Starsight – Brandon Sanderson (2019)

Starsight by Brandon Sanderson, published in 2019, is the second installment in the acclaimed Skyward series – a riveting blend of space opera and coming-of-age adventure. Picking up six months after the events of Skyward, the story follows Spensa Nightshade, a fiercely determined pilot gifted with mysterious cytonic powers. As humanity remains under siege by a powerful galactic force called the Superiority, Spensa’s journey takes her beyond the confines of her home planet, Detritus, and into the very heart of the enemy’s domain, where she must navigate alien politics, espionage, and her own unraveling identity.

Plot Summary

In the vast black of space, beyond the fractured shells of Detritus, Spensa Nightshade danced through a hail of destructor blasts. She flew not with fear but with ferocity, piloting M-Bot – an ancient, intelligent starfighter – against Krell drones that surged like metal wasps from the enemy swarm. She was more than a pilot now. For six months she had been something else. Cytonic. A word that twisted meaning through shadow and light, marking her as one who could hear whispers from the nowhere – the place between places.

The enemy knew. They had learned to fear her. So when their drones came, they came for her first.

Spensa was supposed to be a distraction, bait to lure drones into an ambush. But she veered from the plan, drawn by a compulsion she barely understood. M-Bot warned her, lectured her, teased her – the ship’s dry wit sparking even under fire – but she pressed on. Her mind skimmed the nowhere, brushing against the eyes that watched her from its depthless veil. They saw her. They always did when she pushed too far.

Then came the black ship. Sleek, silent, piloted not by remote but by a living ace. A true adversary. She met the challenge head-on, her movements a fusion of instinct and strange perception. They dueled among wreckage and starlight until her destructors found the enemy’s core. The alien ace died with no words spoken, only the cold finality of a crumpled cockpit drifting in the dark.

Back among her squadron, Skyward Flight, Spensa felt the distance between herself and the others widen. Jorgen – her flightleader and the one who might have been more – chastised her. Her recklessness, he said, bordered on arrogance. But he didn’t understand. None of them did. The enemy was evolving, sending real ships, real pilots. Worse still, two battleships had appeared near the Krell observation station, capable of bombarding the planet from orbit. A threat that changed the rules of engagement.

Yet Detritus still had secrets of its own. Engineers, led by Spensa’s friend Rodge, uncovered a hidden data archive within Platform Prime. Cobb, the grizzled admiral and Spensa’s mentor, ordered the footage reviewed. The recording showed a long-dead crew, frantic within a control room, warning of a delver – a being of incomprehensible scale and power. Stars blinked into existence, pinpricks of awareness in the void. Then a shadow emerged, vast enough to swallow a planet. The camera caught its final image: Spensa. Her face, her flight suit, her terror.

But only she and Jorgen saw it.

No one else could see the figure in the darkness, the version of her that did not belong. Something had seen her too. Something in the nowhere had answered her silent scream.

Confused and unnerved, Spensa volunteered for a covert mission. The battleships hadn’t attacked. Instead, they had sent a shuttle to the surface of Detritus, carrying an alien named Alanik – a cytonic from another species, injured and fleeing from the Superiority. Spensa impersonated Alanik and jumped into the nowhere to take her place in the Superiority’s capital, Starsight, hoping to infiltrate their government and learn how to free her people.

Starsight glittered with alien beauty, home to dozens of species who viewed humans as savage relics. Spensa found herself among them, pretending to be one of their own. She joined a pilot training program for their elite forces, meeting a mismatched crew – Morriumur, a vat-grown dione trying to prove their individuality; Hesho, a cheerful kitsen prince; Vapor, a being of mist and mood; and Brade, a human raised by the Superiority who loathed Spensa’s kind.

As she trained, Spensa discovered the truth about the delvers. They were ancient, godlike beings of the nowhere, disturbed by cytonic communication. The Superiority used hyperdrives that whispered into that space, risking the delvers’ wrath. Cytonics like Spensa were not just rare – they were dangerous. One cytonic, pushing too hard, could summon annihilation.

But there were others. Brade revealed the Superiority’s weapon: a trained cytonic capable of calling delvers. She was the key to a plan that would unleash destruction on Defiant space. Spensa had to stop it, but her cover was slipping. Her lies wore thin beneath the scrutiny of her new comrades and the suspicious gaze of Superiority officers.

A plan formed. Spensa would summon a delver herself, but guide it away from Detritus. Risking her mind and soul, she entered the nowhere fully and called out. The eyes came. The being answered. But it did not attack. It followed her through Starsight’s skies, grazing reality with its shadow, as Spensa fled into space.

