Spensa dreams of following in the footsteps of her deceased father, a fighter pilot of the Defiant Defense Force (DDF).

However she is barred from any chance at becoming one because her father abandoned his flight in the infamous Battle of Alta, which ended in his own wingmates shooting him down.

Spensa, who has been preparing for the exam her entire life, has high hopes to pass, as does her longtime friend Rodge.

Cobb, her father's former wingmate and an instructor at the academy, spies on her and sees her near-perfect score, so he offers her the opportunity to come train under him.

Spensa is barred from using academy facilities and quarters, so she occupies a nearby cave, where she discovers an advanced crashed ship with an artificial intelligence computer.

In the meantime, Spensa and her cadet flight crew continue to learn and practice new techniques under the guidance of Cobb.

She acquires a recording of the Battle of Alta, which reveals that her father did not desert, but rather turned on and attacked his fellow pilots.

On graduation day, Ironsides mobilizes all her pilots to battle the Krell for a valuable piece of fallen space salvage.

Skyward debuted on The New York Times Best Sellers list as number three in the Young Adult Hardcover category.