Sanderson, B. (2013). Steelheart. New York, NY/USA. Delacorte Press.
PAGES
386
386
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ANNOTATION
David wants revenge on Steelheart, and he holds the only clue to his weakness.
SUMMARY
The day Calamity appeared in the sky the world changed forever. Normal humans began exhibiting extraordinary powers. David, an eight year old boy, witnesses the murder of his father and many others at the hand of Steelheart, an epic with seemingly invincible powers. He makes Chicago his kingdom, and other epics make other cities their personal kingdoms. A few years later and the governments of the world are all but collapsed and anarchy reigns. There are no good epics, and Steelheart is one of the worst.
David is the only survivor of that first massacre, and if Steelheart knew he was alive he would stop at nothing to kill him. Why? Because David has seen Steelheart bleed, and he is the only living person with any clue as to what his weakness is. However, in order to pull of the coup of the century he is going to need help. This is where the Reckoners come into play. The Reckoners are an elite group of assassins and their targets are epics. They try to target more higher ranked epics, but have yet to target a major epic such as Steelheart. However, after a chance meeting and after helping them kill one of their more dangerous targets, David is welcomed aboard and convinces them to take on Steelheart. He shares what he knows, and they create a plan to take out both Steelheart and his inner circle of cronies. There only problem, one major flaw to the plan: No one knows Steelheart's weakeness. The only thing they have to go on is what David witnessed that day when he was eight and he watched Steelheart kill his father, but before he was killed, David's father inadvertently injured Steelheart. This is what they have to figure out if they are to fight one of the most powerful epics in the world and survive.
MY REVIEW
This book is a thrilling adventure from beginning to end with little time to catch your breath before the next twist. I felt like my head was underwater, but I did not want to come up for air. I wanted to drown myself in the book! David is the ultimate nerd we all want to be, Megan is the ultimate female action hero, Prof is the perfect mysterious leader with more to him than he lets on, and Steelheart is Superman gone super bad-it's wonderful!
Once I picked up the book I could not put it down without physical pain and the desire to pick it back up consumed my mind. It was a wild ride from one high speed curve to the next with no slowing down. I got worried as I came upon the last pages with so many lose ends to tie, but Sanderson did so skillfully and mindbogglingly well. He is a master at fantasy and science fiction and his many awards are well deserved.
Though I may have found this book extremely entertaining I'm not sure that it is a book that will stand the test of time like others within its genre despite its ingenuity and creative world building. However, for lovers of fantasy and science fiction it is definitely a must read. Now, I'm off to read the remaining books to the trilogy. Please do not disturb!
RATING
Quality: Silver
Popularity: Emerald
David wants revenge on Steelheart, and he holds the only clue to his weakness.
SUMMARY
The day Calamity appeared in the sky the world changed forever. Normal humans began exhibiting extraordinary powers. David, an eight year old boy, witnesses the murder of his father and many others at the hand of Steelheart, an epic with seemingly invincible powers. He makes Chicago his kingdom, and other epics make other cities their personal kingdoms. A few years later and the governments of the world are all but collapsed and anarchy reigns. There are no good epics, and Steelheart is one of the worst.
David is the only survivor of that first massacre, and if Steelheart knew he was alive he would stop at nothing to kill him. Why? Because David has seen Steelheart bleed, and he is the only living person with any clue as to what his weakness is. However, in order to pull of the coup of the century he is going to need help. This is where the Reckoners come into play. The Reckoners are an elite group of assassins and their targets are epics. They try to target more higher ranked epics, but have yet to target a major epic such as Steelheart. However, after a chance meeting and after helping them kill one of their more dangerous targets, David is welcomed aboard and convinces them to take on Steelheart. He shares what he knows, and they create a plan to take out both Steelheart and his inner circle of cronies. There only problem, one major flaw to the plan: No one knows Steelheart's weakeness. The only thing they have to go on is what David witnessed that day when he was eight and he watched Steelheart kill his father, but before he was killed, David's father inadvertently injured Steelheart. This is what they have to figure out if they are to fight one of the most powerful epics in the world and survive.
MY REVIEW
This book is a thrilling adventure from beginning to end with little time to catch your breath before the next twist. I felt like my head was underwater, but I did not want to come up for air. I wanted to drown myself in the book! David is the ultimate nerd we all want to be, Megan is the ultimate female action hero, Prof is the perfect mysterious leader with more to him than he lets on, and Steelheart is Superman gone super bad-it's wonderful!
Once I picked up the book I could not put it down without physical pain and the desire to pick it back up consumed my mind. It was a wild ride from one high speed curve to the next with no slowing down. I got worried as I came upon the last pages with so many lose ends to tie, but Sanderson did so skillfully and mindbogglingly well. He is a master at fantasy and science fiction and his many awards are well deserved.
Though I may have found this book extremely entertaining I'm not sure that it is a book that will stand the test of time like others within its genre despite its ingenuity and creative world building. However, for lovers of fantasy and science fiction it is definitely a must read. Now, I'm off to read the remaining books to the trilogy. Please do not disturb!
RATING
Quality: Silver
Popularity: Emerald
GENRE & SUB GENRES
Fantasy
Science Fiction
Dystopia
Fiction
Fantasy
Urban Fantasy
Comics
Superheroes
Adventure
Science Fiction
Dystopia
Fiction
Fantasy
Urban Fantasy
Comics
Superheroes
Adventure
APPEAL FACTORS
The book is written by a very popular author of fantasy and science fiction. It has high reviews and ratings on Goodreads. The cover promises a lot of action, adventure, and thrill, and the premise written inside the book cover sleeve captured my attention right away.
BOOKTALKING
Sanderson's masterful skills in writing a thrilling plot with several twists.
The motif of revenge vs. justice that plays throughout the book.
The different and unique powers of the epics in the book.
A tale of revenge and justice.
The heroism of the Reckoners.
The different powers of the epics in the book.
DISCUSSION POINTS
What is the difference between justice and revenge? Do you think revenge is ever justified? Why?
David spends his entire life working on how to kill Steelheart. Why would he dedicate so much time to this idea?
We find out that Megan is really Firefight, and we are not sure why she is helping the Reckoners. Why do you think she helps them?
Do you think it was okay the Prof hid that fact that he was an epic from the group? Why?
Why do you think epics all turn evil?
What is your theory on Calamity? Is it a star or something else?
Do you believe its possible for an epic to be good?
What was the significance of Conflux's role?
Steelheart ended up killing himself. Do you think he was the only one who did not fear him, or do you think there was someone else out there?
WHY THIS BOOK?
This book was chosen for the book club I am a member of with glowing reviews and recommendations from many of my peers. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and use the book for both the club and this database.
THE AUTHOR
Brandon Sanderson
REVIEWS
Perdition by Ann Aguirre
Promise of Blood by Brian MClellan
The Thousand Names by Django Wexler
AWARDS
Georgia Peach Book Award Nominee for Honor book 2014
Rhode Island Teen Book Award 2015
Lincoln Award Nominee 2016
Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction 2013
Green Mountain Book Award Nominee 2016
POINTS TO REMEMBER
- Super Human Powers
- Chicago
- Dystopian World
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