Title: Steelheart
Series: Reckoners #1
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Length: 400 Pages
Genre: Sci-Fi Children
Released: September 24, 2013
Blurb
Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics.
But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his will.
Nobody fights the Epics . . . nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.
And David wants in. He wants Steelheart—the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David's father. For years, like the Reckoners, David's been studying, and planning—and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.
He's seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.
My Review
**Warning may contain spoilers.**
Intro: All right, I'll get the gushing out of the way in the beginning. Brandon Sanderson's a prolific, excellent writer who can take old formulas and make you like them all over again. This book is the first in a new series that I'm guessing will be 3-4 books long, depending on the success of the first two.
Back cover blurb in short: Calamity struck and some people turnied into Epics, people with superpowers, only instead of righting the world, they decided to conquer it. The young hero, David, sees his father's murder and so dedicates his life to taking down one of the most powerful Epics, Steelheart. To that end, he joins up with the Reckoners, a group of humans whose sole purpose in life is taking down Epics.
The Good: Dialogue tends to be snappy. Sanderson managed to take a fairly basic formula and breathe new life into it. Most of the story's predictable, yet leaves you feeling satisfied in the end. Even though the book's billed as YA, I'm sure many adults (New adults?) will also enjoy it, especially if they already like the author's other works. (Cheers for Mistborn. Sorry, I just got finished reading a British book.)
Neutral: It's almost like Sanderson was given the cast of characters and told to make it work. We've got the wise older man, Prof, who founded the Reckoners and has a few secrets about him. Tia, the Cola slugging smarty, who handles the research end of things. Abraham, a mechanical genius, and Cody, a smart-alecky guy who has a unique brand of lame humor. Megan, token hot chick for the hero to fall in love with, who also has secrets (surprise, surprise). Who doesn't have sercrets in a bunch like that. David, new guy, kid figuring out the ropes and happens to be awesome at it...or very lucky.
Why only 4.5 stars?: David's a teenager. As a narrator, he gets annoying at times. Maybe I've just read too many of Sanderson's other stuff. Only one plot twist actually struck me as a surprise. Kinda disappointing b/c there are quite a few plot twists. The semi-blantant bid for a sequel just based on the author and the marketing campaign.
Conclusion: If post-apocalyptic fiction is your thing, read this book. If Brandon Sanderson's already a name you respect, read this book. (It's worlds better than that odd foray into math magic - Rithmatist.) If you're up for alot of action, tech, characters, etc, read this book.
