Calamity
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| Released | February 16, 2016[1] | ||||
Calamity is the third and final book in The Reckoners series by Brandon Sanderson.[2]
It takes place in Atlanta, renamed to Ildithia.[3]
The title of the book is named for a mysterious red star that appeared in the sky about a year before the Epics started getting their powers. It is later discovered that the red star is actually an Epic named Calamity, and Calamity is apparently capable of giving ordinary humans Epic powers.
Cover Blurb
“From the bestselling author of the Mistborn series and Words of Radiance comes Calamity, the final book in the New York Times bestselling Reckoners series. What started in the instant #1 New York Times bestseller Steelheart and continued in the instant #1 New York Times bestseller Firefight now concludes in Calamity.
When Calamity lit up the sky, the Epics were born. David's fate has been tied to their villainy ever since that historic night. Steelheart killed his father. Firefight stole his heart. And now Regalia has turned his closest ally into a dangerous enemy.
David knew Prof's secret, and kept it even when Prof struggled to control the effects of his Epic powers. But facing Obliteration in Babilar was too much. Once the Reckoners' leader, Prof has now embraced his Epic destiny. He's disappeared into those murky shadows of menace Epics are infamous for the world over, and everyone knows there's no turning back. . . .
But everyone is wrong. Redemption is possible for Epics—Megan proved it. They're not lost. Not completely. And David is just about crazy enough to face down the most powerful High Epic of all to get his friend back. Or die trying.”
—[4]
Summary
[[Category: Spoilers for Book shorthand incorrect]]
Part One
Tia is missing and the Reckoners are low on resources. Knighthawk won't deal with them any more, so David leads the Reckoners on a raid on Knighthawk Foundry, which is heavily guarded by gun-toting robots and drones. David manages to make it inside and steal some vials from a freezer, hoping to acquire some Epic-derived technology. He is badly wounded and eventually captured by Knighthawk himself. He gives them some aid in exchange for the secret to keeping back the darkness. He also reveals the secret of how motivators are made and gives David a tissue sample incubator in order to collect some of Prof's tissue.
Part Two
The team heads to Ildithia which has "traveled" to somewhere near Kansas City. They arrive disguised as refugees and soon encounter Prof strutting through the city as Limelight, declaring himself as lord of the city. He is hunting for the current Epic in charge, Larcener. David and Abraham trace a shipment of cola to Tia, who already has plans to kill Prof. However, Prof has also traced her, and she gives herself up to Prof to avoid a hopeless battle. She gives a chip to David containing her plans and asks him to rescue her.
Behind the Scenes
Brandon started work on Calamity late during December 2014, where he put together his Book Guide. Drafting of Chapter 1 began on January 1st, 2015. He initially planned on finishing it by March 2015.[5] However drafting took longer than expected and he instead finished during the early morning of May 6th, 2015.[6]January and February were slow writing months for him, due to a lot of traveling and touring, only writing 5,000 and 8,000 words in each respective month. His pace picked up in March where he managed to write 30,000 words. Over the course of the final 13 work-hours he wrote 13,200 words out of the initial draft's 102,000 words, with a break in the middle to go to the cinema.[7][8] The second draft was completed and turned in on May 18th.[9] Brandon's final revisions for the book were completed during the early morning of Sep 2nd, 2015.[10]
Cover Art Gallery
US Hardcover
UK Hardcover
Notes
- ↑ Peter confirms Calamity release date
— 17th Shard forums - Jul 3rd, 2015# - ↑ State of the Sanderson
— Brandon's website - Jul 24th, 2013# - ↑ Will Calamity take place (mostly) in another "redesigned" big city, like Newcago and Babilar?
— Twitter - Jan 8th, 2015# - ↑ Calamity product page
— Amazon.com - Jul 2015# - ↑ State of the Sanderson: December 2014
— Brandon's website - Dec 18th, 2014# - ↑ Brandon's tweet about finishing drafting
— Twitter - May 6th 2015# - ↑ Brandon's comments on the completion of Calamity.
— Reddit - May 6th, 2015# - ↑ Peter's comments on the completion of Calamity.
— Reddit - May 6th, 2015# - ↑ Calamity 2.0 completion announcement.
— Twitter - May 18th, 2015# - ↑ Calamity final revision announcement.
— Brandon's website - Sep 2nd, 2015#