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Starsight Full Book Reactions


Chaos

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Definitely a worthy sequel. ^_^

I loved how Spensa changed more, and that we finally got some glimpses on the universe beyond her planet. With the different types of aliens and their cultures, how they were described. Like Alanik or Cuna (and the others). Really liked to learn more of the history and the reason why they are trapped on their planet, as well as the different view on Superiorities actions and past action's of humanity. I love when there is no white/black for your main character, but when they have face facts and then deal with them.

Edited by Sorana
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Initial reactions when I finished it ~17 hours ago were:

1. more chapters after the epilogue... this is strange

2. why did it end this way -> BUT actually it makes sense the key issue of the book was solved, and the next major issues have been set up

3. why M-Bot, WHY???? At least we still have his voice but I really wanted more of Spensa flying him and we can't have that now unless he's rebuilt

4. The superiority is going to take a lot of damage

5. I really hope Spensa gets back to Detritus early in the next book.

EDIT bits I forgot that I also thought about:

6. Spensa's reveal to Brent and her betrayal was so obvious it was funny

7. Doomslugs as the superiority's hyperdrives - semi-obvious from the first time we heard the scream -> but what is the scream are the slugs in pain?

8. The superiorty's leadership uses cytonics loads whilst telling everyone not to use them -> smells like corruption/method of controlling society rather than safety procedures

9. I did not see Jurgen as a cyctonic coming at all.

Edited by rjl
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I really liked it, although I will admit that having guessed (while reading Skyward and due to a question on the Arcanum) that the slugs were powering the hyperdrives took a bit of the surprise away.  That being said, I'm really glad he didn't go with "FTL jumps powered by enslaved humans-in-boxes," which the scream seemed to portend.

Other than that, I was really giddy when Spensa figured out how to make the hyperjump work.  I'm really looking forward to seeing her use it more frequently in the next book!

Jorgen as a cytonic was a cool twist, and his training with Gran-gran made me laugh.

I agree that the Superiority is in a lot of trouble.  Not only are the humans centuries ahead in technology but they have sympathizers in the Superiority itself and among other races.  The human/figment alliance and Vapor's steadfast support suggest that the humans have powerful allies there already.  Oh, and the humans are miles ahead on actually running a military.

M-Bot's untimely demise was quite sad, although he seems to have survived enough to find a new home.  And, since we now know that M-Bot was built on figment/human tech, maybe they'll find him a better home than he had.

I really want to know what's on the other end of that portal.  I have a sneaking suspicion that Old Earth (which mysteriously vanished) is hiding in there somewhere, fortified and ready for round 4.

But, yeah, great book.  The ending was surprising but I'm definitely looking forward to both Spensa's adventures in nowhere and another galactic war.

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I bought the book and am done within about 7 hours, with a two hour break in the middle, so hopefully that gives you an idea of the pacing. It feels good to be in the first wave of finishers, I've been quite late to the party on other Sanderson books. Enough about that, here's my take:

Book is good confirmed. There was a distinct tone-shift from Skyward, which really worked to make the universe feel a bit bigger/more alive. Spensa's character growth in this one was welcome as well, even if it does remind me of a streamlined version of a certain flying bridgeman circa Oathbringer. No spoilers but if you know, you know. The ending was a little jarring due to the fake epilogue (Brando's sneakiness has gone meta now), it felt like a nice wrap-up and prep for the next book followed by "sike, here's the real ending, and it's a cliffhanger." I had previously guessed that doomslug makes the hyperdrive work, and slugs like mushrooms, hence the mushrooms, so that reveal had a bit less wind in the sails, given that I think most of us were on the same page with that one. That said I certainly didn't call Jorgen being a cytonic, or that the delvers can be reasoned with. My only other gripe is that we got a lot less of Skyward Fight in this one-- those characters needed some love as they felt a bit undercooked in the first one. I'm also a bit hesitant about the setup for book three here; Spensa on foot with her talking ship replaced with a talking drone, but I trust Brandon to handle that well. That said, Starsight itself was a great setting for a spy thriller, and I really liked seeing the our leads out of their element. At some point, more dogfighting is gonna get stale; I'm glad he gracefully sidestepped that. All in all I can't wait for the next entry, these books are a lot of fun. Perhaps I'll try not to binge the third one like I did the last two, but then again, no I won't.

