A light action packed scifi novella.

Set in far future where MC wants to visit old Earth culture and gets immersed in world of arena fighting sets the scene for the plot.

Lots of action which was super fun to read. Overall plot isn't too complex and doesn't delve too far from the expected norm. But the pacing, prose and dialogue elevates this a really entertaining read.

Hard Reboot is okay. I got into fandom as a teen through Gundam Wing fandom, so obviously I'm 100% here for giant mecha battles. I didn't warm to either of the characters, though -- Kas is kinda meh, and you don't get a super great feel for her life before the story. She seems to have just come into being for the purpose of being suckered into a terrible bet, and Zhi might've been more compelling but her unthinking scamming of the first outsider she sees didn't really inspire me.

Their relationship did actually work for me somewhat, except that of course it's rather rushed by the scope of the story.

It's a fun quick read, but as imyril notes (https://onemore.org/2021/11/05/hard-reboot/), it's not really about Old Earth politics and diplomacy at all, so that blurb is pretty misleading. The stakes are huge for the characters involved -- though for one it's literally slavery and the other it's financial ruin where they'll at least be kinda taken care of by society, actually -- but small for the world.

‘Hard Reboot’ by Django Wexler is a book about old Earth and fighting robots.

Kas is a researcher on a mission to older Earth who gets suckered into wagering a bunch of money on a robot fight. When she follows the loser, Zhi, after the fight, she discovers a secret that may help her get her money back, but it will involve helping somebody from old Earth. Zhi the scrappy Mech fighter can use all the help Kas can give her.

I liked this futuristic story of fighting robots. I liked the World building, especially the swarm of viruses circling in the Earth's atmosphere. There were enough surprises to keep me guessing all the way all the way to the end.

It's a good one, but it's not my type of book. I was expecting to like because I liked the synopsis but it didn't affect me.

Quick and fun. I never really felt like the characters came to life for me though. Maybe if it had been longer there would have been more space for that? The story was good, if unsurprising. But then of course there are the, GIANT FUCKING ROBOTS!

6/10 stars

Wexler's Hard Reboot is a short SF novella containing an okay story; it's a very quick read (1,5h tops between cake baking and dinner) that goes smoothly and predictably. A fast food read, when you're hungry but don't have time for anything fancy - this will dull the ache, certainly, and give you incentive to hunt for something similar but more substantial.

The best part of this novella for me was the worldbuilding. While I'm tired of empires, or Empires, I liked the fact that Wexler chose a SW-like (or, more precisely, a post-Roman Empire) approach to showing that the best is in the past. This happens all too rarely in modern SF, so thanks to Wexler for this, much appreciated!

The romance seemed far-fetched and a bit forced, tbh, but then insta-love always elicits a big, resounding NO from me, and here it was just tolerably meh. As far as motivations go, this one is practically foolproof (if overused) because you can always say that hormones make you stupid and suicidal, and wouldn't be all that wrong ;).

The mecha part is actually rather tiny, bookending the story, which is mostly focused on the two main characters. The quintessential redshirt guy in glasses with the only vaguely recognizable Earth name suffers the fate of all expendable minions, and that was a bit of a low blow, because his death was both avoidable and inconsequential. But hey, you need to up the stakes somehow, and what's one poor Solomon in the grand scheme?

All in all, not bad.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher Tordotcom through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks.

I’m typically not a big fan of reading Novellas and prefer longer formats and this month I read 3, and Hard Reboot was a good one. I would have preferred to read this premise in a longer format to get a better picture of the world, characters and main storyline, but Django maintained my interest and kept me turning pages despite the shorter format.

The story centers on Zhi and Kas, a robot wrangler-pilot and a researcher, and their unlikely pairing towards refurbishing an old robot for a revenge mech-fight. It reminded me a bit of Real Steel but with bigger robots. The story touched on several elements of your typical scifi action story and even inserted a brief romance, but it felt more like a screenplay to a movie than a novel, but like I said, it did what it aimed for despite the short format.

