User:Rasarr/Skyward Universe

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Cover of the British edition of Skyward

{/{uncanonical}/}

Skyward Universe and cytoverse both refer to the as-of-yet-unnamed universe that serves as the setting of Defending Elysium and the Skyward series.[1] It's our own world, albeit in the far future; as such, it's not part of the cosmere. Alongside Earth and humanity, it contains numerous spacefaring species, all of which share a magic system known as cytonics.

Underlying mechanics

Nowhere

The cytoverse is comprised of two connected realities -- our own and nowhere, an interdimensional "world" with strange relation to time and space. Little is known of nowhere's appearance, though it is home to a type of beings called delvers, as well as a mineral called the acclivity stone.[2] Regular rules of physics do not apply there completely, and everything to come from nowhere possesses extraordinary properties. The best-known among them is acclivity stone, which is used to counteract gravity and thus provide lift to all spaceships and space stations.[3]

The easiest way for most people to enter nowhere is through a nowhere portal, a stable wormhole leading to it and back. Such portals can be found on many worlds, and though the markings on them indicate that they were made rather than arising naturally, it's unknown who created them. The portals let both people and equipment to be taken through, which allows for mining acclitivity stone.[2]

Cytonics

by jurassicpencil
Spensa and Doomslug, a sapient and a non-sapient cytonic

Apart from the portals, nowhere can also be accessed by people called cytonics. Any species, including non-sapient ones, is capable of developing cytonic abilities; how they first appear is undetermined, but once they do show up, they are passed down to the original cytonic's descendants. They allow for more than just peering into nowhere -- "cytonics" refers to a whole host of psychic powers.[4][5]

Cytonic abilities include, among others, telepathy, mind swapping, illusions and teleportation. Most, if not all of them require that the cytonic connect themselves to nowhere. Teleportation in particular utilizes nowhere heavily, as the body of the cytonic, along with whatever else they're carrying, travels through nowhere to its destination. Though time appears to pass for the cytonic, to others, the jump happens instantly.[6][7]

In fact, both teleportation and telepathy work instantaneously, and thus faster-than-light. As such, they are the basis of the two most crucial technologies in the universe: cytonic communication and FTL travel.[4] All FTL-capable starships in the Skyward Universe travel using cytonics, with non-sapient slugs known as the taynix serving as living hyperdrives.[8] Moreover, cytonics can be shared with the rest of the populace, as cytonics can be augmented with mechanical equipment; that's how a single creature can carry an entire ship across the stars. Conversely, machines can also be built to utilize nowhere, albeit to a lesser extent than living creatures.[9]

Delvers

Cytonics are not without their dangers. Chief among those are delvers, the inhabitants of nowhere. Delvers despise both radio signals and, more importantly, cytonics. When sufficiently agitated, they can transport themselves into the physical world. A single delver can be as large as a moon, and possesses a number of deadly powers, including the ability to create and launch meteors, and the capacity to destroy any living being they pass through. This makes them extremely dangerous, and has led to extreme limits being put on the use of cytonics.[10][11]

History

(history)

Inhabitants

(species, politics)

Development

Brandon first wrote Defending Elysium in 2003; it was the last story he'd written prior to selling Elantris and thus kickstarting the cosmere. Though Defending Elysium won a honorable mention at the Writers of the Future contest in 2003, it wouldn't be published until 2008, when, after substantial re-editing, it won the first prize at UPC Science Fiction Award in Spain. It would subsequently be published in Asimov's Science Fiction's October/November 2008 issue, and then released publicly on Brandon's website in 2009.[12]

As with most things Brandon had been writing at the time, he planned to create more works set in the same world. His intention was always to evolve it, and see how the universe changed over time. Over the next fifteen years, many of those plans were abandoned, while others rose up in their place. However, Spensa was not initially part of the setting.[13]

(The Eyes, Skyward-cosmere connection)

Bibliography of the Skyward Universe

Published Works of the Skyward Universe
Publication Year Title Series
2009 Defending Elysium standalone
2018 Skyward Skyward #1
2019 Starsight Skyward #2

Forthcoming works

The following are confirmed upcoming works set in the Skyward Universe:

  • Skyward 3 - the third book in the Skyward series, tentatively titled Nowhere.
  • Skyward 4 - the fourth and final book in the Skyward series.

Notes

{/{Defending Elysium}/} {/{skyward}/}