Firefight

It used to be called New York City. Now they call it Babylon Restored or Babilar for short. Regalia, an Epic with powers tied to water, has flooded the city and made herself its ruler. She has been sending minor Epics to Newcago as a way to lure The Reckoners to her domain. But why? What is Regalia's goal? It's obviously a trap and what better way to find out what's going on than to deliberately spring it.

Firefight is the second book in The Reckoners trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. The story begins a few months afterSteelheart. We are dropped straight into the action as the team is in the middle of a mission to take out an Epic named Sourcefield. It turns out that Sourcefield was sent by another Epic as a sort of gauntlet thrown down in show more challenge. Naturally the Reckoners accept the challenge to find out what's going on. And, of course, to kill some Epics while they're at it.

With the change in location comes a slight change in story. With David's quest for revenge over, he has to decide what's next for him. How do you find a new purpose in life to fill in the hole that's left behind? The story becomes a lot more introspective as David ponders these questions along with what is the true nature of Epics. Where do their powers come from? How are their weaknesses determined? Maybe things are not so random after all. Through it all David remains highly likeable and he still can't get the hang of how to create a good metaphor. Here's one of my favorite examples:

I needed to say something. Something romantic! Something to sweep her off her feet.

"You're like a potato!" I shouted after her. "In a minefield."

She froze in place. Then she spun on me, her face lit by a half-grown fruit. "A potato," she said flatly. "That’s the best you can do? Seriously?"

"It makes sense," I said. "Listen. You’re strolling through a minefield, worried about getting blown up. And then you step on something, and you think, 'I'm dead.' But it’s just a potato. And you’re so relieved to find something so wonderful when you expected something so awful. That's what you are. To me."

"A potato."

"Sure. French fries? Mashed potatoes? Who doesn't like potatoes?"

"Plenty of people. Why can't I be something sweet, like a cake?"

"Because cake wouldn’t grow in a minefield. Obviously."

Yep, that is David trying to be romantic. Speaking of, yes there is a romantic plot in this one. No, it's not like your typical YA romance, see quote above, and I found it endearing.

We're also introduced to some new characters. Only 3 members of the original team travel to the next city and we're introduced to a second Reckoners cell. It's interesting at just how small and specialized these teams are. The team in Babilar seemed to be primarily about recon before David and crew show up for the action.

The story is fast paced and action packed. In true Sanderson style there are a couple more plot twists, a great reveal or two and an even deeper mystery to solve. I can't wait to see how it all wraps up in the final book. show less

“This time, when she’d pointed it at me, she’d flicked the safety on. If that wasn’t true love, I don’t know what was.”

This is one of those series where I read it too slowly - I feel like I'm behind the mark half the time in starting the original, now the second book, and I'm dragging my feet on the third. Why, I have no idea, it's just one of those weird procrastinating things that doesn't do me any good because these well-written books bring fun times to my reading life.

Plus, with all of it's strengths, it's fun because it's so funny. There's a rabid battle going on and life-and-death struggles, but David continues to tickle my reading bone every chapter. It's humor that works easily and made me actually laugh aloud and show more few times.

David is still determined to make his mark known in the war that Reckoners wage against the Epics. They've made such well-marked progress since the fight against Steelheart that they are now moving ranks for another purpose - trying to take a bigger bite out of the battle by tracking down answers in 'Babylon Restored.' There David meets some new allies, but his ties with existing ones are shaken.

The author concentrates heavily on the romantic element that bled through the first book, focusing on Firefight and whether she can or cannot be trusted. Clearly David thinks taking a gamble is worth a risk, but convincing other characters about this monopolizes a lot of the book. Sometimes it almost grew aggravating, but it also made interesting tension amongst the team.

It's easy to picture this Dystopian world clearly - I can see the battled cities that have been worn down and decayed, evolving based on the powers in control. The new Epic introduced is creative and frightening - it wasn't possible for me to guess her angle and I was surprised at the ending twist. There was a big game changer in the end that was tragic-sad - it leads to an exciting opening for the next book, but it's still bittersweet.

Since we know what's happening now, we don't get the thrill of seeing David experience an epic's betrayal for the first time and struggle to make the team accept him, but we do get to see dissension in the ranks and how the team keeps evolving - good and bad. Coming to a new city and facing a new foe keeps things fresh and intense.

It seems there's a little bit more downtime since so much focuses on David's inner thoughts and struggles concerning team balance or his interesting in Firefight, but when action is there, it's well-paced and written in a captivating way.

In some ways I preferred the first book because of the exciting battle and the unknown element, but in other ways I like the second better because it seems to have a smoother flow and less frustration since the characters are already in an established team. show less

Summary: After killing Steelheart, David and the Reckoners try to rebuild the city of Newcago, but David's whole life has been fueled by a quest for vengeance… and now that he's achieved it, he's not sure what to do with himself. Soon Prof decides it's time to leave, and they head off to Babylon Restored - a flooded city formerly known as the island of Manhattan - to help the Reckoner cell there. Babilar is controlled by Regalia, a High Epic that can control water. The Reckoners don't know her weakness, however, so they're not sure how to kill her… and to make matters worse, she has other Epics running around in the city - Obliteration, who can absorb and then release stored energy, repeatedly turning himself into a human bomb, and show more Firefight - or Megan, as David still thinks of her, when he's planning how to save her from her powers and from the other Reckoners. They're going to need all their skills to bring down Regalia, but every time they draw on Prof's powers, he edges closer and closer to the dark side.

