Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by sterling8
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
3.0
I've only read one book by Brandon Sanderson, "Elantris". That one didn't do it for me, and since he generally writes humongous books that are at least trilogies, I have shied away from his writings. Steelheart, however, was short and I do like twists on superhero tropes. Would this be my entry point?
No, it would not. To give credit where it is due, the prologue of the book was absolutely great. Sanderson pulled no punches, and while it is ultimately an origin story for our main character, the writing kept me hooked all the way.
After that, though, the quality went quickly downhill. The idea of people receiving Epic powers but then using them only for selfish gain and intimidation is a sadly plausible one. Wouldn't there be more supervillains than superheroes, human nature being what it is, when you come right down to it?
David, our main character, has made it his mission to learn all he can about Epics, especially Steelheart, upon whom he hopes to gain vengeance. He has binders full of information. Really, he reminded me most of those nerdy people (I am one of them) who learns all they can about the topic of their fixation and can spout off just about any obscure information on their beloved subject at will. The only difference is that David is doing this out of hate instead of love. It looks like Sanderson has an organized framework in the background that sets the rules for all the superpowers in this world. We don't know all the rules, but we don't really have to.
This book would make a great movie. There are some wonderful action pieces, and the idea of an entire city turned into steel by an Epic lends itself to some great visuals.
However, the weakness of the book for me was the way the characters were written. David is your standard everyman protagonist. He is hit by the insta-love stick for the only young and attractive girl in the story (in fact, the only girl in the story except for the middle-aged support staff named Velma- not really her name, but the description is just like that Scooby Doo character). This whole moonstruck thing was just annoying, and I felt like the female characters found it just as annoying as I did. There's another character whose shtick is to fake a background and accent for himself (one day it's Scottish, another it's Australian) and then invent wild stories about himself based on that background, old TV shows that the younger characters have never seen, and pop culture references. I found him annoying and found myself actively rooting for his demise.
In the end, although the concept, setting, and action were good, I just either didn't care about the characters or actually wished them ill. Can't rate the book too highly, in that case.
No, it would not. To give credit where it is due, the prologue of the book was absolutely great. Sanderson pulled no punches, and while it is ultimately an origin story for our main character, the writing kept me hooked all the way.
After that, though, the quality went quickly downhill. The idea of people receiving Epic powers but then using them only for selfish gain and intimidation is a sadly plausible one. Wouldn't there be more supervillains than superheroes, human nature being what it is, when you come right down to it?
David, our main character, has made it his mission to learn all he can about Epics, especially Steelheart, upon whom he hopes to gain vengeance. He has binders full of information. Really, he reminded me most of those nerdy people (I am one of them) who learns all they can about the topic of their fixation and can spout off just about any obscure information on their beloved subject at will. The only difference is that David is doing this out of hate instead of love. It looks like Sanderson has an organized framework in the background that sets the rules for all the superpowers in this world. We don't know all the rules, but we don't really have to.
This book would make a great movie. There are some wonderful action pieces, and the idea of an entire city turned into steel by an Epic lends itself to some great visuals.
However, the weakness of the book for me was the way the characters were written. David is your standard everyman protagonist. He is hit by the insta-love stick for the only young and attractive girl in the story (in fact, the only girl in the story except for the middle-aged support staff named Velma- not really her name, but the description is just like that Scooby Doo character). This whole moonstruck thing was just annoying, and I felt like the female characters found it just as annoying as I did. There's another character whose shtick is to fake a background and accent for himself (one day it's Scottish, another it's Australian) and then invent wild stories about himself based on that background, old TV shows that the younger characters have never seen, and pop culture references. I found him annoying and found myself actively rooting for his demise.
In the end, although the concept, setting, and action were good, I just either didn't care about the characters or actually wished them ill. Can't rate the book too highly, in that case.