Firefight (Reckoners, #2)

by Brandon Sanderson

The #1 New York Times bestseller and sequel to Steelheart from Brandon Sanderson, the author of Oathbringer, coauthor of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series, and creator of the internationally bestselling Mistborn trilogy, presents the second book in the Reckoners series: Firefight. And don’t miss Calamity, the exciting conclusion to the Reckoners series!
   Newcago is free.
   They told David it was impossible, that even the Reckoners had never killed a High Epic. Yet Steelheart--invincible, immortal, unconquerable--is dead. And he died by David's hand.
   Eliminating Steelheart was supposed to make life simpler. Instead, it only made David realize he has questions. Big ones. And no one in Newcago can give him answers.
   Babylon Restored, the city formerly known as the borough of Manhattan, has possibilities, though. Ruled by the mysterious High Epic Regalia, Babylon Restored is flooded and miserable, but David is sure it's the path that will lead him to what he needs to find. Entering a city oppressed by a High Epic despot is risky, but David's willing to take the gamble. 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 now he will go on a quest darker and even more dangerous than the fight against Steelheart to find her, and to get his answers.

Praise for the Reckoners Series:

#1 New York Times Bestselling Series

“Another win for Sanderson . . . he’s simply a brilliant writer. Period.” —Patrick Rothfuss, author of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller The Name of the Wind
 
“Action-packed.” —EW.com
 
“Compelling. . . . Sanderson uses plot twists that he teases enough for readers to pick up on to distract from the more dramatic reveals he has in store.” —The A.V. Club

• ISBN10: 0385743580
• ISBN13: 9780385743587
• Publish Date: 6 January 2015 (first published 1 January 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Delacorte Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 432
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780385743587

Reviews

[kimbacaffeinate]

In Firefight, the Reckoners team travels to Babylon Restored, the old borough of Manhattan. Here an Epic named Regalia rules. Regalia may be a tougher opponent than Steelheart with her clever cunning and mischievous schemes. David, Tia and Prof are busy trying to fight Epics and locate Regalia. David has ulterior motives for coming to the city though. Firefight is here and he believes he can help her. Prof and David do not see eye-to-eye causing friendships and the team to be tested.

David is a strong hero with this huge heart. He is passionate but this also causes him to be impulsive and naive. His outlook and willingness to risk for others makes him a hero you can truly root for. Prof is struggling, and despite bull-bullheadedness, he and David make a great team. Tia is just crazy, but I adore the girl.

I loved Sanderson’s rendition of Manhattan. Babylon Restored was a huge underwater city where folks live on the rooftops. Through imagery, he brought the city to life. Here we battle Epics, but also learn more about them and Calamity. The overall arc development shared things that only increased my curiosity. Sanderson does a wonderful job with character growth particularly David’s.

Sanderson knows how to weave a tale and begins with a hook, then slows down to fill in the details and slowly builds to a frenzy. He weaves in twists and turns keeping the reader fully engaged. I enjoyed the unpredictability of the story. The geek in me loves the unique abilities and freaky gadgets. Sanderson’s ability to give the book equal measure ensures he delivers four and five cup rating. He weaves in humor, action, growth, cool characters and geeky goodness creating that perfectly blended tale.

MacLeod Andrews was a brilliant choice for this series and one of the reasons I switched formats. His audio rendition showed David’s frustration, fear, hope and exasperation. It was brilliant and I loved how he captured the snark, banter and quick wit of the characters. Each character had a distinct voice, and I felt he brought them to life. I would have liked a female narrator brought in for the female roles, but MacLeod held his own and did better than most when portraying the opposite sex. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[inlibrisveritas]

Firefight is the awesome sequel to the book Steelheart. It’s set in a time when Epics have taken over the world, and now it’s up to the Reckoners to try and help normal people reclaim their places.

Oh how I missed this world! We dive right in as David and the Reckoners have to deal with yet another Epic vying for attention in the streets of Newcago. This second installment to the series keeps the pace moving and we get to see much more of the post-Epic world as the Reckoners head to New Babylon. David is still hilarious (to me atleast) with his really awful metaphors and similes, and his need to quick qip everything. He is still managing to be both an idiot and a genius all at the same time, and I love how he takes on new problems and how he sees the world. New Babylon is a fantastic setting, I love it even more than the cold metal Newcago. It’s so vibrant and Sanderson pulls in his awesome fantasy world building to bring the city to life in all it’s neon colors and fruit.

There are a lot of interesting twists in this one, which makes it hard to talk about the plot without giving something away but I really loved each one of them. Most of them were unexpected, and others my boyfriend and I have spent quite a bit of time theorizing about before we read Firefight.

I really hate that we have to wait another year to read the next one, but it will be so worth it. I’m really curious to see how the David deals with the end events of Firefight and how other Epics will react.

[adamfortuna]

Great follow up to the first of the series. Sanderson develops on the world in just the way you'd want - with twists and turns leaving you wanting more. I already can't wait for the next one in this series.

[melanchalina]

Отзыв в моем блоге: http://adelinarain.blogspot.ru/2015/11/blog-post_22.html

[jnikkir]

This SPOILER-FREE(!) review can also be found at my blog, There were books involved...

