Sunreach – Brandon Sanderson (2021)

Sunreach by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson, published in 2021, is an electrifying installment in the Skyward series, expanding the universe first introduced in Sanderson’s original Skyward novel. This novella offers a compelling shift in perspective, focusing on FM (Freyja), a member of Skyward Flight, as she navigates the mounting threats of the Superiority and the mysterious, world-devouring delvers. Set aboard the orbital platforms above Detritus, Sunreach explores the volatile blend of space warfare, personal loss, and the hope for salvation through mysterious alien slugs known as taynix, all while deepening the mythos of the Skyward universe.

Plot Summary

Freyja, known to her flightmates as FM, once felt secure buried deep beneath the surface of Detritus, far from the endless sky that now swallows her each day. Once fearful of its enormity, she now flies through it, a full pilot of the Defiant Defense Force, committed to the protection of her people. On Platform Prime, she’s stationed with Skyward Flight, a group of young but legendary pilots forged by relentless battle and the myths left in Spensa’s wake.

The calm of routine is shattered when every fighter is summoned at once. With Spensa gone on a cytonic mission and Jorgen, the flightleader, sent planetside, FM and her flightmates are merged temporarily with Nightmare Flight under the command of Nose. As they scramble into the air, the sight that greets them is staggering – two Superiority battleships in orbit and a third, newer vessel joining them, bringing with it a swarm of piloted enemy ships. Fifty in total, far more than usual, more than any of them are prepared for.

Despite the odds, FM and her wingmate Sadie charge into the fray. They dodge destructor fire, bait ships into the line of gun platforms, and push through the chaos with coordination and trust. As the sky thickens with enemy fighters, a familiar tension tugs at FM. The stakes are higher, the attacks more coordinated. And then, something impossibly vast and unknowable rips into the battlefield.

Reality distorts. Space itself seems to fracture. A monstrous shape appears beyond the stars – spined and terrible, cloaked in folding layers of dust and light that shouldn’t exist. Every ship, Defiant or Superiority, reels in the presence of the thing the rumors call a delver. The world falls silent, comms ordered off to prevent detection by this unknowable force. Amid that silence, FM loses her friend Lizard, a bright soul torn from the battle by a relentless swarm of enemy ships. The grief is instant, raw, but there’s no time to mourn.

As the battlefield unravels, ships scatter. The delver, like a god of space and silence, watches and then vanishes as suddenly as it came. The Superiority fleet retreats. The danger recedes, but the wounds remain. Lizard is gone. FM feels the ache of helplessness, the sharp reminder of how little control they truly have.

Back on Platform Prime, the world presses on. No leave is granted. Everyone senses that what they faced was only the beginning. Amid the confusion, FM encounters a strange slug – one eerily similar to Spensa’s companion Doomslug, but with unique blue markings. Her curiosity pulls her into a new mission, one far different from dogfighting in the skies.

The slug isn’t alone. Jorgen and the rest of the ground team return from their mysterious mission with crates full of similar creatures, each a different color, each responding to his cytonic abilities. These creatures – taynix – are not mere animals. According to Admiral Cobb and Spensa’s cryptic message, they are hyperdrives.

FM, Jorgen, and Rig, now working together in the engineering bay, are tasked with understanding the slugs. The creatures don’t behave like machines. They teleport out of their crates, respond to music, and even mimic speech in trills. As FM names them and coaxes them back into place, she begins to see a connection – the yellow and blue slugs teleport, apparently in response to emotional stimuli or comfort. They aren’t parts to be used. They are sentient, mysterious beings, key to unlocking faster-than-light travel and humanity’s escape from their planetary cage.

The work is frustrating. The slugs vanish at will. Jorgen, newly revealed as a cytonic, struggles with his own doubts and fears. The pressure is immense – Spensa is gone again, and the Superiority knows it. Their forces are regrouping. The delver’s appearance was not just a threat but a sign – that cytonics can bring such beings forth, and that Spensa, somewhere in the void, turned it away.

The National Assembly interferes, sending Jorgen’s mother to assert control over the DDF. She brings with her politics and pressure, demanding results, pushing for defensive priorities while Cobb insists on unlocking the secrets of the taynix. The crew must find answers quickly or risk losing everything to bureaucratic paralysis and the inevitable return of the enemy.

As FM navigates her role as caretaker and researcher, she notices how the taynix respond to affection, sound, and familiarity. Music soothes them, names comfort them, and they seem to enjoy companionship. They are not tools, but partners. Rig gathers data, trying to track their movements. Jorgen trains his focus on reaching them through his mind, attempting to awaken the cytonic connection that might allow humans to jump between stars as Spensa once did.

