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FM knows that the last free human society got lucky. When a planet-destroying Delver suddenly appeared in the sky of Detritus, it was her Skyward Flight companion, Spensa, who figured out how to draw the Delver away. But survival won’t be so easy next time the forces of the Galactic Superiority come for them.
Spensa’s mission to infiltrate the Superiority did unveil a crucial secret, though — one that just might give them a fighting chance. Hyperdrives are really a cytonic slug species called Taynix. FM’s flightleader, Jorgen, found a large group of Taynix hiding in the caverns below Detritus’s surface. Now, FM and Jorgen must work together with the engineer, Rig, to unlock the powers of the Taynix.
Minister Cuna, Spensa’s friend and perhaps their only ally in the coming war, is stranded at the outpost of Sunreach and is in desperate need of rescue. Time is running out for Detritus, too. The Galactic Superiority are closing in. If the FM, Jorgen, and Rig can’t figure out a way to escape the planet using the Taynix, it’s only a matter of time before they’re all destroyed.
What happened to the Skyward Flight while Spensa was away at Starsight? Sunreach answers that question as the first in a trilogy of novellas that take place in the timeline between Starsight and circumventing part of Cytonic.
The found-family dynamics among the Skyward Flight members was something I really enjoyed reading in Skyward, so I was excited for this chance to rejoin the crew. FM was never a character I really connected with, but throughout these pages she became an amazingly complex, main character. I truly came to love her, and I’m glad she got her chance to shine.
Overall, Sunreach has a straightforward and well-executed plot that fits seamlessly into the overarching Skyward storyline. It might be a side story, and while many readers agree it feels geared toward a younger audience, it completely stole my heart, and I like the original series more for having read it.
Rated: Mild. Violence is mainly dogfighting in space, with references to pilots being killed. Lab rats are tested on.
