Starsight Full Book Reactions

[Aon Tia]

Finished starsight just now. 
At the outset I have to say that it was a good book, a lot happened that I had not expected. 
 

I did not expect so much to have changed on detritus, humans have made a lot of progress, fighting with krell now happens in deep space, they have platform nine, they are able to get more acclivity rings! 
 

I also did not expect Spensa to go to starsight or that starsight will be an alien city! 
 

I loved reading about all the different alien species and the different factions of power and their views on humans. Loved the diones, kitsen, figments!! 
 

I can not believed we already learned what had happened to deteritus how it was destroyed by the Delvers! we got see a delver maze and then a real delver! And guess what they are not hateful creatures at all! 
 

The doomslug bit was obvious the moment we heard of that scream and I think it could have been done sooner! 
 

I have always believed that Jorgen will be cytonic too his family The science wing had mutinied with the engine crew 
I am glad we saw progress there. 
 

I am glad that Cuba was genuine and brade was bad news from the start

 

but it ended at such a cliffhanger! When is the next book coming!! 
 

- where is Spensa heading, what will she find there! How will she get out! 
- what is happened to m-bot!! I hope he will be fine! 
- I hope Cuna makes it safely to Detritus and humans will have allies in diones, kitsen, figments and alanik’s people atleast

- what of Jorgen and he found all those slugs! 
- and what will happen to mbot - an AI once he goes into the nowhere! 

 

It is really very ironic that the krell or I think they are Varvex claim to have achieved the primary intelligence and yet they act so aggressive and stupid as to fight with humans without giving them a chance at peace even, summoning a delver knowing the history, organising a military coup!! It is all  pure nonsense after all! Ha!! You sir, winzig, are as aggressive as they come! 

[Eran of Arcadia]

I'm a little disappointed that the delvers turned out NOT to be eldritch abominations after all, because I do love me some cosmic horror, but otherwise I loved it.

[aneonfoxtribute]

6 minutes ago, Eran of Arcadia said:

I'm a little disappointed that the delvers turned out NOT to be eldritch abominations after all, because I do love me some cosmic horror, but otherwise I loved it.

I like it because I think it's unique. I've never seen anything like it done before. Something that regular people consider eldritch abominations, hellbent on killing all of them, actually turning out to just be creatures who get annoyed at the constant buzzing and who legitimately don't realize that regular people aren't just mindless insects. 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Just now, aneonfoxtribute said:

I like it because I think it's unique. I've never seen anything like it done before. Something that regular people consider eldritch abominations, hellbent on killing all of them, actually turning out to just be creatures who get annoyed at the constant buzzing and who legitimately don't realize that regular people aren't just mindless insects. 

"Mistaking individual beings for insignificant insects" isn't too different from Ender's Game IMO.

[aneonfoxtribute]

3 minutes ago, Eran of Arcadia said:

"Mistaking individual beings for insignificant insects" isn't too different from Ender's Game IMO.

Never actually read. 

[Angsos]

Well skyward was basically battle school with some more stuff added.

[Singer]

I was finally able to get to reading this book yesterday. Yay! 

I have found a few constants in reading Sanderson's books, this book fit all of them:

1. Questions that I think are going to be series ending questions actually get answered in a middle book

2. The story never progresses like I expect it will based on the previous book.

3. Despite questions getting answered much sooner than I expect, new questions are always introduced so I end with more questions than I started with.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. But I think I will enjoy the next one more if it does what I hope it does. Bring back the rest of Skyward flight, bring humans and other races together in conflict and in friendship.

Predictions for book 3: I'm always wishing people will just get along, but I suspect the next book will involve a civil war between the two factions of the Superiority with humans joining in on the side of Cuna's faction. 

But, once again, the next book never goes the direction I think it will, so take my theory, figure out the opposite of that and that'll likely be what happens in book 3.

 

[Angsos]

@Singer the OoklalalaI think the next book will be more Spensa possibly with a bit more Skyward flight but not much. I believe Brandon said before that book 4 will be where everyone comes back

[+Wax]

Finished the book yesterday.

