I aimed for a relaxing week this early September but with tons of work stuff and college events to complete it seems like an impossible thing to achieve. Thankfully, my attempt to squeeze in some reading times defeats the improbable: I surprisingly managed to finish Calamity by Brandon Sanderson yesterday morning and it was a blast. Contrary to my initial presumption, this trilogy didn't plunge me into a major book hangover though it's likely due to the fact that I had less time to think and therefore less emotion to absorb.
Disclaimer: The passages below will contain both minor and major spoilers of Steelheart and Firefight. Please turn around if you haven't read those books yet or you can read my review of the first book and the second one first.
After being corrupted by his own power, Prof turns into an unbeatable High Epic with Regalia's draft plan to implement. Still clueless about his weakness, David and The Reckoners are quick to follow him to Ildithia though they have to be extra careful or else they will be discovered. No matter how impossible the condition might seem, as the leader of the group, David has to at least have a plan.
Honestly it's still a little hard for me to grasp the idea of the word 'fantasy' and 'realistic' in the same sentence though it never ceases to fascinate me every time the two are juxtaposed. Calamity held no different effect. Everything in this book seemed to be unbelievably logical that I even considered the explanations about the high-techs and superpower somehow mundane. Don't even get me started with the logic behind Ildithia—it might come out wrong if I was requested to spell out the details as I was still a little confused myself but the world-building was all in all amazing.
Unlike Firefight, Calamity started out even more eventful and gripping though despite that, I still liked the second book a little more than I did Calamity. My rating was somewhat influenced by my feeling about the ending—it's an internal battle between feeling satisfied with it and wanting more. I mean, the twist itself was great, but my hope for a more massive contribution from The Reckoners team wasn't exactly fulfilled. After being led to believe that there's something worth-mentioning in Abraham's past, I was honestly hoping to uncover more of him also.
However, there's nothing uncanny about the plot. It was as cool as the first two books and I liked how it maintained its quality consistently. The character development was also notable and while the romance wasn't explored greatly it was more than enough. Just like how it was in Firefight, the twists in this book were revealed little by little throughout the story while all along we were given clues bit by bit.
My experience with this book may have come to an end but how this trilogy highlighted my weeks won't ever be forgotten—I fell for Sanderon's works through these books and I will pick up another by him in the future. In other words, The Reckoners trilogy was certainly worth the hype. If you have a thing for a fast-paced superhero story, this trilogy would be something you'd like to try.
P.S.: My mom reads only when she feels like it hence her reading progress is slow. For your information, she's also such a big fan of the game Smurf that she chooses it over her current read most of the time. The same situation doesn't apply to Steelheart though. My mom told me the other day that "the book's good" and I saw her putting aside her tablet to pick up her current read instead. If this proof isn't good enough to convince you, I frankly don't know what will.
Actual rating: 4.7★
