Ten years ago, a star or perhaps it was a satellite took orbit around the Earth. It gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. They called themselves Epics. However, absolute power can corrupt absolutely and the Epics quickly prove that they are anything but human. They murder men, women, and children with cold precision. Their powers vary from healing to turning day into night to illusions, but they all have one thing in common--they all have a weakness. Only one group, the Reckoners, dares do anything about the Epics. And David wants in. He wants to kill Steelheart--the Epic who has all of Newcago under his thumb and the Epic who murdered his father ten years earlier. For a decade, David has been studying, planning, and obsessing with one objective--he wants revenge.
I admit, I read three books before this, books that I felt were so boring or bad that I didn't read more than 50 pages of any of them. As much as I would like to say I read every book I begin, the truth is, I have a pile beside my bed that is just too large for me to be laboring through books that don't capture me. So when a person has begun three awful books in a row, the relief to begin a great one is almost visceral.
The first sentence: I've seen Stealheart bleed. And I said out loud, "Damn, that is how you start a story." I know it isn't much, but there was a promise in that first sentence. It promised action. It promised a story. There was also a question, for the reader doesn't really know who or what Steelheart is, only that it is a proper pronoun.
Sanderson delivered the answers and the promise. This was a story with non-stop action, with a perfect prologue that immediately sucks in its readers, and a mystery that is always just out of your grasp. Also, this is the perfect book for the teen male reluctant reader. Nevermind that Sanderson already writes spectacular sci-fi and fantasy for adults, his transition to young adult books has been seamless, first with The Rithmatist and now with Steelheart.
Here is the biggest shocker, I have nothing bad to say about it. I loved the characters, pacing, mystery, and even the twist. I can't wait to read the sequel, although I would like to get my hands on Rithmatist #2 and I can't tell you which one I want more.
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