Good book.  The YA part was a bit underdone, IMO. I felt underwhelmed by Spensa (hides in cover), as she came across as a two dimensional (as do a lot of characters).  I liked it that the AI took issue with being left out.  And the way to get around the subroutine was cool.

Also, the exile - feels like shadesmar.

[Pathfinder]

So I am an outlier in that although it was not a bad book, it was the first Sanderson book I did not enjoy. The reason for that is I feel I saw a lot of the fore shadowing that Brandon normally does, but because of lack of space or rushing, it was mooshed together and came across as Deus Ex Machinas. For example

1. oh no! we are being laid siege by the evil aliens, and we need hyperdrives to get away!

2. M-bot has holographic systems, and the best hacking ever, we can try to infiltrate them!

3. Oh no! but we don't know anything about the alien species to properly mimic them, cannot speak the language and mbot is shaped wrong!

4. wahoo! an alien decides to show up that:

   A. happens to be from a species that interacted with humans so is similar to them. check

   B. has a ship similarly shaped as mbot. check

   C. mbot hacks the ship, and thankfully the database lets him know the species's entire world history. check

   D. the alien is not hostile and happens to have a language similar to english to speak to before alien conveniently passes out. check

   E. the alien has a translator pin that takes no skill or know how to use, just pin it to your shirt, language acquired, check!

   F. the alien also happens to be cytonic, and although cytonics are extremely dangerous, it is ok to show up as one so Spensa can transport there instantly no problem. check

   G. the alien happens to place the exact coordinates needed for Spensa to go in her head. check

 

All that in one scene. I pretty much spent the rest of the book knowing any time something was mentioned without seemingly a purpose, it would shortly get used. The longest I had to wait was with the additional holographic disguise that mbot just happened to mention near the end of the book. Thought it was going to help her get through the soldiers searching her bag, but instead it was for cuna. 

I dunno, just a lot of things felt too convenient. 

Edited December 11, 2019 by Pathfinder

[Pathfinder]

4 hours ago, Ernei said:

@Pathfinder, so in essence, the book was too outlined for you? That's an interesting take!

I guess that is one way of putting it. My point was more had those points had more time to organically develop over more books, then it would not bother me. For instance have mbot use his holographics in battle. Have Spensa make him look like an asteroid. Then a plot line of why they would try to miniaturize the technology to be for a person. Then it wouldn't come off as such a blatant solution for a problem that suddenly manifested itself. Or how all the solutions were simultaneously presented at once. I get it was done as kind of a joke regarding Mbot's processing power, but for myself it would have come across better if the alien race that used to work with the humans had some more hints and development first. Maybe finding old videos with purple people in their speaking english. Maybe references in their lore. So an alien race suddenly popping up, and turning out to be friendly would have been more steeped in the narrative, than a tool to solve a problem. The alien is practically fridged. She shows up, gives Spensa all the tools Spensa needs to accomplish her goal, and then promptly falls unconscious and remains so during the entire novel. And her native alien race is just cool with that. All these things taken separately and over the course of multiple books would work for me, but all together and in the span of a few pages felt to be too much. Just made me feel like Sanderson was rushed, so put it all together to get the character where he needs her to be for the main plot of the story. 

Edited December 12, 2019 by Pathfinder

[One_Armed]

Just finished. 

1. Why M-bot why?! that was depressing ending.

2. I was sure  that what jorgen heard was like a delver insude deterius that the humans used as wepon. But a doomslugs colony, is also cool.

3. In the epilogue I thought that next book will be a war between the winzik superiority and the human's/cuna's superiority.

I have also two questions.

1. Is winzik cytonic? (He uses cyto to communicate with the engine crew)

2. If not, are they using slugs as walky talky?

 

Edited December 14, 2019 by ookla the unchanged
Typos

[king of nowhere]

I am uncaring of some stuff that concern most reviews (cosmic horror? alien dictatorship? don't really care what's done with them. exposition? i love it), but I am appreciating stuff that most people don't mention. Namely, I am comparing the space opera to Mass Effect and to the old man war saga. and I am liking a lot of little things that show brandon putting thought into his work.

