Ratings355
Average rating4.1
So this was my second Brandon Sanderson book, and I would love to compare it to The Final Empire, but I find that I cannot. The Final Empire is a completely different beast. Truly the only similarities are the author and the nonstop action. It does not take long at all to get into this book, right from the start you are thrown into the battle against the Epics and the story of David and the Reckoners.
The cast of characters in this book is great. Each one had their own quirks and abilities that added to the team. Together, their created this epic group that I loved reading about. To me the characters are what really made this book so great to me. While I loved the plot and the premise, I really enjoyed the characters and their stories. David is a great main character. He is nerdy (but not really), impulsive, dedicated, and inventive. It really was the heart of the team and kept everyone hopeful that they would succeed.
This book had a lot of twists and turns that I was not expecting and that kept me glued to the pages. This book also was had a very nice conclusion to it. It still left me wanting to know what happens after, but there was a sense of resolution following the book's events.
Overall, this is a fantastic fantasy book about your anti-heroes and it was written extremely well. Brandon Sanderson has a way with words and crafting stories and characters that leaves you satisfied but still wanting more. I cannot wait to pick up Firefight and see what David and crew are up to next. Especially with that title and knowing what we know at the end of the book.
There's this hype about Brandon Sanderson that I haven't been able to escape. And, unable to get myself a copy of the Mistborn trilogy, I decided to read Steelheart to know what the fuss is about.
For the first good chunk of this book, Steelheart wasn't anything special to me. My favorite book, Vicious, has superheros gone evil and, to me, nothing will ever compare to Vicious, so Brandon Sanderson's take in it wasn't going to be anything special.
There were things I was enjoying though. I truly loved many of the characters and the overall plot. I think my favorite thing was David's inability to tell a good metaphor.
Them the ending happened, and now I understand the hype of Brandon Sanderson. I'm usually good at picking up hints throughout books and predicting the supposedly non obvious plots. This book was not the case. The ending truly had be surprised, even though Sanderson practically told you what was going to happen multiple times throughout the novel.
Full Review Here: http://www.fantasybookcafe.com/2015/02/review-of-steelheart-by-brandon-sanderson/
Sanderson does the lazy, offensive, and othering white-as-default writing style that ONLY describes a character's skin tone if they are non-white. Examples - a character's “Asian features” (what does that even mean?) or a character's “dark skin and somewhat French accent”. Beyond the offensive writing, this book is also needlessly and graphically violent for the intended age group. One battle scene describes a character getting his head smashed until his eyes are squeezed out and there are many depictions of execution style shootings. Also, there's essentially 1 1/2 women in this book and they're only seen through a relatively misogynistic and leering male gaze. I know many kids that love this but I'm too critical to like anything that's happening here.
This was the first one of Sanderson's young adult novels I read and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. While there were times when it was a predictable young adult book the majority was all that great pacing and character writing I have come to expect.
Not as deep a world at Mistborn or The Stormlight Archives, but Steelheart starts what promises to be an interesting world, filled with villains and heroes. Unlike the Marvel and DC worlds, heroes in this world are general mortal, while villains have unexpected powers which defy physics. With each power also comes a weakness, which can be used to bring them down. For being as short as this was (half the length of Mistborn), it had an impressive story arc. I'm looking forward to seeing where this series goes.
So this is my second Sanderson series (Mistborn was first). He weaves and dances around and really make the reader engaged. This one is, not watered down, but less. Its also YA so it should be! It is an easy read, not complicated twists, but they are still there. Yet again another novel take on a genre as well! My review of 5 stars is for what it is, a great YA book and not a comparison to his other “adult” works. Great YA book and a great way to “test the waters” of Sanderson.
I'm not sure why I don't particular feel like extolling this book, when there is nothing wrong and much that is right.
Fun young adult novel with an interesting alternate take on superheroes. I have enjoyed everything by Brandon Sanderson, and this is no exception. Great story telling filled with witty characters in a dark world.
A friend recommended this book. When I started I was just like will see how it is but This book is simply superb.
Basically the book is about the story of David's(Protagonist) revenge for his father death.
Every character is well written and the world he created it was so awesome.. I liked megan's character so much.. Waiting for the next one in the series.
