It's hard to overstate the popularity and acclaim of Brandon Sanderson's science fiction and fantasy works. Sanderson has written countless bestselling and award-winning books, amassing a huge, passionate fanbase along the way. It's easy to see how he's gathered so many fans—his books are fast-paced, engaging, inventive, and revolve around new landscapes, or even galaxies, to get lost in. Many of his fantasy series are set in a shared universe called the Cosmere, but that's not the only epic world Sanderson has created. The fan favorite sci-fi Skyward series is set in the Cytoverse, and while there may be fewer listens set here than in the Cosmere, it's no less fascinating to explore. Consider this your friendly introductory tour of the Cytoverse—read on to learn more.
Note: The following article contains some spoilers for the stories set in Brandon Sanderson’s Cytoverse. Read on with caution.
What is the Cytoverse?
Simply put, the Cytoverse is the setting of Sanderson’s Skyward series—a world similar to the one we know, hundreds of years in the future. The Cytoverse is populated by a range of alien species, whose ability to travel at faster-than-light speeds allowed for the creation of civilizations that stretch between the stars. Sanderson’s extraterrestrials are diverse in form, from humanoids to sentient smells to ones that look like pufferfish to tiny beings surrounded by large exoskeletons.
The Cytoverse is made up of two realities, often referred to as “Somewhere” and “Nowhere.” While most species, including humanity, live in Somewhere, Nowhere has its own physics with unique possibilities. Nowhere is home to acclivity stones that counteract gravity, a valuable quality, so some species use portals to mine them. That comes with risk, though, because Delvers—creatures that can be the size of the moon and are capable of killing almost any other living species—reside there.
Delvers and acclivity stones only scratch the surface of Nowhere's potential. What really sets this universe apart—and gives the Cytoverse its name—are Cytonics.
What are Cytonics?
There are creatures in Somewhere that have a psychic connection to Nowhere, giving them cytonic abilities. While these abilities can include everything from telepathy and illusions to mind-swapping, the cytonic ability that truly changed the course of the civilizations is teleportation. Creatures with these abilities are called Cytonics, and they can teleport through Nowhere, making faster-than-light travel possible. And it's not just humanoids that can be Cytonics—Taynix, for example, are eyeless alien slugs whose cytonic abilities are harnessed to power spaceships.
For most alien species, the discovery of cytonic capabilities marks the culmination of their technological advancement. Humans are the rare exception—they discovered cytonics only after significant technological progress.
What is the history of the Cytoverse?
Spensa's story, which begins in Skyward, takes place long after humanity's first contact with aliens, the disappearance of Old Earth, and the three Human Wars—so we only hear about these events in snippets. Here's what we do know about the history of the Cytoverse.
Humanity makes first contact
The events of the first contact between humans and aliens are detailed Sanderson's short story "Defending Elysium." This story, written in the early 2000s, initially inspired the Skyward series. (Spoilers for this story follow!)
On Earth, the Phone Company was working on a form of telepathic linking. The experiments ultimately failed, but the efforts were enough to attract the attention of the Tenasi. When the Tenasi sent out a diplomatic scout to make contact with humanity, though, they were shot down by the United Governments military. To avoid starting a war with the entire universe, the Phone Company intervened, offering to be the point of contact between aliens and humanity. Soon, other species would only communicate through the Phone Company, and the Phone Company grew in power.
While humanity spread out across the solar system, they hadn't yet discovered faster-than-light travel, which made it impossible to go much beyond that. The Phone Company was suspected of having faster-than-light technology but hiding it, assuming that humanity was not yet ready to interact with the rest of the universe and would endanger other species. In "Defending Elysium," a Phone Company employee learns the dark truth about how these alien species enforce peace and decides to share the secret of cytonics with humanity—and faster-than-light travel with it.
The Human Wars and their aftermath
The notion that humanity would start conflict with other species turned out to be a fairly accurate assumption. After adopting faster-than-light travel, humanity became an interstellar power. They used this power—and an alliance with Figments—to conquer species like Kitsens. This was the first Human War, which humanity eventually lost.
The Second Human War was even more destructive. Humans built laboratories on distant planets, trying to weaponize Delvers. Instead, they lost control of 13 Delvers, to disastrous effect. This made Nowhere more dangerous and even limited some cytonic abilities.
