Steelheart is a fantasy/sci-fi novel written by Brandon Sanderson, first published in 2013. This book is the first book of a series called The Reckoners. After a mysterious event called Calamity happened a decade ago, a select number of ordinary people was gifted by superhuman abilities like superheroes in comic books. They were called Epics. However, instead of helping people, Epics chose to use these powers to rule the powerless with iron fists. David was an eight-year-old boy when his father was killed by one of the strongest Epics named Steelheart. He was supposed to be impenetrable by any kind of bullets, but David saw Steelheart bleed that day. Wanting to seek revenge for his father, David joins a group of non-Epics called The Reckoners and set out a plan to kill Steelheart.
This is really an excellent fantasy book. I'm not sure if it's technically a young-adult book, but it certainly feels like it. It's light-hearted most of the time but can dive into deeper and darker levels of emotions when it needs to. Then there's the protagonist and his love interest. Then the protagonist joins a group of people that becomes his friends. And then there's a lot of actions and cool powers showdowns every number of chapters. It certainly feels like the YA genre to me, which honestly I'm not really a fan of nowadays.
Now, if you're familiar with the author's other works, you might notice how similar this book feels to some of his other books. I haven't read all of them, but I can think of at least two of his books that are very similar to Steelheart, in terms of its structure. But what's wonderful about the author's works is his worldbuilding. Each series' world is just very distinct from each other that your experience just feels different each time. You can really tell how much care the author put into crafting such an out-of-ordinary and yet relatable world and characters. Although the book saves some explanations for the rest of the series, that didn't bother me from enjoying this particular book at all.
Everything just clicks right in the end. Totally refreshing and enjoyable experience.
