CALAMITY By Brandon Sanderson


Calamity (2016) is the third book in The Reckoners series. My reviews of the first two volumes, Steelheart (2013) and Firefight (2015), can be found here. The premise of this Young Adult science fiction series is that an “event” occurs that causes some people to develop Super Powers. However, these “Epics” find that the powers cause them to become psychotic and cruel. A group called The Reckoners arises to kill the Epics to preserve human life. The books are narrated by David, a clever teenager who has solved part of the Epic puzzle. In Calamity David and The Reckoners face their greatest challenges as the true nature of Epics threatens to destroy them. If you’re looking for a high-action adventure series, The Reckoners delivers. However, you’ll have to put up with some silly teenager dialogue that Brandon Sanderson must have felt he had to include. A movie (and/or TV series) is rumored to be in production. GRADE: B

6 thoughts on “CALAMITY By Brandon Sanderson

  1. Patti Abbott

    I really don’t understand why teenagers need to be written down to at all. I can see they might like protagonists of their age but beyond that there should be little difference in the language or even the subject. As teenagers we read the same books as our parents.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Patti, when I was a teenager I was reading Agatha Christie and ESG’s Perry Mason novels. Sure, I read “juvenile” SF by Andre North and Robert Heinlein, but I soon moved from Young Adult books to mainstream fiction. I suspect YA editors might have something to do with the “writing down” phenomena.

      Reply
  2. Jeff Meyerson

    I remember reading COUNT OF MONTE CHRISTO as a “fun” summer read, which was more exciting than most fiction today.

    I liked the first in this series and will get to the others.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Jeff, I love COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO! I have THE THREE MUSKETEERS on my stack for Summer Reading. I hope Brandon Sanderson continues the RECKONERS series.

      Reply
    1. george Post author

      Rick, ha ha! Brandon Sanderson must have had his tongue firmly in his cheek when he came up with “The Reckoners.”

      Reply

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