Book Review: Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Steelheart

By Brandon Sanderson

Release Date: September 24, 2013

Source: Publisher

Summary: There are no heroes.

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.

Review: This book was SO COOL. I absolutely love all things superhero, but for some reason it never dawned on me to pick up a book about superheroes. Well, after reading Steelheart, now I know that YA books about superheroes are just as cool as the movies are. 

Ten years ago, something strange called Calamaty came to Earth, changing ordinary people and giving them extraordinary powers. These extraordinary people, who society called Epics, soon showed, though, that they weren't going to be saving the day like normal superheroes. No, instead they wanted power and would kill anyone who stood in their way. Nobody can seem to stop them except for a group called the Reckoners, people who have come together to study the Epics and try to find a way to take them down, one by one. And David wants in. When his father was murdered by the most powerful Epic Steelheart 10 years ago, David has spent his life since then studying the Epics, trying to find a way to defeat Steelheart. He knows there's only one way to do that: find the Reckoners and take down Steelheart together. 

Like I said, this book was awesome. It starts out the day David's father is killed with the Epics were first starting to emerge. So it plops you right down into the action and keeps throwing action at you left and right until literally the last page. I could not put this book down. The story was so fast-paced and secrets and obstacles emerged that made you want to keep reading to know exactly what would happen next. 

As a main character, David was pretty awesome too. He's only 18, but I didn't feel like he was juvenile at all. I guess what he went through, losing his father and being raised as an orphan in a factory for ten years, makes a person grow up faster than most people. His personality, though, was so entertaining and I loved how obsessed he was with metaphors, because they always added a little fun into some serous situations they had to face. 

The other characters were equally amazing, even though they were ordinary people and weren't your typical superhero good guys. Nope, the superheroes were all the bad guys in this book. That twist is so unique and I think that's why I loved this book so much. How can ordinary people be expected to take down others who are practically immortal? Well, the Reckoners are going to find out!

I don't know if I could praise Steelheart any more. It's probably one of my favorite reads of 2013, and there was barely any romance at all. That's saying a lot when it comes to what I prefer to read! And what an ending! Oh my gosh, I am absolutely DYING to read the next book and see what's going to happen next. So much was revealed near the end of the book that solved a lot of mysteries from the beginning of the book, but brought in a whole slew of new mysteries. How am I expected to wait until fall 2014 for this book to come out??? Well, at least that means there's plenty of time for all of you to go out and read it! Because you definitely should! You're in for a unique twist on the superhero plot with so much action and intrigue that you won't want to put the book down until the very last page.