Blightfall Review: Is Brandon Sanderson’s New Skyward Book Worth Reading?

Brandon Sanderson’s Skyward universe is officially back, but this time, Spensa isn’t the character taking center stage.

Blightfall by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson launches Riftwake, a new trilogy set in the Skyward universe that follows members of Skyward Flight after the war with the Superiority. Instead of simply trying to recreate the original series, Blightfall explores what happens after the heroes have supposedly won and discovers that peace can be nearly as complicated as war.

For longtime Skyward readers, that alone makes the novel an exciting return. Familiar characters finally get more room to develop, the space battles remain a major part of the story, and the discovery of a mysterious human settlement gives Sanderson and Patterson another corner of the Cytoverse to explore.

But is Blightfall worth reading?

Yes, especially if you enjoyed the original Skyward novels or the Skyward Flight novellas. It expands the universe without feeling like an unnecessary extension of Spensa’s story and gives supporting characters the opportunity to become heroes in their own right.

Blightfall Book Details

Title: Blightfall
Authors: Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson
Series: Riftwake #1
Universe: Skyward/Cytoverse
Release Date: September 1, 2026
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 496
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction, Space Opera, Adventure

Blightfall was released on September 1, 2026, and is the first book in the new Riftwake trilogy. Penguin Random House lists the novel at 496 pages, while Sanderson previously confirmed that Riftwake would serve as the next major series set in the Cytoverse.

What Is Blightfall About?

The war against the Superiority is over.

After spending generations trapped on Detritus and fighting for humanity’s survival, the Defiant Defense Force finally has the opportunity to explore the galaxy without constantly looking over its shoulder.

But peace brings an entirely new set of problems.

Arturo Mendez, now the leader of Skyward Flight, is assigned what initially appears to be a relatively straightforward mission. The DDF has discovered evidence of human settlements that became isolated from the rest of humanity during the long conflict with the Superiority.

Arturo and his pilots are tasked with escorting diplomats to one of those settlements.

Their destination is Blightfall.

The planet is unlike anything they expected. Massive invasive forests have consumed much of its surface, mysterious debris surrounds the world, and the human civilization living there isn’t quite what the DDF anticipated.

Then Arturo’s team is attacked.

Suddenly, what was supposed to be a diplomatic mission becomes a fight for survival. Stranded on an unfamiliar planet and unsure who can be trusted, Skyward Flight has to uncover the truth about Blightfall if its members are going to make it home.

It’s exactly the type of setup that works well in the Skyward universe: exploration, strange civilizations, secrets, starfighters, and a mission that goes horribly wrong.

Blightfall Moves the Skyward Universe Forward

The most interesting thing about Blightfall is that Sanderson and Patterson don’t simply try to give readers another Spensa adventure.

That would have been the easy approach.

Instead, the novel changes perspective and makes Arturo Mendez one of its central characters.

It’s a smart decision because one of the strengths of the original Skyward books was always the larger cast surrounding Spensa. Characters such as Arturo and Nedd had personalities and histories of their own, but there was only so much room to explore them while Spensa’s much larger story was unfolding.

Blightfall finally gives those characters more space.

The opening immediately establishes Arturo in his new role as flightleader while also showing how much Skyward Flight has changed since its earliest days. The war might be finished, but the consequences haven’t disappeared. Some characters are recovering physically, others are figuring out what their place is in a postwar galaxy, and everyone is discovering that winning a war doesn’t automatically tell you what to do afterward.

That gives Blightfall a different emotional foundation from the original Skyward.

Spensa’s story was largely about proving herself and discovering the truth about humanity’s place in the galaxy.

Arturo’s story begins after many of those battles have already been won.

Now the question becomes: What happens next?

The New Planet Is One of Blightfall’s Biggest Strengths

A mysterious planet named Blightfall covered in enormous invasive forests is exactly the kind of setting that makes a science fiction adventure immediately interesting.

And the novel takes advantage of that mystery.

Rather than keeping the story centered around Detritus, Blightfall expands the universe again. The existence of isolated human civilizations creates enormous storytelling possibilities for Riftwake. Humanity was scattered across the galaxy, which means different groups could have developed completely different societies, cultures, technologies, and beliefs.

That’s a much more interesting direction than simply introducing another galactic enemy.

It gives the series the opportunity to become as much about exploration and first contact as aerial combat.

There are still plenty of the elements that made Skyward popular, including starfighters, dangerous missions, humor, strange aliens, and cytonic creatures but there’s also a stronger sense that the galaxy has become much bigger.

It Still Feels Like Skyward

Fans worried that changing protagonists might make Blightfall feel disconnected from the previous books shouldn’t be too concerned.