Where Django succeeded is in minimizing the number of characters so we could learn enough about Zhi and Kas to care about their struggles, the climax involving the leading fight and a few surprises I didn’t foresee. I enjoyed the third act and again, not being a fan of Novellas, Django pressed all the right buttons to make this reading experience amongst the novellas I enjoyed.

In conclusion, if you love an action-packed, mech-robot-fight driven story with a dose of humanity and romance, and especially if you enjoy reading 150+ pages stories, Hard Reboot is an excellent match for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review!

An amazingly tight novella which promises giant robot fights, but delivers so much more! From beautiful worldbuilding, to characters that the reader gets invested in from page one, this one is an absolute gem!

Short, fun read. Wanted to know a lot more about the overall world, so I'll definitely check the next one out, and will probably look for more of Wexler's work.

I've previously read Wexler's YA trilogy so I was happy to try one of his adult works. And I was not dissapointed.

If by chance the synopsis with the seedy underworld of old earth politics and the like puts you off from reading this book, don't be. Because it is not really about that. It's about Kas, stepping out of the rigid rules of being a junior researcher. And about Zhi, on rebuilding an old war robot used in defending the old earth. It is about them clashing from their wildly different worlds but growing closer together.

I think what I liked the most about this novella was the world. This future where a majority of us have left Earth. Where later immigrants are looked down upon. Where there is still also life upon Old Earth as it is now called but that it is a hard survival to maintain any kind of life there. The wildly different and yet also subleties in the different cultures is what made this novella for me.

And of course the robots. I used to watch the Gundam shows and all but I don't think I've ever read a book about robot fights like this (there is sleeping giant but that doesn't quite count in the same way, does it). Where it fits with what we humans would do. There used to be (and probably still is) so many underground boxing prize fights. Like these robot fights where everything is allowed. We like to pretend we are all neat and clean but when you are in survival mode there is no room for that. And the nitty and gritty is what can offer a full stomach or not.

I also enjoyed the characters. Kas is from the neat and clean world but is soon dragged into the gritty reality that is Old Earth. Zhi has lived it for her entire life and she doesn't know anything else. While their first instinct was to distrust each other they end up helping each other. Kas is intrigued by the ancient robot and Zhi needs it as her life line. And with that they grow closer together, forming a relationship of need and maybe a bit of love.

Robots! Action! Love! What's not to enjoy here? It's a quick, easy and fun read with lots of action, a great relationship between Zhi and Kas, detailed world-building, chaos and adventure. A wild ride for sure!

Hard Reboot is a comfort-food book that, to some (like me!), can take you to a happy place within a short amount of time, just a few handful of pages. I can praise its faithful look and feel, which captures much of what makes scifi setting great. The characters are endearing and expertly brought to life. It’s an enjoyable book that’s well-suited for Wexler fans, new readers, and robot superfans.
Full review to come on my YouTube channel.

I was very surprised by this story. A lot of violence, a lot of personality in the writing style, and two main POVs which I fell in love. I wanted even more robots, because who ever has enough robots? A super great read.

Hard reboot can be summarized as an engaging novella about mecha robots and lesbians.

Kas, a young academic, travels to old Earth on what was supposed to be a simple research mission but she soon ends up entangled in a con by Zhi, a native and mecha pilot, whose crazy plan of winning an arena battle will be the only way for Kas to get out of this mess.

What I liked the most about this novella was the fact that although it is set in a distant future, the robots (the mecha) are presented as vintage tech! And how cool is that? It’s like watching Neon Genesis Evangelion and getting that futuristic-retro vibe.

The worldbuilding was very solid considering the story develops in under 200 pages. I really enjoyed how off-worlders and native earthers speak in different ways and have their own sort of dialects.

