Epics, these super-powered individuals, can do anything to any person without recrimination the government of the US limps along in some areas of the Fractured States, but the Epics truly have free reign. Steelheart and his cronies, including Nightwielder who blocks the sun from the city, keep systems going and food available to the people, in exchange for utter domination. Steelheart, the titular villain, rules over a Newcago, a Chicago made of steel where the sun literally doesn’t shine. He’s a fairly average teen, except for that whole thing where he’s dedicated his life to avenging his father, with the single-minded devotion of Inigo Montoya. Take, for example, the main character, David. Even the good guys have dark secrets and motivations. This is not a world of brave, unparalleled heroism, of good triumphing over evil. That premise may suggest to you, and rightly so, that Steelheart gets rather dark. The Epics are villains, every last one of them, proving the old adage that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Superhero stories have always held a fascination for me, and, with the Epics, Sanderson has done something wholly new, to my experience anyway, with that concept. This world, while not as disparate as his epic fantasies, compels the imagination. Sanderson has a real knack for creating unique worlds that run on different principles, following that logic through.

As ever, where Brandon Sanderson shines is in the world building.

Sanderson reckoners