Saturday Discussion – Steelheart

Synopsis: Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.

Nobody fights the Epics…nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.

And David wants in. He wants Steelheart — the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David’s father. For years, like the Reckoners, David’s been studying, and planning — and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.

He’s seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.

Eden: Brandon Sanderson is my boy. This book was such a Sanderson novel it was ridiculous. I love the idea of bad superheroes. All of my thoughts are still so scattered but I will say if you love Sci-Fi and fantasy this is the book to read. I’m struggling to not binge Firefight and Calamity now. 5/5 stars because holy shit it was awesome.

Caitlynn: This is my first Sanderson novel and now I understand why people are obsessed with his writing. His writing makes you feel totally apart of a characters world and is very relatable. I don’t have to try and decipher what he is trying to say and it is so enjoyable to read. Steelheart is definitely an awesome book and I’m so excited to get into Firefight and Calamity to continue in this world and I’m excited to see where David goes. I gave it 4.5/5 stars. 

Jenn: Brandon Sanderson never ceases to amaze me. Steelheart is no exception. This book was a refreshing look on a very over used idea. The idea of superheroes. The fact that Sanderson could make this topic seem fresh and innovative truly speaks to his writing abilities. I’m truly excited to see where this series takes us. I’m hopeful that Sanderson will keep all of the mystery and intrigue in the next two books in the series. I would definitely recommend this. I gave it 5/5 stars.

DISCUSSION & SPOILERS AHEAD: If you haven’t read This Savage Song and plan to read it, it would be best not to read anymore.

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 Eden: Steelheart feelings. Go.

Jenn: I liked it.

Caitlynn: It definitely wasn’t what I expected it to be. I really enjoyed it.

Eden: Yes. I loved it. Straight up my favorite character was Abraham.

Jenn: I liked him. He felt very much like a father figure. I don’t have a lot to say because I liked him but he wasn’t my favorite character. I really liked Cody though. And I also really liked Tia when she would chime in randomly over the mobile comm.

Caitlynn: Definitely Cody. I found myself laughing out loud when I was reading his parts. He was so ridiculous with his heritage.

Jenn: I took it as he doesn’t actually know where he comes from because he continued to change his back story.

Eden: I liked Cody. But I got annoyed with him a lot. I got tired of hearing him say, “Back in the homeland…” When I imagined Abraham I literally just saw Daveed Diggs as Lafayette in Hamilton.

Caitlynn: I liked David. I liked that he wasn’t a little whiney boy.

Eden: Yeah I think that was important because I would have hated the book if I had to hear him sob over his father through the entirety of the story.

Jenn: I like that he was just an average dude.

Caitlynn: I could get a beer with him.

Jenn: I liked that he didn’t have a super power. He was smart but he wasn’t the smartest of everyone and he had to work hard to learn things rather than just being naturally good at everything.

Eden: How did you guys feel about the dynamic between everyone? There were some great scenes in this book that was just simple dialogue that let us understand who the characters were.

Jenn: I really liked the scene in the car when David and Megan were arguing over handguns versus rifles. I loved that Tia chimed in like, “You know you could just use both a rifle and a handgun.” It was like the readers commentary coming in during the conversation.

Eden: I think that scene was really important because it showed the growth between them after the climb up the elevator shaft.

Jenn: I also got very suspicious of Prof. I just started tabbing everywhere I got suspicious of him.

Eden: I was also really suspicious of Prof. Same with Megan.

Jenn: I just kept writing, “This bitch,” in my notes when he would do things suspicious. Megan’s death was just tabbed with, “THIS. BITCH.”

Eden: I only tabbed Megan’s stuff. And it was also tabbed with, “Yeah, I’m sure you feel that way Megan.”

Caitlynn: Dude what happened to Conflux? Did they just drop him off? Was he left in that little hole?

Jenn: I had some notes on Conflux because I thought he was funny.

Eden: I just assumed he was going back with them. Like just chilling waiting for his new owners to get back.

Jenn: Did you guys see it all coming?

Eden: I didn’t. I had a bunch of theories. Everything from Steelheart was faking being an Epic to Cody being an informant for Steelheart. I made every possible assumption and was wrong on just about all of them. I was however right about Megan and Prof. Those felt pretty obvious.

Caitlynn: For me. I didn’t see basically anything coming. But I hated that they focused so much on Steelheart’s weakness. I had a feeling about what it was already and I was just like, “I just want this to be over. I’m so tired of hearing about the weakness.”

Jenn: There were a lot of surprises which made me really happy because I couldn’t just figure everything out. But I really liked the bread crumbs that allowed me to piece things together as the story progressed.