I generally liked Skyborn. The pacing was pretty good and the characters were engaging. I found it to be a mix of Hunger Games and James Patterson’s Maximum Ride as it used a “there’s a core of evil” from the former and the “people with wings” from the latter. Dalglish did a good job rendering the battle scenes and their 3d combat. I think my main complaint is that the finale felt kinda random and honestly effected side character far more than our POV characters (vague ’cause spoilers). I feel like instead of having two characters on the same side, it’d be better to have them be on opposite sides, which would make the world feel wider than it was. It’s similar to the same problem Harry Potter has with everyone being in Gryffindor; all the other houses feel less distinct in constrast.
Overall I recommend the book, but I’m not sure I want to continue. I read a sample for the sequel Fireborn, and I think I’ll wait a bit before reading it.