Publisher: Gollancz (Audiobook – 23 November 2021)

Series: Skyward – Book Three

Length: 14 hours and 28 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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One of the best authors of fantasy and science fiction in the world today continues his incredible and brilliant Skyward young adult science fiction series, with the third epic instalment, Cytonic.

This was another incredible book from the amazingly talented Brandon Sanderson, who I would say is one of the top authors in the world today.  Debuting back in 2005, Sanderson has written many brilliant and complex fantasy and science fiction novels and was personally selected to finish off Robert Jordan’s iconic The Wheel of Time series.  Sanderson has since written a great collection of books, most of which have been part of his interconnected Cosmere universe.  This includes his groundbreaking The Stormlight Archive series, which started in 2010 with The Way of Kings, as well as his bestselling Mistborn series.  While the extremely prolific Sanderson is constantly adding to his Cosmere novels, he has also been working on several other series, such as his Skyward books.

The Skyward series are an excellent young adult science fiction series that follows the character of Spensa Nightshade, a misfit who rose to become a fighter pilot to defend her planet from alien invaders.  Made up of Skyward and Starsight, this great series has proven to be truly fantastic, and these first two novels were amongst the best books of 2018 and 2019 respectfully.  The first book detailed Spensa’s training as a pilot, which saw her save her planet and discover that her people were intentionally trapped on their planet in a penal colony.  The second book, Starsight, followed Spensa as she infiltrated the alien capital in disguise to discover what the aliens wanted, and what plans they had for her planet.  However, after being betrayed, Spensa learns that the Superiority government want to use the mysterious interdimensional beings known as the Delvers as weapons against the humans.  This third book in the series, Cytonic, follows on immediately after the events of Starsight and continues Spensa’s adventure, showing what happened to her after she dove into a Superiority interdimensional portal at the end of the second book.  Sanderson also released several novellas around the same time as Cytonic, including Sunreach, Redawn and Evershore, which add context to the universe and focus on some of the side characters from the previous novels.

Following her dive into the mysterious portal in the middle of Starsight to escape the Superiority, Defiant Defence Force pilot and amateur spy, Spensa Nightshade, finds herself in all manner of trouble when she arrives in the realm known as the Nowhere.  The Nowhere is a unnatural and chaotic dimension outside our universe that hosts the Delvers, destructive creatures that are being manipulated by the Superiority into destroying humanity, especially the psychically empowered beings known as Cytonics, such as herself.

Determined to find out more about both the Delvers and her own Cytonic abilities, Spensa remains in the Nowhere to find the clues that will uncover the history behind her own power and that of her enemies.  However, the Nowhere is a weird and mysterious place, made up of floating fragments of multiple planets and filled with all manner of creatures, alien pirates and Superiority forces.  Worse, the very nature of the Nowhere slowly changes the people within it, draining their memories and making them forget everything important to them.

Alone except for her unhinged ship AI, M-Bot, and a forgetful intergalactic explorer, Spensa begins her quest.  As Spensa hunts down fragments from the past, she soon finds herself under attack from the Delvers, who are desperate to destroy her and the threat she poses to their entire race.  With mysterious monsters, dangerous physics and hostile aliens closing in on her, Spensa is thrust into the great adventure she always wanted.  However, the closer she gets to the truth about herself and the delvers, the more she begins to realise just how high the cost of knowledge and power can be.

This was an exceptional and addictive read from Sanderson, who once again takes the reader on a complex and powerful ride.  Cytonic was an excellent continuation of the unique story started in Skyward and then expanded on in Starsight, and I love the powerful journey contained in this novel.  Featuring a brilliant combination of a clever narrative, a unique new setting and some amazingly entertaining characters, this was an exceptional read that gets a full five-star rating from me.

I deeply enjoyed this incredible narrative, especially as it continues the cool plot from the previous two novels.  One of the best things about this series is the amazing amount of variance in storylines, with the first book reading like a flight academy story (teenage Top Gun), while the second book was an espionage book set in the heart of alien territory.  This third book turned out to be a wild and epic adventure novel, which places the protagonist in a unique and dangerous new setting and requires her to complete a great quest to save her friends and escape.  This great change of tone really made for a compelling read, and I loved the inventive pivots featured in this book.

