Steelheart review

Steelheart

by Brandon Sanderson

Delacorte Press

January 2013

First line: "I've seen Steelheart bleed."

Sanderson's well-thought out and creative take on superheroes stars an ordinary teen determined to take down Steelheart, the all powerful super villain who has transformed Chicago into a dystopian perpetual nighttime metalscape. Ever wonder what Superman would be like if he was pure evil? As usual, Sanderson's world-building is superb and the powers that each of "Epics" possesses are used in unusual and surprising ways.

David is your typical, awkward teenage guy - except for the fact that he witnessed Steelheart murder his father during a bank robbery gone wrong and as one of the few survivors of a Steelheart attack, he's lived a life undercover, bent on revenge and intensely studying up on Epics. He hopes to join the Reckoners - a small group of ordinary humans who are fighting the Epics in secret.

The book has a fast-paced cinematically inspired style, with plenty of fight scenes and a dash of romance for David. My favorite humorous scene was when David is put on the spot while hiding in plain sight at a gun dealer's shop and amazingly is able to rattle off the specs of each of the weapons in the room. David's wacky misuse of metaphors provides another stock-in-trade measure of comic relief.

Graduates of Sanderson's Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians series will especially appreciate this action-packed superhero adventure tale.

Compare to:

Sidekicks - Jack D. Ferraiolo

Chance Fortune and the Outlaws - Shane Berryhill

Council of Evil - Andy Briggs

The Rise of Renegade X - Chelsea M. Campbell

I borrowed this book from the library.

Sidekicks review

Sidekicks
by Jack D. Ferraiolo
Amulet Books
April 2011

First line: "I'm sitting on a filthy chimney, eighty stories above street level, watching from the shadows as one of my personal top five dumbest villains tries his best to wrap his mind around a hostage situation of his own creation."

Middle-schooler Scott Hutchinson, better known as Bright Boy, is the sidekick to world-renowned superhero Phantom Justice. Superheroes are referred to by the scientific appellation plus/plus. Supers can have super strength, speed, intelligence, or some combination of all three.

Witty repartee, "punny" insults and other cheesy dialogue is part of the territory, along with standard-issue tights and capes. The problem is, Bright Boy has outgrown his traditional yellow and red outfit, and much to his mortification and dismay, after saving a particularly gorgeous young female hostage from a supervillain, his super-tight tights leave nothing to the imagination. Humiliated, he begs Phantom Justice's permission to update his costume, and is roundly refused. Thus starts his rebellious streak... before he realizes it, he's hanging out with Monkeywrench, the sidekick to Phantom Justice's archenemy Dr. Chaotic. Monkeywrench, a.k.a. Allison Mendez, is probably every young man's dream - beautiful, daring, and she knows what she wants. She and Scott share several kisses, nearly all of them initiated by her.

One feature I loved about this book was that the meetings between supervillains use black pages with white type. There were plenty of twists, turns and sudden reversals towards the end of the book, some of which I saw coming, and others which I never could have predicted. I had expected one of Scott's teachers to reveal that she was a superhero, but nothing seemed to come of that, although I was surprised by a few of the other characters' hidden abilities. I'll recommend this to comic book aficionados looking for a lengthier read, or anyone looking for a funny, action-packed book with a hint of romance.

Compare to:
Sidekicked - John David Anderson
The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy series - William Boniface
Sidekicks - Dan Santat
Chance Fortune and the Outlaws - Shane Berryhill

I borrowed this book from the library.