Acquired Book By: I started hosting blog tours with The Write Reads in 2020 and prior to hosting with Dave (who runs the tours and has built an incredible community of the socially bookish behind it) I was following their feeds via Twitter. I took an unexpected hiatus from hosting their tours until this Summer, 2024 wherein I reconnected with Dave and started to get back into the tours as they were available to join. I love finding new Independent publishers as much as I love finding new niches of fiction and Non-Fiction alike in which to absorb a story or style of narrative I haven’t yet come across and through hosting for The Write Reads I am finding my journey of discovery is regularly heightened to travel into new spheres of where story can take us all.
I received a complimentary copy of “Skyfleet” from the author Victoria Williamson in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
I am wicked thrilled to say, I have a lovely new release to share during #SciFiMonth this year which tackles a subject in clear view of a category of stories that befits the idea of ‘outside my comfort zones’ as it involves BUGS. I foolishly thought the bugs were altered bugs or alien bugs or some kind of bug I’ve NEVER heard of previously – never in my life did I once think that the ‘mutabugs’ in the story were actually mutated *cockroaches!* (shudders) I’m not sure about you – but for me personally? Next to spiders, those are my least favourite bug to encounter! Ick.
I felt this was also a keenly insightful story which can resonate with readers who are also interested in Cli-Fi and Environmental stories in Science Fiction. As even though the climate of this world was suddenly altered through radiation, the radiation itself stole the natural environment of its own kind of harmonic cycles of life. As described by Williamson in the story as altering the life of the plants and insects – I oft wondered if other aspects of this world were also keenly altered by the crash and the aftereffects of having that kind of radioactive presence so volatile and near communities where settlers were resettling? Those were the kinds of thoughts running through my mind as I first entered the story and was eager to see where Williamson would take the story. Would she address those other concerns or just focus on the mutabugs?
This novel arrived with a full ‘reader’s kit’ by the author – who graced us with our own miniature plane, set of non-radiated seeds (as food in this world is scarce since the meteor strike!) and a whole bunch of lovely surprises! Mind you, I could have survived without finding the little bag of ‘bugs’ included by I understood why they were present. I’m just not a ‘bug kind of gal’ and that little bag was hiding in the kit so when I pulled it out – I admit, it gave me half a fright!
Being a part of this blog tour was a blast – I look forward to sharing photos of what I received on my #bookstagram feeds as I share this review socially. I truly appreciate the time and energy the author put into giving us all a wicked good #bookpost in celebration of the book’s release and of spending time tucked into her story. If you know of a reader who loves bugs and planes and children who have the courage to stand up to adults – this is definitely a story, you’ll want them to read!
As you’ll find on my review below – it was a wicked good read and one that you can easily do in one sitting as the story is fast paced and has an ending that you’ll have to read to believe!
Skyfleet
Subtitle: March of the Mutabugs
by Victoria Williamson
Source: Author via The Write Reads
When the skies turn deadly, a young heroine must rise from the ashes...
Twelve-year-old Amberley Jain has faced incredible challenges since the crash that took her parents and paralysed her legs. Now, with her best friend Ricardo Lopez about to be sent away and a swarm of mutated insects closing in on the Skyfleet base, the stakes have never been higher. Something monstrous is driving the mutabugs north from the contaminated meteor site known as the Cauldron, and the only plane capable of stopping it - the Firehawk - lies in pieces in the hangar.
Determined to honour her parents' legacy, Amberley hatches a daring plan. With Ricardo's help, they stow away on a supply train, trading his most treasured possession for the parts needed to repair the Firehawk. After secret test flights, the legendary jet is ready for action. Now, Amberley and Ricardo must confront the deadly swarm and save their home, discovering their inner strength and the true meaning of friendship along the way.
Skyfleet: March of the Mutabugs is a thrilling tale of adventure and resilience, perfect for middle-grade readers.
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-1837917044
Published by Tiny Tree Books
on 24th October, 2024
Format: Paperback Edition
Pages: 198
Published by: Tiny Tree Books (@tinytreebooks) via Insta
an imprint of Andrews UK Limited
Available Formats: Paperback and Ebook
Converse via: #MGLit, #MiddleGrade
as well as #TheWriteReads & #Skyfleet and #SciFiMonth
My Review of Skyfleet:
What is so wicked brilliant about the set-up of this novel is how it is voiced by Amberley – a pre-teen who was the sole survivor of a plane crash which killed her parents and left her without the ability to walk. She has tenacity and bold strength in the face of danger, too, as the opening sequence of the novel grips you from the first page! She chooses to stay involved in the fight against the mutabugs which took the life of her parents – as apparently, there was a mission to separate from the Old World and face the challenges of a New World, as Williamson makes that definition quite clear early-on. There are new settlers here and the Skyfleet are a bit of a protectorate of sorts – going on daring missions to provide safety and security to those who are attempting to carve out a life here.