For example, as far as "bizzarre alien biology" and "alien hermaphrodites" go, the cuna are much better than the asari. i've seen a lot of spin on the bizzarre alien biology, but the concept of drafting a newborn is great. so are the alien races, they feel well characterized and consistent. the scientist me has a hard time accepting the figments, though in a universe with cytonics they may manage to exhist. One little bit I really appreciated was when the alien talked of hiring the wolf to guard your sheep, and spensa wondered if the translator wasn't translating the expression. there were also several untraslatable expressions that were done literally. it adds a lot of realism to me (while i appreciated a lot mass effect, it was jarring when every single alien out there was quoting human philosophers. it would have been much more powerful to offer similar wisdom from alien authors, with the idea that no matter your shape, some things don't change).

one thing that keep impressing and amazing me is brandon's foresight. skyward presented a lot of situations that didn't make sense, and with this book's perspective actually everhything snaps into place. from the krell's incompetent battle tactics, to their zig-zagging policy, down to the mushroom instruction. always makes me wonder how much he has figured out beforehand.

and the kitsen were super-funny. i liked how hesho's boasts were very close to spensa in the first book. as well as the need to prove themselves in a universe full of bigger things. those two really had a lot in common. and their whole not-a-monarchy! "your normality, unhexalted one"!

now, there are a few things i didn't like much. I was looking forward to seeing more skyward flight, but those characters are absent. I guess brandon felt he explored their interactions as much as he could?

the arrival of alarik (the real one) felt too convenient a contrived coincidence to me too, but i was too engaged with the plot to let it bother me long.

how the delver was defeated was a serious let-down, though. almost looked like an attempt to deliver a family-friendly aesop, and felt the whole delver plot lose much of its impact. I was actually convinced they'd spend book 2 to reunite the humans with the rest of the galaxy, and then the remaining books fighting the delvers. guess i had it wrong.

the big doomslug reveal wasn't, as it was the most accredited theory since book 1. i had also spotted most character true allegiances from early on.

[Use the Falchion]

On 12/12/2019 at 8:58 AM, Pathfinder said:

For instance have mbot use his holographics in battle.

Didn't M-Bot use his holographics in Skyward? Wasn't he disguised when Spensa found him? Or she told him to disguise himself when she wasn't there? I feel like there was a scene in the previous book with holographics.

On 12/12/2019 at 8:58 AM, Pathfinder said:

Maybe references in their lore. So an alien race suddenly popping up, and turning out to be friendly would have been more steeped in the narrative, than a tool to solve a problem.

Agreed.

18 hours ago, king of nowhere said:

For example, as far as "bizzarre alien biology" and "alien hermaphrodites" go, the cuna are much better than the asari. i've seen a lot of spin on the bizzarre alien biology, but the concept of drafting a newborn is great. so are the alien races, they feel well characterized and consistent. the scientist me has a hard time accepting the figments, though in a universe with cytonics they may manage to exhist. One little bit I really appreciated was when the alien talked of hiring the wolf to guard your sheep, and spensa wondered if the translator wasn't translating the expression. there were also several untraslatable expressions that were done literally. it adds a lot of realism to me (while i appreciated a lot mass effect, it was jarring when every single alien out there was quoting human philosophers. it would have been much more powerful to offer similar wisdom from alien authors, with the idea that no matter your shape, some things don't change).

As a Mass Effect fan and a Brandon Sanderson fan, I'm almost offended lol! But Liara isn't my Best Girl, so take all the shots you want. 

18 hours ago, king of nowhere said:

the arrival of alarik (the real one) felt too convenient a contrived coincidence to me too, but i was too engaged with the plot to let it bother me long.

Agreed. Ohh! Earlier on Reddit I theorized that Book 3 would be split between Jorgen and Spensa, with Brade as the interlude. How about Jorgen, Spensa, and Alanik, and then Brade as the interlude?

