Steelheart: Part Two

by Brandon Sanderson
In this first book of The Reckoners series, eighteen-year-old David Charleston looks for weaknesses in the supernaturally powerful Epics so that he can avenge the murder of his father and restore freedom to the city that used to be Chicago.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Prologue–Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four–Epilogue
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. subdued
    softened in tone
    "Let me guess," I said, anticipating one of Cody's stories. "Professional footballer? High-paid assassin and spy?"
    "A cop," Cody said, subdued, looking down at the pile of dust.
  2. blowhard
    a very boastful and talkative person
    I stared at that badge, and my mind flipped over and over like a pancake on a griddle, trying to figure out this man. Trying to reconcile the joking, storytelling blowhard with the image of a police officer still on his beat.
  3. stint
    an unbroken period of time during which you do something
    "Usually a stint in the Reckoners ends with death, but occasionally one of us gets captured. Better if we can't reveal anything about the others that will put their loved ones in danger."
  4. ledger
    a record in which commercial accounts are recorded
    I joined him and saw that Tia had spread out lists of reports and ledgers.
  5. buffoon
    a person who amuses others by ridiculous behavior
    "It's easy to both be a buffoon and make messes of things, Cody," she replied.
  6. appropriate
    take possession of by force
    "As imaginary as your leprechaun, Cody," Prof said, walking into the chamber from one of the side rooms, the one he'd appropriated as his "thinking room," whatever that meant.
  7. depraved
    deviating from what is considered moral or right or proper
    At the Factory they told stories about the depraved people—terrible monsters—who lived down here. Gangs that literally fed on the foolish who wandered into forgotten hallways, killing them and feasting on their flesh.
  8. overt
    open and observable; not secret or hidden
    Nobody made any overtly hostile moves.
  9. condescending
    characteristic of those who treat others with arrogance
    "It is very kind of you to offer us this chance," Abraham said, nodding to them. There was a strange sincerity to Abraham; from another person, words like those might have sounded condescending or sarcastic, but from him they sounded genuine.
  10. portly
    fairly large
    "How do you even know what bananas are?" Megan said quietly as Abraham greeted a portly man standing beside a blank portion of wall.
  11. incendiary
    capable of causing fires or catching fire spontaneously
    Megan stepped up beside me, studying a machine gun that fired incendiary rounds.
  12. innate
    not established by conditioning or learning
    We needed something more like the energy weapons Enforcement had. A way to mimic an Epic's innate firepower.
  13. discerning
    having or revealing keen insight and good judgment
    I stopped beside a curious group of objects. They appeared to be innocent enough—a water bottle, a mobile phone, a pen. They were attached to the wall like the weapons.
    "Ah...you are a discerning man, are you, David?"
  14. affable
    diffusing warmth and friendliness
    "He wasn't a very nice person, if it helps." I doubted that mattered to Diamond. He seemed affable as he tapped the wall.
  15. eclectic
    combining or composed of elements drawn from a variety of sources
    They didn't seem to fit with much of what Diamond had here, but then again, what he had was pretty eclectic.
  16. advent
    arrival that has been awaited
    Actually, a lot of the technology we now used had come with the advent of the Epics.
  17. incredulous
    not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving
    "You left yourself without a way out?" I asked, incredulous.
  18. tendril
    something long, light, slender, and often curling
    He could kill with that, could make tendrils of that dark mist turn solid and spear a man.
  19. manipulation
    touching with the hands or by use of mechanical means
    Those—the incorporeity and the manipulation of that mist—were his only two known powers, but they were doozies.
  20. ethereal
    characterized by lightness and insubstantiality
    The Epic clasped his hands behind his back, studying me with ethereal eyes. He didn't seem to notice, but his elbow brushed the wall and passed right through the solid steel.
  21. flunky
    an underling of unquestioning obedience
    I gave a respectful nod to Nightwielder and his flunkies, then moved over to set the gun in the spot on the wall.
  22. forensic
    used in the investigation of facts or evidence in court
    Forensic equipment would include the kinds of things one used for studying a crime scene.
  23. impinge
    infringe upon
    He could claim that I'd impinged on his personal space, or looked at him wrong.
  24. feign
    give a false appearance of
    I didn't have to feign fear; I felt my skin grow pale, the color drain from my face.
  25. bumble
    make a mess of, destroy or ruin
    He is a bumbling idiot, but he's the best I've been able to find.
  26. obscure
    make undecipherable or imperceptible by concealing
    Nightwielder neatly obscured his fear of the scanner, and his desire to destroy it, behind the guise of a simple threat.
  27. terse
    brief and to the point
    She was the definition of professional—lips a terse line, eyes searching the tunnels nearby for danger.
  28. reverent
    feeling or showing profound respect or veneration
    He studied it, seeming oddly reverent.
  29. chide
    scold or reprimand severely or angrily
    He hadn't chided me for what I'd done with his gun—he saw that I'd saved the team.
  30. eccentricity
    strange and unconventional behavior
    "It's not very modern, is it? I have technology capable of representing just about anything I want, in any form I want. And I choose chalkboards." He shook his head, as if in amusement at his own eccentricity.
  31. shorthand
    a method of writing rapidly
    It was written in English, kind of. But many of the words were very small and seemed to be in some kind of shorthand.
  32. magnate
    a very wealthy or powerful businessperson
    And we need to, at the last minute, send information about our plan to the right people around the city—so that they know and can vouch for us. People like Diamond, non-Epic crime magnates, people with influence but no direct connection to his government.
  33. crude
    not carefully or expertly made
    He rolled the words on the walls again, bringing over a network of drawings he'd done in "chalk" on the far wall. It looked like a crude blueprint.
  34. platitude
    a trite or obvious remark
    He was pretty much the first person who hadn't served me some platitude on revenge.
  35. motif
    a theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music
    Epics liked themes and motifs.
  36. brash
    offensively bold
    "You got results by risking the lives of my people. I assume nobody was hurt, otherwise you'd have mentioned it by now. You show promise, as I said. But if you brashly get one of my people killed, David Charleston, Megan will not be your problem. I won't leave enough of you for her to bother with."
  37. complacent
    contented to a fault with oneself or one's actions
    But, like everyone else, they were complacent. They'd just call it living their lives, but they were afraid.
  38. stark
    severely simple
    It had been too dark for me to notice it when we were making our way in, but in the light, it seemed stark to me. The understreets weren't ever this clean. It didn't feel right for everything to be so scrubbed, so neat.
  39. cheeky
    offensively bold
    "Those trash cans were totally asking for it. Cheeky slontzes."
  40. incursion
    an attack that penetrates into enemy territory
    "Evidence of our incursion is gone, and the station won't be operating anytime soon."
Created on Wed Apr 12 16:38:03 EDT 2023 (updated Mon May 08 16:51:44 EDT 2023)

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