Skyward - Starsight

1

 

I slammed on my overburn and boosted my starship through the middle of a chaotic mess of destructor blasts and explosions. Above me extended the awesome vastness of space. Compared to that infinite blackness, both planets and starships alike seemed insignificant. Meaningless. 

Except, of course, for the fact that those insignificant starships were doing their best to kill me.

I dodged, spinning my ship and cutting my boosters midturn. Once I d flipped around, I immediately slammed on the boosters again, burning in the other direction in an attempt to lose the three ships tailing me. 

Fighting in space is way different from fighting in atmosphere. For one thing, your wings are useless. No air means no airflow, no lift, no drag. In space, you don t really fly. You just don t fall.

I executed another spin and boost, heading back toward the main firefight. Unfortunately, maneuvers that had been impressive down in the atmosphere were commonplace up here. Fighting in a vacuum these last six months had provided a whole new set of skills to master. 

Spensa, a lively masculine voice said from my console, you remember how you told me to warn you if you were being extra irrational?  

No, I said with a grunt, dodging to the right. The destructor blasts from behind swept over the dome of my cockpit. I don t believe I did anything of the sort.  

You said, Can we talk about this later?

I dodged again. Scud. Were those drones getting better at dogfighting, or was I losing my touch? 

Technically, it was later right after you spoke, continued the talkative voice--my ship s AI, M-Bot. But human beings don t actually use that word to mean anytime chronologically after this moment. They use it to mean sometime after now that is more convenient to me.  

The Krell drones swarmed around us, trying to cut off my escape back toward the

Brandon Sanderson is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Reckoners series: Steelheart, Firefight, and Calamity and the e-original Mitosis; the New York Times bestsellers Skyward and its sequel Starsight; the internationally bestselling Mistborn trilogy; and the Stormlight Archive. He was chosen to complete Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series. His books have been published in more than twenty-five languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide. Brandon lives and writes in Utah. To learn more about him and his books, visit him at brandonsanderson.com or follow @BrandSanderson on Twitter and Instagram.

Praise for Starsight, the sequel to Skyward:

No one has more fun writing or is better at describing galactic dogfights . Read the first one for fun or enjoy the second on its own. Booklist

Praise for Skyward, Book One:

"Reading this book is like standing inside a video game: all action and movement. Sanderson s aerial dogfights are so masterful that it is impossible to turn the pages fast enough." Booklist

"[A] nonstop, highflying opener." Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"With this action-packed trilogy opener, Sanderson offers up a resourceful, fearless heroine and a memorable cast." Publishers Weekly, Starred Review