Firefight
Most of Brandon Sanderson's books are really long, which helps disguise just how quickly I read his work. Even from myself. I was surprised when I read this 400+ page book in less than two days. But between Sanderson's fast-paced plots and straight-forward language, it makes sense that I would basically inhale this book.
The second Reckoners book continues the story from the first one. By killing Steelheart, David and the other Reckoners have changed the world order. And now they have to keep going, lest it all fall apart. They've more or less declared war, and if they don't follow through now things will be worse than they were before. Unfortunately, there's another Epic who knows them too well and is one step ahead of them, which lets her lead them all straight into a trap.
Sanderson does a great job of expanding the world here, leaking out enough information to keep me happy and hooked and asking more questions. I'm glad that there is some reasoning behind all the powers, and that the key to defeating the Epics lies in figuring out the rules. And if it's still all a bit messier than I'm used to from Sanderson, well that's just because he's dealing in psychology rather than physics, an inherently messier science.
There are some interesting questions in this book about trust and betrayal, revenge and redemption. It's just enough to keep my brain engaged, because these books are, above anything else, fun. Lots of exciting action sequences and fantastical cities and superpowers. I'm excited for the next one.
I'm also retroactively glad that I forced myself to read Zelazny's Amber books. Having that background gave me instant insight into Firefight's powers (and the larger universe here, of which The Apocalypse Guard is going to be a part of). I don't know how influenced Sanderson was by Zelazny, but it seems obvious to me. Especially when he describes the illusions of shadows. As frustrating as that series was, it's fun to see how foundational it's been for modern speculative fiction.
The second Reckoners book continues the story from the first one. By killing Steelheart, David and the other Reckoners have changed the world order. And now they have to keep going, lest it all fall apart. They've more or less declared war, and if they don't follow through now things will be worse than they were before. Unfortunately, there's another Epic who knows them too well and is one step ahead of them, which lets her lead them all straight into a trap.
Sanderson does a great job of expanding the world here, leaking out enough information to keep me happy and hooked and asking more questions. I'm glad that there is some reasoning behind all the powers, and that the key to defeating the Epics lies in figuring out the rules. And if it's still all a bit messier than I'm used to from Sanderson, well that's just because he's dealing in psychology rather than physics, an inherently messier science.
There are some interesting questions in this book about trust and betrayal, revenge and redemption. It's just enough to keep my brain engaged, because these books are, above anything else, fun. Lots of exciting action sequences and fantastical cities and superpowers. I'm excited for the next one.
I'm also retroactively glad that I forced myself to read Zelazny's Amber books. Having that background gave me instant insight into Firefight's powers (and the larger universe here, of which The Apocalypse Guard is going to be a part of). I don't know how influenced Sanderson was by Zelazny, but it seems obvious to me. Especially when he describes the illusions of shadows. As frustrating as that series was, it's fun to see how foundational it's been for modern speculative fiction.
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