And finally I am thanking my friend for such a lovely recommendation.
Steelheart is the story of David, a teenage boy, who wants to join a resistance group called the Reckoners as they attempt to rid the world of evil super heros known as Epics. The story takes place in Newcago (the city formerly known as Chicago) after Steelheart takes over the city as the center of his evil empire. The government has given up trying to control the Epics - they might as well try to forbid a hurricane from blowing. The city is a dangerous place - Epics can kill you on a whim if you live above ground, though the seedy underground isn't much safer. Most Epics are nearly indestructible - unless you know their one weakness and can find a way to exploit it. But since each Epic's weakness is completely unique this is a nearly impossible task. Most people have given up and simply try to find a way to exist.
The Reckoners are the only real resistance group taking a stand against the Epics. And even they tend to pick off the weaker ones rather than facing the stronger Epics head on. David's father was shot and killed by Steelheart when he was just a boy. David narrowly avoided death himself, and has made it his life's mission to see Steelheart destroyed. This book follows David as he attempts to join the Reckoners, find out new secrets about the city's most infamous Epics, and finally take revenge on the being that murdered his father.
All in all I have to say I thought this was a pretty good book. This is the first time Sanderson has really done anything in the urban fantasy genre, and while I much prefer his work in epic fantasy, I thought he created an interesting post-apocalyptic world. Perhaps I have read too much of his work, but I thought a lot of the story was somewhat obvious. At least until the end. I could see some of the “twists” coming a mile away, but a lot of the events at the ending were still pretty exciting. I thought the pacing of the book was good - it was a very fast read and there was always something exciting happening in the book. It didn't really leave a ton of room for as much character development as I would have liked, though that does keep me interested to learn more about these characters in the upcoming sequel. And, well, considering that this is geared for the teen market I think the story pacing is spot on - it is hard to put the book down once you have started, and the action picks up as you approach the climax of the story.
In the end I would have to say I recommend the book depending upon the reader. If you haven't read any of Brandon's works I recommend you start with another book - Mistborn is my favorite of his works so far. If you have read and enjoyed Brandon's other works I think you will enjoy this story - it has the great world building and exciting ending that are the hallmarks of most of his tales. I highly recommend this if you are looking for a book for a younger reader - perhaps a bit too much violence for very young readers, but definitely suitable for the pre-teen crowd. It isn't one of my all time favorites, but it was a quick read and a fun story so I am glad I read it.
The story started out interesting but then turned into just another boring crime story. Could not force myself to finish this book.
I'm late to the party when it comes to Brandon Sanderson. I found him because of the Wheel of Time books. After seeing his work there I went back and read the Mistborn Trilogy and have been hooked ever since. Steelheart continues to show Mr. Sanderson's mastery of storytelling. He allows you to see the story through the main character and as such you feel very much a part of the story. I look forward to reading more of his work soon.
Halfway through reading the prologue, I stopped and searched for something else to read. ‘Young Adult' literature is too saccharin sweet for me. Comic book heroes and villains are absurdly over-the-top and unbelievable. It was easy to see that this book would ignore all the laws of nature and science - and I prefer stories that are more believable.
Didn't have anything better to read, so I decided to suffer through the first chapter. I still don't know how the author did it, but he kept my interest to the end. Somehow, his writing made me ignore all the story elements that typically turn me off.
I've read a few books lately that i have not enjoyed. I could feel my slump coming back, so I picked up the Sanderson book I just bought. He has yet to fail me. This book is in a world where super humans pop up, but there are no heroes among them. It centers around an 18 year old David and a resistance group. Once again Sanderson is able to create a power system with rules and limitations that I could understand and believe. There are still a lot of questions left unanswered, but I am pretty sure they are meant to be answered in the sequels, and I have faith that the rest of the books will be as good as or better than the first.
David does seem a little immature at times, but I am not really the target audience, so he may not seem that way to younger readers. There is also a good bit of gore right off the bat, so if you don't want to read about some nasty things happening to people, and even infants, then you may want to steer clear. It's not too prevalent throughout the book, but it does have it's moments. All in all, the story kept me interested, and he had a few good surprises, though there are a few hints along the way. I plan on recommending this to my 14 year old step-son, I think he would really enjoy this.
