Book Review: Steelheart
- Author: Brandon Sanderson
- Series: The Reckoners Book #1
- 386 pages, hardcover
- Published 24. September 2013 by Delacorte Press
Storyline of Steelheart
Brandon Sanderson takes us to Newcago and the Fractured States. Steelheart has proclaimed himself Emperor and has taken the fear out of anyone ordinary or epic. Steel rules the entire city, there is no sun, no hope. David Charleston, only nine years old, is fatherless, homeless, with no way out… no life, and the main culprit is Steelheart. The orphan boy has been plotting the Emperor’s death since his father was killed in a fateful skirmish with the Emperor. For ten years David has been hiding in the shadows, waiting for the right time?
The boy’s plans are secured by information he has gathered over the years. David’s only chance to reach the Steel Heart are the Reckoners. A group that stands against the Epics and believes in a better future for Newcago. David’s driving force is revenge. He will do everything in his power to see the downfall of the Steelheart and find their Achilles heel.
Once again, Sanderson surprised me.
The twists and turns the author serves up in each of his books are breathtaking. I already had theories about the ending of the first book, but this was very unexpected.
Each of the characters in this book is brilliantly fleshed out. I could feel the hatred in their thoughts and the determination in their eyes. I managed to hate Steelheart, but also look for positive qualities in other Epics.
This post-apocalyptic fiction challenged me to look at the genre as a whole from a new angle. You can write a lot about Brandon Sanderson and his worlds, but each time the one he describes is so realistic. I felt weighed down by Steel City, but also satisfied by another of the author’s books.
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.
