Book Review: Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

This review contains spoilers for Steelheart. To read my full review of Steelheart, follow the link here.

Firefight [The Reckoners, #2]
by Brandon Sanderson

Genre: YA dystopian

My Rating: ★★★★

Description:

What do you do after your greatest enemy has been defeated? After you free your city? After you have your revenge?

The tyrannical overlord of Newcago, Steelheart, is dead. For David Charleston, the Epic's death has left him with one question -- what next? He has spent the last ten years of his life studying Epics, learning their weaknesses, preparing to kill them. 

But is this really the way to win? Since his discovery that Megan is really the Epic Firefight, David wonders if there could be a way to redeem the Epics -- are they all really evil?

When Prof receives a strange summons to the flooded city of New Babylon, David may find some of the answers he seeks -- but in the end, is anyone strong enough to defeat the influence of Calamity?

Overall Thoughts

In this return to the world of the Reckoners, Brandon Sanderson builds upon the original concepts outlined in Steelheart taking us to new locations, introducing new and interesting characters and frightening villains, and all while building up to a dramatic reveal -- what really are the Epics? And what is Calamity?

Many sequels, especially in trilogies, tend to sag. But this was not the case with Firefight. Sanderson expertly weaves the plotline of the book into the overall arc of the series, and by the end of the book, leaves you breathless. 

The Characters

Firefight introduces us to several new characters from a different Reckoner group. These people were all well-developed and unique personalities, and I enjoyed reading about them. 

David's internal struggle about Megan and his loyalties to Prof and the Reckoners was strong and interesting. 

The new villains introduced in this story were interesting as well, their personalities contrasting enough that it was easy to keep track of them all. 

On the flip side, I still had trouble with Megan's character. Though I found her personality more consistent than in Steelheart, I still had trouble sympathizing with her. 

Plot

The plot was well-paced and engaging, introducing new character arcs and individual motivations. Several plot twists caught me completely off-guard, but were well foreshadowed and carefully placed. The only real issue I had with the plot was one certain character who seemed to bear no relevance to the plot as a whole. I feel the character would have felt less random had he been important in Calamity, but as it is, he bore no real impact on the rest of the series, which disappointed me somewhat.

Worldbuilding/Writing

Once again, the entire idea of a supervillian dystopia really appealed to me. In this book, Sanderson takes us to a new setting -- the flooded remains of Manhattan, now known as Babilar (or New Babylon.) This city was very much different from the Newcago setting of Steelheart, but was still vibrant and interesting. In Babilar, spray paint glows, and fruit trees grow inside the ruins of office buildings and hotels. I loved reading the descriptions of the city because of the uniqueness of the place.

Content

Recommended for ages 15 and up.

In terms of content, this book is much the same as the first. Extended action sequences and violent action, descriptions of characters killing other characters, and mentions of blood. One character seems to enjoy killing and destruction to the point where he seems almost inhuman. 

There were a few sexual comments, similar to ones you might find in the average Marvel movie. One character is usually described as wearing tight clothing. The main character has strong feelings for another character, and there are several instances of semi-detailed physical descriptions. 

There are several instances of nudity (non-sexual.)

The swearing was mainly confined to made-up swear words and minor cussing.