(Mini) Review: Mitosis by Brandon Sanderson

Mitosis
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy
Published: December 3rd, 2013
Publisher: Random House
Find: Goodreads

From "New York Times" bestselling author Brandon Sanderson's action-packed novel "Steelheart" comes "Mitosis," a short story set in the world of The Reckoners series, exclusively available in the digital format.

Catch all the action before, "Firefight" the exciting sequel to "Steelheart" hits shelves in fall 2014.

WAIT! This review may contain minor spoilers for Steelheart. Don't continue if you haven't read it yet and want to avoid spoilers. Unless, of course, you don't mind spoilers. In that case, continue~

A short review for a short story! This novelette can be found on Brandon Sanderson's site, and it's a nice little filler to satisfy Steelheart fans before Firefight comes out in Fall 2014. (Why is that so far away?!) I can't really talk much about what Mitosis is about without spoiling Steelheart, so let's just say there's a new Epic in the town of Newcago by the name of Mitosis and leave it at that. If you haven't read Steelheart yet, what are you waiting for? Read. It. Now. If you need a little bit more convincing, most of the reasons why I loved this short story are the same reasons why I loved the original book, so keep on reading.

"Sparks," Tia said. "Like rats on a ship."
"Yeah," I said. "Or glitter in soup."
Tia and Abraham fell silent.
"Have you ever tried to get all of the glitter out of your soup?" I demanded. "It's really, really hard."

WHAT WORKED FOR ME:

• World Building.
  If there's one thing that Brandon Sanderson does right, it's world building. From the dark world in the Mistborn series to the Chalking-ridden world in The Rithmatist, Sanderson is the type to fill in the even the smallest details. Steelheart and Mitosis are both set in Newcago, formerly Chicago before it was taken over by an Epic called Steelheart who transformed the entire city into - well, you guessed it - steel. It's nice to see how the city is changing, slowly but surely, after the events in the first book, and there are a few ominous hints to set up for the next book. 

• David and his ridiculous metaphors.
  Besides world building, Sanderson is also an expert in creating likable characters with unique personalities. It's great to see David back with the same horrible sense of humor he had in the first book. Believe it or not, I actually missed some of his cringe worthy, totally terrible analogies. (See quote above.)

WHAT DIDN'T WORK FOR ME:

• Where's everyone else?
  While I do like David, I was a little disappointed that we couldn't see more of everyone else from the first book. There is a little bit of Abraham and Tia at the beginning, but I would've liked to see Cody, whose weird Scottish humor I enjoyed. Then again, the entire novelette was only 36 pages long, so it's understandable that not everyone was included.

• Ham and Cheese.
  The climax of the story was a little bit cheesy for me, but what's a story about superpowers without ham? I couldn't help thinking that the plot for this story would've fit well as an episode on the show Agents of SHIELD, but I still hope the ending for Firefight won't be as hammy. 

VERDICT:

• A cute, short, fun read. You don't have to read it to get Firefight, but you really should.

I'D RECOMMEND IT TO:

• Fans of comic book superheroes
• Fans of the show Agents of SHIELD
• People who want a light, humorous read.