I’ve fallen slightly behind the pace of both
reading and reviewing books this year. I’m still hoping to get up to 30 but
I’ve got about 13 weeks left in the year and 12 books to read – so it is going
to be tough. Luckily I’ve got at least two 10 hours trans-Atlantic flights plus
a good few 2-3 hour train journeys so I should be able to rattle a few more off
in no time.
Back to the reviews though and it’s another of
Brandon Sanderson’s titles today; Firefight,
book two of his YA Reckoners Series which focuses on Epics - regular humans who
have been infused with special powers but who become more and more corrupted if
they use these powers. The Reckoners are a group dedicated to taking out the
Epics before they destroy the world.
Firefight follows on from the first book in the
series via a novella (called Mitosis) which didn’t really do much except whet
your appetite between main novels. You are quickly thrown back into the world
of David and the Reckoners as they are picking up the pieces in Newcago following
the overthrow of Steelheart at the end of the book of the same name.
The world and characters are instantly recognisable
and we are straight into the action as before. It is different this time
though, more measured. Steelheart was all about revenge, there was a singular
goal and nothing, either in the narrative or the pacing, could take away from
the ultimate confrontation that must come.
Firefight is subtler though, more layered. There is
more time taken to delve deeper into the whys and wherefores of the Epics and
their powers, they were just names to be taken out in the first book. We start
to be shown them in more than just one dimension, start to understand that they
are (essentially) the same as the rest of us deep down. The development of Megan
particularly is interesting, her internal struggle tells us far more about the
Epics and what potentially they are than all David’s research did in the first
book.
Sanderson has begun to make you question the
single-minded determination of the Reckoners to take them all down. He is
starting to ask you not to judge them all the same and to make you ask what is
behind it all, who/what is Calamity and how does it all hang together? There is
something bigger here, but what is it?
This is a clever shift in approach, but not
uncommon for the second book of a trilogy. Book 1 usually sets the scene and
introduces the characters and narrative, Book 2 fleshes it out and starts to
give you more depth (and often a different angle you didn’t see first time
around), Book 3 ties everything together and often ends with a flourish.
So we find, as the book develops, a combination of
action sections (where the reckoners are trying to take out a high-up Epic in
what used to be New York) and slower, “brooding” sections where we learn more
about the world both before and after Calamity and what affect it has had on
the population (both Epic and non-Epic).
To be honest, I didn’t really enjoy the action bits
that much – they felt very similar to the analagous sections in Steelheart and
I just kind of flicked through them. This book wasn’t really about taking down
an epic in New York though, it is much more about understanding the nature of
the Epics, their powers and what that means for the future of the world.
Those sections captured my attention much more and
I felt a lot of the other bits were “fluff”, it wouldn’t have mattered a great
deal to the story if they hadn’t been there.
The denouement of the book was clever though and
has effected a real shift in the direction the narrative COULD take. What will
happen to Prof now he has been exposed to his powers? Is there anything that
can be done to stop him turning? And (if there is) will it hold the key to
understanding the Epics, Calamity and what can be done to return the world to
something resembling what it was before?
Verdict:
4 stars out of 5 – This is not
Brandon’s best work, certainly not his most epic either. But as a standalone
series there is much to recommend it, particularly as a mind-cleanser between
tackling some of the more “hardcore” stuff in the genre. It’ll be interesting
to see where he takes us to in the end, he usually has a trick up his sleeve
and never fails to induce at least one “oh now that IS clever moment”.
Keep reading.
Till next time,
DT
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