The fiery fight of firefight

By Connor J.

Firefight, a novel from a post-apocalyptic world, recounts the events from a world ravaged by tyrants and dictators. Based in the United States, Brandon Sanderson has created a world we can relate to, while at the same time fulfilling the requirements of a classic sci-fi superhero villain fantasy. As a master of sci-fi fiction and fantasy with his other novels like Mistborn, The Way of Kings, or Mithratist; Sanderson is able to create whole new world to throw his readers into.

            After defeating Steelheart in book one, the Reckoners must face a different challenge, one that must require sacrifice and betrayal. They head to Babilar, the place that was once Manhattan. A tyrant, one that the Reckoner's leader has had past ties with, rules there, and has flooded the city into a cityscape where the streets are the ocean, bridges span the towers rooftops, and where at night, the city turns into a glowing spectacle. Everything from the food to the buildings glow. The protagonist, David Charelston, heads to the city in the hopes of saving firefight, a girlfriend that betrayed them after the events of steelheart. Meanwhile, the other members of the team, Prof. Jon Phaedrus, Tina, Val, Excel, and Mizzy, plan to hunt her down. As a sort of side job, they plan to take down Regalia herself, the tyrant who control the city of Babilar.

As the plot unfolds, the team learns of betrayal, a good superhero in the city, and Regalia's plans to destroy the city. The team must stop Regalia at all costs, but some members have different opinions. The novel concludes in a final burst of suspense and action, where new plot twists are discovered, as well as how some old recurring events have come to haunt some of Reckoners team.

Brandon Sanderson created a very vivid world, with beautiful description filling in the cracks of a familiar city scape, and turning it into a motion picture inside your mind. His plot and characterization is almost perfect, as if you knew the characters as well as you know your own friends. His action was suspenseful, and kept you on your toes, a page turner for sure. My only regret from this book is how the characters betrayed each other so much, and how some of the things were unrealistic. Then again, it's sci-fi, so you can do whatever you want.

After reading this book, I can say for sure that The Reckoners series only gets better and better. The novel maintains just as much suspense, action, and description as the first, and kept me pondering about the book for hours afterward. I can't wait until I can read the third novel of the series, Calamity, but for now, I would tell you one thing, this book is not one to miss. I highly recommend it, but first, read Steelheart, his first novel, so as to not ruin the plot of the first novel of make this novels world more confusing.

Firefight, by Brandon Sanderson, Penguin Random House, January 6 2015, 416 pages