The personality of the series is still here.

The dialogue remains playful, the pilots constantly joke with one another, and the taynix continue to provide some of the funniest and most charming moments in the Cytoverse.

More importantly, the flying remains exciting.

The official opening excerpt wastes little time getting Arturo and Nedd back into starfighters, reminding readers how effectively this universe mixes YA character drama with fast-moving science fiction action.

That combination has always separated Skyward from Sanderson’s massive epic fantasy series.

You don’t need hundreds of pages of lore before something happens.

Characters climb into ships.

Things go wrong.

And suddenly you’re flying through space with them.

That accessibility continues to work in Blightfall.

Janci Patterson Is Important to Why This Works

Calling Blightfall simply “Brandon Sanderson’s new book” overlooks an important part of the novel.

Janci Patterson is Sanderson’s coauthor, and her involvement makes perfect sense.

Patterson previously co-wrote the Skyward Flight novellas with Sanderson, which focused more extensively on the characters who remained on Detritus while Spensa’s adventures took her elsewhere.

Riftwake feels like the natural evolution of that collaboration.

Instead of Skyward Flight functioning as supplementary material to Spensa’s main series, these characters now have their own trilogy.

That distinction is important.

Blightfall isn’t simply bonus material for Skyward completists. Sanderson has positioned Riftwake as the next series in the Cytoverse, with Blightfall establishing a new multi-book storyline.

Where Blightfall Isn’t Quite as Strong

The biggest challenge facing Blightfall is also unavoidable: Spensa is a difficult protagonist to replace.

Her enormous personality helped define Skyward. Her obsession with dramatic declarations, strange metaphors, and becoming the greatest pilot imaginable gave the original novel an instantly recognizable voice.

Arturo is different.

That can be refreshing, but readers primarily interested in Spensa may need some time to adjust to a story where supporting members of Skyward Flight become the main attraction.

There’s also a lot happening.

Blightfall combines aerial combat, political conflict, first contact, romance, humor, mysterious technology, alien creatures, and the secrets surrounding a new civilization. At 496 pages, the novel has plenty of room, but the sheer number of ideas can occasionally make the story feel busy.

Even some of the early professional reviews have pointed toward that divide. Kirkus characterized the book as an action-heavy space adventure while Publishers Weekly highlighted its mix of action, romance, humor, and character development.

But for readers who come to Skyward primarily for fast-paced science fiction adventures, those aren’t major drawbacks.

Do You Need to Read Skyward Before Blightfall?

Technically, Blightfall provides enough context for a new reader to understand its basic story, and Booklist has specifically noted that it can function as an entry point for newcomers.

But I wouldn’t recommend starting here.

A huge part of what makes Blightfall interesting is seeing what has happened to characters and institutions after the events of the original series.

At minimum, readers will get significantly more from the novel if they already understand Skyward Flight, Detritus, the Superiority, cytonics, and the war that reshaped this universe.

For the best experience, read the original Skyward series and Skyward Flight stories first.

That turns Blightfall from a standalone space adventure into what it really is: the beginning of the next era of the Cytoverse.

Is Blightfall Worth Reading?

For Skyward fans, it is a must read.

Blightfall succeeds because it doesn’t try to undo the ending of the previous series merely to create another adventure.

Instead, Sanderson and Patterson ask what the galaxy looks like after the war.

The answer turns out to be surprisingly complicated.

There are isolated human civilizations to discover, new political relationships to navigate, wounded pilots trying to figure out their futures, unexplored planets, and mysteries that suggest the Cytoverse still has plenty of stories left to tell.

More importantly, the book remembers what made Skyward fun in the first place.

Spaceships.

Pilots.

Impossible missions.

Weird aliens.

Good friends insulting each other while everything around them goes terribly wrong.

That’s a pretty reliable formula for an entertaining science fiction novel.

Blightfall Review: Final Verdict

Blightfall is a strong start to the Riftwake trilogy and an exciting return to Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson’s Skyward universe.

It isn’t Skyward 5, and that’s ultimately a good thing.

Instead of trying to recapture Spensa’s story, the novel gives Skyward Flight its own identity while opening a much larger corner of the galaxy for future books to explore.

Readers who loved the fighter battles, crew dynamics, humor, aliens, and larger mysteries of the original series should feel at home almost immediately.

If you finished Defiant wondering whether there were still worthwhile stories to tell in this universe, Blightfall provides a convincing answer.

Yes. There are.

And this feels like only the beginning.

Books of Brilliance verdict: Recommended for fans of Skyward, YA science fiction, space adventures, and character-driven stories built around a tight-knit crew.

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