Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson: Best Superhero Book Ever!

Steelheart 

by 

Brandon Sanderson

You know when superheroes get to big for their britches? There's usually several comic book story arcs about what happens when superheroes get too powerful or too full of their own fabulousness. Usually it’s only one maybe two superheroes who fall like that but in this world, all the Epics (super powered people) are narcissistic psychopaths who have destroyed the world. 

Well America at least. Who knows what the rest of the world is doing. International communication is kind of down the creek. 

              The story centers around David a kid whose father was murdered by Steelheart a super powered person who takes over Chicago and turns the whole city to steel. Understandably, David spends the next ten years making detailed plans to take down Steelheart. Now all he needs is a little help. So he goes to the Reckoners a group of people who have made it their mission to kill Epics.

I adore this book. It was so unexpectedly fabulous. I mean I picked it up because Brandon Sanderson wrote it and I’ve been fangirling over Mistborn since I read it a few weeks ago. I didn’t even know it was superheroes until I started it. Though I use that term loosely since (as I stated above) they’re far from heroic. 

Characters

David: Oh my gosh he is the most adorable little nerd. 

Sure, he pretends like he isn’t but he so is. For a character who is incredibly set on revenge he was remarkably humorous. Basically, I loved him. Okay so there were some parts where he became fixated on Megan which were sometimes funny . . . but usually frustrating. All in all, not bad.

Megan: Why do I always put the love interest after the protagonist? I mean seriously it’s every time. She was alright. Pretty much up until the end she was kind of the classic love interest. Kick-butt and far-too-fabulous to have feelings for the main character. There was a big plot twist that made her ten times better but I’ll keep that to myself.

Prof: mentor character with a tragic backstory. Well you can’t improve on everything I guess. 

Tina: Adorable little Hacker who is addicted to Cola. Oh Tina I love you. I am Tina. Where’s my Cola.

Cody: Best Comic Relief EVER! ‘It’s the tiny deamons inside the machinery that make the tech work I swear’ okay so it’s not an exact quote but you get the idea. But what’s with him being Scottish and American at the same time. It was mildly confusing.

Abraham: Hello I’m a polite, soft spoken French/Canadian. Do you want to try shooting my GIANT FREAKIN MACHINE GUN. 

Holy cow I liked Abraham.

Likes

              Oh my gosh the world is so cool: I adore Dystopians with hope in them. Usually I can’t get through Dystopians because I cannot stand everybody being so depressed/starving/hopeless all the freaking time. Sometimes the characters might as well be walking corpses for what little life they’ve got in them and it drives me nuts. Well this one had absolutely hilarious characters. Despite the fact that everybody is in constant near death experiences they still laughed and joked and smiled.

              Come on guys it’s Brandon Sanderson: yeesh I feel like I’ve reviewed half the books he’s written in the last month. Which is why I’m going to stop here.

              I actually really, really like superheroes! Though I’m kind of hesitant to say that because I’m not actually a comic book kind of person. 

(yes that is a real thing). I like superheroes. People with interesting powers and weakness and cool costumes and scary villains. Not to mention the people who aren’t superheroes but who can stand their own in a world full of crazy mutant people. What I don’t like is paying fifteen dollars for a story that’s maybe thirty pages long and told mostly in pictures. (shoot me if you will). Surprisingly there aren’t a lot of superhero books and this one rocked.

Dislikes

              There was some repetition: okay a lot of repetition. Don’t get me wrong I could probably listen to worldbuilding all day! But not when it’s the same freakin’ information told for the fourth time.

 Still in the grand scheme of things not a big deal.

              I know the protagonist is a teenage boy who is totally smitten with the (admittedly awesome) love interest. But for goodness sakes sometimes the . . . appreciation made me uncomfortable. It wasn’t inappropriate by any means! In fact, usually the description of Megan was rather humorous (David really sucks at metaphors, also similes) but sometimes it went a bit overboard.

              It was still awesome! I need the next one. Now. Even if it is a bit . . . tame compared to Mistborn.