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Book Review: Defiant (Skyward, #4) by Brandon Sanderson

Book Review: Defiant (Skyward, #4) by Brandon Sanderson

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Cover art illustrated by Sam Green

Defiant by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Skyward (Book #4 of 4)

Genre: Sci-fi

Pages: 415 pages (Kindle edition)

Word count: 117,000 words

Publish date: 21st of November 2023 by Delacorte Press (US) & Gollancz (UK)

This is another series wrap-up from Sanderson. Defiant is a satisfying concluding volume to the Skyward series that reflected the root of the first book: friendship.

“Some of them might die, I said. And it’s going to hurt. We’ll get through it though. Pretending that nobody will ever be in danger is the same as living in the nowhere, pretending loss doesn’t exist.”

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Book Review: Evershore (Skyward Flight, #2.3) by Brandon Sanderson & Janci Patterson

Book Review: Evershore (Skyward Flight, #2.3) by Brandon Sanderson & Janci Patterson

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Review copy provided by the publisher—Gollancz—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art illustrated by Sam Green

Evershore by Brandon Sanderson & Janci Patterson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Skyward (Book #2.3 of 4)

Genre: Sci-fi

Pages: 224 pages (Hardcover edition)

Publish date: 28th of December 2021 by Delacorte Press (US) & Gollancz (UK)

Even without Spensa, this is a return to form. Evershore is the best title in Skyward Flight omnibus.
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Book Review: Cytonic (Skyward, #3) by Brandon Sanderson

Book Review: Cytonic (Skyward, #3) by Brandon Sanderson

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Review copy provided by the publisher—Gollancz—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art illustrated by Sam Green

Cytonic by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Skyward (Book #3 of 4)

Genre: Sci-fi

Pages: 432 pages (Hardcover edition)

Publish date: 23rd of November 2021 by Delacorte Press (US) & Gollancz (UK)

Cytonic was not as underwhelming as I expected, which is good, but it felt like reading a middle-book syndrome despite it being the penultimate installment of the series.

“Sometimes it’s too easy to forget the things you should remember — and far too easy to remember the things you really should forget.”

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Book Review: ReDawn (Skyward, #2.2) by Brandon Sanderson & Janci Patterson

Book Review: ReDawn (Skyward, #2.2) by Brandon Sanderson & Janci Patterson

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ARC provided by the publisher—Gollancz—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art illustrated by Sam Green

ReDawn by  Brandon Sanderson & Janci Patterson

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Skyward (Book #2.2 of 4)

Genre: Sci-fi

Pages: 227 pages (Hardcover edition)

Publish date: 26th of October 2021 by Delacorte Press (US) & Gollancz (UK)

ReDawn is a necessary installment to read before Cytonic. …

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Book Review: Sunreach (Skyward, #2.1) by Brandon Sanderson

Book Review: Sunreach (Skyward, #2.1) by Brandon Sanderson

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Review copy provided by the publisher—Gollancz—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art illustrated by Sam Green

Sunreach by Brandon Sanderson & Janci Patterson

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Skyward (Book #2.1 of 4)

Genre: Sci-fi

Pages: 177 pages (Hardcover edition)

Publish date: 28th of September 2021 by Delacorte Press (US) & Gollancz (UK)

Sunreach expanded upon the secret of the hyperdrive and the characterizations of FM and Rig. …

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Book Review: Starsight (Skyward, #2) by Brandon Sanderson

Book Review: Starsight (Skyward, #2) by Brandon Sanderson

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Cover art illustrated by Sam Green

Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Skyward (Book #2 of 4)

Genre: Sci-fi

Pages: 469 pages (Hardcover edition)

Publish date: 26th of November 2019 by Delacorte Press (US) & Gollancz (UK)

Contrary to my expectations, Starsight was an incredibly fun and engaging sequel to Skyward.
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Book Review: Skyward (Skyward, #1) by Brandon Sanderson

Book Review: Skyward (Skyward, #1) by Brandon Sanderson

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Cover art illustrated by Sam Green

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Skyward (Book #1 of 4)

Genre: Sci-fi

Pages: 544 pages (Hardcover edition)

Publish date: 6th of November 2018 by Delacorte Press (US) & Gollancz (UK)

Skyward is a great and rare example of a YA sci-fi novel done right.
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TS’s Best Reads of 2021

TS’s Best Reads of 2021

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This is my journey in books for 2021!

Hi everyone, TS here!  Firstly, I’d like to acknowledge that I’ve been inconsistent in my blogging/reviewing on Novel Notions this year.   I couldn’t find the energy or will or brain-power as I found myself in a new expanded role at work that has a challenging learning curve, and discovered that I enjoy cooking and baking (even embarked on sourdough) so much that I started spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

I did manage to meet my reading challenge of 100 books this year regardless, and it’s probably the most diverse year of reading that I’ve had in my entire life.   While fantasy remains my favourite genre for its sense of wonder, I found myself gravitating a lot towards mysteries this year, and also reading a lot more non-fiction.

I’ve decided to organise my best reads of 2021 a bit differently from prior years, somewhat thematically instead of the usual parameters and rankings.

And we’ll start with….
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Book Review: Cytonic (Skyward, #3) by Brandon Sanderson

Book Review: Cytonic (Skyward, #3) by Brandon Sanderson

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Cytonic by Brandon Sanderson

My rating:  4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Skyward (Book 3 of 4)

Genre: Science fiction, young adult

Published: 23rd November 2021 by Gollancz (UK) and Delacorte Press (US)

No surprises, Cytonic was a superb read filled with brilliantly creative worldbuilding and compelling characterisation that I’ve always expected, and received, from Sanderson.

It all started with a novella that he wrote and submitted to a magazine way back before he was even published. That piece of work received an honourable mention at the Writers of the Future contest in 2003, and after substantial re-editing in 2008 won first place in the UPC Science Fiction Award in Spain, and was published in the Oct/Nov 2008 issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction.  However, for the most of the past decade, most readers have only known Sanderson as a bestselling fantasy author as aside from a few short stories, he had not really written a science fiction series.  That is, not until Skyward came about – and it was just as fantastic as his fantasy writing. The fact that it’s YA took away nothing from his ability to spin the most incredibly engaging stories set in the most imaginative settings.

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TS’s Top 20 Books Read in 2019

TS’s Top 20 Books Read in 2019

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The featured image above was specifically designed by Felix Ortiz for Novel Notions’ Top 20 List.

Hello everyone!  This is the first time I’m listing my top reads for the year 2019.  Initially, I wanted to opt for Top 10 but having read 100 books and rated a lot between 4.5 and 5 stars, I felt that I would struggle to limit it to ten.  The parameters for my list are as follows:

  • Rereads don’t count
  • One book per author
  • Not limited to books which are released this year.  Those not published in 2019 will be specified.

With exception of #1, none of these are ranked.  I’ve merely listed them in the chronological order of when I’ve read them this year.  I’ve also included my favourite classic read of the year as we’ve started the Novel Notions Classic Club in July. All of these have been reviewed by me on Novel Notions and Goodreads.

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