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Skyward Cover - First Look


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Those of you who been following Brandon's projects over the years will know that for a long time the next YA book was going to be Apocalypse Guard. And although Apocalypse Guard had to go to the back burner for some time, Brandon was quick in putting together a replacement for it - Skyward, the first book in a trilogy for Random House. Today it has a cover, illustrated by Charlie Bowater and designed by Regina Flath.  Take a look!

Spoiler

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Skyward is not Cosmere, nor is it Reckoners/Snapshot, but it does share a universe with something Brandon has published. Which brings Brandon's connected universe up to three.  Take that, Marvel!

Here's the synopsis for Skyward:

 

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Spensa’s world has been under attack for hundreds of years. An alien race called the Krell leads onslaught after onslaught from the sky in a never-ending campaign to destroy humankind. Humanity’s only defense is to take to their ships and combat the Krell. Pilots are the heroes of what’s left of the human race.

 

Becoming a pilot has always been Spensa’s dream. Since she was a little girl, she has imagined soaring above the earth and proving her bravery. But her fate is intertwined with that of her father—a pilot himself who was killed years ago when he abruptly deserted his team, leaving Spensa’s chances of attending Flight School at slim to none.

 

No one will let Spensa forget what her father did, but she is determined to fly. And the Krell just made that a possibility. They’ve doubled their fleet, which will make Spensa’s world twice as deadly… but just might take her skyward.

 

 

Brandon has said he is ridiculously excited for this book, so we will be looking forward to its release on November 6, 2018.  You see the cover, watch a book trailer, and read the first three chapters over at io9.

What do you think of the cover?  If you’ve read the samples already, how does Spensa compare to the image in your head?  Let us know in the comments!

 

Edit: Added in acknowledgement for the artists!  Check them out!

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Wyndlerunner

Posted (edited)

Krell? That sounds suspiciously similar to Trell. Skyward is Cosmere confirmed. s/. 

Edit: that cover is absolutely gorgeous.

Edited by Wyndlerunner

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Excited, but I am still trying to tell who doubled their fleet, the humans or the Krell. 

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4 minutes ago, ZenBossanova said:

Excited, but I am still trying to tell who doubled their fleet, the humans or the Krell. 

Twice the fleet, twice the danger, so I'm guessing Krell. 

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The cover is beautiful! But the girl's face looks several years older/more mature than I imagined from what he read us at the Oathbringer release party. But that wasn't even a first draft of the text, IIRC, so maybe Spensa is supposed to be 14-15, not 8-10 years old? I was liking the younger heroine a lot; it's Brandon, so whatever it is I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy it. :)

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16 minutes ago, Lump-wing said:

The cover is beautiful! But the girl's face looks several years older/more mature than I imagined from what he read us at the Oathbringer release party. But that wasn't even a first draft of the text, IIRC, so maybe Spensa is supposed to be 14-15, not 8-10 years old? I was liking the younger heroine a lot; it's Brandon, so whatever it is I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy it. :)

If you read the three chapters available it makes a lot more sense.

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ccstat

Posted (edited)

The reading was from the prologue. In the main events she is 17 (per the sample chapters linked above).

After reading the sample, I'm even more excited for the book. I still can't figure out what continuity it belongs in. The world doesn't match any of his other works that I recognize. An argument could be made for Firstborn, but I don't see it. That Brandon is being cagey about confirming any connections to other works makes me think that the reveal will be exciting for anyone who catches it.

Edited by ccstat

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4 hours ago, ccstat said:

The reading was from the prologue. In the main events she is 17 (per the sample chapters linked above).

After reading the sample, I'm even more excited for the book. I still can't figure out what continuity it belongs in. The world doesn't match any of his other works that I recognize. An argument could be made for Firstborn, but I don't see it. That Brandon is being cagey about confirming any connections to other works makes me think that the reveal will be exciting for anyone who catches it.

I've thought from the beginning that it's Defending Elysium. Ive only read the prologue, but Cytonics seems to fit with the aliens being able to sense human gatherings. And

Spoiler

the story ends with a giant war about to begin, and only a very small number of humans who all work for the Phone Company actually knowing Cytonics, which would let the knowledge die quickly. My guess is that Spensa will rediscover it in the trilogy. I also have a theory that the AI isn't actually an AI but is instead the result of an experimental mind swap into a machine. 

I should probably go make a topic explaining my reasoning and theories. 

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OK, read the excerpt. Still a bit disappointed the story will be about a teenager, not the younger girl, but that demographic will buy more books so it's probably a wise choice. I just hope the spaceship is as great as Mark Van Name's Lobo (of the Jon & Lobo series); I know it's Brandon, but that's a tall order IMHO. I'm looking forward to this one in November; till then, I'll have McClellan's Mad Ben Styke to sate my need for books. :D

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I feel mean for thinking this - sorry Reckoners fans, but I'm way more excited for this book than I was for more Reckoners books :)

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What do you think of the cover?  If you’ve read the samples already, how does Spensa compare to the image in your head?  Let us know in the comments!

Her hair is wrong.  She's a fighter.  Her hair is either going to be much shorter, or tied back where it won't get in the way :)  I know from experience - you can't do anything vaguely work-related with hair waving about like that!

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What a great cover. And what an awesome synopsis. Sounds like an RPG being written down. This is going to be the first non-Cosmere work I will order (the others sound just a tad too YA for my taste), although I'm quite sad it is non-Cosmere. This should have been an amazing fit in the later, more sci-fi stages of the Cosmere-timeline. Anyhow, I'll just trust Brandon on it being a bad fit in the Cosmere, he has earned definitely earned my trust :)

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Argent

Posted

On 5/13/2018 at 2:57 AM, Snorkel said:

Her hair is wrong.  She's a fighter.  Her hair is either going to be much shorter, or tied back where it won't get in the way :)  I know from experience - you can't do anything vaguely work-related with hair waving about like that!

Except looking super fly!

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She doesn't strike me as a character who would rank "Looking super fly" as more important than having peripheral vision :)

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Tesh

Posted

That looks great! Once again, I am really excited for November! 

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