 

Also, a sudden thought - I think people thinking M-Bot going evil are onto something, but I don't think it's going to go that way. This same discussion popped up about Adolin before WoR. And if the Skyward series really is Storm-lite...

[king of nowhere]

34 minutes ago, Use the Falchion said:

As a Mass Effect fan and a Brandon Sanderson fan, I'm almost offended lol! But Liara isn't my Best Girl, so take all the shots you want. 

 

I also liked mass effect a lot. but it had a few weaknesses that were glaring in my eyes.

when you ask thane about his homeworld rakhana, he quotes thomas hobbes "when all the world is overcharged with inhabitants, then the last remedy of all is war, which provideth for every men, by victory or death". as rakhana died around them, my people salughtered each other for mouthfuls of water. crumbs of food.

i would have liked it more if instead went like

Thane "when all the world is overcharged with inhabitants, then the last remedy of all is war, which provideth for every men, by victory or death"

Shepard quoting hobbes? i didn't knew you for an expert of human history

Thane I never heard of this "hobbes". it's from [insert drell name]. but the constraints of resource overexploitation are the same. for drell, humans, everyone else.

it would have been a more powerful scene, imo.

[Karger]

On 12/9/2019 at 11:24 AM, Angsos said:

Well skyward was basically battle school with some more stuff added.

Not really.  They are completely different thematically.  Skyward is about the true meaning of bravery.  Ender's Game is about lying and trust.

 

 

[Use the Falchion]

3 hours ago, king of nowhere said:

I also liked mass effect a lot. but it had a few weaknesses that were glaring in my eyes.

when you ask thane about his homeworld rakhana, he quotes thomas hobbes "when all the world is overcharged with inhabitants, then the last remedy of all is war, which provideth for every men, by victory or death". as rakhana died around them, my people salughtered each other for mouthfuls of water. crumbs of food.

i would have liked it more if instead went like

Thane "when all the world is overcharged with inhabitants, then the last remedy of all is war, which provideth for every men, by victory or death"

Shepard quoting hobbes? i didn't knew you for an expert of human history

Thane I never heard of this "hobbes". it's from [insert drell name]. but the constraints of resource overexploitation are the same. for drell, humans, everyone else.

it would have been a more powerful scene, imo.

Fair criticism! I didn't use Thane as much as others might have. Garrus, Jack, Tali, Grunt, and Miranda were my go-to companions for ME2. 

Yeah the series isn't perfect at all, but it's still great. 

[Pathfinder]

On 12/15/2019 at 11:00 AM, Use the Falchion said:

Didn't M-Bot use his holographics in Skyward? Wasn't he disguised when Spensa found him? Or she told him to disguise himself when she wasn't there? I feel like there was a scene in the previous book with holographics.

I confess I did not re-read skyward before I read starsight, so I could totally have missed it, but I did a quick search of the book, and the only mention I see is M-bot off hand mentioning he has camouflage holographics, and that was probably why he has not been discovered all this time, though it ran on backup power which ran out just when Spensa discovered him. I have to check but I do not believe it was actively used in the first book. Now of course by the end of the book they can now work and fully power Mbot without hiding, but I am pretty sure holographic changes to Spensa was not mentioned in book 1, and became a "oh by the way I can do this" which shortly flowed to "oh gosh that is just what we needed!" in book 2. 

[cfphelps]

On 12/18/2019 at 10:31 AM, Pathfinder said:

I confess I did not re-read skyward before I read starsight, so I could totally have missed it, but I did a quick search of the book, and the only mention I see is M-bot off hand mentioning he has camouflage holographics, and that was probably why he has not been discovered all this time, though it ran on backup power which ran out just when Spensa discovered him. I have to check but I do not believe it was actively used in the first book. Now of course by the end of the book they can now work and fully power Mbot without hiding, but I am pretty sure holographic changes to Spensa was not mentioned in book 1, and became a "oh by the way I can do this" which shortly flowed to "oh gosh that is just what we needed!" in book 2. 

