Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson – Book Review

January 12, 2017 by Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads ♥ 1 Comment

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.

“I hadn’t been fighting because of my father’s death. I fought because of his dreams.”

Boy, oh boy, this book was a really good one. I just wish that I had more time to dedicate to it than I actually had. With a lot of real life, heart-breaking situations that I had to deal with, reading this book really helped me calm down and reassure myself that things would be okay. Yes, even though David’s dad was killed in this book and there was so much death and destruction, reading this book really did make me feel like things would be okay.

So coming into this book after reading the sequel almost two years ago, it was nice to go back to where it all began. I was curious as to how Steelheart ended up succumbing to his fate and why David ended up leaving Newcago with the Reckoners. I was also curious as to how he ended up joining them, and whatever happened to the infamous Megan that he kept talking about. What was it about her that made him so… boyish?

I really don’t know how to explain his mentality sometimes. He’s 18 years old and yet I can still hear some of that immaturity in him when it comes to Megan. She’s like his first crush, and I get to see that develop in this book, so I’m really glad I got to.

Plus, finding out that the infamous Prof’s true nature was fun too, even though you only get to find out at the very very end of the book. At least it explains to me why it felt like David was so betrayed. Maybe reading this book will encourage me to reread Firefight and finally finish the trilogy with Calamity.

I’m glad for the backstory on David, and how he became one of the best members of the Reckoners. I am really hoping that the rest of the Reckoners get their chance to shine. We will definitely see.

Rated: 5/5 ★

Firefight by Brandon Sanderson – Book Review

March 6, 2015March 6, 2015 by Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I’d grown up practically worshipping the Reckoners, all the while loathing the Epics. Discovering that Prof was both … it had been like discovering that Santa Claus was secretly a Nazi. – David

The world is not the same as it used to be. Years ago, Calamity happened. What that means exactly, some still don’t know to this day. All we do know, is that with Calamity came the birth of strange beings with powers called Epics, and some of them were out for blood. But with coming of the Epics came something that could help turn the tide, help those who who still had some humanity left in them find a way to fight back. Those were the Reckoners, and they would do whatever they could to hold back the Epic plague, and bring peace back to Earth.

This book is the second in The Reckoners trilogy, and while I wish I had read the first book before I read this, I wasn’t completely lost going through it. That is very important to me when I read a book series out of order, especially if I don’t realize it until it’s too late. In this case, I read this book as part of a GoodReads buddy read, so I didn’t have much time to read the first book before this one started. It’s okay though, and I definitely don’t regret it.

David, the protagonist in the story, is one that I found very amusing and very frustrating at the same time. I didn’t realize it until much later on in the book that he really wasn’t that much older than I expected. In fact, he’s actually younger than I am, which was probably why I thought that some of his thought processes seemed almost juvenile. But his track record has proven to the world that he is very capable at doing his job, which to him is killing Epics. Throughout the book, he realizes that things aren’t always black and white, and his belief is tested even more than it was in the first book.

This book was one of the most amazing stories I have ever read. I couldn’t believe that I had never heard of this series before, but then again I know that there are so many books out there that I haven’t heard of yet, that are just waiting for me to explore their worlds. Firefight is action packed, tells an amazing story, and just really changes the way you think when it comes to the special things people can do, and the darkness that can consume them because of it.

Rated: 5/5 Stars

Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

February 9, 2015March 6, 2015 by Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

From the #1 “New York Times” bestselling author of Words of Radiance coauthor of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, and creator of the internationally bestselling Mistborn Trilogy, Brandon Sanderson presents the second book in the Reckoners series: Firefight, the sequel to the #1 bestseller Steelheart.

They told David it was impossible–that even the Reckoners had never killed a High Epic. Yet, Steelheart–invincible, immortal, unconquerable–is dead. And he died by David’s hand.

Eliminating Steelheart was supposed to make life more simple. Instead, it only made David realize he has questions. Big ones. And there’s no one in Newcago who can give him the answers he needs.

Babylon Restored, the old borough of Manhattan, has possibilities, though. Ruled by the mysterious High Epic, Regalia, David is sure Babylon Restored will lead him to what he needs to find. And while entering another city oppressed by a High Epic despot is a gamble, David’s willing to risk it. Because killing Steelheart left a hole in David’s heart. A hole where his thirst for vengeance once lived. Somehow, he filled that hole with another Epic–Firefight. And he’s willing to go on a quest darker, and more dangerous even, than the fight against Steelheart to find her, and to get his answers.

Synopsis provided by GoodReads.