Reckoners Books In Order

Publication Order of Reckoners Books

The Reckoners is a series of action/adventure/fantasy young adult novels written by Brandon Sanderson. The books take readers to a post-apocalyptic landscape where a small section of humanity gained special powers and decided to use them to enslave the world.

+The Story
Brandon Sanderson has garnered quite the reputation for creating highly complex worlds rich with alluring cultures, traditions, and characters. His strength lies in his ability to make each of his numerous series so different from one another.

The Reckoners series began publication in 2013 and it immediately elicited attention for delivering Sanderson’s trademark world building and character-driven stories. What often comes as a surprise to many readers is the fervent love Sanderson’s fans have for The Reckoners, with many of them elevating the series above far more popular Sanderson Works like ‘The Way of Kings’ and ‘Mistborn’.

The Reckoners takes readers to a world that was devastated by a mysterious phenomenon. A little over a decade ago, ‘Calamity’ came; an object of mysterious origins that seemed to suddenly appear within the Earth’s orbit.

Calamity unleashed a burst of radiation that covered the world. Among those that were exposed to the radiation, a small number were gifted with superhuman powers that defied the laws of physics.

Taking a wild variety of shapes while following no particular logic or reason, those that received these powers were eventually called ‘Epics’. And the majority saw their newly attained abilities as a sign that they should rule the common man.

And so they did just that, taking to crime en mass and, in many cases, not only eradicating entire governments but replacing them with Epic-controlled organizations of their own.

By the time The Reckoners series begins, mankind has essentially been enslaved. Brandon Sanderson’s hero is a young man from Chicago. David was only 8-years-old when his father died.

The pair was outside mostly minding their own business when Steelheart, the most powerful of the Epics, engaged another Epic called Deathpoint in battle. Deathpoint had the power to strip anyone to whom he pointed of their skin, essentially turning them into skeletons.

To David’s father’s eyes, Steelheart was the hero of that particular confrontation. The fact that he had exerted tyrannical control over Chicago did little to sway this perspective. So when Steelheart and Deathpoint began to fight, David’s father saw fit to leap into the fray, lending his strength to Chicago’s strongest Epic.

The resulting conflict led to considerable loss of life. First, Steelheart killed Deathpoint. Then he turned his wrath on David’s father, taking his life not because he posed any threat but because the man had accidentally inflicted a minor wound on the Epic.

Steelheart was supposed to be the one true invincible epic in the world. But David’s father had exposed his weakness. So Steelheart killed him and every other witness in the vicinity, all except for David who survived through sheer luck.

David spent the next decade of his life studying Epics, learning their weaknesses and devising imaginative ways to kill them. And once the young man was finally ready to embark on his journey as Chicago’s Epic Slayer, he sought out the reckoners.

The Reckoners are humans who kill Epics using advanced technology. They include Jonathan Phaedrus, the leader, also called the professor; Tia, Cody, Megan, and Abraham.

The Reckoners, like David, have spent their lives not only studying epics but also using the powers and creations of these super villains to invent gadgets capable of bringing them down.

The Reckoners are initially reluctant to bring David on board. It isn’t until he reveals his secret weapon, the fact that he alone knows Steelheart’s weakness, that they enlist him for their cause.

The Reckoners series follows David’s journey as he becomes acquainted with the Reckoners, forms new bonds, finds love, and masters his own martial and technological prowess in his efforts to rid the world of the Epic Scourge.

A central element of the Reckoners books is the identity of Calamity, the entity that gave the Epics their powers. This is on top of the mystery surrounding David’s family and, in particular, the events that led to his father’s death.

The Reckoners series has been praised for being so succinct and straightforward, devoid of the convoluted complexity of the author’s other works. This is on top of all the clever twists and turns that Sanderson’s keeps throwing at readers in each of the installments.

+The Author
Brandon Sanderson is an American author born in 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska. Brandon writes science fiction and fantasy. A student of Brigham Young University where he studied English Literature and Creative writing, the author is best known for the ‘Mistborn’ and ‘Stormlight Archive’ books.

He also contributed to the finale of ‘The Wheel of Time’ series after the original author died.

+Steelheart
David lives a life of fear and anger. He was only a child when his father was killed by Steelheart, a villain with incredible powers.

For years, mankind had suffered under the hand of Epics, special people with special powers. Epics appeared twelve years ago when an entity known as Calamity appeared in the sky and unleashed a burst of radiation that gave certain men and women extraordinary gifts.

Some hoped that the emergence of Epics would bring about a new age of peace and prosperity for mankind. But the Epics had been corrupted by their new powers. Rather than protecting mankind, they sought to rule.

But where most people have chosen to simply lay low and go with the flow, the Reckoners have taken up arms and made it their mission to bring the Epics down. David has spent the last few years of his life studying Steelheart.

And now that he knows the invulnerable Epic’s weakness, he is ready to find the Reckoners and attain vengeance.

+Firefight
Everyone knows David’s name. After all, he’s the man that killed Steelheart. But now that his vengeance is complete, David is empty. There’s a hole in his heart that he can only fill by turning his sights on another Epic.

And that is where Firefight, the Epic that rules Manhattan, comes into the picture. David doesn’t know how far his bloodlust will take him, or the darkness he will encounter as a result.