Thoughts?

[5ith Ideal he/him]

What are everyone's thoughts so far?

[Sandra she/her]

I liked the excerpts so far. If it's going to be spaceship pilot school fun - I'm all for it  In case you read the excerpts - I'm guessing that her dad didn't desert... And I'm already interested in what the aliens are going to be like and what they want.

[Archer he/him]

On 18/06/2018 at 10:04 AM, Sandra said:

I'm guessing that her dad didn't desert...

It seems too obvious, but my working theory about her Dad is that he escapes. From the sample chapters, we know he's pretty noble and heroic. To abandon his fellow pilots would go against his character. We also know that he's motivated to leave, saying "I’ve always wondered if I could get through." I think during the battle he spotted a hole, like the one he pointed out to his daughter earlier, and he took the opportunity to escape the planet. It was mentioned that he got shot down for cowardice, but this is a Sanderson book, so there's always plot twists. Maybe there was a conspiracy among the pilots to lie to the clan, or maybe he used special teleportation powers to escape right before the ship blew up. I don't know. What I do know is that I hope (and am confident that) we will see him again, alive and well.

Edit: the UK edition of Skyward's cover appears to show someone escaping while she looks on. Her father maybe? 

Edited July 18, 2018 by Archer

[AonEne he/him in an enby way]

9 hours ago, Archer said:

It seems too obvious, but my working theory about her Dad is that he escapes. From the sample chapters, we know he's pretty noble and heroic. To abandon his fellow pilots would go against his character. We also know that he's motivated to leave, saying "I’ve always wondered if I could get through." I think during the battle he spotted a hole, like the one he pointed out to his daughter earlier, and he took the opportunity to escape the planet. It was mentioned that he got shot down for cowardice, but this is a Sanderson book, so there's always plot twists. Maybe there was a conspiracy among the pilots to lie to the clan, or maybe he used special teleportation powers to escape right before the ship blew up. I don't know. What I do know is that I hope (and am confident that) we will see him again, alive and well.

I haven't read the book, just the excerpts, and not in a while.

But my theory is that whatever happened, he really is dead. Because coming back feels slightly cliched to me, and Brandon is good at avoiding those (save the times when avoiding would make the book worse).