Starsight Full Book Reactions

[Rosharan A.C.]

 

My mind was sufficiently blown.

I regret to say that I didn't pick up on nearly as much as everyone else, but there were still a few things that I deduced throughout the book. For one, I never fully trusted Brade, so it wasn't a surprise when she betrayed Spensa in the end. It was also pretty clear from the beginning that Spensa was making assumptions about Starsight and everyone being "the enemy", so I was watching for that big moment when she finally changed her perspective as well. There were still lots of twists and turns that made it a really enjoyable book.

Overall I liked it a lot, and am definitely looking forward to the next book. I have't read Defending Elysium, but it seems like a lot of people have connected it to Skyward and Starsight, so its on my list of to-dos.

[Angsos]

@Rosharan A.C. Defending Elysium is free on Brandon's site.

[Rosharan A.C.]

1 hour ago, Angsos said:

@Rosharan A.C. Defending Elysium is free on Brandon's site.

Oh! Well that's handy! Thanks for the tip.

[HDS]

I read this book today and damnation what a cliff hanger. Now I gotta wait until 2021. I got the impression that the Superiority wasn't as cozy and stable as they wanted to appear. The slightest push could unravel them was the impression I am getting.

I think that now that Spensa revealed to the Kitsen the hyperdrive secret, that the humans will also reveal it to other races, to anyone that will listen. In order to create a civil war in the superiority and perhaps get allies themselves.

I do wonder about what these old wars were really about. Did humans really try and conquer for empires sake, or were there other reasons for war? History is written by the victors after all.

It does seem strange humans ever lost their wars against such incompetent foes. And the vanished earth strikes me as a possible chekovs gun.

[MapEffects]

I literally just finished the book and was hyped enough that I felt I needed to tell somebody haha.

Starsight was fantastic in my opinion. I really liked how Spensa’s character developed as she wrestled through her personal prejudices while not abandoning what she stood for. It was also really compelling to see the character development in an AI with M Bot. I am curious to see where that will go.

What was interesting about Starsight was that it almost read like a thriller in that Brandon consistently hooked you with the very last sentence of a chapter. It definitely had the feel of being a book that was difficult to put down. It also had a satisfying amount of answers provided, while also raising new and compelling questions.

Even though this is kind of an outliner series and not part of the Cosmere...I personally think this is some of his best stuff. This is definitely one of the first series I’ll introduce to my kinds as they get older and want to introduce them to more adult fantasy.
 

What a cliffhanger in the end though! Darn you Brandon, what a newt

- Josh 

[Wowfunhappy]

On 3/6/2020 at 4:30 AM, HDS said:

I do wonder about what these old wars were really about. Did humans really try and conquer for empires sake, or were there other reasons for war? History is written by the victors after all.

I'm mildly curious to, but also pretty ready to damnation the humans, because we know they summoned a Delver. That's not Starsight propaganda, they discovered it on Detritus.

[Karger]

2 hours ago, Wowfunhappy said:

I'm mildly curious to, but also pretty ready to damnation the humans, because we know they summoned a Delver. That's not Starsight propaganda, they discovered it on Detritus.

They thought that they could control it.  Given the fact that the entire planet of earth is missing I am not sure that their response was disproportionate.  Also we know for a fact that humanity had a lot of different factions.  This one may have been done by some kind of extremist.

On 3/9/2020 at 10:56 AM, Josh Stolarz said:

What a cliffhanger in the end though! Darn you Brandon, what a newt

Definitely agree.

[I Am A Fish]

I didn't like the book nearly as much as Skyward, it didn't have a lot of what I expect of Sanderson, it was a good book, but by sanderson standards, nah so good.   

[Ammanas]

I liked it slightly less then Skyward. I did what it needed to do by expanding the world and introducing several concepts and characters the will more fully payoff later. Middle books are always hard to pull off and Pierce Brown seems to be one of the few authors that really mastered writing middle books (I absolutely loved Golden Son and Dark Age). I’m not really bothered by the “cliff hanger”. I perhaps have a more forgiving attitude towards what constitutes a “cliff hanger” but as long as it resolves the main plot lines in the book (which it did) then I don’t think it qualifies. I’m excited for the next one!

[Boomerang Guy]

I LOVED IT!!! I am DIE'N FOR THE NEXT ONE TO COME!!!

[izzy]

On 12/2/2019 at 6:36 AM, old aggie said:

I loved Starsight just as much as Skyward, and perhaps even more. I love how Spensa is growing and deepening. I'd say I want books 3 and 4 right now, buuuuuut ... I want Stormlight 4 and Wax & Wayne 4 even more, so Spensa will (hopefully) have to wait. :-)

Re: cytonics in Jorgen's family - This is the "big secret" that I meant in my post a couple months ago (https://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/86947-skyward-discussion-spoilers/#comment-927354). I remember thinking the first time I read Skyward, "What kind of a last name is 'Weight'?" "Weight" is just too close to "Write," as in Jason Write from Defending Elysium, so I guessed that Jorgen is a Write. We'll see if I'm correct down the line. (I'm usually wrong, LOL - for example, my wild theory on that linked post.)

Re: Gran-Gran - I loved the part where she communicated with Spensa over that vast distance. Maybe Gran-Gran is blind in the same way as Jason Write was in DE - i.e., she can use cytonics to see. I wonder if she was always blind, or if cytonics somehow took her sight?

Re: the doomslugs screaming - Remember, Brade was also screaming into the nowhere, when she was trying to bring the delver, so maybe it's not screams of pain? It's a possibility.

