Name: The Tempered Steel of Antiquity Grey
ISBN: 9781944145699

Shawn Speakman

Forever shamed for family actions a century earlier, Antiquity Grey is a young woman living in a far-future city of Erth. It is a life of danger and hardship, dragons and advanced technology. But when she discovers an outlawed and operational mech buried in the sands of her planet, she realizes its secrets hold the power to reverse her family's dishonor while challenging the Imperium's off-world oppressive might.

The Tempered Steel of Antiquity Grey

Rina

Sigh. I'll start by saying that the premise interested me and that this started quite strong, but unfortunately not for me. This was a blend of science fiction and fantasy, it reminded me somehow of Star Wars and Pacific Rim. I enjoyed the presence of the robots here (like BB8), and the world it was set in. To be honest, that's about it. 

The characters were flat, they never did anything that wasn't unexpected of them. This book really lacked character development. The number of convenient events also irked me, I noticed when things were getting dire, a character would step in and be the one to get Antiquity and her friends to safety. The dialogue didn't do it for me either, talking in riddles is really not a subtle way to foreshadow. 

I think this had a lot of potential, it's just that not a lot of things were actually explored here or elaborated on. This book lacked details in my opinion. Full review here.

Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the arc!