Review-Steelheart

Earlier this year I read Brandon Sanderson's first novel, Elantris, for a class in my senior year of high school, and while it was okay I wasn't super amazed.  I wasn't entirely sure about this book, but it had some good critic and author reviews, so I decided to give it a shot.  Right off the bat I just really enjoyed this book, which surprised me a little bit.  Sure, it took longer than usual for me to read a book it's size but that might be because it was large, and by that I mean it's a pretty tall book, so there are more words on the page than your average book.  I consider myself a fan of action movies, which in turn means that I enjoy action books, but most books that have been called "action-packed" or anything similar just don't really work as books in my mind.  They're decent books, and when I read them I would think they would make amazing movies, but fall a little short because there isn't that famous actor surrounded by hot women and explosions.  This book surprised me because I think it worked quite well as a book and if it were ever made into a movie, if done right, could be a major blockbuster.  One of the things I loved the most about this book was the idea that in a world where ordinary people suddenly developed superpowers EVERYONE who developed said powers turned evil.  The world was taken over by the kind of villains you would see in a comic book, but there was no one to fight them but ordinary people.  As you can imagine that didn't go over very well, so they just fell into being ruled by those with the power.  In that case it makes it a rather dystopian-ish world, although that's not really the genre I would put it in.  Yes, the world as we know it ended, but that was because of ordinary people with extraordinary powers, it wasn't through any natural or nuclear disaster.  The other thing I loved was the fact that the main character was a male.  That might make sense seeing as the author is a guy, but there are a lot of male writers that write female protagonists so to see one write a male protagonist was pretty great.  The twists and turns were enjoyable and there were even some of them that I wasn't expecting until right before they were revealed.  Personally I feel that this book is better suited towards the male population or the females that tend towards action and not romance, but it will really depend on your individual preferences.  If you are at all interested in super heroes I would suggest that you take a look at this book, and maybe read the prologue before buying it.  Because if the prologue doesn't grab you I guarantee that the rest of the book won't hold a ton of interest for you.  Personally I can't wait to see what the second book holds, and I hope to read his other novel for teens, although that may not happen anytime soon.

Out September 24, 2013

4.5/5 dust spirits

*Thanks to Random House for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review.