2.5 Stars
Ten years ago the Calamity came and gave some ordinary people superhero like powers. These people are called Epics. The Epics are vicious and want to rule over everyone. Only The Reckoners, a group of regular people, are fighting back. David wants to join The Reckoners and take out Steelheart, the Epic who killed his father ten years ago.
I liked Steelheart and it had some very interesting ideas, the book just wasn't really for me. It's very much an ultimate fantasy novel for young boys. I'm not saying only teen boys would enjoy Steelheart, but it is absolutely perfect for teen boys.
The main character is average and a bit boring. There is nothing extraordinary about David, but suddenly he is thrust into this group where he gets to play with cool weapons, flirt with an attractive girl who also likes weapons, and he gets to play the hero. I found it to be like in romance novels where the main girl is average in order to allow many women to see themselves in that role. I feel like this was done similarly so that any young boy could see himself in the role of David. Which is pretty cool, just not something that I'm in to.
The main character is average and a bit boring. There is nothing extraordinary about David, but suddenly he is thrust into this group where he gets to play with cool weapons, flirt with an attractive girl who also likes weapons, and he gets to play the hero. I found it to be like in romance novels where the main girl is average in order to allow many women to see themselves in that role. I feel like this was done similarly so that any young boy could see himself in the role of David. Which is pretty cool, just not something that I'm in to.
I enjoyed the action parts very much. I found myself thinking how much I would enjoy Steelheart as a Michael Bay movie. The Epics were pretty cool, but I didn't really care about the predictable plot. I just wanted the ACTION!! Blah plot + ACTION = any Michael Bay movie! LOL!! Seriously I would love to see this done as a movie. I think it would be way better as a movie.
Overall I liked Steelheart, but I didn't love it. It's very middle of the road and average for me. I do have to say Brandon Sanderson's writing was pretty great, especially all of the action parts. This was my first Brandon Sanderson read! Sure I didn't LOVE it, but I would read more novels by him. I probably won't read the second novel in this series though, but I would recommend this one to friends that like YA Fantasy. It may not have been totally for me, but I do think there is a lot of people who would love this one.
I recommend Steelheart for fans of X-Men/superheros/villians, and fans of Brandon Sanderson.
I've been wanting to try this author as well but I think it might be too fantasy for me. I like fantasy but not high fantasy and this sounds like it is.
ReplyDeleteWonderful honest review Erin!
Yes exactly! I've heard he is very high fantasy. I want to try some of his adult books, but I think I will have to work myself up to that.
DeleteHmm, I've been meaning to read this book for a while, but I'm a little hesitant on it now. But that's all right--one less book on my TBR pile to get through!
ReplyDeleteGreat review :)
~Erika @ Books, Stars, Writing. And Everything In Between.
It wasn't bad, it's just more about the action than the plot in my opinion. I think there is a lot of people who would really love it. :)
Delete