Publishing Info: February 16, 2016 by Random House Publishing Group
Source: Audible
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Superheroes
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: February 25, 2016
Related Posts: Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn #1), The Well of Ascension (Mistborn #2), The Hero of Ages (Mistborn #3), The Alloy of Law (Mistborn #4), Legion (Legion #1) & Legion: Skin Deep (Legion #2), , The Emperor's Soul, The Eleventh Metal (Mistborn #0.5), , Firstborn, Shadows of Self (Mistborn #5), The Bands of Mourning (Mistborn #6), , Perfect State, Mistborn: Secret History (Mistborn #3.5), Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell, Elantris, The Rithmatist (Rithmatist #1), Warbreaker (Warbreaker #1), The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive #1), Snapshot, Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive #2), Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archive #2.5), Oathbringer (The Stormlight Archive #3)
When Calamity lit up the sky, the Epics were born. David’s fate has been tied to their villainy ever since that historic night. Steelheart killed his father. Firefight stole his heart. And now Regalia has turned his closest ally into a dangerous enemy.
David knew Prof’s secret, and kept it even when Prof struggled to control the effects of his Epic powers. But facing Obliteration in Babilar was too much. Once the Reckoners’ leader, Prof has now embraced his Epic destiny. He’s disappeared into those murky shadows of menace Epics are infamous for the world over, and everyone knows there’s no turning back...
But everyone is wrong. Redemption is possible for Epics—Megan proved it. They’re not lost. Not completely. And David is just about crazy enough to face down the most powerful High Epic of all to get his friend back. Or die trying.
Brandon Sanderson is one of my favorite authors and after I binge read STEELHEART, FIREFIGHT, and even the MITOSIS novella, the wait for CALAMITY was rough! I wasn’t used to waiting for a new Sanderson book (I have a tendency to binge them since I just can’t get enough!) so I was incredibly excited for the conclusion to this fun and smart YA series!
CALAMITY brought some of my favorite characters back! I adore David Charleston and he’s just so much fun. Even when things look bleak, he’s still got bad metaphors (well, actually similes) to cheer everyone up and he always seems to be quite positive about everything. I loved the tone that he brought to this series and how things always stayed humorous even in the darkest of times. The Reckoners crew is so much fun too. I still wasn’t as attached to new-comer (well, new in FIREFIGHT) Mizzy but I think that’s just because I have a hard time adjusting to new characters becoming a part of the main crew. I was really glad that more of Megan’s powers were explored and that CALAMITY really dug deeper into how they worked and why.
CALAMITY was much more action-packed and fast-paced than the first two books. I think STEELHEART and FIREFIGHT still had quite a bit of action but CALAMITY seemed to be more focused on this final show-down between the Reckoners and the Epics than the first two installments. I did miss the classic Sanderson world-building and details in this book and it was fairly noticeable for me as I was reading. I’m so used to layers upon layers of details or clues being built into the book and then it all coming together in the end. Everything did still wrap up nicely but I was hoping that there would be just a touch more explanation and detail about Calamity (the Epic) and the formation of everyone’s powers. The answers were there but I was so hungry for more world-building! Maybe previous books have spoiled me since the Mistborn books are insanely detailed worlds.
I really did feel a bit disappointed in the ending. I really liked where it was going, leading up to the answers of who/what/where Calamity is and why. I was just hoping for a bit more explanation once we got there. Sanderson is usually so good at pulling everything together and in such a stunning way and here I felt like things were not as carefully planned. The basic questions were answered but I still wanted to know so much more. We find out where Calamity is (other than burning out somewhere in the sky) but I still didn’t know where Calamity came from. We find out why the powers on Earth came to be but I still wasn’t quite sure why the motive to install them there (so to speak. Trying to word carefully to avoid spoilers!) was important. I feel like once the answers were provided, there needed to be even one MORE layer of world-building after that and I felt like the book didn’t quite go that ONE step further to really give a conclusion that closed all of the open doors.
The book was enjoyable from start to finish and it never had a lull for me. The pacing was great, always moving things forward even when I didn’t know where they were going. I do still feel that small ping of disappointment though thinking how everything wrapped up. I’ve just become accustomed to Sanderson’s writing and how he crafted the Mistborn series (I have yet to read other series) and so I think my expectations were a little high for this conclusion. It was absolutely still a fun read but I did feel like there were still a few more loose ends that could have been tied.
AUDIOBOOK IMPRESSIONS
So, I ended up with a manuscript of CALAMITY (since there were no ARCs) and I started it but I also ended up waiting for the audiobook because that is how much I love MacLeod Andrews. I’ve reviewed his narration many, many times since I end up picking audiobooks specifically because he narrates them but I will reiterate how much I do love his voices. Males voicing females is always hard but no matter if it was David, Megan, Mizzy, Cody — each voice really felt individual and realistic. It’s more about the way that he forms a voice for a character even more than just choosing how their voice might sound. He adds so much character to each person and it really makes them come alive in the books. Obliteration was more nasal, Cody had a slight Southern accent, Abraham’s French-Canadian accent was fantastic — MacLeod Andrews really puts all those details in to each character. I also love when he adds human actions instead of just saying things like sniffles or gasps or sneezes. Those elements are also performed sometimes to really bring an extra layer of acting to the audiobook. I just love his performances and I’ll be picking up many, many more books narrated by him in the future.
“The View from Goodreads” is a featured section in my reviews that I decided to incorporate! I tend to update my Goodreads status a LOT when I read — reactions, feelings, notes — so I thought it would be fun to share the sort of “reading process”! All status updates are spoiler-free (no specific plot points will be revealed) but will contain reactions to certain pages and/or characters!
Kept Me Hooked On: Superheroes. I really haven’t read many books with a superhero twist. Most “power” books I’ve read end up being fantasy so it was so much fun to see this as more of a sci-fi/superhero aspect!
Left Me Wanting More: Explanation. Sanderson is usually so incredibly amazing at typing up all loose ends and even going further with conclusions than I expect. CALAMITY disappointed me just a bit in that sense and although we did get answers, I wanted just a bit more info.
Addiction Rating
Read it!
I still love this series and think it’s definitely worth the read! If you’re a bit Sanderson fan (or not) you’ll still have a lot of fun with it. I’m curious to see how non-Sanderson fans (those who haven’t read his other series) feel about the conclusion. I’m wondering if maybe I was expecting too much or hyped it up too much for myself…?
BOOKS LIKE CALAMITY
(Click the cover to see my review!)
3 thoughts on “Calamity (The Reckoners #3) – Brandon Sanderson”
I should really pick up a Brandon Sanderson paperback already because I have heard so many epic things about his writing and this series especially. And it seems like with every book there is only more action, more character development and general wonderfulness.
I loved the finale too. Also I just found this out from a Publisher Weekley newsletter! Reckoners Spinn-off Series!!!!!!!
“The Apocalypse Guard series, a planned trilogy, is set in a world parallel to that of the Reckoners, and an organization of superpowered individuals is at its center. Their collective objective is to save doomed planets, until the day something goes horribly wrong and it is up to one young member of the guard to fix things before time runs out for her and the planet she calls home. Publication is planned for spring 2018”
Such a long wait though. I’ll be out of college before then.
Yes!! I saw it added to Goodreads last week. It’s so exciting!