Looking Skyward Once Again

Several times now, I've written in praise of the Skyward series by Brandon Sanderson. I've also written about an offshoot novella co-written by Janci Patterson, Sunreach. That novella is just the first in a series of its own, a trilogy I continued with ReDawn.

ReDawn continues the story of the people of the planet Detritus (happening in parallel as Skyward's protagonist Spensa is away on her own adventure). This story focuses on alien Alanik, who finds herself turning to help from the humans when the political landscape on her own planet begins to crumble. Spycraft, ship combat, mutiny, and psionics ensue.

It seems increasingly common to me that authors write novellas and short stories sprinkled around the official books in their long-running series. But the ones I've encountered always seem "optional" to me -- fun little larks if you just can't get enough of this particular author/setting/character. This trilogy of Skyward novellas is something else. Clustered in around the events of book three in the main four book series, I honestly don't know how you could properly experience the series without including these.

I continue to believe that the advertised "co-authorship" of these novellas is far from a 50-50 balance. Sanderson seems to have handed off his characters for Janci Patterson to play with. Whether he contributed anything to the story outline, or just signed off on what Patterson herself created, is not as clear. But honestly, the biggest clue to any of this is in the dedication and acknowledgments -- not in the text of the story itself. The occasional difference in word choice might clue you in if you're paying very close attention, but Patterson has thoroughly captured the characters in the main series.

Indeed, she has expanded on a few of them through these novellas. While the main books are each a first person story told from the same character's perspective, each of these three novellas adopts a different character for the first person narrative. In particular, this story being from the perspective of an alien presents an interesting challenge. This is, of course, a "pop sci-fi" kind of alien, not so different from humans that their thoughts and behavior would be incomprehensible. Still, the story does have to deliver a lot of alien society, turns of phrase, and values without making that exposition awkward and conspicuous. With only few exceptions, Patterson does so very well.

Collectively, the three Skyward novellas total up to be just a little longer than one of the main books of the series itself. (At least, the three of the four that have been published so far.) And "bundled" like that might be the best way to think of them, because the story of ReDawn in particular ends in a fairly dramatic point of tension to pull you into the next volume. I'm eager to read what happens next. (Or rather, hear what happens next. Once again, I've experienced this book in audiobook form. Once again, Suzy Jackson narrates, with subtle shifts in her performance for the new character's perspective. She's excellent.)

I give ReDawn an A-. I continue to enjoy each new part of the Skyward series I experience, and highly recommend them.