Have you ever wondered if storytelling could save the world?
Before you roll your eyes at me for the absurd thing I say, I must tell you they can. But you’re right, stories might not change everything on their own; they’re just a good start. Where do you think money came from? Trees? Last I checked, a sheet of paper is worth less than a dollar.
That’s right, money started off as a story, not an objective reality.
Welcome to my odd review series, where I categorize how much novels question our beliefs about life, and how much they merely take them for granted.
I have learned from my ways. I have.
That is why I am announcing this review contains spoilers. Not too bad, but spoilers nonetheless. I will never reveal the fabulous ending or major plot points, but maybe something about the worldbuilding and perhaps the antagonists. Nothing you might not know by the first chapters of the book, but I got to mention it either way.
W H A T I S S T A R S I G H T ?
If you have not read Skyward or read my review of it, I advise you do so before you continue. I can even give you a link and all: link.
…To my review, of course! I wish I could give you one for the book though.
Now, on with it.
What are the chances an alien look-alike crashes on your planet and offers you an escape from the prison you were born in—and cannot seem to leave for the life of you? Much higher than you expect, that’s for sure. Spensa, now allowed to pose as the alien, will have her world turned around by the people she least expects… by being who they least expect.
F U N
All in all, this book subverted my expectations.
When you think the book is going somewhere, it goes the other way. Cannot say if that is entirely satisfying, but it’s different. The setting changes, the characters change, the stakes also change… It is incredible how Sanderson can pull that off, and still have it work out in the end.
There was this feeling of something missing–ahem, Skyward flight, ahem–but the plot seemed to go elsewhere and it did not make sense to make them the center of it, so I guess I do understand even if it was not what I wanted.
Still, after all the discomfort it brought, Sanderson compensates for that with the ending.
Holly hell, the ending was incredible.
Just for this, you have to read it.
Enough said.
Verdict? W O R K S F O R M E
W E L L W R I T T E N
In terms of writing, I’d say Sanderson always passes.
Characters are unique, plots are exciting and themes are actually there to guide the story—something not every writer does, by the way. His writing is straight to the point, immersive, and… it just works. Structure-wise, it is impeccable, things all contribute to character growth, theme exploration, and pure entertainment. The pacing, is always brilliant, too, if all I’ve mentioned was not enough.
Then, even when all that would make a good book, Sanderson gives us top-notch worldbuilding.
This has got to be the best world-building I’ve had the chance to explore.
I guess that’s what good writers do?
Too bad I tend to stir away from them for some reason.
Verdict? W O R K S F O R M E
T H O U G T - P R O V O K I N G T H E M E S
I believe this is where things get interesting.
As far as I can tell, Starsight’s theme is related to identity.
Spensa, even by the beginning of the book starts questioning herself about who she is, what she is. She’s different, alien in a way, and although she is, she also belongs for the simple reason she’s human.
It’s interesting how the book wants to explore identity, and how the diversity of identities is not a reason to exclude but to come together under a similar goal. Which I think is a good theme to have, and a good theme to experience.
Maybe, to me, this falls on the obvious side, because I itch for more exploration than I got.
What do we define as identity? And does identity belong to us or is it imposed? How much of ourselves is defined by where we grew up? And is this okay? How much agency does the individual have?
I believe Starsight starts to question this a bit, but it shies away from deeper implications.
Maybe it’s because it’s a young adult novel, who knows?
Either way, there are still many people who don’t even want to grasp the meaning of diversity. Tells you quite a bit about the work we have ahead of us, no?
Verdict? W O R K S F O R M E
C R I T I C A L C O M M E N T A R Y
Though diversity is a huge part of what makes a society, I believe I’ve already spoken my part about it. What I have not spoken about is the government, which happens to be something Starsight does comment on.
The first book centered on the DDF; how the power they imposed was absolute, and how that had become a problem due to excessive military control. Now, we’re talking about how a government can be the same way, without the aggressive part of it, and yet, be just as aggressive.
The difference?
One shouts it to your face, the other one pretends it’s not.
I believe we thrive on governments just as the latter, where many are convinced we are civilized when in truth, we pretend to be.
Just look at the state the world’s in.
Verdict? W O R K S F O R M E
P R O P O S E S A L T E R N A T I V E S
I thought I would struggle to find a book with this category fulfilled to a hundred percent.
Yet, here I am.
Starsight doesn’t offer a new way of organizing ourselves, of creating a better outcome for society or proposing innovative ways of seeing what the future could look like, but it does offer one special thing.
I know I’ve talked about this before, but I’ll put a different angle on it.
Diversity.
Yes, diversity not only in the way of cultures but in the way of beings.
For centuries we’ve presupposed to be the pinnacle of evolution, disregarding other forms of life as beneath us, leading to incredible devastation to our planet.
Yet, this book presents not only intelligent beings as looking not human—which we always did when imagining aliens—, but other species as being regarded as essential, all while not having any human characteristics or the extent of human intelligence. Meaning, that we shouldn’t measure life to the standards of humans, but value that different life forms have different ways of living the world, not inferior or superior.
That is innovation at its core, an alternative to the idea of humans.
Verdict? W O R K S F O R M E
To make a long story short, this book got:
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