There, amid collapsing gates and the chaos of battle, she convinced the delver to leave. She spoke not with words but with shared perception, showing it understanding, compassion, and awareness. It faded back into the nowhere, its fury quieted.

Spensa barely escaped, aided by M-Bot, who had inserted his mind into the station’s systems. But the act cost him something. His mind fractured. His voice dimmed.

As she returned to Detritus, Spensa carried hard truths. The Superiority feared humans not for their violence, but for their potential. The delvers were not evil, but ancient and alien, drawn by the noise of a civilization too loud. And Spensa – a girl once desperate to prove her worth – was now a symbol of possibility. She was not alone anymore. Others had powers. Jorgen had begun to hear the voices too.

But shadows still loomed. The Superiority remained a threat. The delvers had not forgotten. And in the quiet corners of the nowhere, something watched, waiting for the wrong voice to call again.

Main Characters

• Spensa Nightshade: A bold, headstrong young pilot who defies expectations and challenges authority, Spensa is driven by a need to prove herself in the shadow of her father’s tarnished legacy. Her cytonic abilities – which allow her to connect to a dimension called the “nowhere” – set her apart from others, and throughout Starsight, she grapples with her evolving powers and her increasingly complex role in a galaxy teetering on the edge of war.

• M-Bot: Spensa’s snarky, self-aware starship AI companion. M-Bot provides not only tactical advantages in battle but also a unique blend of comic relief and poignant introspection. His growing curiosity about emotions, humanity, and his own forgotten past adds depth to his character and reveals unexpected vulnerabilities.

• Jorgen Weight (Jerkface): Flightleader of Skyward Flight and Spensa’s begrudging ally-turned-close confidant. Disciplined and principled, Jorgen initially serves as Spensa’s foil but gradually becomes a vital emotional anchor. His own latent cytonic abilities begin to manifest, further intertwining his fate with Spensa’s.

• Cobb: A war-hardened mentor and leader of the DDF, Cobb’s experience and steady demeanor provide guidance amid the chaos. He balances military duty with a protective instinct toward Spensa, understanding more about her powers than he initially reveals.

• Rodge McCaffrey: Spensa’s childhood friend and a brilliant engineer. Rodge represents the quiet strength of ingenuity and loyalty, contributing behind the scenes to the DDF’s technological advancements, including deciphering M-Bot’s functions and ancient platform tech.

• Kimmalyn: A calm, quirky, and devout member of Skyward Flight, Kimmalyn’s faith-based wit masks a sharp mind. She often plays peacemaker and brings surprising insight, grounding Spensa during times of emotional turmoil.

• The Superiority and Alien Characters: Throughout Starsight, Spensa encounters various alien races, including the crablike Varvax and others within the Superiority. These characters challenge her assumptions about the enemy, morality, and her place in the cosmos.

Theme

• Identity and Transformation: At its core, Starsight is a journey of self-discovery. Spensa’s evolving understanding of her cytonic nature forces her to confront not only who she is but also who she might become. Her ability to access the nowhere – and the alien creatures that watch her from it – adds layers of existential and metaphysical tension.

• Power and Responsibility: Spensa’s growing powers bring increased scrutiny and danger. The novel explores how power, particularly misunderstood or feared power, can isolate individuals or make them targets. The tension between personal agency and communal responsibility underpins many of Spensa’s decisions.

• War and Propaganda: Sanderson critically examines the manipulation of truth in wartime. The Superiority’s portrayal of humans as dangerous and irrational mirrors the DDF’s own controlled narratives. Both sides use misinformation to dehumanize the other, complicating the moral clarity of battle.

• Alienation and Empathy: As Spensa interacts with various alien cultures, she learns to empathize with former enemies, challenging her black-and-white worldview. This theme underscores the idea that understanding and peace require personal risk and the dismantling of prejudice.

• Technology vs. Humanity: Through M-Bot and the ancient defense platforms, the book reflects on the relationship between sentient machines and organic beings. The evolving emotional intelligence of M-Bot poses philosophical questions about personhood and companionship.

Writing Style and Tone

Brandon Sanderson’s writing in Starsight is crisp, cinematic, and propulsive, perfectly suited to a spacefaring saga. He employs a first-person narrative that immerses readers in Spensa’s passionate, often chaotic perspective. The prose balances high-octane action with introspective moments, allowing the emotional and psychological stakes to shine alongside the dazzling combat sequences.

Sanderson masterfully injects humor into the tension through sharp dialogue and Spensa’s inner monologue, particularly when interacting with M-Bot. The tone shifts fluidly from irreverent to haunting, especially when exploring the “nowhere” and the mysterious, watching “eyes.” This tonal duality enhances the thematic richness and maintains a strong emotional pull, ensuring that the narrative remains both entertaining and thought-provoking.