Read
An Excerpt HERE
Read
FBC’s
Review of “The Rithmatist”
ABOUT STEELHEART: 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 wills.
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…
FORMAT/INFO: Steelheart is 400 pages
long and is the first volume in a new YA series. September 24, 2013 marks the North American Hardcover publication
of Steelheart via Delacorte
Press. The UK version (see below) will be published on September 26, 2013 by Gollancz.
ANALYSIS: Steelheart is Brandon
Sanderson's latest foray into the world of young adult fantasy, and like
with The Rithmatist, he nails it.
David, our protagonist, bears
some similarity to Joel in The Rithmatist (Reviewed HERE), mostly in his tone—and also that he's
fearsomely clever, nerdy despite himself, and desperately wants to be taken on
as an apprentice. That's pretty much where the similarity ends.
Steelheart is essentially a
post-apocalyptic superhero novel, where the superheroes called “Epics” are
really more like supervillains, and the Epic Steelheart rules Chicago, which he has turned completely to steel
and had his henchman shroud completely in night. Chicago is now called “Newcago,”
which irritated me a bit, but I loved all the superhero names, especially the
ones that were deliberately awkward.
The
setting is compellingly drawn, and Sanderson
pays attention to the details that do more than help it feel realistic;
they also do double-duty fleshing out characters. The arguments David and Megan got into about the relative merits of rifles and pistols were
great for example. I especially loved David's
bizarre metaphors and all the jokes about his failure to make any that make
sense, except for when he's trying to do them badly.
Sanderson deals with most of the
problems of physics by hanging a lampshade on them, which worked for me for a
while, but eventually I wanted a more concrete answer or for the text to stop
drawing attention to the ways physics are only sometimes relevant. Mostly,
though, I look forward to learning more about this “Calamity” phenomenon.
Steelheart came full circle with a solution I didn't see coming that was nevertheless absolutely perfect. I love it when a book surprises me. Overall, Brandon Sanderson incorporates differing attitudes about pre- and post-Epic rule, the implications of a world with superheroes, the ethics of surviving dictatorship, and other similarly weighty topics while maintaining a fast pace and a plain fun read.
12:00 AM | 
Posted by
Robert |
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6 comments:
What more can I say then I love Sanderson, I will read all the books he publish
Just finished this and thought it was excellent. I've no idea why it was designated as YA except that the protagonist is in his late teens. Like Casey I did not see the ending coming (except for a revelation about one character that was telegraphed very early on) and was pleasantly surprised. Highly recommended.
I didn't hate Steelheart but I felt it weaker than Sanderson's usual flare. Most of the characters felt bland and one dimensional to me, and the whole story played out like a reimagining of Mistborn to me - plucky band of renegades taking on the evil victorious conquerer king, etc etc. The reveals were fascinating albeit sometimes predictable, and even for what I would consider a weaker addition to Sanderson's catalogue the story is definitely a page turner.
I absolutely loved the steelheart book and am dying for firefight to be published!!! I CANNOT wait :)
I personally loved Steelheart, and I found it very entertaining. I've heard quite a few people complain about being beaten over the head by A) the bad metaphor humor and B) Cody's stories. Personally, I found it rather amusing. And I'm hoping I'm not the only one that had difficulty with Cody's accent...I kept hearing him with a Scottish accent instead of a Southern one...
I love Sanderson's books! I've just ordered Steelheart. Can't wait for it to come. :D