But discoveries come slowly. The slugs hyperjump not randomly, but instinctively. They respond to need, to safety, to relationships. FM watches them, learns from them. As they scatter across the platform and return, she understands the subtle rhythms of their behavior. And through that, she begins to understand her own rhythms – the grief, the guilt, the purpose.

Spensa, the myth, is gone. But what she left behind – the slugs, the questions, the hope – remain. Jorgen steps deeper into his role, not just as flightleader, but as a leader of people, of possibility. FM, who never saw herself as a warrior, now finds herself on the edge of the next great leap for humanity.

Outside, the skies remain dangerous. The Superiority is regrouping. The delvers are real. But on Platform Prime, beneath the hum of engines and the trills of slug-song, something is stirring. A path forward, strange and uncertain, but glimmering with light.

Main Characters

• FM (Freyja) – As the central narrator of Sunreach, FM evolves from a wary and reluctant pilot into a determined leader. Raised in the deep underground caverns of Detritus, she struggles with a visceral fear of the sky. Yet her loyalty to her flightmates and growing sense of duty push her forward. She is introspective, courageous, and driven by a desire to protect those she cares about, even when overwhelmed by grief and uncertainty.

• Jorgen Weight – The flightleader of Skyward Flight, Jorgen is methodical, emotionally guarded, and struggling with the revelation of his own cytonic powers. Torn between his responsibilities and the expectations of his high-profile family, he begins to shoulder the burden of humanity’s future while trying to understand and harness his connection to the taynix.

• Rig (Rodge) – A former pilot and now a lead engineer, Rig is socially awkward yet intellectually brilliant. Tasked with understanding the taynix and their cytonic properties, he plays a crucial role in uncovering their potential as hyperdrives. His analytical mind contrasts FM’s more emotional approach, adding depth to the narrative.

• Sadie, Kimmalyn (Quirk), T-Stall, Catnip, and Nedd – Fellow members of Skyward and Nightmare Flights, these pilots add camaraderie and emotional weight. Sadie, FM’s wingmate, provides levity and admiration for Spensa, while Quirk offers a quiet but skilled presence. Nedd and Arturo, Jorgen’s assistants, bring their own blend of comic relief and support in high-stress situations.

• Lizard (Leiko) – A vibrant member of Nightmare Flight and FM’s friend, Lizard’s tragic death early in the novella underscores the ever-present danger of war and profoundly affects FM’s emotional arc.

Theme

• Grief and Resilience – FM’s internal struggle with the loss of Lizard captures the emotional toll of war. Her journey through mourning and her commitment to her comrades highlight the endurance of the human spirit in the face of death.

• Belonging and Identity – FM’s conflicted relationship with military life, paired with her outsider status as someone who never saw herself as a warrior, explores questions of identity. Through her bond with others and her leadership under duress, she carves a space for herself.

• Trust and Communication – The enforced radio silence during battle becomes a metaphor for the broader challenge of human connection in extreme circumstances. The pilots must rely on intuition, shared understanding, and the deep bonds forged through shared danger.

• Innovation and Discovery – The discovery of the taynix’s cytonic capabilities becomes a symbol of hope and potential. Their mysterious powers offer the possibility of hyperdrive technology that could change the tide of war, illustrating the theme of progress through curiosity and compassion.

• Fear of the Unknown – The appearance of the delver – a vast, incomprehensible entity – introduces cosmic horror and emphasizes humanity’s vulnerability in a vast universe. The inability to fully grasp what they are facing reflects both literal and psychological fear.

Writing Style and Tone

Sanderson and Patterson craft Sunreach with a balanced mix of emotional introspection, fast-paced action, and youthful sincerity. FM’s voice is deeply personal, marked by a dry wit and contemplative honesty that allows the reader to connect with her fears, doubts, and moments of triumph. The prose is clean yet evocative, designed to evoke immediacy and tension, particularly in high-stakes battle sequences. Action is rendered with cinematic clarity, while emotional beats are treated with careful nuance.

The tone oscillates between intense and introspective. Scenes of space combat pulse with urgency and adrenaline, while FM’s moments of solitude—especially in the aftermath of loss—are quiet, contemplative, and occasionally poetic. There is a pervasive atmosphere of looming threat tempered by the strength of camaraderie and the hope that innovation can change their fate. Through FM’s eyes, readers experience the chaos of war and the clarity of purpose it can bring.