Review of “Sunreach” novella by Brandon Sanderson

 Review of “Sunreach” Skyward Flight Novella #1 by Brandon Sanderson 

and Janci Patterson

“Sunreach” is a novella story that takes place between book 2 “Starsight” and book 3 “Cytonic”. It follows the character of FM, whom we met in the first book, “Skyward”. The short story follows FM and the Skyward Flight crew, Jorgen and Rigg, as they try to figure out how to use the cytonic powers of slugs called Taynix. In the first book, Spensa adopts a pet slug she calls Doomslug, without knowing what it truly is. This story explains the slug’s powers and how they work. The mystery of faster than light travel depends on unlocking the secrets of the Taynix slugs.

Unlike book 2 “Starsight”, which focused on new characters, “Sunreach” is about getting to know the original characters of FM, Rigg and Jorgen. The three of them work together to observe the slugs and learn more about their cytonic powers. There’s a cute flirtation between FM and Rigg, that makes the story appeal more to a young adult audience. We also get confirmation that Jorgen likes Spensa, and these small romantic interests make the characters more relatable and show their vulnerability. Fm doesn’t want to get attached to anyone, but by the end of the story she decides it’s not enough to just be alive, she needs to be able to live a life filled with relationships.

There are a few other characters we get glimpses of, including meeting Jorgen’s mother, as well as finding out what happened to Alanik. It was nice to see Alanik interact with FM, but we don’t get much from her before she transports away using her cytonic powers. The mission of the crew is to rescue Cuna, a character we met in the second book. The Superiority is collapsing, and Cuna needs their cytonic power to help save her.

In the end, I like that FM never loses her humanity. She makes the choice to save her friends instead of abandoning them. Throughout the story FM has been the one that was concerned about the safety and feelings of the Taynix slugs. She dubbed herself Slug Welfare Specialist, a trait that makes her standout from Jorgen and Rigg. Jorgen was just following military orders and Rigg was more concerned about engineering. It creates a good emotional center point for the characters to play off as well as unite over the research.

Overall, I loved this novella and thought it was better than book 2. The characters are more interesting, and I love learning all about the slugs and how they work. It is a side mission story that does a great job continuing to build out the world, while still connecting to the overall story arc of the series. Looking forward to reading the next book, “Cytonic”.

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"The Chimera Prophecies" consists of eight short science fiction/dark fantasy short stories. Themes of how reality and identity shape our journey and humanity.