Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Summary from Goodreads.com

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.

Brandon Sanderson quickly became one of my favourite authors with his Mistborn series, so discovering Steelheart on Audible.com was awesome. I hadn’t been keeping up with any upcoming books, and had no context other than the blurb for the book on what was coming in this novel. My expectations were high though, because hey — it’s a new series (at least for me, not paying attention) from Brandon Sanderson — and I was not disappointed.

The way Sanderson builds the world and lays down the rules for magic and abilities is, as always, a strength of his that is put to good use. Understanding how the world works is made easy, and the characters feel real despite their… shall we say Epic… abilities? The main character, David, is an awkward teenager and I’m constantly feeling embarrassment on his behalf. The type of character works for the book, though, and while I found him a bit annoying at first that quickly dissipated and I found his character to be a great choice for this type of story. It didn’t worsen my enjoyment of the book, but I guess I wanted someone more badass rather than awkward and… well, relatable. (I might have been an awkward kid, too, okay? It hits too close!)

Another thing to note is that I listened to the audiobook version of this title, narrated by MacLeod Andrews. I had not heard any of his voice work previously, and was quite impressed with his range and consistency with the characters in the book. I’m glad he’s the choice for the remaining books in the series, and will definitely keep a lookout for more of his work in the future.

Steelheart is fast-paced and concise. I really enjoyed the ending, and what it means for the next book in the series.  I look forward to checking out the next one.