Firefight
by Brandon Sanderson
Series: Reckoners #2
Published: January 6th 2015
(416 pages)
Babylon Restored, formerly Manhattan, may give David answers. Ruled by the mysterious High Epic, Regalia, David is sure Babylon Restored will lead him to what he needs to find. And while entering another city oppressed by a High Epic despot is a gamble, David's willing to risk it.
Because killing Steelheart left a hole in David's heart. A hole where his thirst for vengeance once lived. Somehow, he filled that hole with another Epic—Firefight. And he's willing to go on a quest darker, and more dangerous even, than the fight against Steelheart to find her, and to get his answers.
Firefight had more gimmicky metaphors, like Steelheart did, with unnecessary attention drawn to them. I very thoroughly marked all of the awkward metaphors in my book. Like when the main character, David, said he’s “intense like a lion is orange (pg 115)” to another character named Mizzy. They spent half a page arguing about what color a lion is until Mizzy finally says that he’s weird. I wrote in the margin “That’s subtle at least.” Until David opens his mouth on the very next line and tries to defend his metaphor (he even uses the word “metaphor”) and the note in my margin says “THAT’S NOT.” But with an eye roll, I moved on. Because like in Steelheart, corny metaphors with the subtly of a sledgehammer aside, the story is still very good.
David starts to have empathy for the Epics (aka superheroes) that he used to hate. Firefight explores the question of whether great power can create a utopia or just a world that looks like one. It also explores the the temptation that would come from having ultimate power but not using it. David’s gradual change of heart and the interesting themes kept me hooked to the story.
There’s some funny moments with new characters. Sometimes when reading a second book in a series, I find the new characters uninteresting and I’m glad that wasn’t the case in Firefight.
The world building was ok. It’s a dystopia with unexplained details like glowing lines everywhere on the buildings (oh my gosh why do they glow can someone please tell me). I did like the explanation of Epic powers being tied to their fears. Is there power or weakness in fear? That was an interesting question that Firefight brought up. If the Epics are motivated by fear, then they are classic bullies. Also, fear is of the dark side. But anyway.
There’s an awesome plot twist towards the end View Spoiler ». I didn’t love Firefight as much as Steelheart, but the cool plot twist has convinced me to read the next book in the series.
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About Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson was born in 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska. As a child Brandon enjoyed reading, but he lost interest in the types of titles often suggested to him, and by junior high he never cracked a book if he could help it. This changed when an eighth grade teacher gave him Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly.
Brandon was working on his thirteenth novel when Moshe Feder at Tor Books bought the sixth he had written. Tor has published Elantris, the Mistborn trilogy and its followup The Alloy of Law, Warbreaker, and The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance, the first two in the planned ten-volume series The Stormlight Archive. He was chosen to complete Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series; 2009’s The Gathering Storm and 2010’s Towers of Midnight were followed by the final book in the series, A Memory of Light, in January 2013. Four books in his middle-grade Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series have been released in new editions by Starscape, and his novella Infinity Blade Awakening was an ebook bestseller for Epic Games accompanying their acclaimed Infinity Blade iOS video game series. Two more novellas, Legion and The Emperor’s Soul, were released by Subterranean Press and Tachyon Publications in 2012, and 2013 brought two young adult novels, The Rithmatist from Tor and Steelheart from Delacorte.
The only author to make the short list for the David Gemmell Legend Award six times in four years, Brandon won that award in 2011 for The Way of Kings. The Emperor’s Soul won the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novella. He has appeared on the New York Times Best-Seller List multiple times, with five novels hitting the #1 spot.
Currently living in Utah with his wife and children, Brandon teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University.
My name is Jessica. I love to read Young Adult and classic literature. I’ve been a book blogger for six years and I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. I’m a very curious reader. Writing about all the questions and thoughts I had while reading a book is the best hobby ever.
I really am not a fan of Sanderson and his books but this is a series I’m going to try some day.
I’ve read Steel heart for the 2nd time, I can’t still get over it now I wanted to read firefight, but I can’t purchase it yet. I’m a Brandon Sanderson fan now. Hope to read more of his books if I can afford to have it all.