Trapped on planet Detritus, the last remnant of humanity, by Superiority forces, Spensa, a fighter pilot of an advanced AI ship, has the latent ability to teleport herself anywhere. Humans must discover the secret of the hyperdrive, which would give them freedom to expand into the galaxy. Spensa assumes the identity of an alien bound for the Superiority base in an attempt to steal a hyperdrive ship. What she finds are not creatures bent on destroying humanity, but aliens terrified that humans would destroy them were they ever let loose. The Superiority is training a group of pilots to confront the delvers, powerful entities who live in another dimension, and Spensa becomes part of that team. An internal plot threatens to turn the Superiority into a dictatorship that would wipe out humanity – using delvers. She finds the secret of the hyperdrive, but it is not what she expected. The final confrontation with a delver reveals many things about herself and the wars humans fought against the Superiority.
Starsight is the sequel to ‘Skyward’, in which Brandon Sanderson introduces readers to humanity’s wars against the Superiority. Spensa’s latent ability to teleport herself anywhere makes her a valuable commodity, but it is also a magnet for the delvers to once again emerge from their dimension and wreak havoc on the planets. Humans tried to control the delvers and use them in their war against the Superiority, and were almost destroyed. The Superiority is attempting to do the same thing against the humans. Starsight is a great book for readers who love battles, fighters zipping everywhere, and a bold heroine who will save the day – provided readers are not bothered by shallow, questionable plotting, and very predictable bad guys. Brandon Sanderson devotes a lot of the book to battle and training scenes where Spensa demonstrates her superior fighting skills to other trainees. This overwhelms the broader objective of the book – Spensa’s mission to steal a hyperdrive ship. Her discovery of the Superiority’s secret what powers their hyperdrive ships will leave readers shaking their heads in bemusement. Starsight does not pretend to be a serious work, but it is a diverting read and eminently forgettable.
About Brandon Sanderson
Most readers have noticed that my adult fantasy novels are in a connected universe, called the Cosmere. This includes The Stormlight Archive, both Mistborn series, Elantris, Warbreaker, and various novellas available on Amazon, including The Emperor’s Soul, which won a Hugo Award in 2013. In November 2016 all of the existing Cosmere short fiction including those novellas was released in one volume called Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection. If you’ve read all of my adult fantasy novels and want to see some behind-the-scenes information, that collection is a must-read.
I also have three YA series: The Rithmatist (currently at one book), The Reckoners (a trilogy beginning with Steelheart), and Skyward. For young readers I also have my humorous series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. Many of my adult readers enjoy all of those books as well, and many of my YA readers enjoy my adult books, usually starting with Mistborn.
Additionally, I have a few other novellas that are more on the thriller/sci-fi side. These include the Legion series, as well as Perfect State and Snapshot. There’s a lot of material to go around!
Good starting places are Mistborn (a.k.a. The Final Empire), Skyward, Steelheart, The Emperor’s Soul, and Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. If you’re already a fan of big fat fantasies, you can jump right into The Way of Kings.
I was also honored to be able to complete the final three volumes of The Wheel of Time, beginning with The Gathering Storm, using Robert Jordan’s notes.
Sample chapters from all of my books are available at brandonsanderson.com/library, and check out the rest of my site for chapter-by-chapter annotations, deleted scenes, and more.
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