Last night I finished one of my new favorite books. I'd read and re-read the epilogue, poured over the acknowledgements, and paged through the last pages to see if there was anything else I could read. It was over too fast!!!
Just imagine my delight, then, when I found out that a sequel was coming out THIS FALL!! My schedule is officially cleared as of the day it comes out. As for school or any previous life commitments....
A basic summary of Steelheart:
In this gripping book by Brandon Sanderson we follow the adventures of David and a group known as the Reckoners who have made it their goal to destroy as many Epics as possible. Epics are beings with supernatural powers, but they all pale in comparison to Steelheart, the ruler of their city and an Epic who supposedly cannot be harmed or killed. David has sworn revenge on Steelheart, his father's murderer, and has one weapon that nobody knows and may be his ruin: David has seen Steelheart bleed.
NO SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW
One thing that has really solidified the quality of this book in my mind is the fact that my dad picked it up from off the coffee table, started reading, and didn't want to put it down. Books rarely do that to him. I was having major book pride right about then.
.......
Oh come on, surely you've had it. When someone loves a book that you love you get that little warm feeling in your chest, almost like you wrote it yourself. You recommended it, you poured your heart out reading it, and now someone else feels the same way? #bookpride!!!!!
And then of course if they hate it you feel like someone died. Aaah, sey la vee. Oh to be a bookworm!
CHARACTERS:
His characters are great, I love how "geeky" David (the main character) is, no matter how much he may deny it. It's a very interesting part of his personality, along with the fact that he completely fails when it comes to metaphors. Megan, the main lady in the story acted very similar to a girl in his children's series (Alcatraz versus the evil librarians), so that was a bit annoying since I was expecting someone new.
My favorite character happens to be the most complex and confusing *go figure*, the seemingly-ordinary Professor, better known as "Prof". He's not overly sarcastic, like I expected, and I do so love it when authors don't do what I expect. Oh and then there's Cody, a Scot (or was he Australian?) who loves action and isn't afraid to speak his mind and be ridiculous, all with a straight face of course so you never know whether or not you should believe him.
PLOT:
Overall well done, the ENDING was glorious and I should have seen it coming but I didn't, which makes it better. With everything that is going on in the scenes, all the fights and action and so many people experiencing so many things that are important and that you need to know about to make sense of it all, it gets a little confusing. I had to read just a tad bit slower then I normally do to process everything going on.
I didn't feel as big of a climatic building towards the end, which surprised me. Their end mission felt very much like just another one of their missions from before, so I had a hard time feeling any source of anxiety because they'd gotten out of everything else virtually unharmed, although not completely.
I love the idea of there being 'Epics', though, and all the super creative strengths and weakness they have. You could tell Sanderson had fun coming up with their super-hero like powers.
One of my all-time favorite things about his writing is how well he builds his story worlds. They are detailed to a MAX, with words, creatures, cultures, etc. You definitely know when an author has worked hard to develop his world, and I really appreciate that! You can tell even more in Way of Kings.
LANGUAGE/QUESTIONABLE CONTENT:
Throughout the book it says things like "Megan swore", but they never (at least from what I picked up on) actually swore, which I appreciate (although there may have been the occasional d-word). The book is violent and not for younger children to read, but the level of violence is very well balanced to their situation and not used in huge amounts.
As for sexual content, the only thing I picked up on was some of David's thoughts when he sees Megan and thinks about how great she looks, and then another time when Cody mentions something about talking about cleavage.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
There was one plot twist that I didn't see coming at all, nuh-uh, no-way, but that's what writers get paid to do so I guess I can forgive it. I laughed out loud a few times (mainly at David!) too.
I loved this book and would highly with-a-cherry-on-top recommend it.
Have any of you read books by Brandon Sanderson? If so what'd you think?
-Chloe
4 comments
Great review! This book sounds like something I wanna read! I wish my dad would like one of the books I love. Too bad he literally can't stand anything fiction. Hey at least my mum has some hope haha. And I love that meme you put of Gilmore Girls, which I happen to be watching at the moment.
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-M
The Life of Little Me
HE CAN'T STAND FICTION?? How does he live? Good for your mom, at least she has a little bit of sense. ^_^ Totally joking, I'm sure your dad is wonderful too. I've actually never seen Gilmore Girls *don't hate me*, is it good? Thanks for the follow!
DeleteSounds like a great book! I love reading your reviews=)
ReplyDeleteAwww, thanks Nat! Hope you can read it some time, although I know with your busy schedule that might be hard to do:)
ReplyDeleteHey! Person commenting! Yes, you. Wanna know something?
You're kinda awesome.