and ruler of his species.

The new cast are also all wonderful and beautifully characterised. all make appearances, but they’re on the back-burner a bit. But, with the exception of everyone’s favourite AI spaceship (Woooo! More M-Bot!) and Spensa, they are almost all new. Skyward had a fantastic cast of characters that built up really strong friendships throughout – and you were really rooting for them all at all times. Sure, there are a few fights and battles sprinkled throughout, but only one with the same high stakes feel that made Skyward so enthralling.Īside from the pace, one of the biggest departments from the first book here is the characters. In the interest of avoiding spoilers, I’m not going to say why the pace tails off, but this drop in pace gives the book a different feel to the first book. But after that, the pace of the adventure takes a turn for the slower. This book starts off at an absolutely frantic pace that reminds us of the danger that humanity is in and the stakes should Spensa fail. For Spensa herself, her newly discovered powers are a terrifying mystery, but one she knows could hold the secret to saving humanity from destruction at the hands of the Krell and the Superiority – a galaxy spanning, alien empire. They are now part of the remnants of humanity’s last line of defence as they battle for survival on the ruin covered planet of Detritus. Spensa, our main character, and her flight team have graduated from flight school after the Battle of Alta Second. The story starts a few months after the end of Skyward.

And, if I am being honest here, I think that is because this book wasn’t quite what I had expected based on the first book. There is nothing objectively bad about it… I don’t really have any big criticisms, but it just wasn’t as good as Skyward. This, alongside Sanderson’s reputation, possibly gave me too much expectation because this book just didn’t seem to hit the same high points as Skyward. It was an absolute blast to read: full of fast-paced action sequences and lovable characters that was backed up by a engaging and mysterious setting.

Starsight is the sequel to Skyward– Brandon Sanderson’s YA sci-fi adventure – which was one of my favourite books of last year. Warning: This review may contain spoilers for the first book in the series, Skyward.

Starsight goodreads