by Brandon Sanderson
Genre: YA dystopian
My Rating: ★★★★
Description:
After Calamity appeared in the sky, ordinary people started to develop superpowers. Now, ten years later, these people -- the Epics -- rule the remains of the world.
For years, David has had a single goal -- to kill Steelheart, the overlord of Newcago. He wants revenge for his father's death, and regardless of what others say -- that Steelheart is unkillable -- he will stop at nothing to exact that revenge.
He joins with a shadowy band of rebels known as the Reckoners, and together, they may be enough to take on Steelheart. Because David has seen something he shouldn't have -- he has seen Steelheart bleed.
But the same thing that could give him the knowledge to defeat his greatest enemy could also get him killed.
Overall Thoughts
Steelheart blew me away. After reading Renegades by Marissa Meyer, I knew that I wanted to read more superhero fiction. This one seemed right up my alley, being a Brandon Sanderson novel; plus the idea of a supervillain dystopia really appealed to me. It didn't disappoint.
Characterization
In terms of characterization, the main character, David, was fairly well developed. While not extremely memorable, he was alright. The secondary characters all have unique and contrasting personalities, particularly the members of the Reckoners. The villains are frightening and severely overpowered, making me question at times how the good guys were ever going to defeat them. The only character I had a hard time liking was Megan. She fits the stereotype of a "strong female" character very well, and her prickly and unpredictable personality was hard for me to understand. I'm hoping that she grows on me in the sequels.
Plot
Plot
The plot was well paced and never boring. Even during the "intermissions" between battles and major conflict, the characterization and worldbuilding taking place was interesting to read. And the plot twists! I was shocked -- truly shocked -- by all of them, and by the end of the book, I couldn't keep the impressed smile on my face.
Worldbuilding/Writing
The storyworld is fascinating. Set in the ruins of Chicago, now called "Newcago", most of the world has been taken over by supervillains, who war for control over pieces of territory. Normal people are forced to live in fear, subjects to their superpowered overlords. I liked that even though I still had a lot of questions by the end of the book -- what is Calamity, what exactly are the Epics -- I had a good understanding of how everything worked, and the unanswered questions kept me turning pages right until the end.
Content
Worldbuilding/Writing
The storyworld is fascinating. Set in the ruins of Chicago, now called "Newcago", most of the world has been taken over by supervillains, who war for control over pieces of territory. Normal people are forced to live in fear, subjects to their superpowered overlords. I liked that even though I still had a lot of questions by the end of the book -- what is Calamity, what exactly are the Epics -- I had a good understanding of how everything worked, and the unanswered questions kept me turning pages right until the end.
Content
Recommended for ages 14 and up.
In terms of content, this book stayed fairly clean for YA. There were extended sequences of violent action, descriptions of characters killing other characters, and some minor descriptions of wounds. There was some minor swearing; however, most of it was made up words (I.E. Calamity!) There were a few instances of sexual references and innuendo, not many, but enough to make me hesitant to recommend this book to very young readers. One instance of nudity, not described in detail.
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