"Mitosis" Brandon Sanderson

“Epics have this habit of treating physics like something that happens to other people, like acne and debt.” 

― Brandon Sanderson, Mitosis

Last night at 1 a.m., I wanted to listen to something while crocheting, but I knew if I started a new book I would probably not get to sleep at all.  I must have gotten this short story as a free download from audible.com because as a a short story I would not have deemed it credit worthy.  Goodreads.com lists it as Reckoner's #1.5, so this follows "Steelheart" and precedes "Firefight" in the series.  I also saw that the third book in the series, "Calamity," is due out in 2016.  Sparks!

The more I think about it, the more I realize "Steelheart" is the perfect book.  It has all those elements that I want in escapist literature:  David v. Goliath, good v. evil, an ensemble cast, logic/research that can be used to overpower super powers, humor, and a lead character/narrator whose analogies are beyond others' comprehension.  I like a good analogy myself.

In the first book of the series, Steelheart was an Epic, read superhuman, who ruled Newcago with an iron, or rather steel, fist.  The Reckoners are a band of ordinary people, or so everyone believes, who are fighting back against the Epics across the world.  David grew up hating the Epics due to his Batman-like family history.  He finagles his way into the Reckoners organization in "Steelheart" helping them win a major battle in the war.

In "Mitosis" a new Epic shows up on David's doorstep in true Western movie style, standing on the street and shouting for the Epic killer to show up for a show down.  David rushes in to do battle using the rationale that if Mitosis is fighting him, then he won't be hurting other people.  David's rash decisions are counter to the Reckoners' policy of long, detailed planning before going into action, but, regardless, his team helps him out.

The ending is heartwarming.  I mean it...truly.

I did a little research on my own, which means I visited Wikipedia and Brandon Sanderson's website.  First of all, Sanderson is young enough to be my son...ouch.  Secondly, he has three laws of magic, and I can see from them why I like his work.  I'll leave it to you to visit his website to read about them for yourself.  Worth the visit.

While there are too many books and too little time and I hesitate to put even more books on my to-read list, I think that sometime when I am looking for a fun romp through a magical place where good wins over evil I'll have to download "Firefight."  And "Calamity"....