A review by spacearcheologist
The Tempered Steel of Antiquity Grey by Shawn Speakman

2.0

I loved the first few chapters of this book however at about 20% in it started to stagnate and I really struggled to stay invested.

The story follows Antiquity who lives on a struggling planet and whose family line has been shamed and ostracised in her community. She comes upon an old Mech in the desert and everything starts to heat up from there. I thought I was going to love Antiquity as a character but I didn't, she just felt hollow most of the time and none of the characters really resonated at all.

The world-building was fantastic and I wish we had got to see more of the lore of Erth. It is action-packed but at the same time didn't feel it, the pacing didn't work for me.

This wasn't awful but it wasn't great either and I probably won't continue following the series.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.