Defending Elysium

Having not yet read Skyward, all this is to me is a pretty dang good Novella. Typically, for short works like this, my metric for quality is “If this were a first chapter, would I continue reading?” In the case of this novella, the answer is a resounding yes. It's actually so much of a yes that I am a little less excited to read Skyward; I'd much rather read a direct sequel to this.

Novellas are tricky, you need to tell a self-contained story in such few words. In 42 pages we get some quality character development, a solid and engaging plot, and (this is what kind of blew me away) Brando's writing is still excellent even in this proto form. I know this isn't the first thing he had published-I think this came after the first Mistborn trilogy-but still, this is remarkably tight for something so different from his typical fantasy fare. What carries over best from his long-form writing is his grasp on pacing; this kept me engaged the whole way through but never once felt rushed or compressed. I'm also happy to note that there is a satisfying but open-ended conclusion.

What's really impressive about this work to me is that it goes beyond the basic marks of quality. There's a thematic undercurrent that swirls in the details, all the SF staples are here: Questions of Human Nature, scientific responsibility, and good old empathy. 42 pages, and it still has all this stuff in here, wow. That said, there isn't really anything “new” in here; the themes are present but ubiquitous in SF (oh, the aliens aren't all that trustworthy, huh?). The only points for originality that I can give to this is from the outset of the premise-The phone company is responsible for first contact? They aren't exactly the most helpful guys around? It's conceptually hilarious, but the story doesn't do much with the idea, the PC may as well have been the Red Cross or Cyberdyne or the Nakatomi Corporation.

All told, this is a good little SF story, it definitely works to set up a larger world but does so without compromising its own story beats. I would recommend this to anyone in the mood for something short and good, this is not just for fans of Skyward/Brando.

PS: This also has an Audiobook release! It's free to listen to here, the narration is by Nick Camm, it has no right being as good as it is and as free as it is.

This is a prequel novella from the Cytoverse aka the Skyward series. This apparently started as its own thing, but was eventually reworked into what we see today. 

The novella follows Jason Write of the Phone Company. The PC was the first earthly company to discover FTL communications (which are kind of like brain powered (Cytonic) long-distance radio calls into space).  They then used this accidental first contact to become completely autonomous from governments and to virtually become to most powerful company in the world.

Jason, a blind Cytonic, and agent of the PC is sent on a mission to recover a kidnapped scientist. I enjoyed this character and the fact that the author created him for the purpose of introducing Cytonic powers. Because he is blind, he uses these powers to sense everything around him (a thing that was described in a way that had me closely picturing Daredevil honestly). 

What fell short for me, at least as a huge fan of Skyward and the following releases, is that this isn't the prequel I would have expected or looked for. This tells an incredibly closed off story, which I won't go into more of. I would have looked for more background information on Cytonics, or FTL, or the state of earth/space travel while humans were still attached to earth. That's not to say that it was bad of course, I'm just surprised. 

I would definitely say the in between novellas with Janci Patterson are way more necessary reads than this, but it is quick and worth a read. (Sadly no audio, so my dear Suzy Jackson wasn't heard on this one).