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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I remember reading this one back in the day, around the time Firefight was about to hit the shelves. I absolutely adored it for being a subversion of the superhero tropes. Re-reading it now, I found it harder to connect with. Perhaps because nowadays that idea's probably lost some of its shine for being done to death in other mainstream media. Perhaps because I'm older, crankier and less tolerant of irritating "quirky" YA heroes and ~boy~ book cliches. Don't get me wrong, Sanderson is a chuffing genius and I really liked the book for what it was and still is: a rip-roaring YA dystopian story that's never quite sure how seriously it should take itself and that is essentially a Hollywood blockbuster aimed at young males in particular in readable form.
Take David, our protagonist. He's a bit [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)|Ernest Cline|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500930947l/9969571._SY75_.jpg|14863741]; that geeky kid with poor social skills and a habit of filling airspace with weird comments to show us his personality. Instead of overt pop culture references (though there are a few ever-so-slightly more subtle ones) we get his twin obsessions: guns and bizarre metaphors. You'll either love that quirky tone of voice, or be nettled by it. I kinda wished it was a little more toned down at times, but hey, every YA hero needs something to make them stand out and at least he's not a raging ball of sarcasm. (One tiny little thing though? All those "metaphors" that he makes up and/or praises from others? They mostly aren't metaphors, they're similes and no one calls him out on it. My inner English teacher is headdesking.) His awkwardness does make him more relatable, even if his super luck skills combined with fighting skills and knowledge gathering abilities do stray close to that cliche of the hero being good at everything except that one thing... Well, maybe two. He's not great with words, and he sure isn't great with girls.
I do feel a little saddened at the female representation here. It's why I say this is a "boy" book, although I don't want that to mean anything terrible. There's no overt sexual themes and the ladies aren't reduced to mere body parts or trophies with no personalities. They're just... Less important than the male characters. The only one of real note, Megan, is the kick-ass love interest whose only real defining features are that she can kick ass and make David act stupid because he fancies her. To be fair there is more going on with her, but it never feels quite as explored in a character sense (ie without being related to David's feelings for her) than for the character of, say, Prof.
As expected of all Sanderson's books, the action/adventure, world building and atmosphere is just what's needed. My only reservation comes when right in the first chapter we have a baby murdered it its mothers arms in a very distressing way. For a book that goes on to be standard Hollywood levels of YA, it's a jarringly dark thing to just toss out there there doesn't match the rest of the series at all.
These days I'm a more critical reader, so of course I'm going to nitpick. I still really like the twists and turns, as formulaic as they now seem. David may grate at times, but he's got the YA tone of voice to push the story along. I'll raise an eyebrow at female representation, but am glad that it's more your slow-burn awkward boy meets kick-ass girl that doesn't turn the girl into a damsel or the boy into a hormone-fest.
The most important thing is it's weirdly fun in a YA way. It might not be the freshest any more, but it's still a solid first in series that totally would make an *ahem* epic movie.
Take David, our protagonist. He's a bit [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)|Ernest Cline|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500930947l/9969571._SY75_.jpg|14863741]; that geeky kid with poor social skills and a habit of filling airspace with weird comments to show us his personality. Instead of overt pop culture references (though there are a few ever-so-slightly more subtle ones) we get his twin obsessions: guns and bizarre metaphors. You'll either love that quirky tone of voice, or be nettled by it. I kinda wished it was a little more toned down at times, but hey, every YA hero needs something to make them stand out and at least he's not a raging ball of sarcasm. (One tiny little thing though? All those "metaphors" that he makes up and/or praises from others? They mostly aren't metaphors, they're similes and no one calls him out on it. My inner English teacher is headdesking.) His awkwardness does make him more relatable, even if his super luck skills combined with fighting skills and knowledge gathering abilities do stray close to that cliche of the hero being good at everything except that one thing... Well, maybe two. He's not great with words, and he sure isn't great with girls.
I do feel a little saddened at the female representation here. It's why I say this is a "boy" book, although I don't want that to mean anything terrible. There's no overt sexual themes and the ladies aren't reduced to mere body parts or trophies with no personalities. They're just... Less important than the male characters. The only one of real note, Megan, is the kick-ass love interest whose only real defining features are that she can kick ass and make David act stupid because he fancies her. To be fair there is more going on with her, but it never feels quite as explored in a character sense (ie without being related to David's feelings for her) than for the character of, say, Prof.
As expected of all Sanderson's books, the action/adventure, world building and atmosphere is just what's needed. My only reservation comes when right in the first chapter we have a baby murdered it its mothers arms in a very distressing way. For a book that goes on to be standard Hollywood levels of YA, it's a jarringly dark thing to just toss out there there doesn't match the rest of the series at all.
