Steelheart

The Reckoners, Book 1

By: Brandon Sanderson

Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews

Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

From the number-one New York Times best-selling author of the Mistborn Trilogy, Brandon Sanderson, comes the first book in a new, action-packed thrill ride of a series - Steelheart. 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.

©2013 Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC (P)2013 Audible Inc.

another amazing series

I really liked this book and that doesn't surprise me as I love Brandon Sanderson books. I am a huge fan of scify but I have never thought of superheros in this way so it is a very interesting reading.

Great book and performance

Loved the voice actor, he did a great job making each character distinct and enjoyable to listen to.

loved it.

loved it. couldn't stop listening. what a great story. this one is a must for any superhero fans. but this ain't a superhero story. only the bad guys have powers. but surely they can't all be bad.....

Another Hit for Sanderson

It’s amazing to me that one man can put out so much good content. For some reason starting the reckoner series hadn’t been high on my list even though I love the other BS series that I have listened to. In what shouldn’t be a surprise, Brandon Sanderson delivered another hit. I binged Steelheart and now I’ve downloaded book two in the series to start tomorrow.

Great teen book!

A little to hand wave-ey in parts, but overall a lot of fun. Characters are interesting and generally likable. Story develops a little more than I expected, which is nice. Character motivation seems consistent and understandable. Just the universe doesn't always make sense and it's hard to tell what's just laziness on the part of the writer or if it's intentional to be unclear. For example (very small spoiler) there is an Epic who's power is to fire a handgun endlessly without regard for ammo. that power is very specific and very strange. is it magic, is it science? It definitely says that things don't make sense but, at least it this book, doesn't provide any explanation besides "*shrug* I don't know, seems weird." For sure, give is a listen if you enjoy these kinds of books.

Brandon Sanderson Is A Gifted Writer!!!

I always think that this time i will be able to guess what Brandon Sanderson is going to write and how the book will end, but i always fail big time.

Steelheart is a fantastic new book by Brandon Sanderson, other than his previous work this book is based in the present and the near future. Some weird thing happened that made some people become powerful and with special powers and abilities. They are called Epics.. But rather than helping the world, they are destroying it and taking control of it.

Steelheart is based in Chicago, where there is David who is trying to get rid of those Epics and doing his best in that.. Cant talk much more about the book , but believe me when i say that this book really made me gape some times, things that i haven't even expected happened, and i really damn tried to guess what will happen several times, and something totally different happens... Brandon Sanderson is really a gifted writer, he keeps on throwing surprises and his mind is vast.

And lets not forget an important aspect of this book.. It was really funny.. David keeps on trying to say stuff but it comes out completely wrong and weird, and other characters who really made me laugh while reading the book.. i'm not saying this is a new side for Brandon Sanderson, but he really did a good job of making this book funny.

Narration was really good too. Macleod Andrews did a really good job.

This book is highly recommended, and any other book by Brandon Sanderson is highly recommended as well.

There is a sequel to this book and its called "Firefight" already waiting for it.

Wish this book was longer

Been saving a credit and waiting for this book to come out since listening to the free preview. I must say, well worth the wait and the credit.

To start the premise of this book is a new twist to the super powered people story. Within the first 5 minutes this book had me hooked. There were serious moments and moments that had me laughing. The main charater is a very likeable and makes you want to see how things turn out. The author does a great job creating charaters with different personalities and backgrounds which makes this book much deeper and interesting to listen to.

The narrator does a good job with the range of charater voices bringing them all to life in different ways.


Though this book seemed to come to a close but I'm hoping there will be more books added since it is called the reckoners series. There are so many more avenues yet to be explored with the plot of this story. Hopefully the next book will be out some time in the near future.

Never compelled to write a review...until Now

What about Macleod Andrews’s performance did you like?

Macleod is an artist. I've been listening to him since the Sandman Slim novels and he nailed this performance, every voice, each with it's own distinctive nuances. I would rank him up with the greats like Scott Brick.

I can only hope they keep him on to read the rest of the series....it wouldn't be the same without him. It would be like trying to replace James Marsters on the Dresden files....and we all know how well that went over. I only wish this was more than a triligy.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

100% yes. I went into the book a little skeptical. I'm actually a fan of YA fiction, and had just finished my last book right before a road trip so I was looking for something I could snatch up quickly. I had heard about this being released but it didn't really pique my interest at first. However, I was in need of a book so I decided to give it a try.

I can not express how happy I am that I did just that. I can't believe I almost missed out on this book. It is without a doubt the best book I've listened to all year, and one of the best books I have in my library of all times(and I don't have a small library).

I've never had a book grip my attention so fiercely. Do NOT miss on out this book, it is a work of art that plays like a great movie on the screen of your imagination. I would love to see this get made as a movie considering the series they are turning into movies these days but I would be worried it wouldn't do the book justice.

Edge of your seat Awesomeness!!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Prof was the most interesting character for me. He was the second biggest question mark besides SteelHeart himself. I wanted to know more about what drove him to be the leader of the Reckoners. David is very much a Luke Skywalker type who can get a bit annoying/self involved but I forgive him because we are talking about an 18 old. All of the characters are nicely fleshed out.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Some movies may claim to be Epic. This movie has EPICS!!!

Any additional comments?

Can't wait to read the next book in the series.

This series should become a really big deal!

What did you love best about Steelheart?

By the time I'd finished the prologue I knew this series was special, and could be on par with the big names we know that turned into movies series like X-Men, Batman or the Avengers. There is so much potential! The Epics have all the powers of comic book supers, but they are evil, and all there are are real humans just like all of us to deal with them, so the story is empowering. It should appeal to a wide audience across age groups. Really fun! I'm really hoping that Sanderson takes a break from his other work and focusses on this story. He could become a household name after this!