Escuadrón (Escuadrón 1)

Escrito por Brandon Sanderson

Narrado por Paula Iwasaki

La primera novela de «Escuadrón» de Brandon Sanderson.

El mundo lleva siglos en guerra; la humanidad está atrapada en un planeta constantemente atacado por unos alienígenas decididos a destruirla. Los pilotos son los únicos héroes dispuestos a combatir al enemigo.

Spensa es una joven que siempre ha soñado con convertirse en piloto y defender a la Tierra. Pero su destino se cruza con el de su padre, un piloto que fue asesinado tras abandonar a su equipo, anulando sus opciones de asistir a la escuela de vuelo. De pronto, el ataque alienígena ha hecho duplicar la flota aérea de los humanos, facilitando que Spensa ahora sí pueda volar al espacio...

La crítica ha dicho...
«Brandon Sanderson es una leyenda.»
Alexelcapo, @EvilAFM

«Un escritor brillante.»
Patrick Rothfuss

• Idioma: Español
• Editorial: Penguin Random House Audio
• Traductor: Manuel Viciano Delibano
• Fecha de lanzamiento: 23 jul 2020
• ISBN: 9788417347918

Brandon Sanderson

BRANDON SANDERSON (Nebraska, 1975) es el gran autor de fantasía del siglo XXI. Tras debutar en 2006 con su novela Elantris, ha deslumbrado a más de cincuenta millones de lectores en casi cuarenta lenguas con el Cosmere, el fascinante universo de magia que comparten la mayoría de sus obras. Sus best sellers son considerados clásicos instantáneos, comola saga Mistborn, la decalogía El Archivo de las Tormentas y otras novelas, como Trenza del mar Esmeralda, Steelheart o Escuadrón. Con un plan de publicación de más de veinte futuras obras (que contempla la interconexión de todas ellas), el Cosmere se convertirá en el universo más extenso e impresionante jamás escrito en el ámbito de la fantasía épica. Sanderson vive en Utah con su esposa e hijos y enseña escritura creativa en la Universidad Brigham Young. Curso de escritura creativa es el libro que recoge sus valiosos consejos.

Comentarios para Escuadrón (Escuadrón 1)

[alspachc · Calificación: 2 de 5 estrellas]

No, I don't like sanderson any better when he's writing YA. Honestly, I don't know why I picked this up (OK, I do, it's because my kid was reading it, but I don't know why I expected a different reaction)

[lou_intheberkshires · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Definitely for Ender's Game people in the aspect of the flight school & training teens in the military, but not as darkly violent. No romance for those tweens/teens who hate that in typical YA. Sanderson plots his course expertly through to the end & now cannot wait for the sequel.

[philphilphil-919791 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

What a scudding amazing book.

[jazzbird61 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

How refreshing to find a book that can be standalone or is the first 'chapter' of a series. In Skyward, we get both and I'm happy with whichever path Sanderson takes. As always, we got a great book with excellent worldbuilding, writing and the emotional pull to keep you engaged. It's a YA (right?) without the obligatory, but boring, instalove. I can appreciate a teen who has more to worry about than some boy (lol).

I can honestly say that to date, I haven't met a Sanderson tale that I didn't enjoy. If this turns out to be a series, I'm in.

[daumari · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

The Dragonriders of Pern was the first genre series I really obsessed over, to the point of looking into joining MUDs (not something I could keep up with weekly library visits to the computer, alas).

To me, Skyward feels like Dragonflight mixed with Ender's Game, in that we have humanity fighting a space thread and struggling to survive, with fighters plucked from the youth. (plus, the bit where Pern is actually fantasy turned stealth-scifi as we discover that they are the descendants of humans who arrived and... i'm getting a head of myself).

Spensa understandably has a huge chip on her shoulder for the way society has branded her father as a coward, and there's a societal level shaming of any pilot who tries to survive instead of saving their ship for parts. She struggles and makes it into flight school, determined to prove that she is no coward and will claim the stars.

Our sentient ship, M-Bot seems to be an anomaly of sorts- more advanced and complicated than current machines, and yet an old, ancient secret hidden in cave with instructions from an unknown pilot to lay low. Great character in his own right, and I want to know more about him.

Absolutely gripping. Can't wait for the sequel, which is this year? Sanderson spoils us.

[bramboomen · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Excellent. Skyward was a real page-turner, which unlike some of Sandersons books did not take very long to get into. While a few of the more YA-themed parts of the story didn't really resonate with me, even those were executed very well. During the first half of the book, everything seemed to be really predictable, but the second half proved almost all of my predictions wrong, and I love that in a book. The only thing I was somewhat disappointed by was the ending. While a large part of the book has some dark undertone, the suddenly-everything-is-allright twists end felt a little bit too easy, but I guess that is to be expected from a YA-novel.

