The Reckoners Books 1&2 by Brandon Sanderson

Part two of a wonderful weekend that nobody around me understood:

Okay, I read “Steelheart” and “Firefight” in hardback, but the concept is still there!

To be honest- hold on- I’m always brutally honest in book reviews, so let’s scratch that.  To be honest, “Steelheart” didn’t grab and hold me as Sanderson’s other books.  It felt very similar to his “Warbreaker,” and “Mistborn.”  There’s a super, all-powerful ruler in a city (albeit that city is a steeled over Chicago with a maze underground) and a little group of rebels (who are less powerful in their own ways) are plotting to kill that ruler.  There’s a team with a plan, sub-plans, a romance, a betrayal, a big battle, and last second revelation, all tied up in a quick epilogue.  Since their magic system is only a decade old, and is actually an incredibly vast power-system, there’s little known and little explained about it.  The magic systems are usually what I like with Sanderson’s books, so I was less impressed.  Plus, Sanderson didn’t include any religion (which he always does), so it didn’t measure up as well.

At the end of the day, ***3 Stars***.  I liked it, sure, because it had no-fail concepts that I liked about Sanderson’s other books.  But will I read it again?  Meh, it’s shorter than his others, so maybe….

SPOILERS OF “STEELHEART” IN “FIREFIGHT” REVIEW

Then there was “Firefight.”  THIS was what I was looking for.  They don’t become the new government, like in “Well of Ascension,” and don’t start a huge revolution of the people,  They still struggle to fight Epics and the main character has a new perspective from working and falling in love with different Epics.  The characters stay true to their personalities and do exactly what you’d expect them to do.  My qualm with “Steelheart” was that it was predictable; I knew there would be twists, and I knew when the twists would happen, but all that changed in “Firefight.”  I knew twists would happen, but I definitely didn’t anticipate when or how.  Betrayals from people you didn’t expect, connections you thought would fail stayed strong, and I love it when you completely believe the heroes are one-step ahead of the villain, then you find out the villain was one-step ahead of the heroes, and then the heroes have to scramble at the end.  I also appreciated the expanded knowledge and explanation of the magic system and the addition of religious thoughts.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to say this, but I’m actually looking forward to the next book!  For being the 2nd book in a trilogy (these are usually my least favorites), it resolved a LOT of issues and felt like a solid story arch.  However, it also created a HUGE problem to solve, and a fleeting hope to solve it.  I know where it’s going, but I haven’t a clue how it’s going to get there, and that’s what excites me.  Thank goodness the last book comes out Spring of next year!

I’ll hand out a rare ****4 Stars**** to “Firefight.”