Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson Series: The Reckoners #1
Published by Delacorte (9.24.2013)
Genres: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Format: Hardcover, 386 pages
Source: I own it
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 thoughts
After reading Skyward, I immediately started seeking out other Sanderson books. This was one I had tried to read forever ago, couldn’t get into (probably a total mood thing, I’m such a mood reader), and have been meaning to try again forever! I’m glad I finally picked it up!
I loved the concept of this one! The Epics and their powers were awesome, and I loved that the power basically corrupted them. There were no superheroes, only super-villains. I thought it was epic (ha) that they each had their own weaknesses to their powers and there were different tiers of Epics. SO COOL! There was tons of action, too – never a dull moment! The pacing was consistent and very quick.
My main complaint about this book is that I couldn’t connect to any of the characters. I didn’t care about any of the side characters, but more importantly I didn’t like the main character, David (I legit had to look up his name because I forgot it, oops), at all. In fact, he quite grated on my nerves most of the time. I didn’t like Megan, either, and the “romance” (or hint at a romance, which I’m finding that Sanderson is a fan of – total win for me) was annoying. David followed Megan around like a lost puppy, and it was pathetic how much he tried to win her approval. And to be completely honest, I still don’t understand why – Megan was a complete bitch?? I honestly have NO idea what he saw in her other than she was hot (eye roll). He was acting like he was in love with her even though she barely gave him the time of day and treated him like the dirt on her shoe when she did. They barely had any interaction at all, actually. View Spoiler »
I did like the way things played out in the end – so many twists! I have to say that I saw most of the big twists coming – View Spoiler »
The ending was my fave part of this book for sure! I love that the shit hit the proverbial fan and that Sanderson doesn’t really spare his characters. View Spoiler » I love that Sanderson doesn’t follow the usual tropes and thinks outside the box with his plotlines and characters. He doesn’t follow the traditional mold of a YA fantasy/sci-fi and I love that! I definitely want to give Mistborn another chance (I DNFed it oops) and check out some of his other work!
Overall Assessment
Plot: 4/5
Premise: 5/5
Writing style: 4/5
Originality: 4.5/5
Characters: 2/5
World-building: 4/5
Pace: 4/5
Feels: 1/5
Cover: 3.5/5
Overall rating: 4/5
Leave a Reply