[bangerlm · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

I really love Sanderson as an author. This book is a fun, funny, earnest, engaging, terrifying and exciting young adult novel. It has a bit of an Ender's Game, Top Gun vibe. The plot and themes aren't new, but are done so well that it makes you feel both comforted and excited.

[davisfamily-1 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Let us be clear, this is a kids book and I am not a kid. The first 2 chapters were absolutely awful.

OK... that is out of the way. Spensa wants to be a pilot and because of her daddy drama she is having a hard time fitting in. She is over the top and loud. The story follows her in flight school, she makes friends and learns how to fly. She finds a wrecked ship and convinces her friend, Rig to help her fix it up. M-Bot is fun and hilarious.
This is a story about Spensa growing up and trying to figure out where she fits in her world.
The Krell keep attacking and "Spin" keeps flying. Spensa learns that daydreaming and real life are two different things.
While at its heart this is a story about Spensa growing up emotionally, the world-building and technical explanation of the ships were woven into the story and kept pulling me forward.
In grand Sanderson fashion there is a big payoff in the last 20 pages...
I loved the way the book ended and I loved the journey (after page 45ish)

[clairefun-979518 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

I loved this book! I loved the plot, the world building, the action, the humour, but most of all, I loved the characters, each and every one. Spensa, Cobb, M-bot, and all of the cadets in Skyward flight. SO GOOD.
Spensa's father is a famous pilot, fighting to protect their world from the Krell, who have been attacking at regular intervals for hundreds of years. Spensa has always wanted to be a brave pilot too, and has a lot to prove - and a lot to learn, about her father, the enemy, the world she lives in, and what it really means to be brave.
I've read plenty of exciting teen space alien fighting adventures, but the themes underscoring this.make it so brilliant, moving and emotional. Spensa is just such a wonderful character and is really not afraid to wear her emotions on her sleeve, to put it mildly. It's sweetly funny in a lot of places and I found myself reading with a big goofy grin, but it has its sad and thoughtful moments too, and I loved that everyone has their good and bad sides - No cartoon evil big bad with no motivation here. I basically loved everything about it, and enjoyed every minute. Im really going to miss this book!
I'm very grateful to Netgalley and Orion publishing for the opportunity to read an advance copy in return for an honest, unbiased review (and have to go out and buy it for everyone I know).

[tatoosh-3 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Skyward is a brilliant story that signals Brandon Sanderson may one day deserve serious consideration for enshrinement in the science fiction hall of fame. Aspiring writers will find excellent examples of character development, world-building, and action scenes that are integrated into the plot and advance the story. Others will enjoy a riveting tale in which things are seldom as they first seem.

Spensa is the outcast daughter of a disgraced fighter pilot widely despised for his cowardice during an epic battle for the survival of the human race. Essential to her identity is the belief that her father was not a coward but the victim of vicious political slander. Her only goal is to gain entry to pilot school, become a world-renowned fighter pilot, expose the true story and redeem her father’s name and the family’s reputation. Opposing Spensa is Admiral Judy Ironsides, leader of the planet’s military forces. Ironsides was the flight leader during the fateful battle in which Spensa’s father was shot down by his wingman because he turned and ran from the enemy. Admiral Ironside is convinced a genetic anomaly caused his behavior, and Spensa has the same defect. Ironside will go to any length to stop Spensa from completing pilot training.

This classic tale of good attempting to overcome evil in a quest for redemption is gripping because of Sanderson’s mastery of the craft of storytelling. Spensa learns that her father was not the innocent victim of slander, she presumed. She comes to question her courage and the meaning of cowardice and to fear that she may have the same defect her father possessed. At her nadir, her beliefs, self-concept, and goals have all been stripped from her. She is left with little more than her belligerent personality, the realization that she may be a coward, and the fear that she has a defect that will lead to disaster for herself and humankind.

I won’t say much about the world-building to avoid spoilers, but it is important to note that the world Sanderson constructed is an essential element of the story.

Sanderson’s seamless integration of information into the story is masterful. For example, the fights between the human fighters and the alien Krell occur amid debris falling from the sky. At first, this seems like an implausible detail added to make the battle scenes more alien. Yet mid-story, we learn that this detail is essential to the world Sanderson constructed. Less talented writers might have provided a boring information dump early in the story to justify its inclusion. Waiting to insert an explanation of the debris into the ongoing flow of the story allowed the plot to move forward while providing a compelling solution to a nagging mystery that was allowed to remain unsolved until the optimal moment. Time and again, Sanderson parcels out information about the world and the characters in a way that enhances the story.

