Star Rating

I gave it 3-1/2 stars (rounded up to 4 on Amazon). I thought the book was good but when I was finished, nothing in the book left me hoping for book 2.

The world was very cool. David, the main character, was well-written. I liked Megan and Prof. I enjoyed the story line. I even enjoyed the plot (even though it’s David vs. Goliath theme was a repeat of the Mistborn theme).

Book Details

Steelheart by Brand Sanderson comes in at just under 400 pages and was published by Delacorte Press in September 2013 and distributed by Random House.

The novel’s premise

In a future world, Chicago is run by Steelheart, an Epic. (Epic equals ‘superhero’ minus the ‘hero.’) The world is in a post-apocalyptic turmoil. David’s father is killed by Steelheart in a bank. Steelheart supposedly cannot die, but David has seen Steelheart bleed. David will avenge his father.

Editing

Quality: High

I didn’t find any editing errors in this novel. Perhaps a content edit to suggest increasing the connection between David and Megan would have helped him pull off the ending and helped me get emotionally involved.

Imagination and Uniqueness

The imagination is phenomenal. This world just freaking cool. His imagination is really what made this novel fun for me. Usually, I love the characters, but this story is about the world. The settings. The imagined powers of the Epics. I almost want to go add another star to the rating just thinking about the awesome imagination in this book.

Characters

David is the main character. Megan is another primary character. Together, they are the heart of the book.

Unfortunately, I never got involved emotionally in this book. I think that is because the David/Megan romance was so slow developing. It seemed like Sanderson wanted there to be this strong connection between David and Megan so that the reader’s heart would wrench right along with David’s heart when the connection broke. But I think the romance was barely there and I just felt mildly disappointed when Megan died. This fell short for me.

In the end, David is still an expendable young man and nobody would care if he died. Sure, the team would be sad, but they would get over him quick.

The team of side characters (the characters not mentioned above) were a little vague for me and I never really got a visual for them or reached a point where I felt I knew each member of the team well.

It was definitely a David vs. Goliath story. I wonder if that is why he named the MC David?

Magic System

The magic system, or in this case the superpower system, seemed to take an easy road. I don’t remember the exact wording but a couple of times he made comments like: “Everything defies the laws of physics and can’t be explained.” To me that was taking an easy road. Don’t get me wrong. I loved the powers, but I wanted at least and attempt at scientific explanations.

eBook Quality

Quality: Average

Very few issues but there were a few. Some features that add quality were missing. The start of each chapter had one word in all caps. Which when that one word was simply something like I, it didn’t really stand out as a chapter beginning.

The ellipses were done wrong. No breaking space after them, made for some awkward spacing issues.

About the Author

Brandon Sanderson was born in December 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska. He served a two year mission in Seoul, Korea for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. After which, he returned to BYU and changed his major from Biochemistry to Creative Writing. His pWith his amazing success as a writer, I am sure his parents have forgiven him by now.

While at BYU, Brandon volunteered for Leading Edge Magazine, and in his senior year, he was Editor and Chief. His time there helped hone his writing skills.

Read more about him on his web site at: http://brandonsanderson.com/about-brandon/