Brandon Sanderson is one of my favorite authors. He seems to
have a new book every couple of days or so, and they’re all well worth your
time. He hooked me with the superb Mistborn
trilogy, which got me to read the 1255-page monster (in paperback, at
least) that is The Way of Kings, and
now I’m picking my way through his debut novel, Elantris, at a leisurely pace. These big fantasy epics of his are
amazing. I can’t wait for the next one, Words
of Radiance. He also has a few Young Adult titles under his belt, but I’d
never picked one up before until Steelheart.
This first book in the Reckoners trilogy releases today,
September 24th, 2013. It’s the story of David, a young man in
the not-too-distant future following a world-changing event: the arrival of the
Epics. The Epics are superhumans, much like you would see in the pages of
Marvel and DC. (Actually, Steelheart’s
Epics all smack much more of DC than Marvel, but you get the point.) The only
problem is that while these men and women have extraordinary super powers,
they’re all quite evil.
There are supervillains everywhere, and no superheroes to
stop them.
This sort of literary thesis is common in Sanderson’s work. He
looks into established sci-fi/fantasy norms and asks what if. Mistborn, for instance, opens with the
premise, “What if the dark lord has already won?” He picks them apart to see their
moving pieces, and builds his worlds out of what he finds. I love that. Turn
the expected on its head. Don’t make it a twist, make it a selling point. And
here’s the best part: that leaves room for other twists later on. Because if
there’s one thing I’ve learned reading Sanderson, it’s that there’s always
another secret.
Getting back to David’s story, he lives in Newcago, a
police state that used to be Chicago until Steelheart, possibly the most
powerful Epic in the world, took over. Ten years ago, when the Epics first
arrived, Steelheart killed David’s father as David watched. David has made
revenge his life’s purpose.
Okay, so it’s a plot we’ve seen before. Sort of like Batman
meets Inigo Montoya. But the fun is in the execution, the worldbuilding, the
characters. David himself is a fun protagonist. The first-person narration
gives us direct insight into his thought process, which is witty and
self-deprecating. (He has trouble with metaphors—a running joke throughout the
novel.) The cast of side characters is varied and well-drawn as well, from the
powerful, soft-spoken Abraham to Cody, a sarcastic good ol’ boy who thinks
himself a Scotsman. (I actually saw a lot of similarities between Cody and
Wayne, the sidekick in another Sanderson novel, Alloy of Law - but that’s not a bad thing.)
Steelheart is an
immensely fun read. It goes fast, especially the motorcycle chase. (Did I
mention the motorcycle chase? There’s a motorcycle chase!) It’s out at your
local bookstore today, and Sanderson is hitting the road on his book tour.
Check out his schedule at BrandonSanderson.com to see where he’ll be near you!
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