Steelheart cover art

Steelheart

The Reckoners, Book 1

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Steelheart

Written by: Brandon Sanderson
Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews
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From the number-one New York Times best-selling author of the Mistborn Trilogy, Brandon Sanderson, comes the first book in a new, action-packed thrill ride of a series - 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 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.

©2013 Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC (P)2013 Audible Inc. Dystopian Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Superhero
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The premise of the book is quite interesting and compelling. However, I found it difficult to connect with the main character. His internal monologue and banter felt very immature and I honestly started skipping through those parts because they felt silly and extraneous to the plot. Character development is lacking but the universe that is created is cool and interesting - Sanderson is always good at that. Additionally, the plot twists felt kind of obvious and underwhelming. I probably won’t continue to read as it generally felt like a YA novel that a teenager would enjoy and that’s not for me.

Entertaining but lacks depth, feels YA

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A fresh take on an old trope. With a story that can truly hold your attention from start to finish. Unique characters that are believably unbelievable.

A phenomenal twist on the “super-hero” genre

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I’m not enthused about the performance. Nothing against the voice artist. They did a good job, but I struggled to connect with the way they portrayed the main character at points.

The story is fantastic.

Amazing

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I may have given a higher rating if it wasn't for me recently watching The Boys and Invincible. Supers, or, epics, I guess, as the bad guys is a little worn for me right now.

It is a good story though. The protagonist is kind of a goof, but a lovable one. His 'luck' throughout the story is actually pretty well explained by the end.

Humanity's reaction to powers is actually pretty spot on. Sanderson is usually good at that though. Interesting to see earth brought into the cosmear.

All in all, would recommend, and do plan on finishing the series.

Really Good

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Dismissing this book as "Children's" literature would be a mistake. The series actually reminds me of William Gibson in it's creativity.. it won't spawn a genre like 'Neuromancer' did (ie. Cyberpunk), but this very cool future reality/alternate reality reads like a great Marvel graphic novel.. it's extremely engrossing. Brandon Sanderson envisions a world where superpowered beings (known as "Epics") set up authoritarian fiefs like Feudal Warlords and essentially run them like crime syndicates. A class of Freedom Fighters called "Reckoners" work to find & kill Epics (each of whom has a weakness to exploit). Sanderson's protagonist - David Charleston - witnessed the murder of dozens of people (including his father) as a child [they observed the weakness in "Steelheart" - the chief Epic in his home city (Newcago).. so the paranoid supervillain murdered them all].
The topic/scenario resembles a comicbook, the chief character is a teenager, and the dialogue is reasonably sophomoric.. but the plot is well-conceived, well-executed, and well-described. The book is undeniably aimed at a younger audience, but the Fantasy is clever and the writing is creditable.

Unfortunately, the book is let down a little by spotty narration from MacLeod Andrews. His interest in the book is clear (timbre, tone, and cadence are commendable) - but his voice-acting is fairly weak (some of the chosen voices for characters are poorly-accented or cartoonish) and his rate of reading is too slow (listening to this book at 1.25X is highly recommended).

Altogether this is a fun 9.5 star out of 10 book - but the narration brings my rating down to 8.5 stars. Certainly younger teens and children can digest this stuff ('Steelheart' would be ideal for a road trip with the kids), but adult fans of Fantasy/SciFi should certainly enjoy it, too. Can recommend.

Unique Comicbook-like Dystopia.. 'Mutant Mafia'

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