Rating: 4.5 Stars
Steelheart was a surprisingly good read, and I can’t say there are many flaws with it. The plot was well paced, the world building great, and the characters well-developed. But before I get into that, let’s start at the beginning.
Steelheart is about a world where, after an apocalypse of sorts, called Calamity, certain humans gain superpowers and take over the world. The events of this book follow David, a boy intent on enacting vengeance on Steelheart, the superhuman, or Epic, that caused his father’s death and took over the city of Chicago, now Newcago.
The plot is fast paced and I was into it the whole time, frantically turning the pages, trying to find out what happened next. The world was well-built as well, although it it a bit foggy as to what happened to the rest of the world outside Newcago, a bit of information I would have liked to have had. Regardless, I was never confused or overwhelmed with the sci-fi terminology, as books in this genre tend to overdo it with the sci-fi elements.
The characters, particularly David, were well-developed and layered. Although David initially irritated me for his one-track mind(caring only about revenge and nothing else), he quickly grew on me and I found myself rooting for him. The rest of the side characters were layered as well, with the exception of the villain, but this is only my preference, as I love seeing layered villains and was quite disappointed with the lack of it this time.
One thing I did not care for was the romance. It was petty, forced, and worked to the convenience of the plot, and the book would have been much better without this meager attempt at integrating a romance plot line.
Sanderson does an excellent job wrapping up the plot of this book while leaving some ends open for a sequel(so no cliffhanger!) and I am interested in seeing where he goes with this.
Steelheart is sci-fi in it’s purest, greatest form, and the YA world needs more of these books. I highly recommend this book, and will be waiting to get my hands on the sequel. 🙂
Review by Aliza London
Musings and Books 