Getting back into the rhythm of book reviews again, I thought I would finish the other novella in the Cytonic series. Writing compelling stories in so few pages is a fascinating and seems like such a difficult task. The Skyward Flight novella series were a surprisingly strong and compelling set of novellas that helped to further the worldbuilding and the supporting cast of characters in the Cytonic series. But this novella was even shorter. Sunreach was only about 150 pages long but Defending Elysium was only roughly 43 pages! Is it possible to tell a compelling story with such brevity? Surprisingly yes, though with some caveats to consider.
Character Development
7/10
With a story so short, one would imagine that there would be a serious lack of proper character development. There’s just not enough length to devout to fully develop the characters involved. The main character, Jason Write, gets the most development in the novella however it’s barely anything really noticeable. In reality, Jason and the others characters in Defending Elysium serve more as tools to develop the worldbuilding of the Cytonic universe. They are all rather flat and static characters but that’s to be expected with a story so short. That being said, Jason Write still made for a very interesting character. He’s a blind agent for the company that first made contact with the Superiority and uses his Cytonic powers, which he calls “Sense”, to see. The way he picks up on things in his surroundings using his abilities is a really good use of his powers. But again, the sheer brevity of the novel means it never reaches a level of development that would’ve been great to see.
Plot
7/10
The pacing and balance between exposition and action for the plot is surprisingly good. However it’s surprisingly good because of how short and concise the plot had to be. It had a good and intriguing premise that is somewhat insidious and fascinating for the Cytonic universe. The issue though is that this wouldn’t make as much sense as a prequel without having read the first two books. Like all prequels, it always leads to and sets up either directly to the story of the first book or it sets up the worldbuilding for the series and Defending Elysium somewhat does the latter. As a standalone story it is good, but because it can’t go into detail about it’s characters or the world before humanity’s fall to any significant degree, it feels rather lacking.
Worldbuilding
10/10
This appears to be the main focus of this novella and it really achieves that goal despite how short it is. The Skyward Flight novellas delved into the worldbuilding of the larger known universe as well as the supporting cast of the Cytonic series, but this story focused on humanity before its fall and what lead it to finally challenge Superiority and the greater universe as a whole. What’s really quite grand is, in a sense, more the implications of humanity’s actions and why they did what they did. Humanity’s forces before the events of Skyward always felt like a mystery that was never explored but mostly inferred upon by the reactions of the alien species Spensa encountered. But through Jason’s perspective, the reader is shown a more nuanced and understandable reason behind humanity’s advancement through the stars and why they always appeared as the violent species among the universe.
Writing Style
10/10
There are few authors I can think of that can tell a compelling story in such few words as this and Brandon Sanderson proves to be one of them. The sheer brevity of the story told means that nothing can be left in the story that doesn’t serve an important purpose. Most stories allow for a lot of exposition and breathing room to build upon the characters, the story, and the worldbuilding. But in a story as brief as this, a writer does not have that luxury. Every paragraph and sentence has to be carefully considered and ultimately cut if it doesn’t serve enough of a purpose. Is it a strong example of Sanderson’s writing? Not necessarily when put up against his other novels and novellas. However it is a strong example of tell a story in a quick and easy format to pick up and finish.
Total Score
8.5/10
A Quick Musing
Normally I would dedicate a whole article to a musing, however I think this one (much like the book itself) can be kept rather brief. It’s a bit of an epiphany I had that a short story like this, barely the length of a novella, can be an excellent tool to expand upon a world built for a book series. In an epic fantasy or science fiction series, there’s a whole world or universe that can be explored and built up that can’t be entirely realized within the length of a given series. A brief story like Defending Elysium can allow an author to expand the world they’ve built and make it feel more realized for the audience to dive in and enjoy.
Raph's Cozy Musings 