The dilemma of whether to accept/support their bad Epic ruler because the replacement might be even worse has been done excellently. Rather than a case of grass being greener on the other side, the predominant theme for the population is fear that the grass may be redder on the other side. Add in the looming threat of constant battle as territorial fights between Epics may break any time. The not powerful epics serve the more powerful rulers and the rest of the population is reduced to an Industrial Society where everyone works in factories to sustain themselves. The Epics establish themselves into a feudal style of governance and carved up territories to rule. We see a world dominated by these Epics where power and strength reigns supreme. Due to the passing of the comet, Calamity, random normal people start manifesting superpowers.
The world of Reckoners is post-Apocalyptic dystopian Earth where countries as we know don’t exist anymore. And to rule man you must crush his will.” With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. The awed public started calling them Epics. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The blurb for Steelheart captures the world succinctly:
Steelheart series series#
Hopefully this article would do some part in making them look past the naming conventions and take a deeper look at the content! Add in my personal gripe that the series name is as bland as it can get, I totally understand why this gets underrated consistently. It’s as much YA as Mistborn is! The themes handed are as interesting to a mature audience as they are to the characters themselves. It is a Young Adult only because of the protagonist’s age. It is a superhuman story, but the characters have all lost their humanity. The post-apocalyptic twist makes the entire world unique and as fascinating as a new fantasy world. It is an Urban Fantasy only because it is set on Earth. Well to be clear the trifecta above is only technically true. Now when I consider those holistically it’s understandable why people looking for mainstream fantasy books with imaginary worlds, magical races, spells and curses thrown around may not really look at the series in detail. It’s (a) an Urban Fantasy, (b) A Superhuman story and (c) It’s Young Adult. It is my opinion that Reckoners suffers greatly from being at the crux of a trifecta of genres that fantasy readers may not think it’s up their alley.
Steelheart series full#
Note: The review covers the series generically in full rather than by individual books. Misborn & Stormlight deservedly have their place in the limelight for being a stunning set of books, but I do believe Reckoners deserves more recognition and is as good as any of the other series by Sanderson. I’ve noticed that in recent times whenever Brandon Sanderson books are discussed, Reckoners always seem to fly under the radar. * Mitosis is a side story set in world and best read in order after Steelheart Books in Series: Steelheart, Mitosis*, Firefight, Calamity
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