Fight the Future 16 - Steelheart

Dan and Paul take an in-depth look at the worlds portrayed Young Adult dystopian fiction.
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Paul
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Fight the Future 16 - Steelheart

Postby Paul » 26 Oct 2015, 09:47

The good news: Superhumans exist! The bad news: They are homicidal jerks! And they've laid waste to our world. A band of puny humans, including 18-year-old David, hunt them in the city of Chicago, which has been turned to steel by one of the most powerful - and jerkiest. Dan and Paul talk about Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson, joined by Dr. Jim Davies, author of "Riveted: The Science of Why Jokes Make Us Laugh, Movies Make Us Cry, and Religion Makes Us Feel One with the Universe" from Palgrave Macmillan - and an aspiring YA author.
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Rootbreaker
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Re: Fight the Future 16 - Steelheart

Postby Rootbreaker » 26 Oct 2015, 11:11

I love this book, and Sanderson in general. He really does well at making his magic systems with rules.
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Re: Fight the Future 16 - Steelheart

Postby Daniel » 26 Oct 2015, 14:45

We changed our format a bit starting with this episode. Instead of The Story, we just have The Setting - we fill in the setting for people who don't know it, freeform. The Story segment was starting to feel like a chore to record, and more importantly, to listen to. I think it's zippier this way (you might notice we shaved a lot off the time), and still accessible for people who haven't read it. But let us know what you think!

Thanks for chiming in @Rootbreaker!
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Re: Fight the Future 16 - Steelheart

Postby DaMage » 26 Oct 2015, 18:27

"It's a tenuous place for everyone, including those on top are getting challenged by other epics in a way that the president of a country doesn't have to face. They don't have someone coming in and calling them out for a battle".

You should read about Australian politics then, they don't physically fight each other when they call them out...but we've had 4 prime ministers be ousted by another party member in the last 6 years. Along with 2 failed challenges also in that time.
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Re: Fight the Future 16 - Steelheart

Postby ritchards » 26 Oct 2015, 21:26

This sounds like an interesting set of books and I'll try to remember to grab them when the third one is out.

This reminds me of Rising Star, the comic from JMS, in which a bunch of kids are given powers, and we see what impact they have on society and society has on them. (But it's not really young adult dystopia.)
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Re: Fight the Future 16 - Steelheart

Postby Jenelmo » 27 Oct 2015, 01:24

Rootbreaker wrote:I love this book, and Sanderson in general. He really does well at making his magic systems with rules.

That is one of my favorite things about Sanderson that his magic systems have rules and limitations, he has written about this in what he calls his 3 Laws
[First Law]
[Second Law]
[Third Law]
There must always be a Stark in the Moonbase
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Re: Fight the Future 16 - Steelheart

Postby silver_swift » 27 Oct 2015, 04:09

Oh man, I loved this book (and basically everything else by Brandon Sanderson). One thing I really liked about the setting that you didn't remark on was that there is this kind of hidden religion among the non-epic people of the world that is based on the hope that the good epics are coming to save them. Followers of this religion carry around a pendant in the form of a "stylized S" (ie. the superman logo).

It's a minor detail that doesn't influence the plot very much but it is these kind of details that really bring the world to life for me.

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