Weekly Update for September 20th, 2021: Skyward Flight Novella Release Dates (first on Sept. 28th) & Cytonic Preview Chapter! Also, An Apology, and Progess Update For The Lost Metal
The string of exciting news in the updates continues, as this week we got release dates and blurbs for all three Skyward Flight novellas and a cover for Sunreach (the first one), as well as a preview chapter for Cytonic! On a more somber note, Brandon went over and apologized for the bugs with the Mini-Con site (which we covered in our main post on the event). And of course, the progress bar for The Lost Metal ticks ever-upwards, now at 75%.
Yes, you read that right, we finally have a cover for Sunreach, Janci Patterson's novella following FM (the first of three following various members of Skyward Flight around the events of Starsight and Cytonic). Without further ado, here it is:
The novella is slated to release September 28th, barely over a week away! According to a press release from Gollancz, Brandon's UK publisher, the second novella (ReDawn, following Alanik) will release October 26th, and the third (Evershore, following Jorgen) will release December 28th. They will release simultaneously in eBook and audio, and the first two will be narrated by Suzy Jackson, who recorded the US audiobooks for the rest of the Skyward series (however, the narrator for Evershore has not been announced yet—thanks /u/Urithiru on Reddit for catching my mistake there). Additionally, Brandon plans to release all three novellas in a single print collection sometime next year.
We also have blurbs for all three, which are copied below for your convenience. Warning: ReDawn and Evershore's blurbs contain spoilers for the previous novella(s), so click at your own risk.
Sunreach (preorder):
When a planet-destroying Delver suddenly appears in the sky of Detritus and vanishes just as suddenly, FM knows that the last free human society got lucky. Her Skyward Flight companion, Spensa, figured out how to draw this Delver away, but it won’t be so easy next time.
The forces of the Galactic Superiority will be back - and if the Defiant Defense Force can’t figure out a way to escape the planet, humanity’s destruction is only a matter of time. Spensa’s mission to infiltrate the Superiority unveiled the secret to their hyperdrives - a cytonic slug species called the Taynix. Now FM’s flightleader, Jorgen, has found a large group of Taynix hiding in the caverns far below Detritus’s surface.
FM and Jorgen must work together with the engineer Rig to awaken the mysterious alien Alanik and unlock the powers of the Taynix, or humanity will be trapped. With Spensa’s friend Minister Cuna of the Superiority stranded at the outpost of Sunreach, they need to figure out how to rescue her - or the Superiority government will be in the sole clutches of those who want to wipe out Detritus once and for all.
ReDawn (preorder):
“Don’t trust their lies. Don’t trust their false peace.” That is the warning that Alanik of the planet ReDawn gave the human pilot Spensa after Alanik’s ship crash-landed on Detritus. While accepting an invitation to meet with her people’s enemy, the Galactic Superiority, Alanik heard Spensa’s cry for help across the vastness of space, and she used her cytonic powers to hyperjump her ship to the source of that cry. What she found there was a shock—a whole planet of free humans fighting against the Superiority. Were they the allies her people desperately needed?
When she recovered from her injuries and met the friendly humans Jorgen and FM of Skyward Flight, she found that her warning to Spensa had gone unheeded by the government of Detritus, and they were considering a peace overture from the Superiority. Now having returned to ReDawn, Alanik is dismayed to learn that her own people are falling into the exact same trap.
The faction in ReDawn’s government that wants to appease the Superiority has gained the upper hand. With Alanik’s mentor, Renakin captured, she has no one to turn to but Jorgen, FM, and their friend Rig. An ancient technology may have the power to save both of their planets from disaster, but can they discover its secrets before it’s too late?
Evershore (preorder):
With the government of Detritus in disarray because of Superiority treachery, and with Spensa still away on her mission in the Nowhere, Jorgen must work together with the alien Alanik to pick up the pieces. They intercept a strange transmission from the planet Evershore and its Kitsen inhabitants, who say they have some of Jorgen’s people and want to return them - but can the Kitsen be trusted? And can Jorgen learn to master his increasingly erratic cytonic powers before they spiral out of control and destroy all hope of forming an alliance against the Superiority?
As if that wasn't enough Skyward news for one week, Tor.com has posted an excerpt from Chapter 1 of Cytonic (an earlier, much-changed version of the prologue and first chapter were previously released through Brandon's newsletter). It is currently unclear whether more preview chapters will be posted in the lead-up to the full novel's release on November 23rd or not.
In other book updates, the second draft of The Lost Metal (Wax and Wayne book 4) is now 75% finished. After this draft, the novel will be sent to Brandon's writing group for feedback and further stages of revision, and it will eventually release in fall 2022.
And lastly, Brandon explained and apologized for the bugs with the Mini-Con store. For more on that, you can read the updates to our main post on the event (which will celebrate the release of Cytonic).
Now that we have the blurbs, which novella are you most excited to read? Which format will you be using, audio or digital? Let us know below or in the #events channel on our Discord server! Also, discuss the Cytonic preview chapter in the #noncosmere channel (as long as you spoiler tag it)!
As per usual, the full Weekly Update video is on Brandon's YouTube channel and embedded below (though this week, much of the news comes from other sources), and the transcript will be on his blog when completed.
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