Steelheart by Mr. Cutie a.k.a Brandon Sanderson

Joint review!!! We haven’t done one in such a long time, we almost don’t remember how to do it. Haha! Kidding, we don’t remember at all…

Beez: This is my first Sanderson book. My other half (read: Raven), adores Sanderson to a large (understatement) extent and has so many of his books! In fact she gave me one because she had two copies?

Raven: To be clear, there was a HUGE sale on his books and I got so excited that I accidentally bought two copies of the same book (Book Two part one of the Way of Kings I think). It’s a mistake I don’t fully regret.

Beez: So here’s the thing I trust- “that lady” (read: Raven) so I had no doubt that he was good. (We also met him?? and he was so cute and red? can I go back please?). Anyways, I was already expecting this to be good. The blurb sounded awfully interesting and intelligent. Paper Fury wrote some good things about it. I didn’t have no doubts.

And maybe, there is another timeline where I don’t trust Raven, but this is not that one, so, if isn’t obvious, I wasn’t wrong to not doubt.

Raven: Ugh I remember the time we met him. My heart actually stopped beating. He was so sweet and adorable and he was there with his Mom and ARGH! *dies* We have written all about it on this post. I have already read and reviewed Mistborn and his Graphic Novel Whitesand and I loved them both so much that there was no way I could dislike anything he ever wrote. I often have days where I want to own everything he touches. Wow… I don’t sound like a stalker at all #notesarcasm

Beez: The premise of this book is that some humans suddenly get these super human powers because of an unknown phenomena called Calamity and they start wrecking havoc and taking over. The humans are left defenseless because none of their defenses are a match. The powered people; called Epics, began to rule as dictator, smiting humans whenever they fancied and overall not caring. But here’s the sharp tack- all the Epics are bad.

Raven: And our protagonist, David, wants to kill Steelheart (the ruler of Newcago, previously known as Chicago) to take revenge for his fathers death and so we ride this train of fab with him. The catch with Steelheart is that he is stronger than steel (Duh!) He is basically Superman with no Kryptonite a.k.a he got no weaknesses. But David has seen Steelheart bleed, he knows Steelheart can be defeated, he just needs to figure out how.

Step 1 in his to-do list is to join the Reckoners, a group of ordinary humans moved by a single goal: Killing all Epics.

Beez: This book was great, it was a fun and easy read, it was clear, it was intelligent, it made complete sense. I say that because YA sometimes gives the dumbest reasons for stuff. This book DID NOT. This book knew that the reader is intelligent and so is the protagonist. I will go on to say that the only reason this book comes in YA is because of the language and the age of the protagonist. Apart from that, the plot, the execution, the happenings, the whole boat of content is smart and adult-rating worthy. It’s more than worthy.

Expanding on that: You know how you plan to do various stuff in real life but you know if something doesn’t go to plan (my life), you will have to drop it? Well, this book goes on missions to kill humans with super powers and the possibility that this might not go to plan and they might need to abort IS SUCH A POSSIBLE ONE, I wanted to clap. Because I find in so many fantasy books, during missions and such, nobody thinks that, “Guys, we may need to drop out of this one” no, no, everything might go to hell but we have no choice is what they say. Learn from this book!

Another thing I loved about this book was the root of it. The essence of it is that the people who were suddenly gifted with the power became bad. No heroes or such. Now you could take that as simply a plot in a book, but it’s so much more!

Forgive me if I’m over intellectualizing but I find that such an interesting dynamic! Power makes evil! It’s an Agents of Shield situation minus the good guys. Do you agree? Let me split it into two- do you think that’s exactly what would happen if people got super powers in our world? How would you compare that to the people already in places of power in our world? You could argue against it, and funnily, this book does that too! Who would you become if you got powers? Would you fight against the want for control the power gives you? Endless possible questions!!!! (Hit me up if you want a discussion!)

Raven: One of the best things about Sanderson’s books is that his magic system has rules and regulations. There is an order to it. This order not only helps us understand the book but also throws our brain into full throttle where we just constantly churn out theories on how the book will move forward and how it will end. And I think that is what makes me love his books so much. It feels so interactive and it’s a 100% engaging.

And like Beez said, everything in the book feels so real because of the risk factor. There is not a moment where we might feel, “Okay things are going to change in our favor now,” cause NOPE things are constantly going to shit.

While I loved all the characters because as with every Sanderson character, they were well fleshed out and absolutely human in their own way, I was a bit disappointed that David’s love for Megan was basically a love-at-first-sight cliche beginning and his attraction was heavily physical too which was a bit sad.

Beez: The characters in this book weren’t exceptional. They were very individual in their nature, but I liked that about them. They weren’t just wa-wa-wroom-magic make team. They were very much their own person. They were also very focused, but I supposed that’s what the world made them be. The plot twist in this was great though. Raven guessed it pretty darn close *insert Raven’s evil laugh* And the ending scene was bomb #punintended

All in all we would say, this book is absolutely worth the read. It’s fantasy but not too hard on you, a breezy read, yet well thought out and intriguing. Do read and tell us what you think of it. Cheers!

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. (Blurb from Goodreads)

This is Raven and Beez,

Signing off~