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Starsight

Starsight

Science FictionSpace Opera
Pages
480
Published
2019
Language
English

Synopsis

With Detritus still under threat, Spensa sees an opportunity: disguised as a stranded alien pilot, she can infiltrate Starsight Station — the center of the Superiority, the interstellar government that has been attacking humanity for generations. Inside, she discovers that the war between humans and the Superiority is far more complicated than she knew, and that the Krell who have been bombarding Detritus are not mindless aliens but a people with history and reasons of their own. Starsight widens the scope of the Skyward universe dramatically, introducing a galactic civilization with multiple alien species and a political context that reframes everything from the first book.

Prose complexity
5/10

Vibe

AdventurousTenseThought-ProvokingComplexDark
Chosen OneSurvivalSecret IdentityFirst ContactMorally GreyBetrayal

Genres

Science Fiction Space Opera Young Adult Adventure

About the author

B
Brandon Sanderson

Born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1975, Brandon Sanderson spent his early twenties working graveyard shifts at a hotel — writing novels at the front desk between guest check-ins. By the time his debut, Elantris, was published by Tor Books in 2005, he had completed thirteen novels in the drawer. His subsequent Mistborn trilogy and the ongoing Stormlight Archive series established him as the primary architect of the Cosmere, an interconnected fictional universe in which most of his fantasy series share...

Characters

Spensa NightshadeProtagonist

Infiltrates the Superiority's central station disguised as a stranded alien pilot, gathering intelligence while questioning everything she was taught about the war.

WinzikAntagonist

A Superiority official whose policies and methods are more sinister than the diplomatic facade he presents.

M-BotSupporting

Spensa's AI companion, now separated from her physically but still present through communication, whose own mystery deepens.

Jorgen WeightSupporting

Spensa's flightleader in the Defiant Defense Force, callsign Jerkface, whose growing feelings for her complicate the mission.

CobbSupporting

Spensa's former flight instructor, now admiral of the Defiant Defense Force, directing the effort to steal a Superiority hyperdrive.

All characters in Starsight

Frequently asked questions

  • Do I need to read Skyward first?

    Yes — Starsight continues directly from Skyward and assumes familiarity with its events, world, and characters.

  • Does this book change what we know about the Krell?

    Yes, significantly — Starsight recontextualizes the enemy from the first book with information that changes how readers understand the conflict.

  • How much does the scope expand in this book?

    Substantially. Where Skyward was set almost entirely on Detritus, Starsight takes place at the center of a galactic civilization with multiple alien species and interstellar politics.

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