Re: M-Bot - I'm wondering how long it'll take Isaac's daughter to forgive Brandon (https://www.brandonsanderson.com/the-m-bot-sticker-you-never-knew-you-needed-is-here/). Seeing as there were multiple ways Spensa could have saved him, and with how many times he talked about death even back in Skyward (some strong foreshdowing there), his "dying" has to be significant. I have a theory, but if I'm gonna keep it close to the vest - too spoiler-ish if I'm correct, & I for one hate spoilers passionately.

 

A couple more thoughts:

• M-Bot protected Spensa when the Krell tried to overwrite her brain (like happened to her dad). What protection will she have now? (kinda scary)
• What if Jorgen & team find the remains of M-Bot's pilot in that cave? and maybe some old tech or recordings?
• Is Cuna really dead? Hmmmm...

Oooh the doomslug and brade theory, I'm down for it. 

[izzy]

On 12/7/2019 at 10:43 AM, The Traveller said:

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! 

How did you connect screaming and slugs together, seems like many pple are but I'm lost here XD

[Mistbornwithakitty]

I really really loved it! 

The action is well-paced.  The story fresh and easy to get into.  The characters voices were so compelling!  The KISS!  The TWISTS! 

 There were only two things I think I could've done without: 

1. The lack of Skyward Flight!  I loved all my cadet children in the first book and only got a few chapters of them in this new installment.  You're telling me I have to wait AT LEAST at year to catch up with them again??

2. Brade.  Did not like her.  I never liked her.  Wasn't surprised she was who she was.  She was just...one of those rare characters I dislike from the beginning.

But everything else was super awesome!  Glad I finally took the plunge on this particular series from Mr. Sanderson!

[Karger]

2 hours ago, Mistbornwithakitty said:

1. The lack of Skyward Flight!  I loved all my cadet children in the first book and only got a few chapters of them in this new installment.  You're telling me I have to wait AT LEAST at year to catch up with them again??

2 hours ago, Mistbornwithakitty said:

2. Brade.  Did not like her.  I never liked her.  Wasn't surprised she was who she was.  She was just...one of those rare characters I dislike from the beginning.

Growls in agreement.

 

[Aon Tia]

On 30/04/2020 at 4:51 PM, izzy said:

How did you connect screaming and slugs together, seems like many pple are but I'm lost here XD

Hmm when spensa heard screaming every time there was a jump then I thought it was someone alive who is the cytonic drive. So in my mind there were only two possibilities either it is some humanoid being or some animal. And I have long suspected slugs as capable of cytonic jump since it has been mentioned many times that spensa wonders how he has moved so fast or how he moves at all

[Showman]

I'm very late to the game here but I blame Libby, who make me wait 12 weeks for it!

Well here's my blunt opinion on the book: I didn't like most of it.

Disclaimer: when watching movies many nights in a row, I run out of steam and stop enjoying the movies at all. I just finished a WoK reread so this could be the case.

But anyway, most of my reasoning has already been said: one-demensional, if endearing, characters, lack of real plot twists (Jorgen was surprising but until the epilogue, there wasn't any real gravity about the discovery), too-convenient developments, and not enough of the favorite existing characters. It almost completely left the first book behind, and loving Skyward, I couldn't get over that.

Overall, it just felt too different from Skyward (which has one of my favorite Sanderson endings so far). In contrast to Skyward's constant intensity, Spensa's hilarious mind, and new characters like M-bot that opened up realms of new possibilities, Starsight was built almost completely off of passive interest in the new aliens, which just I couldn't get excited about. It detailed an infiltration that went almost according to plan (what? In a Sanderson book?!).

I read Sanderson books either because they spark curiosity in me or because the intensity captivates me. WoK, for example, despite the lack of stuff happening in the beginning, retained my attention because of the curiosity I felt about the magic. Starsight tried that with the alien species, but there just wasn't anything that stole my attention. I mostly just thought about old theories I'd made during skyward and DE.

Overall, starsight just wasn't an interesting read for me. A lot of it, I'd bet, was my tired brain not getting involved like it normally did in books, but it almost felt like a chore to read, something I've never experienced in a Sanderson book. 

I didn't dislike it, I was just a little disappointed in how little it carried over from the first book.

[Starborn42]

On 26/11/2019 at 3:17 PM, Chaos said:

I'm so very curious to hear what people think of the ending!

I think that Spensa will either end up in the cavern in Detritus that has the symbols she saw in the delver maze and near the nowhere portal or on planet ReDawn (Alanik’s home planet)

 

[Atusiff]

Just finished the book a few minutes ago. I really like the ending, wraps up the story wonderfully and introduces a mild cliffhanger for the next 

What should I read next? Is the third book published yet? If yes can I get it at the public library or will I need to buy it online? (Via Amazon prime for kindle)

[aneonfoxtribute]

6 minutes ago, Symphematric said:

Just finished the book a few minutes ago. I really like the ending, wraps up the story wonderfully and introduces a mild cliffhanger for the next 

What should I read next? Is the third book published yet? If yes can I get it at the public library or will I need to buy it online? (Via Amazon prime for kindle)

Third book is published next week I believe. Before Cytonic, you can read Sunreach and ReDawn

[Use the Falchion]

On 11/10/2021 at 4:20 PM, Symphematric said:

Just finished the book a few minutes ago. I really like the ending, wraps up the story wonderfully and introduces a mild cliffhanger for the next 

What should I read next? Is the third book published yet? If yes can I get it at the public library or will I need to buy it online? (Via Amazon prime for kindle)

Before the book comes out, there are two tie-in novellas that were just released in September and October called Sunreach and ReDawn. Brandon and novella coauther Janci have recommend the order to be: 

Sunreach novella

ReDawn novella

Cytonic

Evershore novella

However, they acknowledge that reading the first two before or after Cytonic won't change too much. 

[nyxvoid]

amazing book . amazing ... simply amazing  . series . book . all of them .

 

yes . amazing . looking forward to Defiant .

amazing .