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Reactions to Firefight


Fifth of Daybreak

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The wait drags on but the reading goes by so fast. Though I'll have the rest of the WoT to read after I finish Knife of Dreams (I put it aside to read Firefight.)

So honestly, I loved this even more than I did Steelheart. There were some large surprises in Steelheart, but I felt like it was pretty straightforward as far as narratives go. The story line for the entire book can extrapolated from the first sentence in the prologue. It was really discovering the world that was more interesting. Super hero as a genre has become one of the norms, and this nuance on it had not been overdone yet. It was a fun story with action driving it. But much like revenge itself, it felt hollow with only bloodthirst being the driving force behind moving the plot forward. I feel like Firefight has more soul where Steelheart was lacking. 

Don't get me wrong. I cared about the characters in Steelheart (I missed Cody and Abraham, but that's about as close to a criticism as I'll give to Firefight,) but I didn't really feel like I knew David until Firefight. Besides his pluck attitude and gift with colorful comparisons, he was a very vanilla character to me. He really grew into his own during Firefight, and I think that's partially because he didn't know himself. His journey of self-discovery seemed very genuine to me, reminiscent of some of the feelings I had myself at that age, especially when discovering my own shortcomings. This kind of beliveability to the character allowed me to better immerse myself into his perspective, and experience the story through his eyes. 

 

Last summer, I took my very first paid vacation ever, and went to New York City. I live pretty near Chicago, and have been there many times in my life. I think what really stood out to me in this book was how the culture and ambiance Brandon depicted in Babilar, and its stark difference between Newcago very much mirrored my own feelings for both places. Chicago is a great place to visit, and I don't mean to bad mouth it in any way, but it doesn't have that same feeling of life that's in NYC.  The unique culture and vibrant lifestyle in Babilar just felt right to me, comparing my own experiences to what David feels in the book. 

 

While much of Steelheart was action driven, I feel as though most of the more important pieces of Firefight are completely driven by emotion, and by character development. I felt the same confusion and despair as David did interacting with Megan. I've been playing a board game called The Resistance lately, which is a little like Mafia. I have a large amount of empirical proof that those you love can lie to you easily and believably. I got the same sinking feeling I got when losing one of those games several times throughout the book. Betrayal, grief, and just a smattering of guilt for trusting them. 

 

I was stuck most of the book trusting in Megan, while getting ready for the rug to be pulled out from underneath me. I had guessed Regalia's overarching plan somewhere around page 200, but that was also when I was speculating over whether or not Val was Megan in disguise. (She seemed to get really grouchy every time Megan had been around.) The scenes between her and David always seemed real to me. When David mentioned the safety being on as proof of true love, I was in tears from laughter. Megan pointing a gun at David is the closest thing they'll ever have to "their song." 

 

When Megan showed up in the base, and Val was there, I knew everything was just about to explode. If Megan wasn't Val, then Megan was being stupid, and David being stupid is pretty much the driving force behind every plot point since he first decided that interfering with an assassination attempt was a good idea. I assumed that Prof was keeping an eye on David, and the "come to Jesus" talk Prof had with him just sent red flags parading around inside my head. I was still hoping for a resolution to the Megan plotline that wouldn't give me anxiety, but that wouldn't have been any fun would it have?

 

The subtle theological discussions thrown in are fascinating, and I'm looking forward to going back and giving them a closer look. One such moment was when Megan was talking with David about Steelheart and used the phrase: "you don't get a pass for murder just because you're not as bad as you could be." The hypocrisy of that statement had to slap Megan across the face, and the fact that David still hasn't recognized that in regards to Megan just shows his own character flaws. I'm hoping that the next book will see him addressing his hypocrisies, as he already has started to. 

 

For instance, I only felt wretched when the showdown with Knoxx ended. It felt too much like David was on a slippery slope headed for torture, which would push his character past redemption in my eyes. Val already seemed to be to me. I don't know much about the Knoxx guy, but that sort of street justice just makes me ill, especially in light of recent events in the United States (not to open up any cans of worms here on the forums, I'm not trying to make any sort of statement other than my own personal discomfort.) David's ambush also was too far for me. I just feel like David just decided that since he was an Epic it was ok, but I wish he knew more about Knoxx's personal crimes before acting like that. The Reckoner's had always hit Epics before based on how bad they were. 
 

