Defending Elysium: A Cytoverse Novella

Brandon Sanderson

Nov 2021 · Sold by Dragonsteel, LLC

About this ebook

As Brandon Sanderson’s #1 bestselling Skyward series celebrates its third volume, Cytonic, travel back in time to the origin of Cytonics in the novella Defending Elysium.

Centuries before Spensa looked skyward from the planet Detritus—back on Old Earth before it was lost—Jason Write faced a crucial question: was humanity ready to join galactic society?

When faster-than-light communications were discovered by a small telephone company in 2071, alien species such as the Tenasi and Varvax overheard them and came to visit Earth. Because the Phone Company controls all communications with the aliens, their operatives like Jason operate above the law.

Now, on the space platform Evensong, one of the Phone Company’s scientists has gone missing before surfacing in a hospital with amnesia, and Jason is sent to investigate. Right as he arrives, the body of a murdered Varvax ambassador is discovered, sure to cause a galactic incident. Coln Abrams of the United Intelligence Bureau seizes the opportunity to investigate Jason as he deals with the crisis. This could be the UIB’s chance to discover the Phone Company’s secrets—how does FTL communication work, and what is Jason hiding?

Winner of Spain’s UPC Award for Science Fiction in 2007.

Ratings and reviews

A very good short story, the whole thing is on his website for free, but I figured I'd buy it in the book form since it doesn't have a physical form unfortunately. It does include some more stuff than what is on his website though. Hopefully he'll publish it with more Cytoverse books or short stories. An absolute must read if you're reading the Cytoverse books.

Small book packed with amazing and imaginative content. Fantastic!

An incresible must read for anyone interested in the Cytoverse and great sci-fi in general.

About the author

Brandon Sanderson grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. He lives in Utah with his wife and children and teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University. He is the author of such bestsellers as the Mistborn® trilogy and its sequels, The Alloy of Law, Shadows of Self, and The Bands of Mourning; the Stormlight Archive novels The Way of Kings,Words of Radiance; Oathbringer, and Rhythm of War and other novels, including The Rithmatist and Steelheart. In 2013, he won a Hugo Award for Best Novella for The Emperor's Soul, set in the world of his acclaimed first novel, Elantris. Additionally, he was chosen to complete Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time® sequence.