dare reviewed Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
Review of 'Steelheart' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Superman exists, and he's got to die.
A breathless bid-budget action romp of a dystopian superhero story set in a Terminator-esque nightmarish future. Ten years ago something called Calamity created superhumans, "Epics", every single one of which is a power-hungry, murderous tyrant. The protagonists are a bunch of normal humans, admitted terrorists whose aim is to murder the Epics right back. In particular, they are out to get Steelheart, one of the most powerful and dangerous of the Epics. Of course, he's supposed to be practically unkillable.
This is probably one of the most uncertain four stars I've given. On a different day I might have been annoyed by many of the details that I now decided to celebrate. I did like the relentlessly bleak approach, the interesting take on morality and the engaging visuals. Even the hypercompetent gun-crazy narrator kid was enjoyable, because in spite of all the impressive …
Superman exists, and he's got to die.
A breathless bid-budget action romp of a dystopian superhero story set in a Terminator-esque nightmarish future. Ten years ago something called Calamity created superhumans, "Epics", every single one of which is a power-hungry, murderous tyrant. The protagonists are a bunch of normal humans, admitted terrorists whose aim is to murder the Epics right back. In particular, they are out to get Steelheart, one of the most powerful and dangerous of the Epics. Of course, he's supposed to be practically unkillable.
This is probably one of the most uncertain four stars I've given. On a different day I might have been annoyed by many of the details that I now decided to celebrate. I did like the relentlessly bleak approach, the interesting take on morality and the engaging visuals. Even the hypercompetent gun-crazy narrator kid was enjoyable, because in spite of all the impressive stunts he kept pulling, he still felt constantly out of his depth and scared witless.
Some of the logic feels a bit shaky at times, the characterisation can be hit-and-miss, and the excellent premise isn't taken quite as far as I'd have liked. On the other hand, I thought I knew what was going to happen from the prologue onwards, but it turned out to be just a red herring. I'm also eager to start on the next one in the series, which has to count for more than any minor nitpicks.
