As Wild Chalklings threaten the American Isles and Rithmatists are humanity's only defense, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students learn the magical art that he would do anything to practice.

Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills. Nobody fights the Epics nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them....

Hace diez años, la Calamidad vino. Esto era una explosión en el cielo que dio poderes extraordinarios a la gente ordinaria. El público intimidado comenzó a llamarles Epopeyas. Las epopeyas no son ningunos amigos de hombre. Una Epopeya asombrosamente poderosa llamó Steelheart se ha instalado como el emperador. Cuando Steelheart vino a Chicago, él mató al padre de David. David ha estado estudiando, y la planificación, y él tiene algo que ellos...

All her life, Spensa has dreamed of becoming a pilot. Of proving she's a hero like her father. She made it to the sky, but the truths she learned about her father were crushing. The rumors of his cowardice are true--he deserted his flight during battle against the Krell. Worse, though, he turned against his team and attacked them. Spensa is sure there's more to the story. And she's sure that whatever happened to her father in his starship could happen...