Book Review: Steelheart

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’m making a renewed effort to read more books lately, and I have to say it’s a goal that’s made much simpler when the books are as quick to read as Brandon Sanderson’s Steelheart was for me.

Do you ever have a book that you read, and you’re just sick with envy over? Maybe not, I suppose–unless you’re an author yourself. Full disclaimer if you didn’t already know it–Brandon’s a good friend of mine, and there are times when I just want to throttle the guy for the simple reason that he has far too many awesome ideas.

Read the prologue of Steelheart, and tell me that’s not just an awesome idea. The whole of the book is summed up there all at once. You know the conflict, you’re deeply invested, you understand the character, the magic system. It’s all there in a few short pages.

That might seem like an easy feat to pull off. It’s not. Trust me on this one. I dream that one day I’ll be as good at that as Brandon is.

Steelheart is a superhero book. Well, more of a supervillain book. The concept is simple. An event happens that grants random people in the world superpowers. But instead of having them become heroic (or at least some of them), they all become evil. They overthrow governments and rule society.

And one group of normal humans decides to fight back.

It’s a heist book at heart, and so that appeals to me right away. Really, it felt like a YA version of Mistborn–so if that sounds like it’s up your alley, you should definitely check this one out. I won’t go too much more into plot details, as this isn’t the sort of book you want to have spoiled. Know that it’s a “clean” book. Hardly any language, no sex, and while there are some violent scenes, it doesn’t dwell on them.

If I had any complaints or critiques, it would be that there’s a bit of a slow patch around 2/3rds into the book, where the action lulls in favor of some bigger concept philosophy stuff. I appreciated it, but it felt out of place to me.

Other than that, though, the book was a rollicking romp from start to finish. You owe it to yourself to pick up a copy today.

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