Jump to content

Skyward Novella Theory


thegatorgirl00

Recommended Posts

In this topic, I'm going to outline why I think Skyward is in the same universe as Defending Elysium. Warning, there are spoilers for Defending Elysium and if you have not read it, you can find it for free on Brandon's website

1. Sensing large gathering of humans 

In the released chapters of Skyward, it is stated that the Krll are able to sense large gatherings of humans. I propose that this is a use of Cyto Senses from DE. While the main character of DE only seems to use it for things that would be otherwise visible, I think the aliens are skilled enough in its use to either Sense beyond what would be visible or observing enough to notice any visible activity on the surface of the planet. 

2. Destructive War

At the end of DE, it is implied that a major war will soon begin in space. The dissidents want the human technology to overthrow the society that has kept them oppressed. The humans are about to expand into space in preparation for this. The resulting conflict could easily lead to the human's flight to the planet they live on at the time of the story. 

3. FTL Travel

Brandon has specifically stated that the Skywardverse will have FTL travel. DE is one of the only short stories.Brandon has written with FTL in it. 

Min total, I believe what we know of the Skywardverse fits the worldbuilding in Defending Elysium. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's possible. I also think Firstborn is an option, but it would have to be a very different time, as in Firstborn humanity is very well dominating the space IIRC.

Placing Skyward in DE universe will bring all those telepathic stuff, and I'm not sure humanity would forget about it or lose it as it'd be really crucial while colonizing space.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Mestiv said:

Placing Skyward in DE universe will bring all those telepathic stuff, and I'm not sure humanity would forget about it or lose it as it'd be really crucial while colonizing space.

But in DE, the only people who actually know how Cytonics works are the members of the Phone Company. The common people know that things like FTL communication and travel exist, but they don't know how. A few generations without any PC workers, and it could easily fall into lost technology status along with everything else they've forgotten. Radios are considered rare in the prologue. 

And Cytonics isn't telepathic. It's a set of psionic abilities. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

After reading the Novella and combing through the chapters I’m pretty sure that you are right.

It gives a whole new meaning to this little tidbit from gran gran

Quote

“We of the engine crew,” Gran-Gran said, “were odd, among the other ship crews. They thought we were strange, but we kept the ship moving. We made it travel the stars. Mother said it was because we could hear them.”

The engine crew are the descendents of phone company members.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been thinking the same thing for months. I think that Skyward is in the same world as DE. The Krell sensing large groups of people sounds a lot like Cyto; and with some other small bits... The only other option I can think of is Firstborn, Brandon's other novellas don't seen to fit. But while Firstborn (most likely) has FTL; it doesn't have AI and humans are in a much different place than in Skyward. Honestly I really want the connected novella to be DE because I love Cyto, and feel like way more should be done with it. It would be awesome to see Cytonic abilities in dogfights and just see more of it. But we only have 11 chapters so far, and I have no idea where the story is going. I can't wait for Chapter 17!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And Brandon said in one of the Skyward AMAs that Skyward is a revisiting of a technology from an earlier novella that wouldn't work in Cosmere. Cyto fits that perfectly.

I'm also reminded of a seemingly throwaway line from Defending Elysium: 

Quote

“Lanna,” he said, “do you know how the Interspecies Monitoring Coalition rates a race’s intelligence class?”

“No.”

“They look at the race’s children,” Jason said quietly. “The older ones. Children who have lived just long enough to begin imitating the society they see around them, children who have lost the innocence of youth but haven’t yet replaced it with the tact and mores of adulthood. In those children, you can see what a species is really like. From them, the Varvax determine whether a species is civilized or barbaric.”

Spensa is about 16-17 years old, so she fits that theme as well. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Scion of the Mists said:

We have a brand new WoB that all but confirms that Defending Elysium is the novella:

I'm hoping we get Chapter 17 as part of the previews this week (assuming we're getting more). It would be nice to speculate from that before the full novel comes out, but I assume it is going to be fairly straight forward for anyone who has read the novella that shares a universe with Skyward.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Sandra said:

Can someone please provide a short summary of DE? I would appreciate it. I think I've already read it, but I can't remember what it was about exactly.

Trying to keep it spoiler free just in case (the story can be found on Brandon's website): 

It's about a man name Jason who has supernatural abilities (called Cyto) who works for the "Phone Company," an extra judicial organization who was the first to discover FTL comms, make contact with the alien races, and the only humans who have access to Cyto.  He's sent to retrieve a Phone Company researcher who has been stricken with a strange form of madness, but ends up being pursued by an unknown assailant.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any thoughts about the sensors in Spensa's helmet?

Assuming we're working in the DE universe, I wonder if they're trying to detect people with Cytonic abilities. This would also possibly explain the Krell's tactics. They may only attack the best Pilots because they're trying to prevent new Talent from being developed. It may be a war of suppression not extermination for them.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, kmosiman said:

Any thoughts about the sensors in Spensa's helmet?

Mainly that I don't trust it. If we're talking DE, then I definitely think Cyto is involved. But we haven't seen anything that ties it to DE in my opinion. There were too many alien races in DE for it to boil down to a single one now. If it's not DE, I don't know what's going on with it  maybe they really are monitoring her vitals because she isn't eating in the mess / Igneous (sp?). But then why only in her helmet? Definitely seems battle related like others imply. 

My money is on HARRE, although I still haven't read it yet. This is based on a different thread that explained the basic plot of that novella.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/78458-q-a-with-brandon-sanderson.html

At this link:

Quote

Something noteworthy about your work is the massive interconnectivity. Is Skyward connected to any of your universes or continuities?

It’s connected to a novella I wrote, which explored an interesting premise in faster-than-light travel. I prefer not to publicize which one, because the spoiler at the end of that story related to a twist near the end of Skyward.

There is kind of a spoiler at the end of DE, in that the aliens (Varvax?) were suppressing their populations, which might be connected to skyward. Also, DE is the only novella I can think of with an interesting FTL method.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/1/2018 at 5:33 PM, HeyLookItz said:

There is kind of a spoiler at the end of DE, in that the aliens (Varvax?) were suppressing their populations, which might be connected to skyward. Also, DE is the only novella I can think of with an interesting FTL method.

Hmm, now that you mention it, I could see how the spoiler at the end of DE ties into Skyward.

Spoiler

The spoiler in DE is that all the races are suppressing dissidents. It's possible that the people on the planet are Human dissidents, and are being harrowed by other humans to keep them from fully rising up.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
18 hours ago, Porkchop726 said:

One word: Cytonics.

Defending Elysium talks frequently about Cytonics, and faster-than light communication. 

What's a major plot point in Skyward? Cytonic hyper drives and faster-than-light communication. 

The topic was started in June, long before the novel was released.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...