Firefight

palindrome - For me, this series was a potato in a minefield. If you'd read Firefight, the second book in Brandon Sanderson's The Reckoners Trilogy, you'd know what I was talking about. When I first read Steelheart, the first book in the series, it was because I had lost a bet with my brother. Now, they're some of my favorite books ever. Firefight is the sequel to Steelheart. Both books take place in a dystopian America that is dominated by Epics, people who have amazing, superhero-like powers that corrupt them and turn them evil. In Steelheart, David, the bad-metaphored, Epic-hating protagonist, joined a group of Epic assassins known as the Reckoners in order to slay Steelheart, the Epic who ruled David's town of Newcago (Chicago) and killed David's father. In the second book, Firefight, David and the Reckoners are also out to kill an Epic--this time Regalia, ruler of Babalon Restored (New York). In New York, a new cast of characters meets David, the Reckoner Tia, and Prof, the leader and founder of the Reckoners who is secretly and Epic, and is struggling not to use his corrupting powers and keep his evil at bay. They help a squad of New York Reckoners: the tough, serious Val, the strange Exel, and happy, perky, goofy Mizzy. David also reunites with Megan, the sly, very attractive Epic who was a spy for Steelheart in the first book. David must do several things at once: plot to kill the Epic Regalia with the Reckoners, help Prof keep his Epic powers from overcoming him, keep an eye on Oblivion, an Epic who has the power to wipe out Babalon Restored in a single blast, and meet with Megan without the Reckoners knowing, all of whom think of her as an evil murderer. To make matters more complicated, a larger mystery is at hand. Humans first started becoming Epics when a large, red star called Calamity appeared over the world. David wants to solve the mystery as to how Epics get their powers and weaknesses and what Calamity has to do with it, not to mention what Calamity is. By the end of the book, David and the reader will be closer to solving the mystery, but still not completely there. The reader will have to wait until the spring of 2016, when the third book, Calamity, comes out. This book has high-action and a complicated, enthralling plotline. It has lived up to its predecessor, Steelheart, and will leave the reader just as interested and thrilled. I like this book because it has almost everything you could ask for in an interesting story: action, plot, humor, unique characters, romance, and an incredible stare-at-the-book-with-your-mouth-hanging-open twist ending. I would recommend Firefight to anyone who likes action-filled or humorous books, and has read Steelheart.. Most kids would definitely enjoy reading Steelheart, Firefight, and (in spring of 2016), Calamity.

November 15, 2014
Teen slayer of evil, superpowered Epics David Charleston carries the fight from Newcago to New York in this slash-and-burn sequel.Arriving with his boss, Jon Phaedrus, Dark Knight-ish founder of the Epic-killing Reckoners, David is stunned to find the city-now known as Babylon Restored, or Babilar-flooded, weirdly lit by glowing graffiti and populated by lotus eaters who subsist on glowing fruit that grows indoors. He faces three powerful Epics: Newton, who can deflect bullets; Obliteration, mad destroyer of Houston; and, most dangerous of all, hydromancer and wily former attorney Regalia. As in the previous episode (Steelheart, 2013), Sanderson presents a Marvel Comics-style mix of violently destructive battles, fabulous feats and ongoing inner wrestling over morality and identity. He lightens this with such elements as an Epic who is felled by Kool-Aid balloons and David's predilection for hilariously lame similes (a room is "lit by fruit that dangled from the ceiling like snot from the nose of a toddler who had been snorting glowsticks"). Risky romance plus late revelations about the source and flaw in all the Epics' powers set up the (probable) closer. Big in size and vision, this is the rare middle volume that keeps the throttle open and actually moves the story along significantly. (Fantasy. 11-14)

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April 1, 2015

Gr 7 Up-A nonstop, explosive sequel to Sanderson's epic series opener, Steelheart (2013). With Steelheart dead, David returns to the city to fight three seemingly indestructable Epics. With smart-aleck dialogue and humorous descriptions balancing the violent battle scenes, Sanderson manages to explore deeper themes and character development along with the blockbuster plotline.

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2015
Grades 9-12 To the public, Epics, and Reckoners alike, David Charleston is now Steelslayer, assassin of Steelheart, the High Epic who ruled Newcago. Having rid that city of its virulent overlord, the Reckoners have infiltrated Babylon Restored, formerly Manhattan, where their new target, High Epic Regalia, rules a flooded city inhabited by devil-may-care Babilarans. David, however, is becoming uneasy with the Reckoners' goal of slaying Epics. If indeed the Epics' fears are the keys to their weaknesses, as he speculates, perhaps they are not destined to destroy; perhaps they can learn to control themselves and their evil compulsions. His first target for salvation? His secret love, Megan, aka Firefight. But Prof is sure Megan is playing David in order to infiltrate the Reckoners' base and so plans to destroy her in spite of David's protests. This lacks the constant tension and edgy technology of Steelheart (2013), but this second in Sanderson's Reckoners series concludes in true, violent, high-action Steelslayer style, promising not only more of the same in the still-to-come Calamity, but hinting of future romance as well.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Sanderson will receive the expected five-star treatment: a pre-pub school tour, major social media campaigns, a scavenger hunt tour, and much more.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)