Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

 

Title: Steelheart

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Publication Date: 2013

ISBN #: 0385743564

Number of Pages: 400

Trend: Trend: Science Fiction, Super heroes, Children with abilities

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Sanderson, B. (2013). Steelheart. New York, NY: Delacorte Press

Summary: What happens if something happened to the world and certain people all of sudden gain various super powers? Now what would happen if that same thing that gave them super powers also turned them into villains? In a world full of super villains the only good guys left are the normal humans. This is the premise for the first book in Brandon Sanderson’s new series, The Reckoners. David is a boy whose father was killed by an “Epic,” a person with super powers, right around the time when the Epics started making their presence more known, and their villainess sides. David’s father was killed by the most powerful epic ever known, Steelheart. Steelheart takes over the entire city of Chicago renaming it “Newcago,” and rules over it with a mafia of other epics.  David has spent his entire life studying epics, especially Steelheart and seeks to make contact with a group of secret rebel fighters, The Reckoners, and join their ranks to kill epics and hopefully convince them to target Steelheart.

Curricular connections: This book promises to be the first book in a very popular series. I would certainly display it in such a way in my library. I have not given a booktalk about it yet, but it would probably be no problem to get teens interested in a book with super powered humans in it. Especially if the good guys are just normal humans, someone they can relate to.

Review Sources: Publisher’s Weekly proclaims it to be, “near-constant action, Sanderson's whiz-bang imaginings, and a fully realized sense of danger make this an absolute page-turner.” (Publisher’s Weekly, 2013).  Though there is a defiant element of violence to the story the violence is in a playful superhero-esque style. Kirkus Reviews says, “A straight-up Marvel Comics-style action drama featuring a small band of human assassins taking on costumed, super powered super villains with melodramatic monikers,” admiring the elements that make for a great superhero comic book, in a narrative form, “here's violence and gore in profusion, cool gear, hot wheels, awesome feats, inner conflicts on both sides--all that's missing are the pictures.

 
Personal response:

I was totally gripped by this book. I could not stop reading it. I always rooted for all to go well for the characters, and I was so gripped I did not see any of the plot twists before they happened. I can not wait until the next book comes out in January 2015.