For many of these reasons, I feel like Firefight was a battle for the Reckoner's soul, and I'm still not sure if it was won or not. I don't accept that Prof was the entire soul of the operation, though it was mostly his corruption that caused it. What's left of the Reckoner's can still act with soul. Cody and Abraham both seemed to have personalities that would balance Prof, while everyone in the Babilar sect were freshly wounded with the loss of Sam. While one sect may be lost, there still an entire network out there not emotionally unbalanced and working without oversight. Unless his first act as High Epic is to completely destroy the Reckoner but that's talk for later. 

 

Again, Brandon wrote a very well constructed book in my opinion. He had sufficient foreshadowing for Megan's reappearance, as well as her increased control of reality for it to not feel like a forced ending. Her wish to be free of the powers seems like a legitimate piece of character development after going through her "rehab" stint in Steelheart. She acts very much in conflict with herself through most of the book. 

 

The Calamity reveal was very shocking to me. Seems like something that would be common knowledge if all you needed was a telescope to find that out. (I do recall maybe a rumor or something from Steelheart? Not sure, might look into it later.) But the interaction between Calamity and David left me with huge expectations about the next scene, which were immediately flattened. There was a small period where I felt as though the book would end in a disappointment, but when conflict began again immediately, I was willing to look past it. Conquering a fear really is a huge turning point for you. I won't tell a long story, but I remember the day I was the most scared when I tried to start a strike in sixth grade. After that, I never had any problems performing or public speaking, and it became one of my biggest strengths. Now it's just spiders I need to watch out for!  :ph34r:

 

I'm not sure what else to say about the book. I don't want to focus on the action scenes, much as I loved them, because I really feel like the merit here was in the emotionally provocative scenes. Steelheart was fun, and it was quirky, and I loved it for that. It had some emotional ups and downs, but really it was just an action story. Firefight seemed like a war of emotions and philosophies. But in the end, every book just leaves one unquenchable emotion: the thirst for more. 

 

 

IMPORTANT EDIT: The best part of the book was when Megan corrected David on using similes. I literally said "thank you" out loud at least five times to no one in particular. I lost count. At least five. 

Edited by Fifth of Daybreak
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Sounds like foreign Investiture...

I was literally navigating away from this page as I started reading this post, them came back to give it the upvote it so richly deserves.

Edited by Kurkistan
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That's the first thought I had too, but he really doesn't fit the physical description.

 

He doesn't fit physically, but all of the talk of 'winter is coming' (and by winter, I mean 'the end times') - I think it fits. Could well be wrong.

 

Now all we need is for Oblit to kill a couple of major characters unceremoniously in the first three chapters of the next book.

 

 

On another note though - other than the hair, Oblit reminds me of China Mieville lookswise. Maybe the looks of Mieville and the personality of GRRM?

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In his blog,Brandon said that Obliteration was "modeled" after an famous fantasy novelist.Anyone knows who?

 

I'm pretty sure it's Jim Butcher of the DresdenFiles/Codex Alera. I can't remember if I read that somewhere or because the epic files picture just looks like him.

Edited by ChocolateRob
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Well, it's not like he's an Epic. Of course he's vanilla!

Well, characters as two dimensional as David was in Steelheart aren't the norm for Brandon, especially considering it's from his perspective. We learn so much more about David's flaws in Firefight, and flush him out better as a character.

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My reactions to the book by part.

Part One: Okay, this is kind of cool.

Part Two: Why am I still reading? It's dragging on soooooo long. I guess it's funny and its Sanderson, so I will keep going.

Part Three: Still borin- oh, wait! This is getting good! I freaking love this right now.

Parts Four and Five: I can't put it down! I tried! Oh, it's three in the morning and my batter is at three percent. Huh. Well, at least I finished. Time to check out the 17th Shard! I have some spoiler boards to check out.

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