Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson: A review

I’ve been meaning to read another Sanderson story in a while and now’s my chance with a new series. I’m still not sure if superheroes come under fantasy, sci-fi or a class of their own, but my local libraries seem to think it’s a fantasy. So, better dive in.

Unlike mst superhero type tales, Steelheart doesn’t have any heroes with powers, but anti-heroes. When David, the protagonist, is 8, an event called Calamity happened. People began gaining amazing powers, only to then become arrogant and power hungry. One of the most prominent is Steelheart, an Epic (as they are called) who has powers that remind me a little of Superman and invincibility. Yet, a day at a bank sees David’s father shoot Steelheart (accidentally, he was actually trying to stop another Epic from killing him) and, for the first and only time, Steelheart bleeds from a scar on his face. This results in the death of David’s father and many others, David being the only survivor of the event.

10 years later and Epics rule their own cities, using their own minions (either other Epics or Enforcement (a loyal police group)) to dominate the land. David has been busy during this time, gathering every piece of information he can about Epics. He sees his chance to initiate a plan to kill Steelheart, when the Reckoners arrive in his city Newcago. These are a band of rebel people whose mission is to destroy Epics and give people hope. David, both purposefully and accidentally, gets involved in one of these missions and finally gets his chance to work with his own heroes in destroying Steelheart. First though they need a plan, and to work out Steelheart’s weakness from David’s memories.

Like so many of Sanderson’s tales, this grips right from the beginning. The initial scene when David and his father are in a bank, Epic Deathpoint comes and starts shooting people with his fingers, turning them into dust and bones, is terrifying but spellbinding. Then the author goes and adds to the terror with the main villain entering the scene. It is clear how important this event is, and the action and magic only heighten as Sanderson adds further action. Seeing the Reckoners work is a feast for the imagination. He also includes moments of reflection and explanation, which are just as tense as the truth behind the group and Epics is gradually revealed. He throws in some neat twists, some I really didn’t see coming until the end, and still keeps some things in the dark ready for a sequel. The only bother I have, which is slight, is that some of the action seems overlong and drawn out. Still, that happens only on a couple of occasions, leaving me to enjoy the rest of the tale.

Much of the description happens in the initial stages. Sanderson makes great work of the city of Newcago, showing the city from a variety of perspectives: from deep underground in its steel catacombs to above in a virtual way. He also, thankfully, describes the characters David meets as well as the objects they use (especially the guns and tensors). The level of technology Sanderson employs is breathtaking. However, David doesn’t get much visually and he is a hard 18 year old to picture.

With so much action, it might be hard to forget about the plot, but the plot is just as jaw dropping. Having all the superheroes as the actual villains with people fighting against them is a nice twist. Yet the humanity element is never forgotten and with it some big questions concerning science, truth, teamwork, secrets, violence, terrorism and hope occur. The characters interactions are also at the core, with a nice variety in the group to keep things different. So much of the plot I have to keep aside so as to not spoil it so much, though I will say that each Epics’ weakness comes off as incredibly random (I like this actually, but sometimes it does feel very bizarre). However, there was one part I found annoying. Metaphors. Just like The Shadow Master, Sanderson decides to explore metaphors, coming up with some great but often deliberately bad ones. The number of times these are mentioned is annoying and I really hate metaphors now! I also don’t see how it relates to character or plot, so why is it there anyway?

Thank goodness for a great central character, even if he uses the most metaphors. David is just a young adult, barely out of his teenage years, yet he is thrown into situations demanding recklessness and quick thinking, which luckily he has in bounds. His idea of revenge, to see Steelheart dead, is his core but his thinking is brought into question. Nevertheless, Epics and their destruction are his life, so much so that he is often called a nerd. He is more than that though; he is a brave, determined individual. Out of all the characters, David’s is the most thought provoking, thanks to the use of first person again, and his interactions with Megan in particular is interesting. It is through David that I learn of the struggle for humanity and what a character to see this story through!

Out of the team of Reckoners, it is Megan that has the biggest impact on David, who is instantly smitten by the blonde beauty. Megan shows some respect towards David, but mostly annoyance and even hatred. Why is explained later on, but seeing David try to think his way around Megan’s behaviour and into her heart is enjoyable. Megan’s every action is intriguing and the end for her was a very big twist. Other Reckoners include Abraham, a Canadian, French sounding man with calm speech and big on the understanding (and his gun is wicked!), Cody, the person who brings in the humour with his mention of all things Scottish (despite the lack of an accent), Tia, the brains of the group whose word plays with Cody are fun and Prof, the leader and founder of the group. He is a force to be reckoned with, assertive yet rarely dominating. They are a great bunch to bring hope to humanity. Having said that, some I feel I don’t learn enough about, especially Tia. I learn nothing about her past, although her relationship with Prof is interesting, but I want to know more about her and I don’t get that.

Then there are the Epics. Of course, there is Steelheart, the man who is thought to be indestructible, who provides electricity and such for his people yet delights in seeing them suffer. Yet, there are others, including his big three: Nightwielder, man of shadows and bringer of eternal night, Firefight, who according to David is the weakest despite the obvious reference to fire, and Conflux, the gifter who powers the weapons of Enforcement and electricity. There are minor Epics as well, including Fortuity (with the power of precognition), and seeing them under classifications is really well written. They also range from powerful to creepy (Fortuity likes to read human entrails!). They are an Epic bunch.

This is very much an epic book. Filled with a diverse range of heroes and villains (plus the odd grey area), amazing scenes and people, action and tense scenes and a plot of grand proportions, I am so happy to have read this. There are some snags: David is never really fully fleshed out in terms of description, some action packed chapters are a little long winded and metaphors...ugh! Still, I look forward to the next book, Firefight, and, with hints in the acknowledgements, a possible movie of the tale.

9/10
Plot-9
Characters-10
Scenes-9
Pace-9