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Review: Defiant (Skyward #4) by Brandon Sanderson

November 24, 2023 by The Wulvers Library Leave a Comment

Rating: 8/10

Synopsis

Spensa made it out of the Nowhere, but what she saw in the space between the stars has changed her forever. She came face to face with the Delvers, and finally got answers to the questions she’s had about her own strange Cytonic gifts. 

The Superiority didn’t stop in it’s fight for galactic dominance while she was gone, though. Spensa’s team, Skyward Flight, was able to hold Winzik off, and even collect allies to help with the cause, but it’s only a matter of time until humanity – and the rest of the galaxy – falls. 

Defeating them will require all the knowledge Spensa gathered while in the Nowhere. But being Cytonic is more complicated than she ever could have imagined. Now, Spensa must ask herself: how far is she willing to go for victory, if it means losing herself – and her friends – in the process. 

The final book in the Skyward series will free humanity, or see it fall forever.

Review

Thank you to Brandon Sanderson and Dragonsteel for the ARC of Defiant.

Defiant is the fourth and final book in the Skyward series by Brandon Sanderson and it was a rocket-ride of emotions.

Defiant picks up where Cytonic ended, and we get a summary of the previous events which was a good addition for those that read them a while ago. The start of this story was exciting, but I clocked out at the strategic meetings which is a personal issue of mine. Once that had passed, I was able to enjoy the rest of the book. It had some forced humour as the story progressed but once things got started, the dark tone of these events was handled well. I was happy that Sanderson steered clear from trying to make this light-hearted and there were incredible character moments, action-filled scenes, brilliant character work but with the highs came the lows and there were some gut-wrenching moments. Sanderson has written this as a brutal culmination of events.

The back-and-forth of Brade and Spensa was handled very well, and this was the brilliance of Sandersons writing. There was a Rey/Kylo Ren dynamic that was full of twists that led to an epic moment that really forced the story up a gear and this was a massive enjoyment. In typical Sanderlanche fashion, the climax was a stellar experience told through various character perspectives and the scale of this was outstanding.

This was a fitting ending to the series and whilst I had some issues with pacing, Sanderson commands the narrative and has us completed invested for this journey. I can’t wait to read more of this series with Janci Patterson.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Book Review, Brandon Sanderson, Science Fiction

About The Wulvers Library

My name is Graham, reading as The Wulvers Library. I'm from Scotland and have been reading from a young age but this fell off through my teenage years. In my adult life, I fell back in love with reading when I picked up Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time and Ursula K Le Guin's Earthsea and was fascinated by these worlds, characters, and stories. From there I've read mostly fantasy, some sci-fi and horror and try to dabble in other genres. My favourite authors include Robert Jordan, JRR Tolkien, Ryan Cahill, Ursula K Le Guin and Brandon Sanderson. I'm a massive fan of indie books, and some of my favourite series are from indie authors so I'm always on the lookout for some hidden gems.

When I'm not reading, I love spending being a film addict with my girlfriend or visiting small towns and scouting some rare finds in their charity shops.

I'm happy to be part of the book community and blame them all for the lack of shelf space and inability to pass by a bookstore without stepping inside.

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