Calamity

by Brandon Sanderson
417 pgs  (The Reckoners series #4)

Twelve years ago, Calamity, a High Epic, suddenly appeared as a red light in the atmosphere high above the earth. His arrival ushered in the age of the Epics. Hundreds of humans suddenly gained superhuman powers, and within a short time, those powers corrupted their possessors. They became known as Epics, and they used their new powers to kill, enslave, and destroy anything, or anyone that stood in their way.

The story began in Steelheart, with young David Charleston witnessing the death of his father at the hands of Steelheart, a particularly ruthless epic that ruled the city once known as Chicago. David saw something else that day that shaped the course of the rest of his life--he saw Steelheart bleed. The Epics had weaknesses. If he could discover what each of them was, maybe he could destroy them and return things to the way they once were.

The rest of Steelheart, and the next book, Firefight, tells how David joins a small group known as the Reckoners, whose purpose is to destroy the Epics, one by one.

In this final installment, the stakes are as high as they can get. Prof, the former leader of the Reckoners has become corrupted by his powers and if David can't find a way to bring him back, everything he's worked for his entire life will be for nothing.

Sanderson wrote The Reckoners series primarily for younger readers, but that shouldn't discourage adult fans from reading it. The series is smart, funny, and is packed with high-speed action sequences that are becoming a trademark of Sanderson's writing, regardless of which of his various series he's writing. Calamity gives the series the ending it deserves. It's very enjoyable and further justification for why he's steadily becoming a standout among writers of the genre.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