"Steelheart" Brandon Sanderson

There are no heroes.

Every single person who manifested powers—we call them Epics—turned out to be evil.

Here, in the city once known as Chicago, an extraordinarily powerful Epic declared himself Emperor. Steelheart has the strength of ten men and can control the elements. It is said no bullet can harm him, no sword can split his skin, no explosion can burn him. He is invincible.

It has been ten years. We live our lives as best we can. Nobody fights back . . . nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans who spend their lives studying powerful Epics, finding their weaknesses, then assassinating them.

My name is David Charleston. I’m not one of the Reckoners, but I intend to join them. I have something they need. Something precious, something incredible. Not an object, but an experience. I know his secret.

I’ve seen Steelheart bleed.

Introduction to "Steelheart" -- Brandon Sanderson

Yes, I have eclectic reading tastes.  Victorian literature, classic science fiction, graphic novels, young adult literature, popular science, and the list goes on.  Among all that I like a good action novel.  "Steelheart" fit that need.  A classic tale of good versus evil, or the oppressed fighting against the oppressors.  Not as good as "Lies of Locke Lamora" but fresh enough with an intriguing cast of characters that you can wonder whether you should like them or not.  Humor sprinkled throughout.

David is the narrator, and as a child he watched Steelheart kill his father during a massacre of which he was the only survivor.  For the past 10 years he has been studying the Epics, people who were granted super powers when some strong cosmological event occurred near the Earth.  He has classified them, studied their strengths and weaknesses, looked for patterns in their behaviors, and he wants to join the Reckoners, a group of rebels who have been successful ridding the country (world?) of a few Epics.

Newcago, the shell of Chicago under the tyranny of Steelheart, has a maze of underground tunnels where those not in Steelheart's favor eke out a life.  Among those catacombs, David seeks out and finagles himself into the Reckoner's group, proving to them he has something to offer.

There are twists and turns.  There is a big question of what is right versus what is best.  Of course, since David is a young adult, there is a father figure, a mother figure, and would-be siblings.  There are hormones and a love interest.  And there are analogies, bad ones.  David is always trying to create them, but fails.  It is part of the charm of the book.

And, of course, there is a final battle between good and evil, as there should be.

So full of comic book images and end-of-chapter cliff hangers, this would have worked as a graphic novel or a graphic novel series.  But I liked David's introspection and that would have been missing in the visual format.

A fun book.  If I were the kind to get into book series I would have to look for other Sanderson Reckoners books.