This is the first of three story in Sanderson’s Skyward series. Sequels are often disappointing after an excellent first novel. I will be disappointed if that is the case, but the sequels should be worth reading even if they fall short of this masterful beginning.

[yonitdm · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

I really enjoyed reading this book. The characters and the world building were incredible. I'm really excited to read the next one and see how the story continues to unfold there's so much here. The author could go back in time and write about how the world got to be how it is now. He can go forward following characters. He could take a short jump back to just the previous generation. I'm hoping he delves in and lets us know all the questions we have have answers.

[wren73-89184 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

This started a little irritatingly, as the main character is so immature and dense, but she grew on me and I really started enjoying this book. I was able to guess some of the story, but it was well done. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series...

[madcurrin_1 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Good fun. A bit of Top Gun, a bit of Battlestar Galactica, a bit of Knight Rider - undemanding and derivative in a good way, with interesting universe-building to keep it fresh.

[ms_rowse · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Not my preferred genre, but I was invited to a book club and this was the choice. I had to read it fast in time for the meeting, so I'm sure I missed things here and there, but it was really enjoyable! Endearing heroine, heavy action scenes, and no tormented teen love triangle. Worth checking out.

[belana-990668 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

What a great space opera! I hadn't read any science fiction for a while, but listening to this book makes me wonder why I strayed into other genres.

The narration is perfect, and i now bought the sequel with the same narrator, although another version with a British accent (which I generally prefer) is available. However, that narrator sounds way too old for the voice of the heroine.

in this book, we have great characters, and they don't prove to be what they seem at first impression.
the character development is very good, and the story gripped me right from the start.

[charlotteburt · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

I can see what all the hype is about now. A really good story with a flawed hero you can root for. Good world-building. And even a slightly insane AI character to boot. I really enjoyed it, and can't wait to get my hands on the second book.

[merlucito · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

I'm glad I don't have to wait for the second book. I'll just pick it up right now! I really liked this book!

What I liked:
- The characters
They all were really great to follow. I enjoyed their distinct personalities, their personal stories (of the ones we got to see) and the dynamic and friendship between them. Quirk won my heart almost immediately, as well as Bim (my poor little boy died too son but I liked him anyway) and Jorgen, but my favorite has to be M-Bot. My god, what a machine lol
Spensa was a great protagonist! A little over the top sometimes, but I understand where she's coming from so it didn't bother me much.

- The world
Well, is Sanderson after all, isn't it? The world building is fantastic. Very intriguing and vivid. I'm always fascinated by sci-fi worlds and this one is just so intriguing that I can't wait to read more about it.

- The stakes
I love my book to have dead, blood and destruction. That's the kind of reader and writer that I am. So, feeling the fear of these kids not coming back from battle, every time they go into the sky was just... perfect. I couldn't ask for more.

What I didn't like:
- The ending
For some reason it felt really abrupt. I don't know. It was like it needed more pages, another chapter maybe. It seemed... rushed. Also I kind of figured out the situation with the Krell, what was going on. That doesn't make it bad, of course, but I don't know I just expected a little more... and yes, I know is YA but still (?

Aaaaaand that's it. I hope I can read the second soon.

[avanders_1 · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Perfection.

Review based on audio book at 1.5x speed.

[aarondesk · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Great book. Like so many Sanderson books it has a riveting plot, memorable characters, and a cool premise. It was nice to see Sanderson branch out into sci-fi.

[rakerman_1 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

In a way this is a very odd story of an extreme outsider. I don't know how well it would work just reading it to yourself. I liked the flight dynamics (the different ways the ships could maneuver). I also liked the sense of a society trapped into endless battles. I appreciated the author's choice to have things get worse and worse.

Unabridged audiobook read by Suzy Jackson:
I enjoyed the audiobook, Suzy Jackson has a strong voice for Spensa ("Spin") and does good voices for the other characters, including her classmates. She does a particularly good job with the crazy-sane AI.

[elam11 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

This is the first book in a while that I read in basically one sitting (and a physical book, no less!).

On the one hand, nothing crazy-innovative here in terms of plot or even characters, though I enjoyed Spensa's dramatic bloodlust declarations! Also, and I'm very picky about this, it felt like the teenage fighter pilots were somewhat justified by plot revelations as opposed to the usual "this book is marketed at teens, therefore teens are the most competent heroes in the world" schlock.

Other small detriments: it was still pretty easy to spot who had plot armor on, despite other character deaths. The plot felt slight uneven in-world, the the crew being sortied several times while going through a very brief training period. Honestly the plot was a bit predictable, including the save at the end.

