Skyhunter: A Great Read for Struggling Teens

Set 5,000 years in a post-apocalyptic future, Skyhunter is a dystopian fantasy young adult novel about Mara, the last free nation standing against the evil Kerensa Federation which has been using genetically engineered monsters to dominate nations. These monsters, called “ghosts” are actually reincarnated zombie-like humans who are mind-controlled by their masters to destroy Maran strykers. Talin and her three comrades find a loophole in this mind-link technology and must defy orders to secretly infiltrate the Federation to secure the future of Mara.

Told from a first-person perspective, the story follows Talin as she endures prejudice and ostracism for being a refugee immigrant from Basea. After her mother sacrificed everything to give Talin a new life in Mara, young Talin is chosen to be a Striker Assassin for their army. She saves and trains an escaped Skyhunter from The Federation, discovering secrets about him that will help her bring down the Federation.

This book explores themes of poverty, class divide, and rising against oppressive forces. Talin must overcome the negative core beliefs she has about herself from the prejudice she’s endured, including seeing herself as a rat and trash, which she calls herself frequently.

“I know, logically, that I am not,”

“but it doesn’t matter.”

Her core belief, from a therapist's perspective, is that of worthlessness, a common feeling amongst teenagers who are bullied, ostracized by their peers, or beat down emotionally by those closest to them. Talin uses every situation to reinforce her core belief, telling herself:

He felt sorry for you, this house does not accept trash and they will never take orders from a Basean rat.

Talin also shows how to fight her mind as she learns to believe in herself. She teaches some of her great coping skills including mindfulness, in the form of meditation. Meditation is a great skill to manage anxiety and unwanted thoughts. She gives a great guided meditation that anyone can practice:

“I lay on my back imagining the ripples disturbing the surface of my mind, then letting them slow, still the surface of my mind, then letting them slow……I remember the sound of an evening forest, the call of the birds in the boughs…and the thoughts fade back into nothing.”

Packed with action and paced well, the plot is well constructed and the steady climax built up steadily to an exciting ending. As Talin struggles with her identity and allegiance, she must choose between her mother and her country Mara.

What I liked most was the elegance and imagination put into the telepathic capabilities of the characters, which is what I believe sets this book apart from other fantasy YA reads. This was a magical dimension that counter-balanced the more realistic sword fighting and battle schema. Marie Lu writes:

“The sensations of his dreams are more erratic than his waking thoughts — subtler, fewer whole scenes and words, but deeper feelings and shadows, with occasional spikes of terror…..and reflections in glass….his fears leaking through our bondlike water from a dam, soaking in the walls of our minds.”

The mind-link was the most imaginative part of this novel, especially since it builds the relationship of Talin and Skyhunter on such a deep level they’re able to communicate telepathically. When it’s revealed who Skyhunter really is, this bond grows even deeper.

There were a couple of things that threw me off about this book. The first was the narrative being in the first person, which was rather limiting and somewhat predictable, although the choice Talin made, in the end, was not what I predicted. The second was the over-explaining of things I would have preferred to figure out on my own. Lastly, it didn’t have extensive world-building, and not much is known about the history of this world. That being said, all of these are commonplace in the YA genre, and if you like YA fantasy, these things won’t bother you.

I give Skyhunter 3 out of 5 stars (compared with all genres), but highly recommend it for young readers, or anybody new to the fantasy genre. The story of self-discovery is more about overcoming adversity and rising up even when nobody believes in you. In the end, Talin says:

“In this moment I finally understand why I fight for Mara…”

This understanding of why we continue on and do what we do in life is what makes Skyhunter a great read for young adults.