Reviews

Steelheart, by Brandon Sanderson

silvarai's review

2.0

I really expected more from this author. It is my first time reading a Sanderson book and I had heard so many good things. I think I will still be checking out his adult fantasy since this is YA and a completely different genre.
I felt disappointed in this one because it honestly felt like reading an action movie or a comic book. I felt absolutely no connection to the main character and the "love" that he had for another character felt flat and emotionless and every time he talked about his feelings for her I was pretty much just asking myself "okay...why do you feel that way?" I just couldn't understand where the connection was coming from.
There was constant action but I just didn't really care what happened to any of the characters. Didn't care if they won or lost, if they were hurt or killed, anything that I should have felt reading this kind of novel.
The superhero thing was an interesting concept for a book and I think it could have been good if it had been done well. Unfortunately, it just wasn't.

somebooklover's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

mcgraeil's review

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I liked the general idea of superheroes being the villains since it goes against the narrative we’re seeing in all the superhero movies. The plot felt a little convoluted a few times, and I think this book could have been a little shorter, but I was thoroughly invested in the story. I loved following David’s train of thought about the Epics, and thought the twists were interesting. I saw one coming but didn’t see another coming. I wish there was a bit more depth to the characters, but I’m still interested to read the next one. Overall, it wasn’t my favorite but I did like it. 

karalai28's review

5.0

Great book! Set in a world where an event called Calamity has gifted some humans with super-human abilities, but instead of the traditional “some are heroes & some are villains” scenario, all are horrible monstrous people that have pretty much enslaved ordinary humans, but there is one group willing to fight back, the Reckoners.
Brandon Sanderson's world building is amazing, the amount of detail he puts into every little thing just makes for a great book reading experience.

mnasadoo's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

michaellouisdixon's review against another edition

3.0

Keep in mind that this is a YA novel and therefore geared toward that market. The story itself is "high-concept" and the premise is a great one. I love comic books, love super heroes, but I'm rather bored with the rehash of and reboot.

Imagine a world where an event causes people to start developing super powers. It's been done to death! Except, in this story everyone who develops these powers is also corrupted by them and therefore all super powered people are villains. It would be a bleak and fearful world.

Sanderson does a good job of world building so that it was easy to suspend my disbelief. On the other hand, he does get a bit heavy on the info and that slows down the pace to the point where I felt the urge to put it down. Yet he'd suddenly pitch the story into some very intense scenes that I easily got caught up in and had me gripping the book--so kudos for that. What would have made this book a lot better, in my opinion, would be if he could have streamlined the world building, super powers and gadgets descriptions. There was a bit of redundancy around that.

I am giving this three stars but it's really more of a three and a half stars. I liked it, but I didn't love it.

I'd recommend this to superhero fans and comic book lovers looking for something a bit different.

I'm considering reading the next book in the series.

sasakidrift's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

captainhotbun's review

4.0

I think i'll give it a 3,7! I liked it but I could tell it was written for teens and young adult and I just felt like I was a bit too old for this book! I might have enjoyed it more a couple of years ago!

I did feel like David's flaws wasn't as prominent as I know Sanderson"s character's flaws can be and I guess I would have enjoyed him more as a character if i gotten more of that! Like comparing David to say Spensa in skyward, another YA character by him, I found her a lot more complex!

I shall however read the sequel since... Sanderson.. what can I say I love the guy and knowing him, some crazy stuff will go down!

kmg365's review

2.0

Two and a half stars.

I loved the prologue. Loved it. I was convinced that this was going to be a fantastic book. And then David was suddenly 18, and the biggest Marty Stu I've encountered since Wesley Crusher. (Crusher, at least, didn't mangle metaphors every 5 minutes.)

I don't think Sanderson was consistent about Steelheart's powers, either. I felt as though he kept writing himself into a corner, and had to alter the epic's power to get himself out again.

I thought the revelations near the end of the book were interesting (although not completely unexpected, as they were telegraphed by a sentence quite early in the book), but they weren't enough to tempt me to try book 2 when it comes out.

ferrisscottr's review against another edition

4.0

It's YA, it's part fantasy and part science fiction, it reads like a really tight action movie and it's Brandon Sanderson.

Everyone knows this book so I won't rehash the storyline but I was really looking forward to this book and have wanted to read it for years (The Jordan rule states that one must not read a book until all the books in the series have been released unless you want to be screwed by the author) and now that the series is done I'm in...

It had good characters (not great) and tons of action, it was plotted perfectly, the world building was amazing (it is Sanderson after all), there were reveals and plot twists.

But not a 5 star book.

I kept thinking through the whole book - "this could be great" or "what if"
I wanted more. More depth. More details. More adult. Less YA.
So this was a great YA book but only a really good overall book.

I'll keep reading this series and recommend you do so as well.