Calamity
Ratings289
Average rating3.9
TA-DA! With this book, I met my book reading goal for 2024! I have said before and I'll say again, the one thing the pandemic was good for was getting me back into the habit of reading.
Anyway! The book that tipped me over the edge was Calamity, which is the final book in the Reckoners trilogy. We listened to the first book as a family on vacation at some point, and over the last year E and I have been listening to the rest while getting in his driving hours. He got his liscense with an hour left to go in the last audio book, and we finally finished it up driving out and back for his senior pictures.
The series follows the Reckoners, a group of humans who are trying to fight entities known as Epics. Epics used to be normal humans until a mysterious event called the Calamity gave them powers and also inevitably turned them evil. In this third book we learn the truth about Calamity as the Reckoners try to find a solution to undo what has been done.
I found this whole series to be fun and enjoyable. It is pitched for a YA audience but I still found it fun and engaging, and there were a few twists at the end of this that I did not see coming. E and I both agreed that the ending was pretty satisfying. Good book, good series, would be a great read for younger readers who are into Marvel/comics/superhero type stuff.
Not at the same level as the previous books in this series. The finale leaves many questions unanswered and felt... rushed, to say the least.
The Reckoners series is by far my least favourite of Brandon's writing. Don't get me wrong, it's a very solid book but I feel, in part, that it didn't progress much. I did enjoy parts of it though.
4* Average throughout.
Somehow, this book was a bit disappointing. I was expecting MUCH more, so much, that even the other world surprise plot twist or whatever wasn't big enough, or shocking nor heartwarming enough to fulfill the flat ending after almost 300 pages of plotting, scheming, and all shit developed in this book.
I will elaborate on it better in the near future (I guess).
Fun series and I enjoyed them all. I thought this was yet another great book, though I think the final “battle” was a little to quick and “easy”. In true Sanderson fashion there are a few twists at the end, easier then his other books as this is YA but fun! Fun world and a fun series. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a lighter easy read, or YA!
A disappointing end to an otherwise fantastic story.
I never get the sense that David is in danger, and the way he deals with Calamity feels contrived. I feel almost cheated because Sanderson spent a large portion of the last book and the entirety of this one building up Calamity to be a huge enemy and the biggest battle the Reckoners will ever fight, and then David is able to send him off in a matter of minutes without a fight.
The most frustrating part of Calamity, however, is the epilogue. Somehow, after all of the events we've witnessed, everything turns out okay in a “happily ever after” sort of way.
I was very excited for this book, and the first 80% was fantastic. Unfortunately, Sanderson ended the series leaving a bad taste in my mouth.
3 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews
Summary:
David's got a problem. His self-chosen mission is to kill Epics (people with superpowers). But his own friend and mentor turns out to be an Epic himself, and now a tyrant, his mind twisted by the effects of his powers. David sets out to win his friend back, by going straight to the mysterious source of the powers.
Review:
The Reckoners series has been a mixed bag for me. Good characters and interesting ideas, but a tired genre (superheroes), and some muddle plotting. Sadly, this last book didn't redeem the trilogy.
I read the previous book, Firefight, not that far back, yet I had a little trouble finding my footing at the start of this book. Perhaps that's in part because I found Firefight itself muddled, but Sanderson could have done a much better job of providing a smooth transition. Once the book gets going, it levels out into Sanderson's usual skill in offering credible, engaging characters exploring an intriguing magic system. It's fun going along with the narrator, David, just because he's so likeable and earnest.
In fact, the characters are so likeable that it feels like a series that could go on for quite a long time before running out of steam. While I was reading, in fact, I was thinking, ‘The next book should be
called Calamity, where we finally learn who Calamity is, and David faces them.' – completely forgetting, of course, that this book is called Calamity. That made the ending all the more of a letdown. Because we do meet Calamity, David does face them, and ... Sanderson decides to drop his pen and go home.
I can't overstate how much of a muddle this ending is. First, [spoiler] David finally develops powers that make absolutely no sense within the Reckoners scheme. Second, the ending itself makes little sense. The nature of Calamity is only vaguely explained, and then pretty much dropped. And then everything is happy ever after, which was the only part that fit the series. The whole nature of the superpowers aspect – the technical core of the series – is pretty much tossed aside.
To me, it feels very much like a longer series was planned, but then, for reasons of time or focus, Sanderson decided to end the series early, and just tacked on an ending in the last fifty pages of a
mid-series book. It's so disappointing that I can't recommend anyone start the series at all.
4,5 actually. Kenapa berkurang 1/2?
Untuk sebuah penutup seri menurutku buku ini okey, kecuali 1 saja yg mengganjal, eh kenapa ada 1 hal yg menggantung ya, di epilog?
Final battle yg sdh diduga antara tim reckoners & pendirinya (mantan), Jonathan Phaedrus yg terkonsumsi oleh kegelapan setelah menggunakan kekuatannya jauh melebihi batas. Cukup mengejutkan sbnrnya apa yg menjadi kelemahan Jon. Lagi2 Mr Sanderson menyelipkan 2 plot twist, 1 lagi siapa sbnrnya si Calamity.
Overall ak sangat suka seri ini, walau ada 1 komplainku diatas hehehe.
4.5 stars
A really great ending to the series. There was a whole lot going on, and some really interesting twists, turns and events! Lost half a star for me because of the Megan/David romance, was just a bit too cringe for me.
“Men are a race of monsters, inefficiently chained.”
Actual Rating: 4.25
If I'm being fairly honest, which I am, this was my least favorite of the three. It was a little disappointing, to be frank, but still very, very good. It just wasn't up to par with Steelheart and Firefight in my opinion.