These days I'm a more critical reader, so of course I'm going to nitpick. I still really like the twists and turns, as formulaic as they now seem. David may grate at times, but he's got the YA tone of voice to push the story along. I'll raise an eyebrow at female representation, but am glad that it's more your slow-burn awkward boy meets kick-ass girl that doesn't turn the girl into a damsel or the boy into a hormone-fest.
The most important thing is it's weirdly fun in a YA way. It might not be the freshest any more, but it's still a solid first in series that totally would make an *ahem* epic movie.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow. Sparks, I'm.... This book was amazing. I´m in awe. I just, I really don´t know what to say. So many things going on! I feel as if my mind is going to explode. Loved loved LOVED the characters, can´t wait for the sequel.
If you don´t know what this book is about just pick it up. Is so amazing. A must read.
If you don´t know what this book is about just pick it up. Is so amazing. A must read.
Saw this reviewed by the Unshelved guys and it sounded good. It was, with a new twist on superhero powers. I hope the author goes back and does a prequel on how Epics came into being!
adventurous
mysterious
This is set in a post apocalyptic future, where humanity is controlled by a number of cruel and brutal superhumans who terrorise and control the population, created after the calamity – a failed experiment, and they have super human powers, pre-cog, energy beams, fire, matter transfer, and the ability to gift some of these to mere mortals.
David saw his father and many others killed after an powerful epic called Steelheart walked into a bank and murdered his father and many others indiscriminately. David has made it his aim to find and kill Steelheart as revenge. He has studied the epics, looking for weaknesses and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of them.
The Reckoners are a group of mercenaries who are pledged to eliminate as many epics as they can. They find their weaknesses, isolate them and then kill them. David comes across them when they are arranging a hit on an epic, and he is there when it is killed. The group is headed by Jon Pheadrus, better known as Prof, the leader of the Reckoners. They do not want to take on another member, but after he goes back to collect his notes and other thing from his flat, helps in eliminating another epic, he is reluctantly accepted. He passes on his notes and they set about making Steelheart think that there is another powerful epic in town, and challenging him for his domain by attacking infrastructure and more epics.
There is a tension in the group; whilst they all want the see the control of the epics reduce, some think that removing Steelheart will create a massive power vacuum, and actually make things worse. They start to plan and prepare for a huge showdown with Steelheart having riled him enough to bring him into the open.
It ends in a dramatic way with a big battle in an old stadium. The ending is quite fast paced, and dramatic, and there are a couple of twists, one I was expecting, one I wasn’t.
I have got some of Sandersons other works on a shelf, which I have never got around to reading, and having now read this one, I wish I had earlier. It is a fast paced read, in terms of action and plot. Some of the dialogue was not as natural as you would expect, but an enjoyable read nonetheless.
David saw his father and many others killed after an powerful epic called Steelheart walked into a bank and murdered his father and many others indiscriminately. David has made it his aim to find and kill Steelheart as revenge. He has studied the epics, looking for weaknesses and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of them.
The Reckoners are a group of mercenaries who are pledged to eliminate as many epics as they can. They find their weaknesses, isolate them and then kill them. David comes across them when they are arranging a hit on an epic, and he is there when it is killed. The group is headed by Jon Pheadrus, better known as Prof, the leader of the Reckoners. They do not want to take on another member, but after he goes back to collect his notes and other thing from his flat, helps in eliminating another epic, he is reluctantly accepted. He passes on his notes and they set about making Steelheart think that there is another powerful epic in town, and challenging him for his domain by attacking infrastructure and more epics.
There is a tension in the group; whilst they all want the see the control of the epics reduce, some think that removing Steelheart will create a massive power vacuum, and actually make things worse. They start to plan and prepare for a huge showdown with Steelheart having riled him enough to bring him into the open.
It ends in a dramatic way with a big battle in an old stadium. The ending is quite fast paced, and dramatic, and there are a couple of twists, one I was expecting, one I wasn’t.
I have got some of Sandersons other works on a shelf, which I have never got around to reading, and having now read this one, I wish I had earlier. It is a fast paced read, in terms of action and plot. Some of the dialogue was not as natural as you would expect, but an enjoyable read nonetheless.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A fun romp of a book. Or maybe a dark, angsty romp of a book? I liked it. I've been very book-promiscuous lately and haven't finished many this year. Been languishing in half-finished books all summer. So this YA "what if Superman was bad" novel was the thing I needed to get some momentum going. I read this in a week (which is fast for me these days).
And I wasn't This would make an interesting movie, though the drab steel and constant night would be a challenge to work with.
And I wasn't