Craig, Nic, and Geoff discuss the second book in the Reckoners series in this Firefight podcast. Everyone loved the book and thought it had a much stronger antagonist than Steelheart. Nic tries to spoil Mistborn (Craig won’t let him), and Geoff teases just a bit of Calamity, making us all pretty excited to get to it.

Note: Geoff mentioned Brandon’s use of the singular “y’all” with Cody in Steelheart. Here’s a link to an article on the subject.

Craig’s Quick Review

Craig’s notes from the top of the Firefight podcast.

Brandon Sanderson has Three Laws of Magic for anyone who wants to write fantasy fiction. I think I’ll develop my own laws for people who want to read Sanderson. And the first one will be: “Things are not as they seem.” It doesn’t matter where you are in the story; it doesn’t matter what’s hidden and what’s been revealed; whatever you think you know of the story…you’re almost certainly wrong.

Firefight has several such moments. At the end of Steelheart, it was easy to think we knew what was going on with this world and with the people around our protagonist. (David is actually something of an exception to this rule, largely because of his place as the first-person narrator.) Various reveals as we move through Firefight make us feel like we have a better understanding of what’s going on, but at the end of the book Brandon pulls out from under us the new rug he’s woven. Yes, Prof and Megan are epics; yes, they can resist the negative effects of their powers; but no, they can’t resist indefinitely. Prof succumbs with the culmination of a truly diabolical plot by our main antagonist. Megan seems susceptible, too, until she and David crack the code. Or did they? The secret to resistance, which looks like it may be the power of love, then turns out to be facing your fears, but even that’s probably not quite right.

All this would be frustrating, if each eventual reveal weren’t so damn satisfying. The Reckoners series is proving to be an immensely satisfying ride, and I think a large part of that comes from unpredictable reveals that don’t seem overly contrived because we’re following along with a hero who is just as clueless and enthusiastic as we are.