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After sleeping a night over the book I have to admit, that I still don't like that the slugs are used to engage a hyperdrive(s). That they scream, and I don't want to start a discussion if they can feel pain or not, but in the end to me it feels like this, and I'm not too happy with that. I mostly feel sorry for them and they would stop using the poor slugs.

Apart from everything, I really, really feel sorry for them and it left a stale aftertaste for me. It's not out of nowwhere with the hints we had regarding how important Doomslug might be, but that they appear to be in pain, I might be too softhearted for that.

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I don't think jorgen is necessarily a cytonic - I think maybe he is sensitive to them. He can "feel" spensa and gran-gran and he could sense the large gathering of the slugs. The fact he can see stars at the edges of his vision seems to indicate otherwise though. 

I do want to note that early in the books doomslug fluted back "by whom" when someone said "by who", so maybe doomslug's other speciality is grammar correction. I do think they are killing the poor slugs with each jump. Probably have a massive slug farming operation somehow, and use their cytonic shields to keep the slugs from jumping away. Clearly the slugs can jump long distances, not just short ones, it's how they are colonizing planets near their favorite fungi.

M-bot is fire. Unchained AI spooks me to no end. With no restrictions and his clear abilities to infiltrate systems he is an entire 3rd faction in the war, restrained only by the figments and possibly the delvers. I am not sure that the delvers necessarily hate AI, unless it's hosted on a cytonic processor. 

Cliffhanger is rough, going to be a couple years before we jump back into this world again will have to see what the state of Sanderson post reveals.

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I am endlessly impressed by the way Brandon’s books read the same while also reading so very differently. It’s a true once in a generation gift. The tone and the characterization here is so distinct from epic SA or Mistborn but yet, it feels very Sandersonesque in its tight magic system, character growth and trajectory, and pacing.

I felt the reveals were well-telegraphed, but still suspenseful, and I liked how this book teased at broader ethical and even metaphysical questions beyond the more immediate mysteries in book 1. I agree with some posters above that I missed a bit of the supporting cast from book 1 that were compelling; I think the setting shift meant we learned less about the population of humans on Detritus and more about the broader universe. I understand that choice, but I still was left a bit unsatisfied.

Ultimately it was a quick, fun read that whet my appetite for more. Took me 4ish hours I think?

 

Edited by Bliev
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Overall, I enjoyed it. I'm not sure I enjoyed it as much as the first book, but many sequels have that issue.

My main thought is that throughout reading I kept finding parallels back to other Sanderson's works. It is like he is examining the same type of ideas, but playing out different iterations of them. I have yet to decide if I find that a good thing or a bad thing. I will spoiler tag them.

Stormlight Archive

Spoiler

- Spensa's time with the "enemy" and getting to know them / train them reminded me a lot of Kaladin's time with the Parshmen. Including the end, where her two sides were fighting each other. The outcome in each are different, but for awhile it felt like retreading.

- The ending felt very much like Jasnah's escape into Shadesmar. And more so the extra dimensional space is reminiscent of Shadesmar (although much different in actual execution).

- The way Spensa "dealt" with the Delver to get it to stop attacking was similar to how Lift got Nale to stop attacking. Changing his perspective.

Warbreaker

Spoiler

- Cuna reminded me of Bluefingers a bit, in that they are the mysterious person who seem like they're trying to help, but using the main character. Again, the outcome is different, but the setup is similar.

Mistborn

Spoiler

- Spensa's connecting to the Delvers reminded me of Vin's ascension. Mind expanding, seeing the galaxy as a whole, etc.

- Jorgen hearing the slugs reminded me of Vin hearing the Well. Spensa hearing the stars never felt that way to me, but because Jorgen was following something on his planet, it reminded me much more of that.

 

Off the top of my head, that's what I can remember. I should have taken notes about reactions as I was going. I did comment on another thread about halfway through the book (around where we first heard the screams during jumping) thinking that the Superiority were definitely using captive cytonics, but I completely forgot at that time my theory I've had since Skyward that Doomslug was the hyperdrive for M-Bot! I did not think that there would be more on Detritus, as I assumed she came there with M-Bot, and his mushroom directive was in place to keep Doomslug alive.

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Great first read but a bit trope heavy, that may detract from re-rereads. Brade in particular was disappointing. Spensa waking up just in time to derail the coup hurt the ending. I really enjoyed how the Superiority was portrayed -- the hypocrisy, etc. was all really well done. Hope we see more Cobb in book 3!! 

