Mechs in a derelict future, a resourceful female lead and a quest laid for her before she was born.

It is a fun premise, that is bound to draw the interest of anyone who love some action packed SF.

Antiquity Grey, has grown up as an outcast within her city. When she finds an ancient mech when scavenging the desert, she sets a planning motion that has been generations in the making. Before she knows it, she is on the run with her friends, and a long time bully. She is being hunted by the overlords who rule Erth, threatened by the technology and rebellion a mech represents to their rule.

The novel is fast paced, with many action scenes.

Where the novel didn't live up to its premise though, is that so many interesting dilemmas were resolved too quickly. Escapes, battles and more were settled faster than conversations between characters.

Based in the early author reviews I was so excited for this book. The execution did not live up to the hype for me. I enjoyed the read, and will probably give a follow up novel a go, but it just felt rushed as though there was so much the author wanted to get out onto the page.

Received ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Netgalley & Grim Oak Press.

Antiquity finds a giant mechanical robot (mech) in the desert which starts her journey into rebelling against the Imperium. I liked the concept and has good components - there are giant mechanical robots, little bots, dragons, two enemies united, a dystopian society. However, it lacked character development, it felt that characters were introduced just for the sake of it, or just in passing and focused more on the travelling than the characters on that journey. The main character, Antiquity, is willful but most of the book was spent following Sadiya around who spoke in annoying riddles all the time. I liked the beginning and end where Antiquity was doing more of her own plan rather than just naively going along with what Sadiya tells her.

This is a YA/soft SFF/dystopian novel set far in the future on Erth (could be our future of Earth or just loosely based on Earth). Without giving away too many spoilers, the people of Erth have been conquered by the Imperium and live under their oppressive rule. The story is told from the POV of Antiquity Grey, so named 'Grey' for her ancestors failure to defeat the Imperium over a 100 years ago and now forced to live among her people in shame and disgrace. She is rebellious and struggles to come to terms with her family's low status and the hardships they face. Often venturing out into the desert sands (with her friend and protector Chekker, a spherical bot) she discovers an ancient mech - which changes the course of not only her future, but potentially the whole world.

I really thought the world building was brilliant - many rich and varied cultures as well as an exciting history (I love stories that have interesting origins) and I thought it was a good balance of sci-fi and fantasy - you have bots as well as dragons! It is packed full of strong female characters and great friendships. One of my favourite characters was Sadiya, a mysterious arabi woman who often speaks in riddles and proverbs and you aren't quite sure whether to trust her or not.

There is a lot of action for such a relatively short story, which I thoroughly enjoyed and binge read over a few days.

The story itself spans only a few weeks and I did find myself thinking that some of the outcomes/character growths were a little unrealistic in that time span but other than that it was a great story! Looking forward to reading more of this world in the future!

Well paced read that kept me on the edge of my seat! Lovely diversity of cultures and characters. Loved to see how each of them overcame obstacles.

Antiquity Grey has always known that Grey is not her last name but what she is called due to some family disgrace in the past. Her parents were murdered and she has been raised by her grandmother. Even though she is forbidden to be educated her grandmother has secretly taught her about history and how the "Erth" has come to be ruled by an alien race from the universe. While exploring in the desert near her home she finds a mech in the sand. This is one of the mechanical Robots that defended the planet long ago. Unearthing the Mech sets off an adventure of world changing importance. Antiquity and her friends must rally to fight against the Imperium to free Erth from their grip and restore her family name.
This is an exciting adventure and a thrilling read! I look forward to the next book in the series!!!

Do you like space fantasy such as Star Wars? Monster movies featuring creatures like King Kong or Godzilla? Giant Mechs? This is the book for you. The titular character, Antiquity, is something of an outcast and she definitely wasn’t supposed to find an outlawed and still operational mech. From there, the fun keeps coming in this non stop high titanium ride sci-fi extravaganza as Antiquity faces up to the lions of injustice. Really enjoyed this fast paced sff romp.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Grim Oak Press for this Advanced Readers Copy.

This was a book I devoured pretty much all in one sitting. I have never been a big fan of dystopian, sci-fi'ish type stories, but this one grabbed me by the eyes, and took me for a ride. Speakman's writing style is easy to read and has a rhythm that keeps the story driving along. Character building wasn't the best, and would have appreciated maybe some more detail. However, the story rolled along well. I didn't get the impression this was NOT a stand-alone story until I was about 2/3 of the way through, so be prepared for a wait for additional titles in this series. Overall, I felt it was a good read and would easily recommend for YA or older readers.