Defiant

4.7 / 5

brandy sandy, you’ve done it again. y’all know i’m no space girlie, but these books were awesome - creative, beautiful, moving, inspired. everything about this series is strong: from its lovely main characters to its conceit, the SKYWARD FLIGHT series is so, so good.

spensa is such a good main character dude. she’s so flawed, in all the right ways. she’s so vibrant, so funny, so grumpy - i felt so connected to her. i’ve read a lot of SANDERSON’s main female leads, and none of them resonate as powerfully as spensa. she shines so bright throughout the series, but especially in the last two. not only is she feminist and tough, she’s also vulnerable and afraid. SANDERSON strikes the perfect balance between confidence show more and fear in spensa, and it made this finale an absolute joy to read.

the delver plot line never failed to keep me on the edge of my seat. it was a little over my head at times, that’s for sure. but the ending being all about compassion and companionship?! UGHHHHH! i thought it was really creative to bring in the whole pain thing - the delvers evolved the way they did because of pain and avoidance. that makes total sense to me LMAO. spensa’s journey through understanding the delvers and her powers was extremely well paced. each book felt so intentional, so focused. and this was a gorgeous finale to the story.

i wished i had seen a little more spensa and jorgen - there’s tidbits, sure, but there’s nothing concrete enough for me to be convinced that they’re in love. i kind of felt like i was being told they were in love without being shown it. i love SANDERSON but romance is not often his strong suit lol. that said, i did really enjoy the parts of their relationship that were explored.

i know that friendship being the point is kind of easy, but i loved it. spensa realizes that she doesn’t have to do it all alone, and she’s stronger when her friends have her back. and sure, an intergalactic war is maybe not the best space or place for a story about friendship, but i utterly enjoyed it. it didn’t feel cheesy or cheap to me, it felt true. i even shed a tear.

fabulous ending to a fabulous series. SKYWARD really took me on a space journey, but it was a space journey that i cherished. trust that i will be reading the second series! 4.7 / 5 - well done sandy. show less

Spensa goes home just in time to help save her friends and planet from the Delvers. But her time in the nowhere has helped her begin to understand the Delvers and how they can be turned from their desires to destroy life. I liked the conclusion a lot.

Defiant is the fourth and final book in Brandon Sanderson's Skyward series. Events pick up not long after where book 3 ended with Spensa back with her old flight and about to face down the Superiority's galactic dominance to attempt to free humanity.

I went into this without having read the Skyward Flight novellas. Turns out this was OK as there is enough information contained within Defiant as the other characters bring Spensa up to speed so the reader has the context needed for the story.

For those hoping for a Spensa/Jorgen romance you are in luck! I can see how Sanderson has improved greatly in his romance writing as theirs was so sweet and nice to read.

I admit the book almost lost me with Spensa's continual self doubt since it felt show more so out of character and lasted for almost 3/4 of the book. For those encountering a similar frustration, Ch 30 is the turning point and well worth pushing through. Gran Gran gives one of the best speeches I've read in a while and I just absolutely love all the taynix. The last quarter of the book is written from alternating points of view that I enjoyed immensely. It really tied everything together for me.

Overall, this is a satisfying end to the series and Spensa's story, with all the loose ends tied up nicely. show less

SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UPPPPPPPP
SKYWARD FLIGHT I LOVE YOU SO MUCH i think 14 year old me would be OVER THE MOON knowing that what happened in here happened.. and esp all the spin/jerkface, yknow? im sure she would LOVE that. i love it even now. i definitely should have gone back and reread the previous books before this one bc i REALLY didn't remember much of anything so i guess that didn't exactly help the utter chaos of everything in here but it was great man it really was. oh, Spensa.. and Jorgen and FM and Chet and MBot and Rig and Kimmalyn and Arturo and Nedd (AAAA) and Alanik and everyone else. Especially the taynix i love the taynix so os so much oh YEAH the ILLUSTRATIONS I LOVE THEM I NEED THIS BOOK IN PRINT
im just. Whew!! show more wow!! things certainly happened and people certainly grew! and worlds were built adn destroyed too i guess! im sure ill have more thoughts to add when it's not 1:30am and im exhausted beyond belief but at least... at least there's more to come im so excited to just know that thank you sanderson
also yea sanderson definitely has like one specific character arc across many of his series but ah well we chill i love spensa show less

In this 4th book of the Skyward series Spensa returns from the Nowhere, after sharing her soul with the Delver she refers to as Chet. With the addition of Chet, she also demonstrates that she has enhanced new powers. She also realizes that the Delvers fear her but she doesn't know how to capitalize on this.

Winzik, with the help of the human Brade, has taken control of the Superiority and now threatens Spensa's home world of Detritus. Spensa definitely matures as the book progresses as she sheds her instinct to disregard the orders of her superiors.

I found this book on par with the other sequels, but the first book of the series is still far and away the best and remains one of the best books I have ever read.

In the Epilogue Sanderson show more cleverly lays the groundwork for further adventures in this interesting Universe. show less

This was a really fun read. I was invested the entire time. The only thing I didn't like was how quickly the final battle ended. Other than that I thought it was amazing. I am super excited to see what happens next in Skyward Legacy. 10/10 - December 31, 2023

Defiant is the conclusion to the Skyward quartet, although there are also 3 novellas from the perspectives of secondary characters which take place during book 3, and a sequel trilogy is in the works. Like the other books in the series, Defiant is well written, with compelling characters and engaging plot. The conclusion is somewhat more predictable in this book than in the other three, but it is still a great read.