Lux: A Texas Reckoners Novel

Tracks well with the universe, a good spinoff. Hope a sequel stays interesting.

I think this was the second best of the Reckoners book, with Steelheart in first place. And that's saying something since I'm not a fan of audiobooks AT ALL. I have maybe four total, and none of them are finished. (Dan Wells' Zero-G audio-novellas, and The Original are exceptions; but those were built for audio, which is a very different beast than something like Lux that's really made to be both print and audio.) Listening to this made for a weird experience. Had this just been a book, I probably could have knocked it out in a single day and have put on a nice soundtrack for the experience. But the audio form meant I had to sneak in almost fourteen hours of listening time, which was far more than ever before. I guess it wouldn't have been a problem if it wasn't a Sanderson book, but still... I really liked the science-y aspect of this book. There were times where this became repetitive, but it all worked out in the end. Jax is a solid leading man. He's a lot like a Science Hero in an Action Hero's world, contrasting David's Action Hero with a Science Hero's demeanor. Zeff (which I couldn't help but think of "Szeth" until I saw the spelling), Abigail, Hersh, and Wade were all solid characters as well. Each had their own flavor and dynamic with Jax, and none felt too cartoonish, like the side characters in the original trilogy sometimes felt. Paige was the heart and soul of this book, and I'm very excited to see where her story takes her. Lastly, leading up to this book, Brandon kept saying that the story of Lux takes place during and after Calamity. This is a technical truth at best - Lux takes place at the same time of Calamity, with their endings lining up pretty well. If the Reckoners was a series, it'd be easy to imagine the two books' finales happening at the same time. (YMMV on whether or not this would be a good thing, considering the stakes are different in each, but it's food for thought.) Overall, Lux was a very good addition into the Reckoners fold. I'd love to see this turn into a complete trilogy over the next few years, because Jax and Paige's story is far from over. The twists and turns in this novel are pure Sanderson, and the writing is world is crisp and distinct from other Reckoners locations.

I was so happy to see another edition to the Reckoners universe. I am a huge fan of the Anti-hero dystopian genre and Brandon Sanderson's amazing storytelling skills make this another 5-star review for me. It has been a few years since I read the reckoners and the Mitosis short story wasn't enough for me to be satisfied with the story forever....it needed more and deserved more and this entry definitely gave me everything I enjoyed about the original series. Every character was well written, flawed, and as usual, no one truly gets a happy ending...not the ending they expected or prayed for but isn't that the hard reality of life? I love it and will be super excited for the next one.

First Sanderson story I haven't loved in a long time.

This is a must-read for every Sanderson fan. I loved the Reckoners series, and am so glad Brandon decided to expand on that universe with LUX. He couldn’t have picked a better writing partner for this in Steven Michael Bohls—the writing fits so well with the previous trilogy, you can’t tell that there’s a co-author on it at all. The characters are all incredibly well-written, and the story itself is everything you want from a Reckoners novel. I think I like it even better than Steelheart. Also, MacLeod Andrews does a fantastic job with the narration. Such great voice acting. I highly recommend listening to LUX!

Thoroughly enjoyable. Seemed a little more adult than the other books in the series. But a solid addition and would definitely read more.

I hope there is another one.

I'm a little sad I can't have a physical copy on my bookshelf (yet?), but my LORD! The performance was something that has never come through in an audiobook before. I am really floored by the production. It really raises the bar on audiobooks. Oh, and I thoroughly enjoyed the story too. Don't listen to the "top critics". I loved this story and its profound performance.