Book Review: Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

Starsight is the latest young-adult novel by Brandon Sanderson and is a follow up to Skyward. It picks up a bit after the prior novel and raises the stakes even higher.

All her life, Spensa has 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 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.

Read on for my review. Bear in mind that this spoils some events of the prior book, Skyward, and does need to spoil a minor point that happens very early in this book.

Overall Impression
I'm a fan of Sanderson and this is a classic Sanderson novel. Good characters, intricate setting, and a racing plot. One of my favorite things about his books is how he sets up a mystery for the characters to solve and effectively encourages the reader to do the same. Yet somehow, he always manages to stay one step ahead of me- I always think I know what the 'answer' is yet at the end, I'm always proven wrong and the real answer is far more interesting than what I expected. This happens again here and in hindsight there is plenty of cleverly hidden foreshadowing that would be rewarding to look through in a re-read.

Plot
We left the prior book with a bit of a bombshell revelation- humans are being kept prisoners in the planet Detritus by the "Superiority" to keep them from conquering the galaxy yet again. Still, it's a matter of survival and the humans of Detritus have been steadily keeping the Krell at bay with the help of Spensa and her ship M-Bot. In this war of attrition, though, humans are destined to loose so there is a desperate need to unlock the secrets of faster-than-light travel. Spensa's unique abilities bring to Detritus a unique opportunity in the form of a crashed alien pilot, which Spensa and M-Bot are able to imitate with some holographic technology and thus infiltrate the Superiority.

While at times this seems a bit unbelievable, Sanderson provides some logic to back up how Spensa is able to do this and not get immediately caught. From that point in the story, the plot feels somewhat similar as the alien pilot was due to enroll in a military training program, very much like Spensa did in the prior book. This time, however, things progress much more rapidly and we get to the interesting and fast developments typical of a Sanderson novel.

Characters
We actually don't see much of the characters from the prior novel, with the exception of the major ones like Spensa and M-Bot. Instead, we get a new cast including Hesho, Cuna, Vapor, Morriumur, all different aliens that end up interacting quite a lot of Spensa. Hesho in particular is a great comic relief character that is still central to the story; it was always fun when he was around.

Setting / World Building
Starsight takes the world building of this series to the next level. We learn snippets of lore from the days when humans controlled the Galaxy and the series of wars that took them down. Mainly we get a close look at the Superiority, the organization in control now. There are plenty of species that make it up, but they have a rigid class system based on a nebulous concept of 'primary intelligence' that serves to keep 'lesser species' from holding key positions in government. And yet, because of this species compete to prove themselves worthy and that drives some of the tension in their new pilot program.

But the galaxy is bigger than the Superiority. We also a bit about the powers and dangers of cytonics, the power to travel and communicate faster than light, and of the 'eyes' that Spensa always sees and feels when she reaches out. Without spoiling too much, this is a key element in the story and it's sure to be critical for the following book(s).

Final Thoughts
This is another great addition to this new series. It's clear that there will be at least one more book as this leaves quite a bit unresolved. Still, it's an enjoyable read with good characters, an incredible setting, and the usual breakneck plot that is common in some of Sanderson's shorter works. If you're looking for a young adult space adventure, you can't go wrong here.