Robin (Bridge Four)'s Reviews > Defiant

Bless Brandon Sanderson's stars, what a scudding great conclusion to this Series.

I am scudding in awe of the brilliance that is Brandon Sanderson. There are only a few authors out for me who continue to outshine my expectations almost each and every book and considering he published at least 5 winners for me this year alone the that extraordinary. My one regret is that I didn't have time to go back and re-read all the books in the series before reading the ending to a fantastic journey.

At the end of the story...at the end of the story, the hero came home, and found herself transformed...into someone who didn't belong, and could never belong, with the people she'd left behind. It was the same in almost every story she read.

Spensa is back from the nowhere and there is so much to do it they will every get out from under the thumb of the Superiority. She is also so lost, being changed by her experiences she feels very removed from the friends that once helped ground her. Spensa has always been a charge into battle first and ask for forgiveness later person. The humans and the rest of the alliance are in a life and death situation with a lot of planning, posturing and waiting. We all know that is not Spensa's strong suit.

Why hadn't anyone tole me how many meetings galactic war would involve? Maybe I would have surrendered. Torture couldn't possibly be worse than this.

At the end of this journey there are plenty of surprises, character growth and emotional moments. It is everything that I've come to expect from a great Sanderson story. I really loved the direction he took so many of the characters and the battle at the end of the book was EPIC. But don't worry Spensa is still Spensa and so there will be plenty of humor along the way to temper some of the more serious moments in the book.

"Drones," I said. "That's annoying. You mean I won't get to feast on the blood of my enemies?" I paused. "I wonder what motor oil tastes like."
Everyone in the room gaped at me. Except Jorgen, who laughed.
"Oh, don't look at me like that," I snapped at the others. "You invited me. This is what you get..."

Being with Spensa and the team again was fantastic. I loved all of our interactions with M-Bot and doomslug, they really steal the limelight when they are on page. Who knew one of my favorite characters in a series was going to be a slug. There are so many moments to love in this book and relationships between characters to enjoy. One of my favorites is between Gran-Gran and Spensa and we get some truly great moments with them.

If you haven't read this series you are in luck because the story is now complete and you can enjoy all of it at once, like a plan to do soon with a re-read. If you have read this series, well I hope you enjoyed it as much as me and are excited by the prospects mentioned at the end of the book.

Narration:

Suzy Jackson has done an incredible job this entire series. She is the voice of Spensa and was a perfect choice for the ball of fury that was that little girl we met way back in Skyward. I have enjoyed listening to her throughout this journey and think she performed all the characters well. She captured the humor and the emotion of all the characters making the story come to life. Thank you to Suzy for doing the entire series the justice it deserves.