Review: I really enjoyed this one (which is as I expected, but always nice to be right). It's got all of the things that Sanderson does well: a quick-moving plot, awesome fight scenes, and creative worldbuilding where everything works together seamlessly. I found it maybe a little slow to start with - part of that was getting my head back into the world of the Epics, for sure - but then I got caught in the Sanderson avalanche and could barely put it down. The fight scenes were great, easy to visualize and exciting, particularly those in which David's using the spyril water-jetpack. I thought the setting was very cool - I'm a Chicago girl at heart, so of course I loved the first one, but I could picture Babilar much better than I could Newcago, but Sanderson paints the scene so well that I could absolutely see the flooded city with the phosphorescent glowing graffiti. And as good as the worldbuilding was, the magic system was even better (or the superhero powers system, whatever.) I don't want to give too much away, but in this book, David starts to understand more about how the powers and weaknesses fit together, and starts to piece together some of the explanations - although there's certainly a lot of explanations left for the third book… I can't wait! 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: This will make basically no sense if you haven't read the first book, but if you like superhero stories or Sanderson's other books, the series is pretty great. show less

Firefight is the second book in the Reckoners series and the sequel to Steelheart. David has acquired the nickname "Steelslayer" after the death of Steelheart. David and the Reckoners continue to hunt down and kill Epics in Newcago until Prof tells him that they are off to the city that had once been New York now called Babilar in order to kill the Epic controlling the city named Regalia who is able to control water. While in Babilar, David again makes contact with Megan and struggles to defend her to the other Reckoners, but David is convinced that she is not the evil Epic that they think she is. Also, Tia and David continue to look for weaknesses of the Epics and what connection they may have.

This second book in the series is as good show more as the first. Not only is it well written, but it asks very good thematic questions about bravery vs. fear and what really makes a hero. A very good story that concludes in Calamity. show less

This is a shining example of why you shouldn't judge a Sanderson book until you hit the final pages. While I did like this book from the get-go, I had one huge quibble. I didn't like how far Sanderson leaned into the disappointing idea that an Epic's powers themselves drive them to cruelty. That they were simply under the power of a corrupting influence, unable to control themselves or to really be held accountable for their actions. It was something that was hinted at at the end of Steelheart, and I hated it then, although I'd hoped it would be swept aside as a red herring. I saw it as a cop-out. A way for Sanderson, optimist and Mormon, to avoid tackling the darker nature of humanity. A way to put the blame on something other than our show more inherent evils.

This quibble lasted through most of the book, as David struggled with his new, complicated, view of Epics and their behavior. He felt guilt for killing them, knowing how the powers corrupt their thoughts. He struggled to decide which Epics to trust (Megan, Prof, etc.). I won't go into details, but by the end you will know how an Epic's weakness is derived, and you will get an updated theory as to why they become corrupt. It's far more nuanced than I believed it would be, and it does place the blame squarely on the individual, if in a more roundabout way than I initially wanted. In many ways it is a more intelligent approach than saying all people are evil, because who really believes that? There is good, and evil, in everyone. It's a matter of circumstance, base personality, upbringing, insecurity, need, and greed that determine the rest. I thought I had outsmarted Sanderson. That my imaginary version of this series, where Epics are really just people acting evil like people do, would be a better story. I was so wrong that I just want to slap myself. Touche, Sanderson. Touche.

In addition to that, you will get a huge revelation about what Calamity, the celestial event that created the Epics, actually is. It makes the title of the next book seem so appropriate, and gives me chills. The end of this series is going to be a wild ride. show less

Firefight is a an excellent followup to Steelheart, taking everything I liked about the first book--the variety of the Epics' powers and the ruined world they've left behind--and making it better while at the same point smoothing out my one real complaint--the 'bad analogies'. They're still there, but he doesn't mention them every page or two, so they actually feel funny this time around, rather than so forced.

On the upside, the new setting is just as crazy and cool this time around. Last time--Chicago turned to steel. This time, New York City flooded to the point only the tops of skyscrapers stick out of the water, where fruit trees grow freely in buildings and spray paint glows in the night. It's a beautiful image and an interesting show more contrast to the relentlessly gritty steel of Newcago.

Finally, plotwise, I'm really starting to feel like there are some interesting parallels to the web serial [b:Worm|18713259|Worm|Wildbow|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388586402s/18713259.jpg|26574170]. Superheroes driven evil by their powers? Powers potentially granted from... elsewhere? Parallel realities? We'll have to see where Sanderson goes with Calimity. I'd be interested to know if either author has ever read the other's work (Steelheart was released after Worm, but I'm not sure when Sanderson started writing it).

Overall, a very strong sequel. I look forward to the conclusion. show less

Another thrilling, breakneck entry into the series. Another city another Epic! I wasn't as excited about the new Epic, Regalia, and her water abilities, but he story was thrilling as usual and a very excellent and worthy entry into the series. I really like the main character of David. His geeky awkwardness and fumbling with females feels genuine and sympathetic.

Overall, the last entry in the series, Steelheart, was more exciting to me as the whole story and world was fresh and new, but his one does not disappoint. As usual there is a great twist ending - an awesome cliffhanger that has you thirsting for the next volume! (See what I did there? Thirsting? You see, Regalia has water powers and you drink water when you are thirsty? Get show more it? See? Hello....? Never mind.......) show less