I love super hero books, they just tend to be written pretty well and since they always seem to be in the first person, it makes for a fun read. Anyhow, Steelheart despite taking a different spin to the “Superhero Book thing”, is really a fun read. I'm glad there's gonna be more to the reckoner's story.
HOLY MOTHER OF JESUS CHRIST
For a long time, I was really enjoying this book, but that was it, you know, I thought it was like a solid four star book. And then the end came nearer and nearer and Megan and the whole plot twist and the reason why Steeheart couldn't be killed, I mean oh my goodness gracious, I am so impressed and I just loved this book so much, like, wow I need the next one IMMEDIATELY.
FIREFIGHT I WANT YOU!
It's really weird and crazy and insane and making me kind of scared that the next book is called Firefight, because I now know what it is about this person and I'm scared.
Holy fucking shit.
Executive Summary: While it's obviously young adult, and a little predictable, I found it to be a lot of fun and hard to put down by the second half. I enjoyed it more than [b:The Rithmatist 10137823 The Rithmatist (Rithmatist #1) Brandon Sanderson http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348506712s/10137823.jpg 15035866].Full ReviewI don't tend to read much Young Adult, but for [a:Brandon Sanderson 38550 Brandon Sanderson http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1201547425p2/38550.jpg], I make an exception. I really like the way he does world building, especially his magical systems.Since this book is based on superheroes, there isn't a magical system persay, but I enjoy the types of powers he's come with, from the standard invincibility and super strength to the down right bizarre like the ability to never run out of bullets. Sounds like someone got a hold of the infinite ammo cheat code.I loved comics as a kid, but these days my only real exposure to superheroes is the overabundance of Movies and TV shows being cranked out every year.Most people with any familiarity to comics knows the line Stan Lee coined for Spider-Man: “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.“This book throws that saying right out the window and instead comes Great Destruction and Terror. Where are the superheroes? Instead all that shows up is varying degrees of villains.That only leaves the humans to fight back against those with super powers. Except the military and governments tried and failed and eventually gave up. Enter the Reckoners. The last group still fighting. Determined to kill as many Epics as they can.Everything seems to tie back to the appearance of something called The Calamity. What is it, and how does it relate to the appearance of Epics?Well don't expect to find out in this book, as it's very obviously the start of a series.The book started out a little slow for my liking, but once it got going, I really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to [b:Firefight 15704459 Firefight (Reckoners, #2) Brandon Sanderson /assets/nocover/60x80.png 21979689] next year.
This blurb was enough to get me excited about this book:
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.
Steelheart
Steelheart
Not as deep a world at Mistborn or The Stormlight Archives, but Steelheart starts what promises to be an interesting world, filled with villains and heroes. Unlike the Marvel and DC worlds, heroes in this world are general mortal, while villains have unexpected powers which defy physics. With each power also comes a weakness, which can be used to bring them down. For being as short as this was (half the length of Mistborn), it had an impressive story arc. I'm looking forward to seeing where this series goes.
Oh my gosh. This was hell of a ride. I mostly listened to the audio book since I find the writing style (in english and the german translation) too ... flowery to keep on going in my normal reading speed. Hitting about 30% I knew I was going to like the book and went to order the second book... and was spoiled for this book because of the synopsis tableflip. But it was still nice done plotwise even though I knew the ending of the first book. There were still conclusions that where hinted at but were shocking and exciting.
If you are craving a classic style action book, than this is the book for you!
Now, let me say, if you want a tragic novel that puts Game of Thrones to shame, than choose another book, because this book is intended to be fun and action-packed. Yes, I will admit that this novel has certain cheesy moments, but in my opinion, it actually added to the story. Picture classics like Jurassic Park and The Mummy; mixing comedy with action, and that is where this book sits.
Steelheart seamlessly mixes action and humour in a way that makes it read like a movie, and I must say, some of the past reviewers were complaining about flat characters, but I saw no such problem. Megan, on of the main characters, was constantly reminding me of Black Widow(Avengers), and the main character? He was a positive go-getter with a great sense of humour. In fact, I saw all the characters clear as day, so I am not sure what the problem is for other people.
All in all, I thought it was a fun and thrilling read that deserves a spot on my bookshelf.