Steelheart
By Brandon Sanderson
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TEST

When I saw this book in the store I was leery of picking it up. I didn’t want another series. Yes, they can be great, containing recurring characters that we fall a little bit farther in love with after every book. The epic story line that requires several books to tell in full can be quite delightful. The romance which undergoes a slow buildup with lots of hurdles along the way can be richer for the length of time we spend on it. But even though I like some things about series, I constantly swear I am done with them. Too much of a time commitment, too many disappointments over the years. Yet I am always happy to stumble across a book that renews my faith in them like this one did.

Ten years can make a big difference. Ten years ago mankind was living in a world run by humans, in cities with things like electrical power, sunlight and clean water. Ten years ago the United States was not a fractured nation being fought over by savage warlords. Ten years ago Calamity appeared in the sky and changed all that.

Steelheart was one of the first of the Epics, humans transformed by Calamity into near god-like beings. He is also one of the most powerful. Impervious to bullets, bombs, and blades, he can transform anything unliving around him into steel. He can fly and has superhuman strength. Utilizing his power to take control over the city of Chicago, he forces the human citizenry to live in a place where they can be killed at any time, for any reason by an Epic. Many have tried to eliminate him but he has bled only once, a single encounter that left a small silver scar across his cheek. He eliminated all witnesses to the event. Or so he thought.

David Charleston lived through the encounter that left Steelheart with his scar. It is only through a lucky series of coincidences he survived. His father wasn’t so fortunate. Since that day David has lived for only one thing – vengeance on Steelheart. He plans to execute his vendetta by joining the Reckoners, a shadowy group of ordinary humans who study the Epics for weakness and assassinate them once that weakness is found. Joining is difficult. The Reckoners stay one step ahead of the Epics by moving constantly. When David finds out they’ve returned to Chicago to take out a Steelheart minion known as Fortuity, he watches for an opportunity to hand them his resume. It comes when their assassination attempt is almost botched by interference from another Epic. With David’s help, the Reckoners make their kill. They take him to their lair where he talks them into remaining and taking on the biggest target of all – Steelheart himself, the strongest Epic overlord in the country.

Sometimes after reading a truly fantastic book all you want to do is gush. That’s the case for me here. I loved just about everything in this novel. The world building, which puts a twist on the typical ideal of the superhero and places us into a land of super villains instead, is superb. The explanation for why that is the case is also excellent. Brilliant as well is the idea of the Epic weaknesses. Like Superman, every Epic has his kryptonite. And that kryptonite can be the smallest, silliest thing you can imagine. I loved how this “humanized” the Epics and made the unbeatable readily defeatable.

I also liked how the result of the Epic battles is shown throughout the book. People aren’t living in luxury with all the conveniences that we have now. The battles take a cost and that is reflected in the hard scrabble world humanity lives in. While Steelheart has made Chicago (Newcago) a somewhat better place to live than lots of other Epic controlled areas it is still pretty much a hell hole.

Also outstanding is the characterization. Prof, Megan, Tia, Abraham and Cody make up the Reckoner squad that is in Chicago. They are all pretty great characters but it is David that is the real hero of our book. Not only is David a kind, caring, interesting guy but he is a wonderfully thought out character. He has studied killing Epics his whole life. He’s studied weaponry. He’s made dossiers on all the Epics. He studies vulnerabilities in these super men – the patterns they take, the precaution the villain is likely to use. David has used all his student abilities on becoming an expert Epic hunter. It’s believable he would be great at it. But he is also humble and willing to learn and that makes him an even better hero.

I really like how the romance here is handled as well. As David says when he meets Megan, “She can shoot like a dream and she carries tiny grenades in her top. . . I think I might be in love.” He never changes that opinion, even as he gets to know Megan as a troubled girl with some bad mood swings. I appreciated that the pacing of their love story took into account that they were fighting for the fate of humanity and that Megan has a rather interesting secret.

Adding to my love for the novel is that we get a complete ending. Yes, book two is already planned. Sure, there are many things that it would be great to learn more about. But we get a full ending to our adventure in book one. You can choose whether or not you want to continue with the story and still have closure. Too many books recently are one long tale told in several volumes to maximize sales and I really appreciated that that wasn’t the case here.

Expertly written and plotted this fascinating twist on the superhuman idea contains everything I look for in a book. I’d call it a must read for fans of science fiction or the YA market. My only complaint is that I will have to wait a year for volume two.

Reviewed by Maggie Boyd

Grade: A-

Book Type: Young Adult

Sensuality: Subtle

Review Date: 13/11/13

Publication Date: 2013/10

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Recent Comments …

  3. excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.

I've been an avid reader since 2nd grade and discovered romance when my cousin lent me Lord of La Pampa by Kay Thorpe in 7th grade. I currently read approximately 150 books a year, comprised of a mix of Young Adult, romance, mystery, women's fiction, and science fiction/fantasy.

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