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OH MY GOSH YOU GUYS. I've been waiting FOREVER to post this review. I read Firefight over two months ago, thanks to Mark letting me and a few other bloggers borrow his ARC (thanks again, Mark!), and omg. This book has been burning a hole in my brain ever since.

First off, though -- have you read Steelheart? Because if you haven't, it would probably be better to start by reading my review of that book, rather than this one. See, Firefight is a sequel, and A) We wouldn't want you to get spoiled (the synopsis above IS SPOILERY, thus the warning, but this review is spoiler-free -- unless you really don't want to know whether the main character dies at the end of Steelheart or something). But also, B) If you read this review first, well, that would just be like eating dessert before dinner: You'll never want to go back and read that earlier review if you read this one fir -- wait, no... umm... It's like dessert before dinner because this book, like dessert, is just better than the first course -- wait, no... "better"? Maybe... but also just "different"... But it's necessary to eat dinner first, you know? And then, obviously, dessert is also required. Um...

Oh gosh, someone please shut me up, I'm channeling David and I don't know how to make it stop.

(Don't know who David is? *coughclickthiscough*)

OKAY, now we've got that out of the way, I guess maybe you want to know how I liked this book.

Well, I liked it. I liked it a lot. If you're smart, and you've already read Steelheart, CONGRATULATIONS: Here's an easy test for you to see if you should read this sequel: Did you like Steelheart at all? No, seriously, like, at all. A little, OMG SO MUCH, whatever? ...Yes, you did? Well, then, there's no question: You need Firefight in your life. Immediately. Really, that's all you need to know. But read on if you want more information. ;)

The Reckoners series reminds me of what I imagine a superhero comic book would be like (confession: I have never read a comic book... or a graphic novel... please don't kill me...). But seriously. It's super fun, vibrant and cinematic, absolutely action-packed, a bit lighthearted, but also full of heart... It makes me think of movies like "The Avengers," except the superheroes are all bad guys and the little humans get to be the heroes. I mean, sometimes in movies like that, the heroes are a little over-the-top idealistic, but we forgive them, don't we? Because we want to root for them, we want them to vanquish their foes, we want them to save the world amidst these epic circumstances... Yeah, Firefight is like that.

Carrying straight over from the end of Steelheart (or rather, the end of Mitosis... seriously, you should read Mitosis, it's a great gap-bridger), Firefight deals with the aftermath of Steelheart's epic conclusion. Instead of making David's and the other Reckoners' lives simpler, their actions at the end of Steelheart just made things even more complicated, and they end up having to go to Manhattan (now "Babylon Restored") for answers. I was super excited to see a new location after being confined to Newcago in book 1, and Babylon Restored does not disappoint. But wow, getting to see outside of Newcago... well, the outlook is bleak. This series isn't post-apocalyptic, it's post-Epic -- and it's pretty terrifying out there. These cities ruled by Epics are really the only bastions of civilization left, which is... yikes. I really don't want to say too much about Babylon Restored because I don't want to give away any surprises, but I will say that, while terrifying, it's also seriously beautiful and I would really like to go there. For like, a couple hours. With a safe getaway planned.

In addition to a new setting, we also get to meet some awesome new secondary characters. A few of the "regulars" from Steelheart don't really play much of a role in Firefight, which was a bit disappointing for me, but that's ok! These new characters are pretty great, as well. I sort of wish I'd felt like I got to know them a little bit better than I did, but by the end I was definitely a fan of all of them -- especially a girl who kind of reminds me of Leo Valdez from Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus series... (Yeah, I went there.) I really can't wait to see my old favorites and some of these new characters team up in Calamity. (I mean, that is what's gonna happen right? RIGHT?!?!)

One character who didn't disappoint at all, however, was David. I mean, he's David. (I love David.) David's growth from his drive to revenge in Steelheart, to finding a new purpose in Firefight, was just so well done over the course of these two books. He's a character who is willing to admit when his outlook is wrong, to reevaluate his goals, and to always fight for what he believes in. Also, his faith in people is just... okay, yes, it's rather idealistic and often comes across as unfounded or flat-out stupid -- he throws his whole heart behind people, all of his will and faith and belief that they can pull through, that everything will turn out okay -- but I love that about him. Plus, of course, his metaphors. They make me giggle, what can I say?

As for the plot... well... spoilers, ugh!! But I will say that this book does not drag. It's just as action-packed as Steelheart -- if not more. Questions that were left unanswered in Steelheart are dealt with a lot in this book, as well, like, Can Epics really fight against their natures? *GASP* Yes, that question is fully explored in Firefight, and it is intense. I just... yeah. I have a lot of feels about this.

And then the ending... I mean, if you've read Steelheart, or any book by Brandon Sanderson, you know his endings are insane. Firefight is no exception. There are so many revelations and mind-blowing occurrences, and it will leave you dying for book 3. Sorry, there's just no way around it. But it is so worth it.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, the "mind-blowing ending" is really just the last quarter of the book. I can prove this scientifically, because the capslock in my Goodreads updates gets a bit out of hand...





In conclusion...

If you've read Steelheart and liked anything about it, you definitely need Firefight in your life as well. If you haven't read Steelheart... fix that immediately, because these two books are worth reading just for the explosive ending of Firefight alone (not to mention the explosive ending of Steelheart, duh). This series is super action-packed, super intense, but most of all, it's just super fun.

IT'S JUST SUPER, OKAY. Read it.

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There were books involved...