Cytonic starts right after the events of Starsight, quickly resolving the cliffhanger from the second book, while also placing Spensa immediately in danger yet again.  Once the new main character, Chet, is introduced, Cytonic’s story quickly sets the protagonist on her mission, travelling to one location after another to learn the past of the universe and her enemies.  There are some brilliant sequences set throughout this part of the book, as Spensa gets to grips with the strange new dimension she has found herself in, while also enjoying the cool adventure she is having.  Around halfway through the book, several key new characters are introduced, as Spensa is forced to join an alien pirate gang to advance any further into the Nowhere.  What follows are some brilliant character moments as Spensa starts to find her place in this dimension, while also worrying about her friends back home.  After some intense and exciting space fighter fights, Spensa and her companions eventually get towards the end run of the book, learning everything they came to while trying to escape the Delvers.  The final major sequence of the book is loaded up with an intense amount of action, drama and major twists, as everything you think you know is changed around, and some big events occur that will rock you right in the feels.  This was a brilliant and extremely fast-paced narrative, with the protagonists never sitting still for long as they encounter danger and adversity around every corner.  Despite the intense pace, Sanderson also works a lot of character development and emotional encounters throughout the book, and you get an extremely well-balanced story that is very easy to get addicted to.

I deeply enjoyed Sanderson’s excellent writing style which helped to make Cytonic particularly accessible and fun to read.  Told exclusively from the perspective of Spensa, the reader gets a detailed and upfront examination of all the events occurring in front of her in addition to her own hilarious observations and reactions.  I find that the Skyward novels have a very different tone from some of Sanderson’s other works, and I appreciate the cool and perfect combination of intense science fiction elements, with compelling character development, impressive action sequences and outrageous and exciting humour that was featured in Cytonic.  The various fighter combat sequences are particularly good, and while they aren’t as plentiful as some of the other Skyward novels, there are still some exciting and elaborately written scenes that pit Spensa against other pilots or entities in high-stakes combat.  I will say that Cytonic does, at times, seem like a bridging novel in the series, setting up events for the big finale and sidelining several supporting characters.  However, I still really liked this great read, and I had an amazing amount of fun with its clever adventure framing.

Before starting Cytonic I was a little worried about how easy it was going to be for me to follow, especially as it had been nearly two years since I read Starsight, and I might have forgotten a lot of detail.  I was also concerned because I did not have a chance to read any of the novellas that Sanderson released around Cytonic, which some readers claimed were vital to the plot.  I personally felt that I was able to read this book without a refresher as Sanderson ensured that certain key details were summarised within the text extremely well, and I was swiftly able to remember anything that might have slipped my mind.  I also found that my enjoyment didn’t suffer from having not read any of the novellas, mainly because it was such a Spensa focused story.  The novellas detailed events that occurred back on Detritus and the Superiority during Spensa’s absence, and they only have minor impacts on the plot.  As such, readers can manage without them, although I think I will read them soon to find out what else has been happening in the wider universe.  One of the other things that I really appreciated about Cytonic is that it is extremely appealing to a wide range of readers.  While it is marketed as a young adult novel to teenagers, I honestly think that readers of most age ranges can really enjoy this book.  Older readers will deeply appreciate the complex characters and intriguing science fiction elements, while younger fans will love the cool action and hilarious humour.  Combined, this makes for an awesome read that I would strongly recommend to anyone interested in a great science fiction read.