The characters were also very interesting and charming, you can either love them or hate them but I’m sure they won’t leave you indifferent. And they’re also queer, which is always a good trait in my humble (and queer) opinion!

Regarding the plot, I enjoyed how fast-paced and action-packed it was while also being critical of our dependency on technologies and phones. The story is set in the future but that felt very current, especially when it exposes how helpless we seem to be sometimes when we want to socialize without the help of technologies.

I enjoyed this novella from start to finish and it has made me want to read any of the other books Django Wexler has written. Oh! And I’m also super into mechas now!

This was a quick, fun read, but not particularly groundbreaking. Hard Reboot is certainly action-packed, and I also enjoyed seeing Kas and Zhi's relationship develop. However, I feel like it might have benefitted from being a full length novel - I was really intrigued by the world building, and it felt a shame we didn't get to learn more. If you enjoy sapphic sci-fi romance and giant robots, you will probably like this - but it's not something I'll be thinking about for a long time after.

Thank you NetGalley and to Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the e-arc.

I enjoyed reading this short story. It’s a very quick and compelling read. Hard reboot is a new sci-fi novella by Django Wexler. I must say, it felt like a mashup of "Real Steel," "Pacific Rim," and "Mortal Engines" set up in a derelict Earth. It follows the quest of Kas, an "off-worlder scholar" set to explore archeological data of "Old Earth", who meets Zhi, an "Old Earth bot fighter" who cons her into a betting game that had entangled their fate. And, now they would have to work together to change their fortunes.
Despite its briefness, this novella is well-rounded. It tackled serious issues such as politics, gambling, exploitation, and violence. On the lighter side, it highlighted positive points like the main characters’ passion for their craft, friendship and love. Having said that, I personally enjoyed Kas and Zhi’s relationship. Despite having an opportunistic start, they’re able to get passed through it and managed to develop genuine concern for each other. Another aspect of the book that I definitely adored, were the giant fighter bots. I'd love to see Zhi's prized mecha, and I'm hoping that someone would take up the challenge and sketch "him." I'd also give anything for a couple more incredible bot fighting moments. Overall, it is a real delight to read and this wonderful novella is well worth your time.

Django Wexler's latest novella, Hard Reboot, is without a doubt my favorite one to date. It's the perfect balance of thrilling, science fiction, giant mechas, and LGBT goodness that I was hoping for.

Scholar Zychtykas Three, aka Kas, sacrificed nearly everything to get a chance to head to old Earth with her academy's research team. Unfortunately for Kas, things didn't go exactly as planned. Fortunately for Kas, things didn't go exactly as planned.

Within hours of landing on old Earth, Kas was bombarded with the toxic ads that eat the best anti-spyware for a snack. It took almost the same amount of time for Kas to come across a con artist, one who flipped her world upside down.

"So she'd thought, anyway. Now she was actually here an all she wanted to do was go home and stick her jacks in a vat of bleach forever."

Man, I have been craving a novel (or novella) that had a solid mecha plot. Thankfully, Hard Reboot was here to deliver. Granted, the mechas weren't always the primary focus for this novella, as Kas and Zhi were kept pretty busy just trying to stay alive half the time.

Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me go back a bit. Hard Reboot is a novella split into two perspectives. First, there's Kas. She's a capable researcher, one who was hoping to find her big break on old Earth.

Then there's Zhi; she's been trapped on old Earth her whole life. It isn't as much fun as it might sound, as the living conditions have been bad enough to force most people off-planet at this point (those that can afford it, at any rate).

Naturally, when these two characters meet up, chaos ensues. I adored their adventure, as well as their budding romance. It was laced with humor and danger in equal portions, which made it perfect in my book.

I love how different both leading characters were and yet how much they made sense in the context of each other. That might just be my bias speaking, though, as I enjoyed the chaos that came from the two of them.

