cleverpun’s 2019 Reading Journal: February · 8:50am Mar 3rd, 2019
A common piece of writing advice is that to become a better writer, one should read a lot. There is truth to this, of course, depending on what one reads. Welcome to my reading journal.
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
What if there were no superheroes, only supervillains? A post-apocalyptic world, where “Epics” have each carved out their territories, each ruling with an iron fist. The government gave up fighting them long ago, and so these Epics have absolute authority, legally and physically.
One of these territories is Newcago, ruled over by Steelheart—a Superman stand-in with the ability to fly, fire energy blasts, super strength, and complete invulnerability. Every epic has a weakness, but they can be almost anything; a specific object, a particular location, a shimmer in their illusions or an inability to use their powers on a given person. No one has ever discovered Steelheart’s weakness.
There is, however, one person who has seen him bleed. David, the protagonist of the book, finds the Reckoners; a resistance group who assassinates Epics. David joins the Reckoners, and together they must discover Steelheart’s weakness and kill him.
Overall, this book is pretty good; elaborate plans and guerilla tactics, a small plucky band of misfits trying to overthrow a tyrant. There’s some great action scenes (something I don’t normally compliment in novels), and cunning plans that go awry just enough to stay interesting. And underneath it all is the theme that Power Corrupts, and the idea that Vengeance Feels Empty.
It’s not perfect. The main character lacks a personality (although thankfully he gets some character development), and this makes his narration occasionally awkward. And towards the end of the book, there is a reveal that undercuts all of the story’s most interesting themes: it turns out that Epics are megolomaniacal tyrants not because of human nature, but because using their powers makes them evil physiologically. Like, if they stop using their powers, they stop being jerks. It’s hard-coded in there. It takes all the great questions the story was asking and just sort of throws them on the ground.
Despite this massive misstep, the story is still a great read. The story is well-told, with the aforementioned action sequences and plenty of narrative filigree that I actually re-read because it was that interesting. I can’t give it my highest recommendation—I probably won’t bother reading other books in the series—but I still enjoyed it.
Next month: Fobbit by David Abrams
Yeah, that definitely sounds like a Sandersonian twist. The man would make an amazing RPG designer, given how he sometimes puts much more thought into magic systems than characters.
Bad as it is to admit, I’ve ended up reading a lot less since jumping on the Pony train.
But that sounds interesting despite the twist. Maybe even because of it. I adore twists when done well, and I’ve enjoyed the Sanderson that I’ve read in the past.
It's been a while since I read this one, but I'm pretty sure the "Humanity is Good," theme comes back much stronger later.
5022350
Which one do you like the most? My favorite is the one where you draw chalk monsters to help you fight in the Rithmatist.
5022447
They all fascinate, though I think I'm going to have to go with Soulforging from "The Emperor's Soul." I appreciate the trial-and-error feel of it, and effectively programming an alternate persona appeals to several of my interests.
5022449
I remember working on a pony adaption with someone, but it never got past the second chapter. I should look that up sometime.
EDIT: Soul of the Sun. It's not great, though.
5022350 The characters were definitely the weakest part of the story. All the most interesting ones are side characters (including all the other members of the Reckoners), and the most boring generic character is front and center as the protagonist.
I know we're dealing with the Young Adult genre, so a bland teenager is the default protagonist. But that doesn't make it a good idea.
I will admit that Sanderson definitely is good at building magic systems, and even his narration and worldbuilding were interesting in spite of the first-person narrator being a dullard. Perhaps reading some of his other stories will give more interesting characters a chance to shine.
5022370 Haha, that's one reason I jumped off the pony train. I've read some fanfiction that was good enough to be published. But sometimes it's hard to beat a good, old-fashioned book.
5022447 But that's the problem. The story was more interesting when humans were bastards and being an evil jerk was a requirement to getting powers rather than a result of them. Power Corrupts is its own universal theme, but I felt like the reveal ruined the story rather than making it better.
5022350
That sounded familiar so I checked and there is one for the Mistborn setting.
So I’m way late on this but I tend to agree on Steelheart and the Reckoners being weak for Sanderson. Which is especially odd because (for all the talk about his magic) characterization is actually probably what he’s best at. He was just kind of phoning it in here.
That said, part of the reason the protagonist is so bland is because he’s spent his life obsessively focused on Epics and working in a factory. He doesn’t really have a life or socialization, and his work has made him both scarily competent !at his focus and emotionally crippled.
5073108 The problem is that David is supposed to be socially inept and lacking in personality, but he still has some annoying quirks, like the metaphors thing (which he feels compelled to mention at least once a chapter).
There are times when his lack of personality is used well (like the party scene in Firefight), but in general he's just bland enough to be boring and not boring enough to avoid being annoying.