The Reckoners - Calamity

1

 

 

The sun peeked over the horizon like the head of a giant radioactive manatee. I crouched, hidden in a tree of all places. I d forgotten how weird the things smell.

 

We good? I whispered over the line. Instead of using mobiles, we were relying on old radios we d rigged to work with headsets. The audio snapped and popped as I spoke. Primitive technology, but essential for this job.

 

Wait a sec, Megan said. Cody, you in position?

 

Sure am, crackled the reply, laced with a calm Southern drawl. If anyone tries to sneak up on you, lass, I ll put a bullet up his nose.

 

Ew, Mizzy said over the line.

 

We ll move in five, I said from my perch. Cody had called the contraption I was using a tree stand, which was really a glorified camp chair strapped some thirty feet up the trunk of an elm. Hunters had used them back in the day for hiding from game.

 

I put my Gottschalk--a sleek, military--style assault rifle--to my shoulder and sighted through the trees. Normally, in this sort of situation I d be sighting on an Epic: one of the super-powered individuals who terrorized the world. I was a Reckoner, same as my team, dedicated to bringing down dangerous Epics.

 

Unfortunately, life for the Reckoners had stopped making sense about two months ago. Our leader, Prof, was an Epic himself--and had been caught in a rival s intricate plot to find a successor. Consumed by his powers, he had left Regalia s empire in Babilar, but had taken with him her hard drives, complete with notes and secrets. We intended to stop him. And that led me here.

 

To a large castle.

 

Seriously. A castle. I d figured those were just in old movies and foreign countries, yet here one was hidden in the woods of West Virginia. And despite the modern metal

Brandon Sanderson is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Reckoners series: Steelheart, Firefight, and Calamity, as well as the internationally bestselling books in the Stormlight Archive and the Mistborn trilogy. He was also chosen to complete Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series. His books have been published in more than twenty-five languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide. He lives and writes in Utah. To learn more about Brandon and his books, visit him at brandonsanderson.com and follow @BrandSanderson on Twitter.

Praise for the Reckoners series:

#1 New York Times Bestselling Series

Another win for Sanderson . . . he s simply a brilliant writer. Period. Patrick Rothfuss, author of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller The Name of the Wind
 
Action-packed. EW.com
 
Compelling. . . . Sanderson uses plot twists that he teases enough for readers to pick up on to distract from the more dramatic reveals he has in store. The A.V. Club

Snappy dialogue, bizarre plot twists, high-intensity action, and a touch of mystery and romance . . . leaves [readers] panting for the sequel. Booklist, Starred

An absolute page-turner." Publishers Weekly

"A straight-up Marvel Comics-style action drama." Kirkus Reviews