An exciting, engrossing novella about privilege, hope, and growth, Hard Reboot is great fun. Scholar Kas comes to old Earth as the junior researcher for a better pedigreed scholar, hoping her work will help her rise above her origins. Zhi builds and pilots mechs to fight for the House, and hopes to scam her way out of debt and out of the toxic slums of Earth. When Zhi targets Kas for a bet that drains Kas's university account, the two are thrown together to rebuild an ancient mech to escape their debts. Excellent worldbuilding, engaging characters, with an incisive look at the oppressive structures that trap people in bad situations. The relationship between Kas and Zhi blossoms believably and beautifully. Recommended for people who like the action smart, the characters fully realized, and the romance subtle but strong.

My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for an advanced copy of this science fiction novella.

This new novella by Django Wexler, Hard Reboot, fits quite a bit into its short length, and leaves the reader wanting more, both about the world and about the characters, so that is a good thing. A young scholar from off-world is fooled into betting credits she does not own on a gladitorial-type combat sport involving hugh mechanical robots, with human pilots. Conned by a scrappy young scoundrel with hopes and dreams that don't involve her being a slave, the scholar and the pilot join forces, eventually to help each other with their various problems, using a mech found by the pilot from a far distant age. Hilarity, violence and romance ensues.

The world building is just hinted at but interesting. Earth is the old country, ignored, left to die it seems polluted in every form including its interlinked computer systems. Not much is described or explained, time has gone by, humans have traveled the universe, but humanity has not changed that much.

The story can be considered standard science fiction. Meet cute, save each other big fights, love, future together exploring the universe. It sounds simplistic, but the story and characters are interesting, hopefully this will be a jump off point for a new series. I'd like to read more, and see what happens to the characters and the universe they were lucky to find each other in.

From the publisher: Django Wexler's Hard Reboot features giant mech arena battles and intergalactic diplomacy. When did academia get to be so complicated?
Kas is a junior researcher on a fact-finding mission to old Earth. But when a con-artist tricks her into wagering a large sum of money belonging to her university on the outcome of a manned robot arena battle she becomes drawn into the seedy underworld of old Earth politics and state-sponsored battle-droid prizefights.

Is it time to get back to the books, yet?

I recently finished Django Wexler's Shadow Campaign series (a fantasy version of Napoleon's career) and enjoyed it. I also enjoy a good giant robot/mecha suti of armor story. So, when I read about Wexler's newest book (novella, really) I decided to give it a chance.

Hard Target takes place way in the future, when mankind has left Earth far behind for the most part. People are constantly plugged in to a future version of the internet through a neural net implanted in their head. And the Scholarium is interested in studying everything about the past. Scholar Zychtykas Three (better known as Kas) is a junior researcher studying old computer codes. She finagled her way onto a field research team headed to "Old" Earth. While there, she plans to study battle mechs/robots and their code structure. However, Kas doesn't really fit in with the rest of her group. Zhi is a mech pilot from a really rough part of town. She cons Kas into betting a lot of money on Zhi in a mech fight, and the worst possible outcome occurs. As the two try to set things straight, they realize that working together they might both achieve their goals.

Hard Target is an interesting story. The selling point for me was the mech battles, but really, that isn't much of the story. Most of it is Kas and Zhi trying to get out of the deep trouble each seems to find themselves in. Wexler does a nice job of developing both characters as much as he can in such a short story, and there are several twists as the plot moves towards its climax. His writing propels the story along, with a few slow spots.

High points: I enjoyed the few mech battles. I like Wexler's writing style in general.

Low points: The names, slang, and a few other strange words kept throwing me out of the story. I don't mind creative vocabulary, but it was enough of a distraction in Hard Target that I nearly quit reading. The story stalls a little when it becomes exposition-heavy. Additionally, there is a same-sex relationship that didn't really seem necessary to the story.

Overall, Hard Target by Django Wexler was a decent story. It excels when it focuses on the mechs and Kas and Zhi working together, but drags in the other parts.

I received a preview copy of this book from Macmillan-Tor/Forge and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.