Steelheart Review

     Have you ever wondered what the world would be if the average, every-day Joe woke up with superpowers? Sure, as a comic book fan, we’ve all thought about what superpowers we would like to have and what we would do with them, but what happens when the people that wake up with powers aren’t predisposed to being heroes? What happens when every last person that develops powers doesn’t just set out to make their own lives better, but sets out to build their own little kingdoms in their favorite corners of the world? What exactly is the fallout from a world full of villains without any heroes around to mitigate the damage?

     Enter Steelheart. Brandon Sanderson has crafted a tale that will engross any and every comic book lover out there. Not that it won’t appeal to others, but from the perspective of someone who grew up on comic books, this is the literary equivalent. We get to follow the David Charleston in his efforts to not only survive in the city of Newcago (what Chicago was renamed by the Epic who claimed it as his territory), but also to acquire justice/revenge for the death of his father at the hands of an Epic. We aren’t left with just David as a fully fleshed out character either. We eventually meet the people that David has looked up to and wanted more than anything to join, the Reckoners. These are more characters to add their individual personalities and peculiarities to the tapestry that is woven. For every character that David changes with his idealism and his fervor, there is a resulting change in the way that David views the world as well. Through his interactions with the Reckoners and his pursuit of his goal, David grows. He changes. He matures. His worldview slowly shifts from the singular focus that he started with.

     There is no shortage of twists and turns in the story. It isn’t a straight and forseeable path that David ends up walking down over the course of his mission. Sanderson has crafted a story that is both easy to read and hard to put down. We find ourselves in a world that feels much like our own. It is set a scant few years into the future, and, barring one mysterious star irradiating the planet, everything feels real. The reactions of people to the appearance of the first Epics, the reactions of governments and militaries to the presence of people with powers enough to level cities and turn other people to ash, even the fears and desires of the people that inhabit the one city that we follow our protagonist through his travails feel realistic.

     If you’ve got some time and want to get pulled into a story, give Steelheart a read. It will go much more quickly than you think, and when it is at an end, you will be left craving more.