Novel: Firefight

Novel: Firefight
Rating: 2 of 5
Genre: YA science fiction, give or take.
Synopsis: A young white male is exceptional, and his dedication to the cause impresses The Girl.

longer version, with spoilers:
What if power really did corrupt?

This is the second book of the Reckoner's series, with that question at its root. Over a dozen years ago, people with super powers began to appear. Fools thought they were heroes; the fools died.

Within this series, the more you rely on your powers, the more corrupt you become. That's a neat trick, and a good lesson for a YA novel.

Generally speaking, I adore Sanderson's novels. I discovered Elantris before Mistborn, and he still suffers a bit from the "everything happens at the end" problem. The Reckoner's series in particular also suffers from heteronormativity, the superior moral value of young white men, and proves once again that you can't trust anyone over 30.

In Firefight, we learn the powers latch onto your fears. That is, everyone with super powers is driven by their fears. To use the powers is to be afraid. Moments after facing his own worst fears, the antagonist attempts to force super powers on our protagonist. These powers slide right off him; he remains a normal person, because he had just faced his fear.

Shortly before this, The Girl had risked her life to save him. She faced her fear, and when next we see her, she has super powers and can use them without suffering corruption. That is; ignoring her own mental and emotional well being -- and risking her life! -- for her man is why she is free of emotional corruption. That next we see her she is naked really hammers it home; in character, they even hang a lampshade as she gets annoyed that true love is what fixed the problems. And its not, not quite; it is caring for someone else so much that you overcome your deepest fear.

Normally, I'm a sap. I get choked up during Scrubs, much less Les Mis. Books often bring me to tears. And yet ... no. Maybe its because I was so aware that only the pretty straight white people get to survive, but the ending left me cold.

Everyone over thirty is either corrupted at the beginning, or turns corrupt by the end. Everyone younger than that is true and virtuous. The Guy gets The Girl, and does so without powers outside his own moral worth. The Student transcends the Master, whose age finally corrupts him. The only good person over 30 is in a coma and, in the logic of the book, a perpetual child. Overcoming fear is the path to great power.

Perhaps the simple message is intentional. Or, maybe, Sanderson's Mormonism is showing. I've been worried about that for a decade; I don't want him to go the way of OSC. And, maybe, just maybe, I'm not the target demographic for YA fantasy.