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28 minutes ago, Argel said:

Brade in particular was disappointing

Agreed.

17 hours ago, Ziggo said:

M-bot is fire. Unchained AI spooks me to no end. With no restrictions and his clear abilities to infiltrate systems he is an entire 3rd faction in the war, restrained only by the figments and possibly the delvers. I am not sure that the delvers necessarily hate AI, unless it's hosted on a cytonic processor. 

Agreed.

22 hours ago, Hakusho Slick said:

I had previously guessed that doomslug makes the hyperdrive work, and slugs like mushrooms, hence the mushrooms, so that reveal had a bit less wind in the sails, given that I think most of us were on the same page with that one

Same.

On 11/26/2019 at 8:46 PM, FirstSelector said:

Jorgen as a cytonic was a cool twist, and his training with Gran-gran made me laugh.

I kind of wanted more of that,  One of the best parts of Skyward was the secondary human characters and Spensa's interactions with them.  Her curent flight does not have the same magic.  I also thought that the end was a bit rushed and not always in a good way.  Still it is a solid read.  Will be rereading now and will post that reaction next.

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I loved the ending! How about that denouement fakeout, and then a chapter after the epilogue?? Masterful use of writing clichés to put you at ease and then pull the rug out from under you. 

 

Also I'm so mad I never posted my theory about doomslug having cytonic abilities!! I had a theory that Doomslug was M-bot's original Cytonic Hyper drive. There was a lot of evidence in Skyward, like the small empty box where the hyper drive was supposed to be in the ship, or the way doomslug was able to just appear inside the innards of the ship at one point when it had been in the cockpit moments before, or how it generally just moved around super fast but only when nobody was looking. I still don't know if I was right about doomslug being the cytonic hyper drive, but I was right about the cytonic abilities! 

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I have a three year old, so I had to audiobook it.

On first listen, this book had me on the edge of my seat. I had to break protocol and listen while watching my child. Could not put the second half down! Thank goodness she took that otherwise ill-timed nap so I could get through the end.

The big stuff was telegraphed but I thought in such a way that you were just enough ahead of Spensa that you were cringing half the time “No! Don’t do that!” And the other half of the time “Yes! Good choice Spensa!” 

So much happens in this little book. So much good crazy.

I will end on theories:

1) The little fox people mass cytonic disappearance is stupid important.

2) The slugs are smarter than they first appear.

3) Humans are going to totally screw the pooch in the next book.

4) So the tunnels on the human prison planet resemble the big bad tunnels and the slugs live in the middle eh? Thaaaaat’s does not bode well for anybody using them to hyper jump.

5) I’ll be taking a day off for the next book in this series.

 

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8 minutes ago, Storyspren said:

 

I have a three year old, so I had to audiobook it.

 

They have a really talented, and fitting, lady who narrates these books. I’m probably enjoying this series more than I would by reading it just by the element the narrator brings. I really shouldn’t even be in this thread though. I preordered the audiobook (to support Brandon) but I am currently on another series right now. As soon as I finish it I’ll probably relisten the Skyward before diving into Starsight. I’m looking forward to it though!

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2 hours ago, Wit Beyond Measure said:

The screams.  We never heard Doomslug scream, did we?  That could be a reaction to traveling the nowhere.

He's using cytonics to move around all the time, so it has to be tied to being forced to use cytonics in some way. 

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I guessed that the slugs were cytonic when re-reading Skyward.  I guessed that the Superiority's "better" hyperdrive was still using a kind of cytonics, just in a more nefarious way.

And then when M-Bot looked up the slugs and said they were toxic I went DING and put 2 and 2 together and figured that out.  And then I had to wait another quarter of the book to have the theory confirmed!

 

The bit where Spensa realises what Cuna's weird smile was about actually made me tear up :-O

 

I have a theory that Detritus is more important that we realise, and Weyoun, I mean Winzik wants to take possession of the planet to possess whatever it is.  Possibly -

Spoiler

one of those wormhole things ... which might be in the same location as the slug colony?

I'm confused about the hallucinations(?) caused Spensa's father to go rogue. I initially thought they were caused by the Delvers.  But at the end of Skyward, when Spensa flies up to the station, they send an attack to her which M-Bot shields.  The station does, I mean.  Is it simply a hologram attack?  I'd thought it was a cytonic attack?

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