Firefight
| <Firefight> | |||||||
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| Setting | Babylon Restored, Alternate Earth | ||||||
| Released | January 6, 2015 | ||||||
| Publisher | Delacorte Press | ||||||
| ISBN | 978-0-3857-4358-7 | ||||||
| Page Count | 416 | ||||||
| Word Count | 104,132 | ||||||
Firefight is the second book in The Reckoners series by Brandon Sanderson.[1] As such it is not part of the cosmere.
It is set in Babylon Restored.
Summary[edit]
The book begins in the middle of a fight against Sourcefield, an Epic with powers of electricity and teleportation. Her weakness is revealed to be Kool-Aid, which the Reckoners use to negate her powers. By throwing water balloons filled with Kool-Aid at her, the Reckoners are able to weaken her powers, but not negate them completely. She is defeated when lured into a trap where she is locked in a bathroom as it fills with Kool-Aid from above. As soon as the Kool-Aid gets in her mouth, her powers are completely negated. David shoots her, but is haunted by her look of complete desperation and fear.
After Sourcefield is defeated, they discover that she was sent from Babylon Restored. Prof, Tia, and David set out to investigate. They meet up with a team in Babylon Restored consisting of Val, Mizzy, and Exel. The team has been in Babylon Restored for two years, and they had recently lost their point man, Sam, to Firefight.
Babylon Restored is what remains of New York City. It is completely flooded and people live on the rooftops of the buildings that stick up out of the water. Strange mysteries surround the city. Plants grow in the top floors of the buildings and produce fruit that glows at night. All of the spray paint in the city, both old and new, glows with a supernatural light. The people who live in Babylon Restored attribute these mysteries to "Dawnslight." They believe Dawnslight to be a god, and they frequently pray to him.
The ruler of Babylon Restored is Regalia, formerly known as Abigail. She is a hydromancer who can send out a projection of herself and control water. She can also see out of any surface of water and hear things spoken near the water. This makes it very difficult for the Reckoners to avoid drawing her attention.
After arriving in the city, the Reckoners notice a disturbance and go to help. They discover that Regalia has invited Obliteration to the city. Obliteration is a high epic who can control heat and teleport. Whenever he is in danger, his teleportation powers are activated, making it nearly impossible to kill him.
A fight ensues in which the Reckoners attempt to defeat Obliteration by planting a bomb on him that will explode when it stops receiving a signal from another device. This plan fails as Obliteration tears his shirt, with the bomb, off. He attaches a ball and chain to David's leg, then dumps him into the water. David struggles to swim, but can't. As he is giving up, he feels someone grab his leg and free him from the chain. After getting out of the water, David sees Megan in wet clothes, walking away from the scene.
Obliteration is somehow driven away when Prof uses his powers. Prof leaves for a while to be alone. David and the other Reckoners travel by submarine to a secret underwater mansion on Long Island that they use as a base.
The next morning, the team comes up with a plan to kill Regalia. They decide that the biggest issue is finding her. Once they manage to do that, killing her should be relatively easy since she has no protective powers. They think they can pinpoint her location by mapping out each of the points her projections have appeared and extrapolate her location based on her limited five mile range.
Mizzy, Exel, and David go to a party in order to gather information. David is shocked to see Newton, a powerful epic under Regalia's control, at the party. He crosses a bridge to a nearby building to think. Soon after, Newton crosses the same bridge, and David quickly ducks down to hide. Then, against his better judgement, he follows Newton.
Newton meets with Obliteration in the top floor of a building and David spies on them. He slips, and is almost discovered by Obliteration, but somehow is not seen. After Obliteration and Newton teleport away, David realizes that Megan is there protecting him. He calls her out and they have a brief discussion. Megan gives him the motivator for the spyril the Reckoners have. David tries to kiss her, but she stops him and says whatever is between them won't work.
David practices using the spyril, a device based on Epic powers that is essentially a water jetpack. While he is practicing, Regalia's projection appears to him. She claims that she can create new epics and enhance other epics' powers. David laughs at the idea of creating other epics
Note: this summary is incomplete. It only covers the first half of the book.
Development[edit]
In July 2013 Brandon said that his next major project would be Firefight.[1] He initially wanted to have the first draft completed well before the end of the year, however he ended up needing the first three months of 2014 to finish it up.[2]
Cover Gallery[edit]
Statistical Analysis[edit]
Firefight consists of one prologue, fifty-one chapters, and one epilogue, reaching a total 104,132 word count.
| Word Count | 104,132 | |
|---|---|---|
| Page Count | 416 | Delacorte Press hardback |
| Chapter Count | 51 | Including prologue, and epilogue. |