How far would you go for revenge if someone killed your father?
If someone destroyed your city?
If everything you ever loved was taken from you?
David Charleston will go to any lengths to stop Steelheart. But to exact revenge in Steelheart’s world, David will need the Reckoners—a shadowy group of rebels bent on maintaining justice.
And it turns out that the Reckoners might just need David too.

 

Newcago is free.
They told David it was impossible, that even the Reckoners had never killed a High Epic. Yet Steelheart–invincible, immortal, unconquerable–is dead. And he died by David’s hand.
Eliminating Steelheart was supposed to make life simpler. Instead, it only made David realize he has questions. Big ones. And no one in Newcago can give him answers.
Babylon Restored, the city formerly known as the borough of Manhattan, has possibilities, though. Ruled by the mysterious High Epic Regalia, Babylon Restored is flooded and miserable, but David is sure it’s the path that will lead him to what he needs to find. Entering a city oppressed by a High Epic despot is risky, but David’s willing to take the gamble. Because killing Steelheart left a hole in David’s heart. A hole where his thirst for vengeance once lived. Somehow, he filled that hole with another Epic–Firefight. And now he will go on a quest darker and even more dangerous than the fight against Steelheart to find her, and to get his answers.

When Calamity lit up the sky, the Epics were born. David’s fate has been tied to their villainy ever since that historic night. Steelheart killed his father. Firefight stole his heart. And now Regalia has turned his closest ally into a dangerous enemy.
David knew Prof’s secret, and kept it even when Prof struggled to control the effects of his Epic powers. But facing Obliteration in Babilar was too much. Once the Reckoners’ leader, Prof has now embraced his Epic destiny. He’s disappeared into those murky shadows of menace Epics are infamous for the world over, and everyone knows there’s no turning back. . . .

But everyone is wrong. Redemption is possible for Epics—Megan proved it. They’re not lost. Not completely. And David is just about crazy enough to face down the most powerful High Epic of all to get his friend back. Or die trying.

 Amazon  B&N

Fly Girl’s Review:

I started Steelheart on a whim for an overnight trip on the Motorcycle (so I did Audible). By the time I finished book one I had book two bought and downloaded.  Number three was just an automatic 1-click.  Although this is a young adult series, it certainly has all the elements of a grown up story.  There is romance in this one and it is actually a huge part.

Each book has a slightly different theme.  Steelheart is about revenge and how the need for revenge evolves over time.  Firefight is about loyalty.  Finally, Calamity is about how everyone has some good and evil inside but we have a choice of which one controls us. That’s all I got on the intellectual part of the review.   The rest is just downright love…

I couldn’t get enough of this series.  I’m actually disappointed it’s over.  The dystopian world Sanderson creates is so captivating you feel like you’re there touching the steel buildings and trees.  He takes major cities in the US and gives them a little twist depending on which Epic rules.  So you feel like you know the world, but you don’t.  Then there are the characters which are brought to life by the narrator but given depth by Sanderson.  The Reckoners group is so diverse it creates another depth to the story and this make believe world.  I love the personalities of each one.  By the end of book three it’s as if I knew them.  The best part is David’s horrible metaphors and how he explains them.  But as the story continues it makes David’s awkwardness feel real.

The romance between David and Megan makes him question his good and evil side along with decisions he makes from the heart.  The Reckoners believe that his recklessness is part of his normal personality but in fact it is a result of decisions made from the heart.  So you ask what made this series standout from others.  It’s the way he keeps the story fast paced with action and still causes introspection about the main themes and why he wrote it.

My favorite scene is when David talks the Reckoners into going back to his apartment for his notebooks and how he won’t reveal everything he knows because if he does they will cut him loose and he needs them to get his revenge.  What kid that age is able to realize this in the people around him and still keep things a secret when he knows revealing them will make him out shine the smartest in the Reckoners group?   My least favorite is when Limelight kills the love of his life.  I was so bummed when the last book ended.  I just want to plead with Sanderson to keep writing about this new age world.  I know there are more stories to tell.  I’d love to hear about each of the other Reckoner characters and how they got on the teams.

This book is a great fit for anyone who loves dystopian worlds and comics or a sweet romance and action adventure.  So stop by one of the links and pick up your own copy today.  You won’t be disappointed.  I give this series a 5 of 5 propellers.

5 of 5 Propellers

 Get to know the author: 

Brandon Sanderson was born in December 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska. As a child, Brandon enjoyed reading, but he lost interest in the types of titles often suggested for him, and by junior high, he never cracked a book if he could help it. This all changed in eighth grade when an astute teacher, Mrs. Reader, gave Brandon Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly. Brandon thoroughly enjoyed this book and went in search of anything similar. He discovered such authors as Robert Jordan, Melanie Rawn, David Eddings, Anne McCaffrey, and Orson Scott Card. Brandon continued to be an avid reader through junior high and high school. He liked epic fantasy so much that he even tried his hand at writing some. His first attempts, he says, were dreadful.

In 1994 Brandon enrolled at Brigham Young University as a biochemistry major. From 1995 to 1997 he took time away from his studies to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Brandon often says that it was during this time in Seoul, Korea that he realized that he didn’t miss chemistry one bit, but he did miss writing. Upon his return to BYU, Brandon became an English major, much to the dismay of his mother, who had always hoped he would become a doctor.

Brandon began writing in earnest, taking a job as the night desk clerk at a hotel because they allowed him to write while at work. During this era, he went to school full time during the day, worked nights to pay for his schooling, and wrote as much as he could. He says it made for a rather dismal social life, but he finished seven novels during his undergraduate years. Brandon submitted many manuscripts for publication . . . and accumulated quite a pile of rejection letters. In spite of this, he continued to be a dedicated writer.

Volunteering for The Leading Edge, BYU’s science fiction/fantasy magazine, was a wonderful experience for Brandon. He read many submissions, formed some lifelong friendships, and served as Editor in Chief during his senior year.

Brandon learned much about the business side of being a writer by taking a class from David Farland, author of the popular Runelords series. One piece of advice Dave gave Brandon was to attend conventions, such as WorldCon and World Fantasy, in order to connect with industry professionals. Brandon and a small group of friends who were also aspiring writers began to do so. He eventually met both his current agent and one of his editors at conventions.

It was in 2003, while Brandon was in the middle of a graduate program at BYU, that he got a call from editor Moshe Feder at Tor, who wanted to buy one of Brandon’s books. Brandon had submitted the manuscript a year and a half earlier and had almost given up on hearing anything, so he was surprised and delighted to receive the offer. In May 2005 Brandon held his first published novel, Elantris, in his hands. Over the next few years, Tor also published Brandon’s Mistborn trilogy, its followup The Alloy of Law, Warbreaker, and The Way of Kings, the first in a projected ten-volume series called The Stormlight Archive. The second book in the series, Words of Radiance, was released on March 4th, 2014. Other projects continue to be in the works.

In 2004 after graduating with his Master’s degree in creative writing from Brigham Young University, Brandon was asked to teach the class he had taken as an undergraduate student from Dave Farland. In spite of his busy schedule, Brandon continues to teach this one section of creative writing focused on science fiction and fantasy because he enjoys helping aspiring writers. It also gets him out of the house, he says. Additionally, along with Howard Tayler, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Dan Wells, he hosts the doubly Hugo-nominated writing advice podcast, Writing Excuses, which has twice won a Parsec Award.

Amazon  Website