Honestly, the ending was fairly anticlimactic. I'm kind of laying in bed right now in confusion, because there is just so much that isn't explained.
It's such an action-packed series with the right amount of humor and romance to make it entertaining. I've loved Sanderson's writing style in all three and look forward to reading more books by him in the future.
“That's what's inside of you. Deny it, I dare you.”
And another fine ending to a nice little YA series. Brandon delivers yet again. Still some gaps in the magic system and the introduction of parallel dimensions ruins it a bit.
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
—
There was more connectivity between city-states in the Fractured States than I'd once assumed. Perhaps the Epics could have survived without any kind of infrastructure, but they tended to want subjects to rule. What good was it to be an all-powerful force of destruction and fury if you didn't have peasants to murder now and then? Unfortunately peasants had to eat, or they'd go and die before you got a chance to murder them.
That meant building up some kind of structure in your city, finding some kind of product you could trade. Cities that could produce a surplus of food could trade for power cells, weapons or luxuries. I found that satisfying. When they'd first appeared, the Epics had wantonly destroyed anything and everything, ruining the national infrastructure. Now they were forced to bring it all back, becoming administrators.
Life was so unfair. You couldn't bothdestroy everything around you and live like a king.
Steelheart
Firefight
I wanted answers. They were probably here somewhere. Maybe I'd find them behind that group of robotic war drones that were extending their gun arms from behind the freezers in front of me.
Oh.
Executive Summary: This book, much like the series as a whole had an interesting premise, but an execution that didn't work for me. Full ReviewFor the last few years, I've considered Mr. Sanderson one of my favorite authors. 2015 was a rough test of that for me. I was disappointed by both [b:Firefight 15704459 Firefight (Reckoners, #2) Brandon Sanderson https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413220816s/15704459.jpg 21979689] and [b:Shadows of Self 16065004 Shadows of Self (Mistborn, #5) Brandon Sanderson https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1435053013s/16065004.jpg 21855448], but especially Firefight.I'm certainly not the target demographic for this series, but prior to that book, Mr. Sanderson could do no wrong for me. I largely picked this book up because I wanted to see how it ended. [b:The Hero of Ages 2767793 The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3) Brandon Sanderson https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415427803s/2767793.jpg 2793516] still ranks as one of my top (if not the top) final book of a series I've read. Could Mr. Sanderson save this series from the disappointing place he left me with the last book?The answer is a bit mixed. I think overall I liked this book a little more than the last one, but not nearly as much as [b:Steelheart 17182126 Steelheart (Reckoners, #1) Brandon Sanderson https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1357576738s/17182126.jpg 21366540]. The ending was partially satisfying, but felt very rushed. Too much time was spent moving characters around and on a new subplot introduced in the last book. The big/final villain was nowhere to be seen for far too long. Some new ideas were introduced right at the end with little to no explanation. Plus one of the interesting new characters was introduced and then gone without ever coming back to them.And that doesn't even get to the protagonist. David went from relatable/likable in the first book, to annoying in second, and downright obnoxious in this one. I never liked the bad metaphor gag. I've long felt Mr. Sanderson doesn't do humor well. He's apparently worse at intentionally bad jokes. I took to skipping every metaphor I could as the book went on.Overall, while I liked the idea of super powers turning people into super villains and the “magic” of their powers, the execution fell short for me. It's far from his best world building. I don't read much Young Adult. It's demographic that seems to be largely all over the place and hard to truly define. I think from now on I may avoid it entirely. I'll certainly be avoiding any of Mr. Sanderson's non-Cosmere books for the foreseeable future. He's either finally starting to show some cracks from his incredible output, or my tastes are staring to move beyond him. I certainly hope not though. I'm really excited for both the next Stormlight Archive and Mistborn books.
I was looking forward to this one for a long time. From the end of Firefight when more background on Calamity was revealed, I was aching to know more backstory. The evolution of the world, and the new salt city stood out. Even the new epics had time to shine in this relatively short book. To say much more is a spoiler, but if you've already read the first two, you'll probably enjoy the finale. Maybe not love and rave about it, but it's a worthy ending to a fun series.
I was looking forward to this one for a long time. From the end of Firefight when more background on Calamity was revealed, I was aching to know more backstory. The evolution of the world, and the new salt city stood out. Even the new epics had time to shine in this relatively short book. To say much more is a spoiler, but if you've already read the first two, you'll probably enjoy the finale. Maybe not love and rave about it, but it's a worthy ending to a fun series.
Mildly disappointing, but that said - a disappointing Sanderson novel is akin to a bad Pixar movie. Still a solid 4 stars :)
It wasn't AMAZING. It was barely good.
gasp (its Brandon Sanderson, what is this????)
It had problems. We were at 95% and were still trying to defeat the minor bad guy, which we had been fighting for the whole book up until now. Sanderson was probably wondering how he could possibly tie everything up in three books. And the ending wasn't so bad considering how unlikely it looked to me that all the plot points from book 2 could be dealt with in one 400 page book. But it was done. The ending still wasn't good (and wasn't fully explained), despite the attempts to hide it behind some philosophy, but it was passable given the situation.
It was boring at times, too fast at times and fell apart in the last 15%. It was despite that all, a good book. I've never liked Reckoners much. I'm less excited for a Reckoner's release then any other Sanderson release. I was more excited for Secret History (yummy Cosmere goodies yay!) tbh. I didn't like Steelheart much, I though Firefight was pretty good, but hey, I still read this book within a couples of weeks of release. Reckoners is still good and I'd still recommend it.
The characters were at their best in the series in this book. David felt less flat- I though he didn't have much of a personality in book 1 besides what he wanted. There was much great banter to be had, Megan and David were cute, Knighthawk was cool.