The interesting bit is that children here aren’t given much of a voice of their own. Meaning, the adults are so dearly consumed by the chaos of dealing with the mutabugs, that they overlook the children, like Amberley and her best friend Ric as people they could turn too and rely on to help them on their missions if they could only see past the age barriers and view them as sources of knowledge about a common enemy. Ric for his part has spent his life around planes and hangers and knows a lot of mechanics when it comes to fixing what is broken. He’s an equally strong character and a wicked good friend to Amberley as they both have had a set of circumstances alighted on their path that would test the internal fortitude of anyone much less someone who wasn’t twelve years old.
I was curiously captured by the ‘treehouse’ in the story. As it is a grand and tall tree though apparently hollow and with such a wide space of useable space – the Skyfleet chose to use it for their base of operations! It is replete with staircases, vines which jettison down the pilots faster than an elevator and other intriguing assets like bunkers and dormitories below its base. It was the kind of base where imagination and ingenuity could get you into trouble – as one of the coolest characters was Sydney who wore a wombat as a scarf around her neck! She was one of the more relatable and creative characters in the story – who also took a liking to young Amberley and Ric. She saw their potential as much as Whistler who was the chief engineer as both of them recognised talent when they saw it in front of them. Their peers of course saw the complete opposite: children getting into mischief and not obeying the rules. The irony of course is that when it comes to aviation – a bit of imagination and ingenuity is sometimes what you need to fix a problem with limited supplies.
In the background of all this is a brewing altered environment – where radiation rain would make it deadly to be outside and how everyone on the Skyfleet base had to take medication to offset the radioactive levels in the air and environment overall. It was quite a scary place from that angle of it – but as Williamson focused on the plight of the children and their intention to rally against being classified as short-term inconveniences – it made for a wicked story to pursue. Especially if you consider I’m not someone who likes insects on a good day and finding that through mutation all the regular insects you might avoid yourself in your daily life are now mutant armies of villains attacking the villagers, settlers and Skyfleet all at once is not exactly the best story to read before you sleep at night! Laughs. I did like how Williamson balanced the dangerous mutabugs with some of the innocent ones, too, where some mutabugs weren’t attacking per se but were acting on the defensive.
Part of the tech in this world seemed rooted in Old West lore and Williamson definitely had fun with giving some of the tech clever ways of ‘fitting’ into the background environs, too. Such as the Earthcreeper which was a type of train but in the same form of design and mannerism of movement that reflected a ‘snake’. The trading concepts also played into the Old West or in Science Fiction realms Weird West, as this story definitely had some soft Weird West vibes inside it! By soft, I refer to a more gentle and cosier Weird West styling than what you’d find in an adult Weird West novel. For those nods, I had to smirk as Weird West is a recent corridor I am exploring in my Sci Fi wanderings.
One of my favourite scenes involved the Robber Baron, Amberley, Ric and Syndey! It was wicked brilliant because of how each of the characters handled themselves – but also, because you can readily believe that if a trader caught wind of a prized possession how they might want to fenagle their way out of paying the right price for it, too! This of course, came after my other favourite scene which was a zip line kind of transportation of goods from a higher elevation to a lower one – without saying too much about it, that particular scene left me full of smirks for the kind of moxie it took to pull it off!
There is an entire Science department on the SkyFleet base whose entire mission is to study the mutabugs – in their labs, mind you, and that makes it a bit more interesting considering the kind of ‘bugs’ they are focusing on studying. Whilst they undertake the medical complications of having radioactive bugs in full danger of humans and the food chain – there are slight nudges of technologies that are a bit more Science Fiction than what you’d think an aviation team might have on hand. Williamson doesn’t fully flesh out that kind of tech though – it is only loosely mentioned here or there, and I would have loved to have seen more instances of the tech either being used or at least broached more to the point where we understood its origins. The origins of this world were cut back as well – you have a loose awareness of the world itself, a vague sense that the settlers had to vacate the ‘old world’ for reasons that only they understand as it isn’t clearly defined to the reader and where we are ‘now’ isn’t readily discussed either. That was a disappointing thread of discovery for me as I thrive on the background and backstories within novels. I love the world-building aspects of Science Fiction and Fantasy – so to miss those layers of insight was a bit harder to shift past until I lost myself in the adventure Amberley and Ric were having in the Firehawk!
The Firehawk itself was one of seven planes – and the planes themselves were definitely built for a Sci-Fi world – as their technologies were clearly not of this century! They had weapon capabilities that befit an offworld homeworld – whereas the ways in which they were able to carry out their missions was part classic aviation acrobats and part Sci-Fi new-tech. Williamson also did a good job balancing the focus from the children to the SkyFleet personnel and used different formats of typography to differentiate between who was talking and in which capacity they were speaking – such as on radio signals.
The action sequences were the best! When all the planes were airbourne all at once and battling the mutabugs together – that was the synchroneity of action I love to see play out! Amberley was a skilled pilot who just needed one mission to prove her worth to the rest of the SkyFleet team and likewise her best friend Ric was a natural engineer but both of them lacked the ability to prove anything when the adults only viewed them as children. The acrobatic maneuvering in the skies and the ways in which the SkyFleet tackled the mutabugs was just wicked awesome! As a team – adults and children – together there was a special kind of harmony to the SkyFleet and I could see how this novel could easily be spun into a series! The door was left wide open for the further adventures of SkyFleet and the growing issues facing the settlers in an unforgiving environment wrecked by radiation and a mutated natural world.