I really must rave about the fantastic setting and universe building contained within Cytonic.  Sanderson really went all out expanding the Skyward universe in this latest novel, and the reader gets a ton of information as key elements from the previous novels are finally explained in full, such as Cytonics and the Delvers.  While readers may occasionally feel overwhelmed by all the new inclusions and background information that Sanderson shoved into this novel, I personally found it really fascinating and I appreciated having several questions answered.  There are some great scientific and character elements built into who and what Cytonics, Delvers, and the Nowhere are, and I think they were woven into the exciting plot extremely well.  Established elements from the previous two novels are also reintroduced expertly throughout Cytonic, and it was great to get some updates on the history, disputes and characters that were such a cool feature of the first two novels.  I particularly loved the fun reimagining of key parts of human culture that have been warped by years of retellings and misunderstandings.  Spensa’s love of stories ensures that several of these are featured throughout Cytonic, and it was always amusing to hear distorted version of well-known movies and books, such as Spensa’s epic and hilarious retelling of The Lion King.

I also need to gush about the incredible new setting of the Nowhere, which serves as the primary location for the entire narrative.  The Nowhere is a weird and haunting dimension outside of real space that is filled with all manner of wonder and danger.  Revolving around a faux-star containing Delvers, the rest of the Nowhere contains a ton of floating fragments of land and soil, containing all manner of elements from the planets they originated from.  This makes for a brilliant and shifting landscape which was really fun to explore and even more cool to fly over.  However, the real brilliance of this setting lies in the impact it has on the characters’ minds.  People stuck in the Nowhere, which includes pirates, miners, outcasts and anyone the Superiority wants to get rid of, are slowly having their memories, personality and sense of time sucked away by the weird space, with only certain figments of reality slowing the process down.  This naturally has some substantial impacts on the plot and the characters, with Spensa constantly trying to hold on to what is important to her.  This exceptionally clever and inventive setting is a great backdrop to this amazing narrative, and it was extremely cool to see Spensa and her friends try to navigate and overcome the various elements of the Nowhere.  Sanderson is a true master of creating unique and captivating universes, and I cannot wait to see what happens in this one next.

There is no way that you cannot talk about one of Sanderson’s novels without highlighting the many exceptional and complex characters featured within.  Cytonic, and the Skyward series in general, is a perfect example of this, as the readers are treated to a range of unique and entertaining protagonists, each of whom add an incredible amount to the overall story.  Due to the events of the plot, there is a much more limited range of characters in this novel, although the three main characters more than make up for it with their bold personalities and captivating backstories.

The most prominent of theses is point-of-view character and main protagonist Spensa Nightshade.  Spensa is a great character who has gone through an amazing amount during the trilogy, transforming to loner weirdo child who was reviled as the daughter of a traitor, to a heroic pilot, then to a daring spy.  In this third book, she becomes a wilderness adventurer on a quest to save her people, which plays perfectly to her personality, which has been warped by her youth of listening to wild stories.  As such, Spensa has a great time in this book, and it is deeply entertaining to see her adventure around and become a space pirate.  While there are a lot of fun moments with Spensa, Sanderson also takes the time to once again dive into her personality, showing how much she has grown since the start of the first book, as well as the unique relationships she has formed.  Spensa is faced with some hard choices in this book as she attempts to return home, and there is an impressive examination of her damaged psyche, especially surrounding all the responsibilities that have been thrust upon her.  This makes for a complex and compelling portrayal in this novel, and while you may laugh at Spensa’s antics you know that there is a lot going on within her head.  There are some interesting developments around Spensa in this book, particularly when it comes to her Cytonic powers, and it will be fascinating to see how she further develops in the next novel.

I also deeply enjoyed the character of M-Bot, the silly and distracted artificial intelligence who Spensa discovered in a crashed ship in the first book.  After being disassembled by the Superiority in Starsight, M-Bot now flies around in a tiny cleaning drone and finds himself going through some big changes.  In particular, he has gained full sapiency in this book, and he immediately goes on an emotional bender, trying to understand the complex feelings he is now experiencing, while also dealing with his sense of betrayal after Spensa abandoned him in the previous book.  This dive into sentience adds some really entertaining layers to M-Bot in Cytonic, and he is even more amusing and charming than before, which I didn’t think was possible.  Readers will swiftly fall in love with M-Bot again, and it was so much fun following him around, especially as he continues to develop his unique friendship with Spensa.  M-Bot has some amazing moments and ridiculous dialogue in this book, and you will not be prepared for everything that occurs with him.

