“Mitosis” by Brandon Sanderson

A good short story stop-gap between Steelheart and Firefight

Sanderson self-published this short story, set in the same world as his first super-hero novel, Steelheart. I rather enjoyed the novel (which was the first of the author’s that I’ve read), and when I stumbled across this I was very happy to be able to dive back into the world he’s created. I’m not going to include an official synopsis, as that will give away the ending of Steelheart.

Nevertheless, what you need to know (for both the novel and Mitosis) is that in this reality, super-heroes exist – something happened that bestowed upon a small percentage of the global population special powers. Unlike in the super-hero comic books of Marvel, DC, et al, the power has very much gone to most of these powered individuals’ heads, and they started using them for their own ends. In Chicago, Steelheart reigned supreme with a coterie of other powereds. Steelheart the novel was the story of a fight against this tyranny, spear-headed by an insurgent group known as the Reckoners and their new ‘recruit’, who is a bit of a geek, and has been cataloguing the powered dictators and criminals as a means to learn of their weaknesses.

Mitosis deals with a single powered individual: Mitosis. The story moves quickly, and there is a rather nifty homage (perhaps) to Agent Smith from second and third The Matrix movies. That is all I shall say on the specific plot of this story.

If you are familiar with Sanderson’s writing – be it The Way of Kings or his Mistborn series – then you are sure to know what to expect: brisk, engaging and professional storytelling. The man can certainly write, and I intend to get more of his novels read by the end of this year. [Famous last words, perhaps, but I managed to read three of the four authors I promised to last year…]

Short, but well-worth reading to hold you over until the release of Firefight.

“Steelheart” by Brandon Sanderson (Gollancz/Delacorte)

When Superheroes Go Bad…

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.

I’m going to keep this review pretty short. As a big fan of comic books and super-heroes, I was very intrigued to see what Brandon Sanderson – best known for his magic-heavy, epic high fantasy tomes – would come up with. As it turns out, Steelheart is a fun, quick-paced super-hero novel. It’s a good novel, with an interesting hook, but it is by no means perfect. While I had a couple of niggles, they were easily overlooked based on the strength of the pacing and streamlined prose.

Upcoming: “Steelheart” by Brandon Sanderson (Gollancz)

Spotted this on Amazon UK, while looking up info for any new Brandon Sanderson releases, and thought I’d share it on here:

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.

Disclaimer: I work for Brandon’s UK Agent

Steelheart will be published in the UK by Gollancz in September 2013. I was lucky to get my mitts on a copy, though, and I blitzed through the first quarter of the novel last night – it’s a lot of fun. I’ll do a quick sort-of-review on here when I’ve finished it. If you’re a fan of super-heroes, but always wondered what humans would do if the super-powered persons all used their abilities for evil… Well, this could be the novel for you.

I also hope it’ll open up the sub-genre of super-hero fiction, as I’d like to read more of it. (And I’m writing one myself, actually…)