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My Review:Title: Steelheart
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Series: Reckoners #1
Published by: Audible Studios
Release Date: September 24, 2013
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: MacLeod Andrews
Length: 12 hours and 42 minutes
Genres: Action and Adventure, Young Adult, Dystopian, Science Fantasy, Superhero Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic
Source: Audible
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2023 Audiobook Challenge, Lenoreo's 2023 Backlist Reader Challenge, Lenoreo's 2023 COYER Chapter 3
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ iTunes
My rating:
Blurb: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 will.
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.
4 stars — My hubby and I decided to listen to this one on a long road trip, and man did we have so much fun guessing along the way… taking turns pressing pause to point things out and posit theories. We actually figured out quite a few! Some earlier, some closer to reveal. Not everything obviously, but some that caught us by surprise might be things that become important in next books.
David started off as kind of a roll your eyes YA guy, but definitely steadily grew and showed remarkable empathy — more than many Reckoners. I appreciated that he made mention of having to work hard to get good grades and do all that research, it makes the story more accessible to kids reading. And in the end, his brain and determination are his superpowers.
I really enjoying the dynamic of the Reckoners. I wish there were more fun female characters, but at least there are important female characters.
The world is really interesting, and we have lots of theories about Calamity. It’ll be interesting to find out more and more.
The story definitely could do with less made up swear words… most just sounded dumb, except Calamity.
MacLeod Andrews does a solid job narrating. His voices are solid, though his Quebecois accent has a bit more of a spanish feel than it should. Good emotions and pacing in general, though his cutoffs when someone trails off or are interrupted are too long and I keep thinking my audiobook has stopped.
All in all I laughed, I cried, and I was intrigued. Can’t wait for more.
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