Sanderson, Brandon. Steelheart. New York: Delacorte Press, 2013

Amazing world building. Superb character development. My intentions, honestly, were to skim the book to make sure it was appropriate for my library. I am not necessarily drawn to action adventure, and I find myself thinking that I’m over dystopia; can we top Divergent and Hunger Games anyway? So I started to skim, and the story of David, from the very first chapter drew me in. This kid is one who loses his dad in an unspeakable and violent interaction with a revered Epic. Forever endangered because he has seen the Epic’s weakness, eight year old David escapes and spends his life studying the Epics in his world, charting their moves and their weaknesses, making it his life mission to become a Reckoner, the group that is working underground to hold the Epics accountable for their terrifying and destructive rule. Not without struggle, David joins Megan, Prof, Cody, Tia, and Andrew for some epic battles with evil.

I was not at all familiar with Sanderson’s work, considered it not my genre even, but completely enjoyed this book on a variety of levels. The character development of David won me over first. He is an incredibly complex and vulnerable action hero. I loved the back story and the insight into his vulnerabilities throughout the book I liked the little bit of a love story with quite a cool twist. I am not that familiar with weaponry and tactical skills, but the cleverness of these confrontations and the need for quick thinking on the part of the heroes kept me interested along with some futuristic technologies like tensors and harmsways.

I will be book talking this soon with my juniors. I am always on the lookout for adventure and war stories for the fellows. They will absolutely be drawn to this title. Book two? Ordered.