Calamity – Sanderson finishes trilogy in style

Live in or near Bellingham, WA? #Calamity signed copies and Epic swag are available at #EpicBookstore @auntiesbooks pic.twitter.com/wrJSGPC1fn

— Brandon Sanderson (@BrandSanderson) February 17, 2016

Brandon Sanderson’s Calamity offers a thrilling conclusion to the Reckoners trilogy, as protagonist David Charleston searches for answers around the origin of Epics – the corrupted superheroes that have created the dystopian world in which the series takes place.

Following on from the events of the previous novel, Firefight, David has assumed leadership of the Reckoners, a group dedicated to fighting Epics after his former leader, mentor and father-figure John “Prof” Phaedrus succumbed to his powers and turned evil. The Reckoners follow Prof to Ildithia, a moving city of salt formerly known as Atlanta, in the hope of helping him control his powers and throw aside the darkness that consumes most Epics.

David’s search for information about the powers of Epics leads him to further questions about the being known as Calamity, who resides above the Earth and triggered the arrival of Epics on the planet. As the threads of the story come together, David comes closer to the answers he has been searching for since the death of his father.

The growing maturity of David’s character is welcomed from his sometimes frustrating personality in the earlier novels. His relationship with Megan, an Epic who has learned to control her powers, seems occasionally forced beyond necessity but his friendships with the other Reckoners provide added depth to the team and the context surrounding the emergence of Epics and their impact upon society.

The novel follows typical Sanderson fashion, with a thoroughly detailed universe and a complex but well-explained suite of superpowers. Megan entices your intellect with the ability to access parallel universes to mask reality, and the role of Epics using their powers to sustain an economy in the dystopian United States provides an added level to the world Sanderson has created.

Calamity and the Reckoners trilogy provide readers with the perfect sample of what Sanderson has to offer as a writer, combining complex fantasy elements with compelling characters and a plot that has you guessing until the final pages. Calamity leaves readers wanting another Sanderson fix and fortunately, that is not hard to come by – the 40-year-old has already released three novels this year, with more on the way. If you are a fan of sci-fi and fantasy, Brandon Sanderson is a name you’ll be hearing for decades to come.