I believe after the purposeful cave in they do as part of the repair process (I think to get Mbot out to test things maneuvering only on impulse thrusters) Spensa asks him to hologram to make it look like the cave did before and hide himself, but I'm not exactly sure. 

[+Wax]

Ok.. I've reviewed earlier on this page, and on further reflection, this books not going to age well....

Frankly, the rithamist had more going for it.

[Silva]

I don't know. I liked the book and I didn't like it. 

It felt similar to Orson Scott Card's Ender stuff, which put me on edge. I have no problem with books mirroring one another--it was just the first time I'd seen it from Sanderson. Faster than light travel, for instance, felt like (putting Orson Scott Card spoilers in a spoiler to be safe)

Spoiler

Jane bringing people Outside

and the delvers themselves were like the

Spoiler

aiuas. Both take from humans/lifeforms and reflect it into reality. 

And, yes, both books are about people in space. How much variety can you really get?

A lot of characters were flat. I think in trying to hit YA, Sanderson overshot . Everything was straightforward and there weren't many set backs or false leads. It kind of felt like a good childrens' book. Simplistic with interesting worldbuilding.

I need to reread Skyward and then Starsight again before passing final judgement, though. Part of the problem might have been the gap between when I read them. Maybe Skyward also had the same sort of feel?

[LightReader]

Finally got Starsight for Christmas and just finished it. A few thoughts: 

I loved the kitsen! Did anyone else immediately think of them as space-age Redwall characters? Note, I loved the Redwall books and think it’s a totally worthy allusion to make; I’m wondering if it was intentional. 

I’m super sad about M-bot and I really hope he doesn’t turn into a bad guy because of his resentment towards Spensa for abandoning him. That whole AI turned evil after feeling wronged by a human is too cliche. I hope he retains/regains his cheerfulness and sense of humor and makes the choice to keep being Spensa’s friend. 

I also was sad not to see more of Skyward flight, and would love to see Spensa’s new friends interacting with them in the next books, as well as the real Alanik. And I’d like to see Spensa and Jorgen’s relationship grow too, particularly in light of Jorgen’s cytonic abilities. I hope they learn to communicate telepathically the way Gran-Gran did in this book. Speaking of, Gran-Gran teaching Jorgen to bake was possibly my favorite scene. 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2019 by LightReader

[Karger]

On 12/27/2019 at 3:35 PM, Silva said:

Maybe Skyward also had the same sort of feel?

Not really I think that was a large problem.  Skyward has a tighter plot, more twists, and is a lot more focused on Spensa and her crew mates.  This one is more world building focused. 

37 minutes ago, LightReader said:

I loved the kitsen! Did anyone else immediately think of them as space-age Redwall characters

YES!

38 minutes ago, LightReader said:

I hope he retains/regains his cheerfulness and sense of humor and makes the choice to keep being Spensa’s friend. 

I also was sad not to see more of Skyward flight, and would love to see Spensa’s new friends interacting with them in the next books, as well as the real Alanik. And I’d like to see Spensa and Jorgen’s relationship grow too, particularly in light of Jorgen’s cytonic abilities. I hope they learn to communicate telepathically the way Gran-Gran did in this book. Speaking of, Gran-Gran teaching Jorgen to bake was possibly my favorite scene. 

I agree with all of this.

[king of nowhere]

1 hour ago, LightReader said:

 

I loved the kitsen! Did anyone else immediately think of them as space-age Redwall characters? Note, I loved the Redwall books and think it’s a totally worthy allusion to make; I’m wondering if it was intentional. 

 

didn't read redwall.

but what i thought about the kitsen is that they are much alike spensa: small, downtrodden, with a massive desire to prove that they can kick asses.

[Ricocheting Windrunner]

Loved the book only problem is that it followed part of the timeline from Skyward with Spensa going to a training school and learning to be part of a flight.

The delvers were unique though never seen that in science fiction before.

And Spensa being wrong about Cuna really highlighted the difference between humans and aliens and the misunderstandings that happen as a result of that different culture and expressions.