Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson - A review

I’m not really into comics but I can confidently say that Superman is the worst hero.

Seriously, he is. And I’m not talking about being weak or having the wrong power. He’s practically the definition of over powered. And that’s the problem. It makes him really boring. I prefer heroes like Batman and Thor because, although they may be powerful, they have clear limitations and have to come up with inventive ways of winning. Whereas Superman just brushes all other characters away. The only way to beat Superman is to either put him up against someone else OP, use kryptonite with depressing regularity or write him as somehow less powerful. It’s just annoying to read.

Anyway, rant aside I read Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson this week and I loved it. Set in a post-apocalypticish world random humans have been given super powers. These people, called Epics, did what any sensible person would. They don costumes, give themselves names like Steelheart and Nightwielder and proceed to slaughter and dominate the world.

Wait what?

Yes, in this story the superheroes are the bad guys. After realising that they were basically unstoppable they ripped the world to shreds and claimed the bits for themselves. The narrative is based in what used to be Chicago and is now called Newcago. Apparently originality isn’t a super power. The main villain is an Epic called Steelheart, who is basically Superman. He’s got a cape, he’s invulnerable to harm, he can fly, has super strength, can fire blasts of energy….basically he’s super over-powered. And I love it.

This may seem a direct contradiction to what I said in the opening paragraphs. Let me explain. As boring as Superman is there is one instance where I liked him as a character.  In the Injustice: Gods Among Us game, where he was an evil overlord. You see, being overpowered isn’t a bad thing for a villain to be. As long as they’re beaten in the correct way then it’s actually a good thing. It gives something for the protagonist to strive against and a feeling of accomplishment if the bad guy is ever beaten. Superman never really had to try. That’s why he’s a bad character. Darth Vader never really had to try. That’s why he’s a good villain.

Evil superheroes in general is something that I will probably never get tired of and it’s done really well here. As a balance to every Epic being a newly minted demigod they’ve all got a specific weakness, their kryptonite if you will. The weakness differs from person to person and could be anything, from a mood to a symbol to someone’s age. The problem is figuring out what that weakness is in enough time to be able to kill them.

With that basic premise out the way the rest of the book is fairly standard sci-fi story telling. Most of humanity is squashed beneath the spandexed foot of the Epics. But there’s hope in the form of a resistance, ordinary humans who call themselves the Reckoners and kill every Epic that they can lay their hands on. The main character is a teenage boy called David, who has the distinction of being the only person who has seen Steelheart bleed. Calamity ensues.

Can I just say how much I liked this book? Usually I like to talk about the faults with a story but with this one I honestly can only think of one. The plot has a good rhythm to it, always keeping a decent pace but never feeling rushed. The characters aren’t stereotyped and are mostly developed well. My only fault is here and that’s that two of the main characters aren’t really developed. I mean they’re interesting and all but you don’t really get their backstory. Looks like that’ll come in the confirmed sequel. But the setting is what I really like, as well as the way it’s thought out. It’s a very believable world. Dark, depressing and horrible but believable.

I can’t think of much more to say. It’s the first Brandon Sanderson novel that I’ve read and I’ll definitely be looking at his other work. It’s a good solid novel. There’s nothing really outstanding about it but I enjoyed reading it and I’ll probably read it again. Several times. If you like dark superhero stuff then definitely give it a look. The completely meaningless rating is a solid 7 out of 10 and the Amazon link is here.