On the other hand, it was still a great read! Spensa goes through some good character development that felt earned. She feels authentic throughout. There's no romantic plot tumor(s). Funny parts were funny. And as I said, I plowed through this book, reading past my bedtime. Every time you do that, an author gets their jollies.

[wyvernfriend · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

a story of a world under constant alien attack and one girl's effort to overcome her father's supposed betrayal. Meanwhile humanity on this world is diminishing and the death of everyone is on the cards But not everything is as it seems and maybe it will be one girl, Spensa, who will uncover the truth.

I enjoyed it enough to recommend my husband tried it.

[yvonnekins · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

My immediate reaction to this is that I never thought I'd be so invested in the relationship between a girl and her spaceship, and yet here I am.

This is a hard one to rate for me because the end of the book is probably a 5-star rating, but the first 300-400 pages were solidly at a 3-star. I'm going to go with a 4-star to split the difference. Sanderson endings really just do something to my rating system where I'm so sure nothing will happen that will make the book more than what I've been reading it as, and often endings will make me knock a star off, but Sanderson always does the opposite, and damn this ending.

My main issue throughout this book was the writing style. I'm not a fan of first-person point-of-view in general, and though there are some exceptions to that rule this was not one of them. I had a hard time feeling fully immersed in the story for a good chunk of the book because of that style. It was also a very simplistic style in terms of diction and syntax and things were very face-value. I understand with YA that's to be expected, but it did negatively affect my enjoyment regardless.

Spin is such a great main character. She's genuinely flawed: she's naive, she's hot-headed and impulsive, she's stubborn, she's rude. I loved her for that. She's not necessarily a likable main character, but she is relatable in that she has flaws and she struggles with those flaws... but she also grows, and without her flaws that growth wouldn't exist. I loved the character progression, I loved her flaws, I just really appreciated all of that.

Unfortunately, all of the side characters felt one-dimensional to me. I love M-Bot. The others I don't really care for. (view spoiler) I'm hoping that Jorgen, Rig, and some of the others will be more fleshed out in the next book which I need in my hands right now immediately.

The pacing of this book is what I've come to expect of Sanderson. It starts off pretty good, then it sort of hits a part in the middle where it's not quite dragging but I'm not wholly invested, and then the ending slaps me in the face but in a good way. I liked the plot, and the mystery element really kept me reading through the parts I had trouble immersing myself in the story. I think that this is a good start to a series, and I enjoyed it and will be continuing. That all being said, I understand the people who rated this 5-stars as much as those who were underwhelmed by it and gave it 3-stars, which is a weird spot to be in.

[schant-1 · Calificación: 3 de 5 estrellas]

Acceptable YA girl from the wrong side of the tracks makes good story. Too many space battles, could have been shorter.

[bookwren · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

A fun, mostly fast read: a bit slow in the middle, but the ending made it worthwhile. Lots of character growth.

[jennynau10 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Spensa I'm starfighter pilot is right up there with Katniss and Tris as a girl-power hero as far as I'm concerned. I liked her and her family. Especially her Gran-Gran:
"People need stories, child. They bring us hope, and that hope is real. If that's the case, what does it matter whether people in them lived?"
In this story, there was a battle between humans and aliens. The humans eventually landed on this planet and settled in small segregated groups. Anytime they built anything that advanced humanity, the Krell (alien race) would destroy it.
The Krell sounded very familiar to me. I knew I had heard the term before and google me that the word Krell is in Star Wars, Star Trek, and the Marvel Universe. If I ever write SciFi- I pledge to call the aliens something else. Other than that one name, I thought the World Building was terrific.
Anyhow, Spensa dreams of being a pilot and has to work twice as hard to achieve that goal, as most candidates because her Father died under mysterious circumstances as a pilot. Hardly anyone knows what happened back then until Spensa starts flying herself around in an AI-powered starship!
The author describes this plot as How to Train Your Dragon meets Top Gun and Enders Game. I think that's an accurate description, and if that kind of book suits you- you'll want to pick this up along with the sequel: Starsight on November 26, 2019.

[reading_fox · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

Fun. All of Brandon's books are fun. This is a YA mil-SF (already an odd combination, and a departure into SF for the otherwise fantasy centred Sanderson) featuring young girl growing up in a military academy, pretty standard fare for the genre, but well executed and fast paced as ever.

