As with my letter “R” pick, my letter “S” pick for the A To Z challenge, SUNREACH by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson continues the adventures of Skyward Flight (from the SKYWARD series) as they battle the evil galactic Superiority that’s bent on imprisoning and/or exterminating the humans along with the horrific Delvers from another dimension.

The previous installments of this series were strong stories about the continuing battle of the humans on the planet Detritus and their valiant Defiant Defense Force of pilots as they work to push beyond their borders by reclaiming dormant low orbit defense platforms, battling Superiority drones and learning the secrets of hyperdrive so they can escape their prison planet. It was great to see them interacting with the cute and somewhat bizarre Tanix (colorful slug-like creatures that can transport themselves and others across great distances) and mastering their use for the hyperdrives of their ships, and while I love the characters of Rig the engineer and FM the DDF pilot, this book devolved pretty quickly into a space romance that was all about whether or not FM would get her man. Skyward flight has a hell of a lot more going on to make the romance more than a subplot. I’ll give this three stars because this book could have been so much more.