Steelheart

Brandon Sanderson is just so fun to read, even when he gives his characters annoying tics like "I like to make metaphors even though I am bad at making them up." Is this an excuse for lazy writing, or was he really trying to do character development this way? I don't know, but it didn't work for me.

What did work, as usual, was Sanderson's ability to write a tight plot with nearly invisible clues dropped throughout. The book begins with David's father's death at the hands of Steelheart, an Epic (human being who gained superpowers when a big red thing called Calamity appeared in the sky) who is practically invincible and decides to take over Chicago. At 8 years old, David swears revenge, and since he saw Steelheart bleed in that encounter, he thinks he can figure out Steelheart's weakness and kill him. Ten years later he joins up with a group of human rebels called the Reckoners, who may be the only people fighting back against Epics. Turns out the Reckoners aren't everything he thought they were, but he joins the team and they adopt his quest to take down Steelheart.

I almost guessed the end of this one, but not quite. Sanderson is just so good at sweeping you along, and then bam! The twist hits you before you know it. I can't wait for the sequel. We begin the book thinking that all Epics are evil and use their powers to control regular humans; by the end of the book, this is definitely called into question. Also, not much is covered about Calamity - what is it, where did it come from, why did it make some people special and not others? I hope to learn more about that in the next book.

This book started off like a comic book movie and I just couldn't get into it. I did finish it and the author clearly has talent, this one just felt too formulaic. I thought the main character was unrealistic and did not have enough backstory and I felt no real connection with the other characters. Too simplistic and cliche for me, not a lot of depth.

Not my favorite Sanderson book to date, but definitely a great read! I’m not generally a fan of sci-fi, and especially not of super-powered series, but this one has the Sanderson touch that makes it worth reading.

I’ve always been impressed by the character that Sanderson comes up with, but I think he struck something very unique in the main character of this series, David. He’s intelligent, passionate, and driven, but he also has quirks that make him a more realistic and enjoyable character. He’s bad with metaphors, and can be a bit clumsy in his interactions with other people.

The storyline kept me interested and engaged throughout, which is all a reader ever asks for. As far as I know, this series is a trilogy. That saddens me, because I don’t see how we’ll make it to the end of the Epic reign in only three books. Even from book one, I can see that unless there is some major time jumping, it’s unlikely that we’ll see the end of this era. I must trust in Sanderson, however, and hope that the end won’t bring too many tears.