Spin (her pilot's callsign but used by everybody) has always wanted to be a pilot like her late father. She's never believed the official tales that he was a coward and fled from battle - the stigma that;s haunted her whole life but hasn't, quite, prevented her from getting into the space cadets. Her one wish is help save their world from the strange alien invaders who descend almost with regularity. Cadet training itself only takes a few months (which is ridiculously short even if people have already had the theory down pat), and before she knows it Spin is flying for real and it's everything she ever dreamed of. However, not unexpectedly, everything soon comes crashing down and she's left on her own resources again, but luck plays an important part in her salvaging as much honour as she can.

As is disappointingly oft the case in YA books, there's some major continuity issues, most especially regarding the spaceship she and Rog start repairing. For a start it never seems to need it's powerpack recharging although Spin had to go to great lengths to get hold of one sufficiently capable. And very suddenly indeed most of it's critical functions switched on when needed. Spin herself seemed to thrive on just rat and mushrooms which is hardly fulfilling even minimum dietary requirements. Another very common problem Sanderson also encounters is making sense of 3D space battles within limited prose, here he's just tended to describe a few maneuvers, and leave it up to the reader to guess what's actually happening, it certainly doesn't feel like he has a grasp of where the ships are at any moment. The physics of the light lance are just ridiculous, and even worse is when Spin manages to throw it up a cliff.

But for all that it is fun. There's some real poignancy to realising your dreams are not always what you thought they'd be, and still trying to do your best anyway. I'll probably read the rest of the series because it's Sanderson, but he should maybe stick to what he's best at which is inventing fascinating new magic systems.

[malexmave · Calificación: 5 de 5 estrellas]

Sanderson did it again. I don't know how he does it, but almost everything he touches turns to gold, and so did his take on SciFi. An excellent book, and I loved the narration by Suzy Jackson on the audiobook.

[krau0098 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

This is the first book in the four book Skyward series. It was very good and very well written. I enjoyed it but didn't love it. I thought the story was a bit slow to start and wasn't a huge fan of the setting or main character. However, Spin did grow on me over time as she matured and started to think more about her actions.

Spensa (call name Spin) lives on a world constantly under attack by aliens. The only hope against these attacks are the pilots that fight daily to save humanity. Spensa desperately wants to go to flight school and become a pilot, however her father was labeled a deserter and this means that Spensa and her family are pariahs to society. Spensa manages to fight her way into flight school but is slowly finding out that she doesn’t have the whole story about her father’s past.

I loved all the interesting characters and enjoyed some of the twists presented at the end of the book. The story was engaging and flowed nicely. There are lots of excellent action scenes and I also enjoyed some of the survival things in here.

I am not a huge fan of miltary books, especially when they are about flying. This isn’t a topic that’s ever really appealed to me; but Sanderson made it interesting enough and fast-paced enough that I enjoyed it.

Overall I ended up enjoying this story and I plan on continuing with the series. This book is more similar to “The Reckoners” in writing style than Sanderson's other epic fantasy series. I still enjoy the epic fantasy stories more but these sci-fi series are intriguing too.

[herenya_1 · Calificación: 4 de 5 estrellas]

A girl and her starship, on a planet where most people live safely underground and the stars are obscured by a layer of space junk. Spensa is determined become a fighter-pilot, like her father. She’s convinced that the public story about her father’s final flight isn’t true, but because of his reputation, she encounters opposition and discrimination when she tries to follow in his footsteps.

This is hardly first story I’ve encountered about a teenage underdog attending a specialised school/training program, overcoming obstacles and ultimately making friends, but it’s such a fun trope. This take on it has a lot of things I like: Teamwork! Flying! Mystery! An AI with personality (and probably also feelings)! The twists are satisfying and some of the characters are prone to spouting oddly amusing things.

There are two areas in which this book doesn’t score as highly as the rest. Some of the training/fight sequences are too long (although I suspect that would actually appeal to some readers).
Also, while the narrative handles some of Spensa’s emotions really effectively, there are times when it needed to show, rather than tell, what she is feeling or what she’s just learnt. There was opportunity for some of her realisations to be a bit less 'insert important lesson here', for her emotions to be more nuanced and for Spensa herself -- who is in many ways straightforward and single-minded -- to be a bit more complicated.

That’s not a criticism I’ve had about Sanderson’s other books. I don’t know if Skyward’s first-person POV made it too easy to just tell the reader things, or if Sanderson has allowed protagonists in his other books more emotional ambiguity, or if my expectations are different because Skyward is Young Adult.

I still enjoyed it. I’ll read the sequel.

“So…,” I said. “You're saying that by the end of our training, you expect us to be able to use grappling hooks made of energy to smash our enemies with flaming chunks of space debris?”
“Yes.”
“That…,” I whispered, “that’s the most beautiful thing I've ever heard.”