Finally.

Finally, finally, finally. I've been postponing writing a review for this for so long. I heard about this book from one of my high school friends back home, and she said it was not one to miss. Intrigued, I got it the very same day... and finished it two days later. Two days! I was practically whizzing through the whole story, especially on the last few chapters. I felt bad for writing a review about it so soon because I didn't savor its contents, so I decided to read it again. But the same thing happened. I tried to stretch out my reading days, but still managed to read it within four days. It was that good.

Well, then. Steelheart. A.k.a. Reckoners #1. Let me tell you now, if you don't like superheroes, supernatural powers, villains, and terrible metaphors... read this book anyway. You will not regret it.

This is like reading a hardbound movie. In which case, I won't be surprised to see a movie adaptation of this in the future. But ironically, this isn't a book about superheroes. In fact, there are no superheroes in this book.

Conforming to the trends of young adult fiction, we see a post-apocalyptic America. But don't be fooled--this isn't about districts or factions.

From Brandon Sanderson, author of the Mistborn series that I have not read yet. A brief synopsis:

It all started with Calamity, a mysterious floating red...something, appeared in the sky, giving ordinary humans special abilities. And when humans are given powers, they want to exercise those powers to get what they want--and to eventually rule the powerless. These special creatures are called Epics.

We meet David, an eight year old boy, in what was once Chicago (I'm telling you, this is not Divergent) in a bank with his father. All of a sudden, Deathpoint, an Epic who could kill through, well, pointing, causes chaos, and wanted to take the city for himself. And then, as if to suppress the situation, a more powerful Epic by the name of Steelheart, comes along and stops Deathpoint. Steelheart can turn anything inanimate into steel, is invincible to everything, and can shoot blasts of energy through his palm. Oh, and he can fly. David's father, believing Steelheart was there to save them, saw that Deathpoint was about to kill Steelheart when his back was turned. He then took a gun from a fallen security guard and tried to shoot Deathpoint, but missed and managed to graze Steelheart's cheek, leaving a wound on the thought to be invincible Epic. Enraged, Steelheart killed David's father, and turned all of Chicago into steel.

David managed to escape, and ever since that day of Annexation (the beginning of Steelheart's rule), he made it a life purpose to defeat Steelheart. Carrying his desire for revenge, he seeks out the Reckoners, a group of anti-Epic normal humans, who regularly assassinate Epics all throughout America. David wants to join them, and he has seen something that nobody else has.

He saw Steelheart bleed.

How does that not sound like a movie?

In a frenzy of one adventure after the other, it's really hard to stop yourself from reading. There seemed to be no pause button. Every part of the book had something going on, one chapter after the other. Even as I'm writing this review, it's hard not to mention something going on in the story. I really don't want to ruin it for anyone, since I want everyone to enjoy this as much as possible.

I could say this is like a Hollywood DC/Marvel superhero movie, and some would take that as possibly an insult, but I mean that in the most positive way. There are some pretty good superhero movies, and I don't like superhero movies. That's saying something. You will have your trainride of guns, killings, powers... the works. I will go to the premiere of this if it ever comes out as a movie. I just hope they don't butcher it. It's less than 400 pages long, so I'm hoping they don't do too much damage.

One thing I didn't like about the book was their apparent swearing. Sparks! or Calamity! just didn't hook me in. I thought that was a bit lame, to be honest.

As I was reading through this, I was imagining the characters with their possible actors for the role already. A candidate for Megan would be along the likes of Hayden Panettiere (though she might be too short). Emma Stone doesn't seem to fit the role, in my opinion. Megan is the strong willed and no-nonsense type of girl, with tsundere issues. I could say Jennifer Lawrence, but she doesn't strike me as the tsundere type. And I've seen enough of Shailene Woodley. Please.

I was thinking Morgan Freeman would be ideal for Prof, but I think he's too old. Laurence Fishburne or Samuel L. Jackson could be ideal, too. And maybe Jamie Foxx. But then again Jamie Foxx could be Abraham. Or maybe Denzel Washington. Or Michael Ealy. Gosh, so many choices, Hollywood!

Tia  is hard to imagine. There wasn't much description of her other than drinking a lot of cola. And Cody could well be any white male actor. Like Ryan Reynolds. Someone witty and funny, but charming.

And David. The book doesn't even describe what David looks like. All the while I was reading I just imagined some random teenager.

What's funny is that, I kept imagining Steelheart as the animated Bruce Wayne/Batman from the 90's. With the jaw, physique, and the cape. Too bad he can't fly. But that's Batman.

The gist: 9.5/10

I'm not big on superheroes, and although it says this is not a superhero book, I loved it. It's worth the read and the money, in my opinion. Although the dystopian theme has long been used and abused nowadays, it gives a different vibe from other novels. It's full of twists and surprises that you will not know until the very end. Big emphasis on that.

And it left me hanging. So. Bad. There wasn't even a Firefight sneak peek, which is the second book in the series. Argh.

But fear not. Brush aside the big lie on the back that says Coming Fall 2014, it comes out on January 2015.

I can't wait!

Photo credit to Y. Johnson