Difference between revisions of "Cytoverse"

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{{spoilers|book=Starsight}}
 
The '''Cytoverse'''{{url ref|name=placeholder}} refers to the universe that serves as the setting of ''[[Defending Elysium]]'' and the [[Skyward (series)|Skyward series]].{{wob ref|11965}} It is our own world, albeit in the far future; as such, it is not part of the [[cosmere]]. Alongside [[Earth (Skyward)|Earth]] and humanity, it contains numerous spacefaring species, all of which share a magic system known as [[cytonics]], which is what the universe is named after.
 
== Underlying mechanics ==
 
=== The travels of Spensa, space pilot ===
As with most things Brandon had been writing at the time, he planned to create more works in ''Defending Elysium''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s setting. 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.{{wob ref|13462}}
 
Spensa was conceived as a pilot character from [[Mistborn (series)#Era 4: Third Mistborn Trilogy|Mistborn Era Four]] (the space-age of the cosmere).{{wob ref|10943}} Her particular plot was not developed beyond the concept of "the travels of Spensa, space pilot".{{wob ref|10948}} However, Brandon was most interested in a particular technological aspect of her setting -- the biological faster-than-light travel system that would eventually be folded into [[cytonics]]. As the bio-FTL did not fit with the cosmere, Spensa was cut out of Mistborn Era Four and transplanted into the world of ''Defending Elysium''.{{wob ref|10943}}{{wob ref|11965}} Her story morphed into "a girl and her spaceship", and became ''[[Skyward]]'', which came out in 2018.{{wob ref|11618}}
It wasn't just the cosmere that Cytoverse borrowed elements from. In 2016, Brandon began writing a novella titled ''The Eyes'', based around the concept of answering the [[wikipedia:Fermi Paradox|Fermi Paradox]]. It was never finished, although the first chapter became a Patreon reward for $10 patrons at the time.{{sots ref|2016}} The story of ''The Eyes'' was eventually absorbed into the setting wholesale, although in its current form, it's not fully canon-compliant. Nonetheless, some of its characters are still around by the time of ''[[Skyward]]'', and one of its alien races made an appearance in ''[[Starsight]]''.{{wob ref|12197}} It's unclear which aliens those would be, though they might be the [[figment]]s or the [[dione]], as both are introduced in that book and feature in it prominently. Considering the title, [[delver]]s may also originate from ''The Eyes''.
 
The name "Cytoverse" itself came about fairly late, almost half a year after the publication of ''[[Starsight]]''. Up until then, the name '''Skyward Universe''' was used, with "cytoverse" making rounds in the fandom until Brandon canonized it at one of his livestreamed signings.{{url ref|name=placeholder}} Unlike [[cosmere]], "Cytoverse" is not an in-world term.
 
While so far, the future of Cytoverse includes only the final two books in the Skyward Series, Brandon does have some ideas for more stories in the setting. In particular, he remains interested in the concept of biological FTL.{{wob ref|11965}}
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