The other major character of this book is new protagonist Chet Starfinder, a human Cytonic explorer who lives in the Nowhere and decides to help Spensa achieve her goals and escape back to her universe.  Chet is an eccentric being who combines aspects of all the famous literary explorers into his personality, thanks to his love of stories and his inability to remember life outside of the Nowhere.  Readers will enjoy getting to know Chet, and it was fascinating to see the cool dynamic that grows between him and Spensa as they take on a fun partnership to traverse the Nowhere.  Sanderson opens some big questions surrounding who Chet is at the start of Cytonic, and it was a lot of fun finding out who exactly he was and what his motivations for helping Spensa are.  I deeply enjoyed Chet’s unique and compelling storyline and he proved to be a brilliant addition to the novel.

Aside from these main three characters, Cytonic also features an interesting supporting cast.  Most of these characters are new, with characters from the preceding novels barely featured here (they appear in the accompanying novellas).  These new characters are the trapped inhabitants of the Nowhere who find Spensa and become part of her journey.  These include the Broadsiders, an alien pirate band who Spensa joins and swiftly grows close to thanks to their inclusive nature and love of great pilots.  It was fascinating to see Spensa, who has had to fight for inclusion her entire life, gain some more friends, even though she knows she can’t stay with them.  There are some great figures amongst this bunch, and I loved some of the unique alien features they had.  Sanderson reintroduced one of the best characters from the Starsight in the book, who proves to be quite an entertaining and lovable inclusion, even if they are experiencing some memory issues.  Some of the main series antagonists have minor appearances in this book, plotting from afar and setting some evil plans in motion.  While it would have been interesting to see more about them, especially as they were only introduced in the prior novel, I think keeping them mostly apart from Spensa worked in the context of the unique plot that Sanderson was trying to develop.  I also deeply enjoyed the strange creatures known as the Delvers.  The Delvers are dangerous and powerful interdimensional beings who exist on a whole other form of reality and consciousness.  Sanderson does a fantastic job exploring what exactly these beings are, and you get a real sense of their dangerous emotions and outlook on life.  I really appreciated the author’s clever use of these seemingly less than humourous monsters as the antagonists of this book, and it proved to be a welcome addition to the plot.  Every character in this book is extremely awesome, and readers will have an exceptional time exploring their complex personalities as the plot unfolds.

While I did receive a physical copy of this book, I chose to enjoy the audiobook version of Cytonic instead to fit it into my reading schedule.  This proved to be an extremely wise decision as the audiobook was a fantastic way to check Cytonic out, something I had previously found when listening to Skyward.  There are actually two versions of the Cytonic audiobook available, but I chose to listen to the Sophie Aldred version, as she was the narrator who I listened to previously.  This version of Cytonic had a run time of just under 14 and a half hours, making it a relatively quick audiobook to get through, especially once I got incredibly hooked on the story.  I really enjoyed listening to Cytonic and I found that the audiobook version helped my appreciation of both the new setting of the Nowhere and the various cool space fighter sequences featured throughout.  Aldred is an outstanding narrator, and I had an exceptional time with the various voices she featured throughout Cytonic.  She hits the character of Spensa perfectly, fully capturing her daring and adventurous personality, and enhancing all her many quirks.  I also loved the cool voice she used for M-Bot, including the fun accent, which fully showed of his computer origin, as well as the many unusual behavioural quirks that have developed within him.  This great narration deeply enhanced this already cool novel and I had a wonderful time listening to this incredible audiobook.

With the third entry in the epic Skyward series, Cytonic, acclaimed author Brandon Sanderson continues to shine as one of the absolute best modern fantasy and science fiction writers out there.  Cytonic is another captivating and impressive young adult science fiction read that perfectly continues the outstanding narrative from the previously Skyward novels.  Featuring some incredible characters, an intense and moving narrative, and a bold and inventive new setting, Cytonic is an exceptionally awesome read that you will get addicted to.  I had a fantastic time with this novel and I cannot wait to see how Sanderson wraps up this series in the future.

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