The Third Human War was quashed by the Superiority, an alliance of five alien species that consider themselves of greater intelligence. This group becomes the most powerful political force in the Cytoverse because they control who has access to faster-than-light travel or communication. Some species, like Kitsens, join the Superiority as second-class citizens. But even those who don't align themselves with the Superiority depend on them for trade.
In the aftermath of the Human Wars, the Superiority keeps humanity isolated, denying them access to faster-than-light travel or communication and keeping them on the brink of extinction. Old Earth has vanished, so humanity is stuck on the same distant planets where they researched Delvers. The rest of the Cytoverse fears humanity escaping isolation and ending the hard-won peace of the universe.
Of course, it's not that easy to keep humanity down, which brings us to Spensa's story.
What stories are set in the Cytoverse?
The stories set in the Cytoverse are the Skyward series, the Skyward Flight novella series, and the previously mentioned short story, "Defending Elysium." The Skyward series follows Spensa's journey to become a pilot and fight against the Krell aliens to defend her planet. Along the way, she discovers the truth about cytonics and what's really happening to humanity—and she might just change the whole Cytoverse.
The Skyward Series
Spensa is a teenage girl who longs to be a pilot. Her planet is being attacked by Krell, and she wants to help fight back. Unfortunately, her father was a pilot who deserted in the middle of a battle, so the flight school is not eager to accept her. When she discovers a derelict spaceship, however, she believes this could be her path to achieving her dream. There's just one unusual thing about this ship—she can communicate with it.
Spensa has taken to the sky since the first installment, but she's also discovered some terrible truths. She's learned that her father attacked his own team during a battle with the Krell. Spensa is also now aware that she can hear things among the stars, and she's afraid this ability will lead her to do the same thing her father did. But her fear of repeating the past is not enough to prevent her from defending humanity.
Spensa is not only one of the best pilots on Detritus—she's also a spy. While infiltrating the Superiority to learn how to stop them from wiping out humanity, she uncovers their plans to use the impossible-to-fight Delvers as weapons. As a Cytonic, though, Spensa knows there's a secret to taking down the formidable Delvers. But to get to the truth and save the galaxy, she'll have to enter the Nowhere.
In the final book of the series, Spensa returns from the Nowhere with new knowledge about cytonics. Her allies have managed to prevent the Superiority from wiping out the rest of the galaxy while she was gone, but there's not much time left. Spensa's new understanding of cytonics makes this much more complicated than she could ever have imagined as an aspiring pilot on the backwater planet of Detritus. Whatever she chooses will decide the fate of humanity forever.
Skyward Flight Novellas
The Skyward Flight series, written with Janci Patterson, takes place on Detritus during the time Spensa is gone. Its main characters are pilots Freyja “FM” Marten and Jorgen Weight, engineer Rodge “Rig” McCaffrey, and Alanik, a Cytonic from the planet ReDawn.
This novella is set between the events of Starsight and Cytonic, from the perspective of FM. Detritus has narrowly escaped being destroyed by a Delver, and humanity needs a way to escape. Jorgen has just discovered a group of cytonic Taynix living below the surface of Detritus. FM, Jorgen, and Rig have to work together to harness the Taynix for flight and rescue Spensa's ally, Minister Cuna of the Superiority, who is currently stranded.
ReDawn is also set between Starsight and Cytonic. Alanik of ReDawn knows better than to trust the Superiority's claims of peace. When she arrives on Detritus, she finds their leadership is considering allying themselves with the Superiority—and what's worse, the government on ReDawn is considering the same thing. Alanik teams up with Jorgen, FM, and Rig to try to prevent both planets from falling into the clutches of the Superiority. Their only hope is figuring out how to harness an ancient technology.
The final novella in the series is set during the events of Cytonic. Jorgen and Alanik are trying to piece together a Detritus in chaos after the actions of the Superiority. They receive a transmission from the Kitsen on the planet Evershore claiming that some of Jorgen's people are stranded there, and the Kitsen want to return them. Jorgen has to get control over his cytonic abilities to rescue them—but can he trust the Kitsen?
