Read the Excerpt: Brandon Sanderson’s Next Sci-Fi Novel Features Two Skyward Favorites

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Cover art for Blightfall, featuring a man and woman framed by lush vines inside a cave.

Brandon Sanderson is currently developing a television pilot for his hit YA science fiction saga, Skyward. The project is being shepherded by Tomorrow Studios, the same team behind Netflix’s One Piece adaptation. While the show remains in the early stages of pre-production, fans have plenty to look forward to this fall: a brand-new Cytoverse trilogy begins in September, and we are thrilled to offer an exclusive sneak peek.

Written in collaboration with Janci Patterson, Blightfall serves as a sequel, set decades after the conclusion of the original Skyward series. The duo previously partnered on the Skyward Flight novellas, which bridged the narrative gap between Starsight and Cytonic. Blightfall pivots to focus on two recurring fan-favorites: Arturo, a mainstay since the inception of the series, and Sadie, who entered the fray during Skyward Flight.

The story finds Arturo leading the Defiant Defense Force on a diplomatic mission to a remote, long-forgotten human colony. Their arrival quickly spirals into chaos when the team is ambushed, leaving them stranded on an unforgiving, alien landscape overrun by ancient threats. To survive and find a path home, Arturo and Sadie must forge unexpected alliances.

Blightfall hits shelves on September 1. Courtesy of Delacorte Press, we are sharing the harrowing prologue below, which finds Arturo in a life-or-death predicament.

Read an excerpt from

Blightfall cover art

Blightfall

I was falling.

Below me stretched a vast, hostile world—countless acres of lethal forest rushing up to claim me. I had nothing but my flightsuit to protect me as I plummeted toward the canopy. It might have been breathtaking if it weren’t meant to be my final resting place.

The air whipped against my skin, thickening with the descent, creating a roar of resistance as I tore through the atmosphere. My heart hammered against my ribs, and my stomach churned with terror. I clutched Naga, my hyperslug, tightly against my chest; she shivered violently in my arms. The planet’s inhibitor field prevented her from initiating a hyperjump until we were dangerously close to the surface, where she could request a last-minute teleport to safety. If that request was denied, we were finished.

My squad couldn’t reach us. They were already being driven toward the tree line by a swarm of enemy vessels. If I perished here, I would be leaving them behind to fend for themselves.

Blightfall

Everything happened with terrifying speed. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t cry out—only suffer the silent, screaming terror of the drop. I tightened my grip on Naga; if the wind tore her from me, death was certain. I could finally make out the jagged details of the treetops. In mere seconds, we would crash through the branches and be obliterated.

Memories of Alanik flickered through my mind, and the weight of failing her felt heavier than the descent itself. My vision blurred, and I wondered if panic would claim my consciousness before the end arrived.

Though she could not hear me, I offered a desperate, silent plea to Naga.

Give me one more chance to find a way out.

Don’t let me die here and abandon my team.

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Source: Polygon