(Slightly late) #25hSanderson

The lovely Crini at All About Books and Elena (whose blog is in German, but pretty. Google translate failed me). Announcement post for this. This is part of their A Year of Reading Brandon Sanderson. This is, obviously, 25 hours of reading Brandon Sanderson books (whichever you want). I don't think I'll be able to go for it all, I know I won't since I didn't sleep well last night, but I'll try and go for a while.

I'll probably be mostly tweeting/social media-ing updates (Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads). However, I'm going to try and remember to - and there are questions.

Start: What book are you going to read and why?
I think Alcatraz book two, I read book one a little while ago and it was ridiculous and I loved it, so I'm excited for book two - and it'll be a quick, fun read. Hopefully. I don't know what after that - maybe Elantris.

+04h: Did you set yourself a goal for the read-a-thon? Have you read a Sanderson book before? If so, which one?
I didn't, because it was very last minute and ExtraLife is going on at the same time, and I always try to watch as much as the stream as I can because it's so much fun. And, of course, try to donate in some way (the RoosterTeeth poster this year was too good to pass up).
I have read quite a few of his books (The Way of Kings, Mistborn trilogy, Warbreaker, Steelheart, Rithmatist, The Emperor's Soul, Legion). I want to reread WoK before WoR - which I've been saying at this point for months but I think will happen in December or else.

+08h: Where do you read?
On my couch, mostly, there's a chaise part so I can lay down and relax.

Reading update: I've only read to like chapter four, I ended up taking a nap after getting to there and have yet to read anything further (soon). I'd like to finish at least this one for the read-a-thon, but I'm also enjoying reading what others are up to. (currently-reading Alcatraz #2).

+12h: Who is your favorite character so far?
As I'm reading Alcatraz #2 - probably Alcatraz, but I also really enjoy Bastille.

Edit: I did for the book I'm currently reading, or else it'd be probably a 5 paragraph essay.

+16h: What is your favorite quote from the book so far?
The Alctraz series has a very strange, fantastically weird sense of humor that's very Sanderson. (Speaking of, I've only read two chapters more then last update, and then I'm going to take a nap, and then I'll work on it, I promise. I'll finish it today, the 26th, I just don't know if it'll be before the time cut off).

(...) Dangerous, but unseen. (Kind of like those troublemakers who read fantasy novels).

And I'm sure there are a ton more, but they're mostly very long. I do really love this one, though.

+20h: Who would you cast as the main character(s) in the book?
Mmmh, I don't know? I mean he's a thirteen year old boy, I can't think of a particular person, but I'd definitely want the decription to match and the actor to be young himself, close the thirteen, and have the acting ability to pull of Alcatraz's personality.

End:  Did you enjoy your book? Any plans on reading another one soon?
I'm not quite done, I think I"m about 3/4th through it, at the moment, and I'm really enjoying it so far. And I'll definitely be reading another one soon - I want to keep going with the Alcatraz series and Elantris and then, like I mentioned, reread WOK and read WOR. I have anything he ever publishes or mentions publishing on my 'to read immediately' list.

Reading Update:
Almost forgot to mention the reading I got done - like I said, about 3/4th of the way. I'm reading from the bind-up of the series so I'm guessing/going by the chapters. Alcatraz is a very strange series of books that I really enjoy, but it definitely wouldn't be for everyone. Personally - I giggle to myself too much when reading it, which I'm not angry about at all.

Book Review: Steelheart (Reckoners #1)

Title: Steelheart (Reckoners #1)
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Rating: 5/5
Genre: SciFi/Fantasy, Dystopian, Post/Apocalyptic (Young Adult)
Publication Date: September 24th, 2013

Story Notion: I need more, right now.

Plot: (from Goodreads)
There are no heroes.

Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics.

But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.

Nobody fights the Epics... nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.

And David wants in. He wants Steelheart—the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David's father. For years, like the Reckoners, David's been studying, and planning—and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.

He's seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.

Review:
I adored this book and Sanderson is definitely one of my favorite authors at this point, really he was after I read his first book last year and went 'I need all of his books now.' Anyway, I didn't even realize this book was young adult until after, and it didn't occur to me it was 'dystopian,' probably because I thought of it very much more as apocalyptic and post apocalyptic.

Besides that, onto the book itself. I loved all this characters and I adored some of the stories and things Cody said probably much too much, I found myself trying not to burst out laughing. And, of course, David, Megan, Abraham, Prof, and Tia. They're fantastic characters and everything is very intense, it doesn't stop moving, I couldn't put this book down. I finished it in about a day.

I think one of my favorite things about this book is that David, the main character, cannot make metaphors or anything like that to save his life. It was probably one of my favorite recurring things, I found myself laughing to myself more then I care to admit about some. Also the pure just comic nature of some of the Epic's powers made me oddly happy, I'm sure other people found it annoying or a rip off or whatever, but I really loved it, especially in a novel instead of comic, it was different.

Overall, I really love Sanderson's writing and I really liked David's voice and how he changed over the course of the book, I felt it was very different to what normally happened with people thrown into a situation like the one he found himself in and I feel oddly proud of him for that. To sum it up, I'd recommend you check this out if you're into this kind of book, it is truly fantastic and I really need to get my hands on the rest of his books I haven't read already.

Also, there's a short story/novella available for ebook stuff called Mitosis, that kind of gives you a little snap of what the consequences are for the end of Steelheart and it's completely fantastic, I loved it a lot. It's to be read after Steelheart, to just enforce that.