Book Review: Steelheart, by Brandon Sanderson

Why I Picked it Up: This is a title from the 2015 Lone Star Reading List. While we didn’t have the opportunity to work with a Battle of the Books team this year, I still find myself looking to this list when I want to find something new to read. I can always count on it to bring me something well written and possibly outside of my comfort genres. I honestly didn’t know much about the book going into it and I started reading it without even reading the back (*gasp* I know!!). From the cover, I thought it was going to be just another dystopian, possibly paranormal, teen fiction novel, but I like those for the most part, and so I started reading.

Why I Finished It: I was totally wrong! It is dystopian, set in a futuristic Chicago, but that’s as far as my expectations got me. I was sucked into the world Sanderson created almost right away and completely fascinated by his Epics, ordinary men that started developing superhero-like qualities. I guess I didn’t realize how much I read in the same genres, but this book was a welcome breath of fresh air in my reading life.

The prologue introduces the main character, David, and sets up his motivation for the rest of the story. He is a scholar of Epics, studying them to determine their weaknesses, and he desperately wants to join the Reckoners, the group he believes will take down Steelheart, the Epic currently controlling Newcago. The characters introduced throughout the book were very vivid, with lots of depth and mystery. Unlike some books where you can kind of figure out where it’s going, I really enjoyed trying to figure out the questions that were planted in my mind. What is Steelheart’s weakness? What is the Professor’s story? Are there any good Epics?

Who I Would Give it To: Superheroes were big in the movies this summer, so this is a great connection for any student (especially a reluctant reader) who enjoyed those movies and is now looking for more. Fans of the Maze Runner, Hunger Games, Divergent, and such would also enjoy the world created in this story. There are some pretty deep topics woven in, but I think it would be a great read for middle and high school students.

Integration

Theme/Guiding Questions

There are SO many good topics for discussion in this book. Don’t overwhelm your students, but pick one or two themes that blend well with what you are teaching!

Chaos and Order

• What is the importance of civilization and what factors support or destroy its fabric?

Justice

• To what extent does power or the lack of power affect individuals?
• What does power have to do with fairness and justice?
• What are the benefits and consequences of questioning / challenging social order?

Culture: Values, Beliefs & Rituals

• What factors shape our values and beliefs?
• Why do we need beliefs and values?
• When is it appropriate to challenge the beliefs or values of society?

Good vs Evil

• Is humankind inherently good or evil?
• Does absolute power corrupt?

Family and Relationships

• What does it mean to be a family?
• How are people transformed through their relationships with others?
• What is community and what are the individual’s responsibilities to the community as well as the community’s responsibilities to the individual?

Metaphors

David has a self-diagnosed problem with metaphors, and the reader can’t help but cringe and agree whenever he tries to use one. They usually start out sounding good, but by the time he finishes, it fails to deliver the desired effect, for example: “But even a ninety-year-old blind priest would stop and stare at this woman. If he weren’t blind, that is.” (25)

Sometimes he gets close – “Megan’s eyes could have drilled a hole through…well, anything, I guess. I mean, eyes can’t normally drill holes through things, so the metaphor works regardless, right?” (103)

Sometimes they’re bizarre and untraditional, but when explained, they made sense to him and they are actually pretty creative – “It’s like … a banana farm for guns.” (141)

Other gems include:

• “I feel like a brick made of porridge.” (255)
• “I was like the guy who had brought the spoiled shrimp cocktail to the party, causing everyone to throw up for a week straight.” (325)
• “Prof’s ability makes mine look like a piece of rice. And not even a cooked one.” (328)

Use David’s awkward attempts at metaphors to talk about what a metaphor is and what purpose it serves. Talk about how you might fix his metaphors, or why you think they are actually effective.Deconstruct these metaphors and figure out what he’s trying to convey, then have students create their own metaphors for some of the same situations. For example:

“Prof’s ability makes mine look like a piece of rice. And not even a cooked one.” (328) A piece of rice is very small, so David is probably feeling really insignificant compared to Prof.  He says it’s not even cooked, so he’s adding even more insignificance. What good is a grain of rice that isn’t cooked? How do you feel when someone else is better at something than you are? What kind of metaphor could you create that really helps us understand that feeling?

You could also add some visualization and have students create a visual to go along with their metaphor, using Canva or another tool for creating visuals.

Great Quotes

“The bank was enormous. A single open chamber with white pillars surrounding a tile mosaic floor, broad doors that led deeper into the building. Two large revolving doors opened into the street, with a set of conventional doors to the sides. Men and women streamed in and out, as if the room were the heart of some enormous beasts, pulsing with a lifeblood of people and cash.” page 1

“‘Where there are villains, there will be heroes,’ my father said. ‘Just wait. They will come.'” page 3

“‘You’re one of the Faithful,’ I guessed. I’d heard of them, though I’d never met one. The Factory raised realists, not dreamers, and to be one of the Faithful, you had to be a dreamer.” page 225

 

Link to Amazon: http://amzn.to/1ikdmnV