On the writing style of Victoria Williamson:
You feel as if you’ve arrived inside the story as soon as you’ve begun reading it – as the ‘ground zero’ event has already happened before we dive into Skyfleet. The crash and the issues with the radiation seeping out of the crater were well-established in the background of the story and we, as readers are just coming into the fray at the current and most impending threat of a mutabug attack. Williamson has given us a wicked good portal of insight into the ways in which this crew attacks the enemy, herein, the bugs and inserts who have unfortunately mutated past the point of their evolution. There are wonderful illustrations of the planes spoken about in the storyline and with the illustrations are a quick rundown sheet about what the planes strengths and weaknesses are as well. It is lovely primer for those who are not as familiar with aircraft and flying stories – as Williamson describes life on a base like this one so dearly well.
I loved how she found ways to find solutions to problems by using communication, problem-solving and ingenious methods of reasoning on behalf of the characters. It showed how you can use your moxie and internal strength to overcome obstacles and achieve the impossible whilst braving the uncertainty of your actions. Sometimes true courage comes to you in moments of danger and sometimes courage sneaks up on you whilst you’re gaining your own confidence in yourself, too. I loved the life lessons that were knitted into the fabric of Amberley and Ric’s friendship – of how they both had their own demons to face in respect to past traumas and devasting loss as well as the fact she was unable to walk and he was unable to see but they both found ways to circumvent what they couldn’t do by focusing on what they can do. There is a great lesson to be seen and understood by observing their friendship and the ways in which they lived their lives.
This story is also clearly written in a voice for Middle Grade readers – it is accessible as much as it is keenly observant of how a story would appeal to younger readers who want to find MG in their Sci Fi. Although, as an adult Middle Grade reader – I can attest that it is equally entertaining for us, too, but I always try to leave notes on my reviews for those seeking the stories for the original intended audience, too, as I know others out there like me how similar preferences of interest when seeking out these kinds of stories for children. It is also a lovely addition to aviation stories for children who are interested in flight and stories about pilots and the people on the ground who help maintain the planes whilst their housed in their hangers. I have had an inclination to seek out these kinds of stories throughout my life – not limited to novels either – but films and movies on television. There is something wicked about them and as a person who used to love to fly on planes herself – there is a freedom to the skies, too. If you’ve experienced it yourself, you know the feeling of being in the clouds and of moving through time zones and distances as you shift through different atmospheres in transit. Williamson has definitely captured that aspect of it as well and given everyone a delight of joy in reading about how planes, flight and the freedom of the skies can help carve out a niche of exploration for those who dare to live amongst the clouds.
Small Flies in the Ointment:
I only wish it had more background context in respect to the Old World vs New World concept of space and time. Meaning, I wish we had more framework and information about how much distance separated the two places and a bit more orientation of where this particular place was located exactly. Given the fact they were using planes and not starships, I knew it was centered somewhere on Earth itself or a planet with a similar make-up of Earth’s environments – but History of this world was also left out as well – as Williamson shared more about the family histories of the children (ie. Amberley and Ric) moreso than the actual lived history of the persons in this world. Yet, there was lovely technologies involved – including an electric sword! I just wish we had a bit more background building on the world itself and more of an encompassed state of presence of ‘where’ in the universe we were during the duration of the novel.
Side notes on Content:
I was wicked happy with the fast pacing of this novel and loved the illustrations which were in-line with the story’s arc especially as it gave you a keenly better impression of the planes being used in the mutabug attacks! From that angle of it, I loved the instincts of how this story was thoughtfully produced. However, being a dyslexic reader and someone who has struggled to read in her own childhood – the one part of the story I personally struggled with reading was the encoded messages – the one to scrap dealer? Usually, I’m good at reading notes and messages – even in different variances of English if the character whose speaking is a non-native resident and whose first language isn’t English. However, when the words are too mutated and morphed, I find myself struggling to comprehend what is being said. Almost as if the text has become this complicated puzzle and I just can’t root out the answer. I barely understood the gist of the message and it nearly gave me a headache just to deduce its purpose. I also realised Williamson allowed us to find out the information in them lateron in the narrative, too, which is what I wanted for to be revealled when I came across the rest of the messages.
I’m sure for most readers, they could find cognates within that message better than I could myself – as the words I am sure might sound more like themselves if read aloud but that is another thing – reading aloud was never my strong suit either. I can either read a book myself quietly or I listen to an audiobook. I just wanted to be honest about this experience and put in my two cents about how sometimes not all readers can decipher language if it is too mutated from its original format.
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Be sure to follow all the lovely tags socially (ie. #bookstagram, BlueSky, etc) to seek out more exciting content on this blog tour celebrating the book + the author!!



(tales of interpersonal, technical or plot-convenient communication breakdowns)
(for World Hello Day, narratives about solving problems
through communication not conflict; tales featuring pacifists)


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