MECHA SAMURAI EMPIRE by Peter Tieryas – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Mecha Samurai Empire by Peter Tieryas
Series: United States of Japan #2
Published by Ace Books on September 18 2018
Genres: Adult, Science fiction
Pages: 416
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: High stakes action, awesome world-building and a fast-paced plot set this alternate history SF tale apart from the pack.

Well, that was fun! What a great change of pace from some of the other books I’ve been reading lately. Mecha Samurai Empire is the second book in Peter Tieryas’ United States of Japan series, but it can be read as a stand-alone. I have not read the first book, but if it’s anywhere near as good as this book was, I’m definitely going to pick up a copy. I was also excited to read in the author’s notes at the end that there will be more books in this series! If you’re looking at the cover and wondering if this is your type of read, well I can assure you that the sword-wielding mecha on the cover is only part of the story. This is a character-driven tale with a fascinating alternate history that just happens to have a lot of kick-ass action as well.

The story takes place almost entirely in California, in the United States of Japan as the country is known, after Japan and Germany won World War II. Makoto “Mac” Fujimoto is about to graduate from high school, and his dream is to be admitted into the Berkeley Military Academy (BEMA for short) in order to become a mecha pilot. But the Academy only takes the best and brightest students, and Mac is only average when it comes to test scores. And although he’s passionate about practicing his piloting skills playing sim games, he’s out of shape and doesn’t have the family support needed to get an edge up.

But fate is on his side, as various events conspire to bring attention to his natural abilities as a pilot, and Mac finds himself doing the one thing he’s always wanted to do: piloting his own mecha. But the threat of a secret Nazi mecha is making everyone twitchy, and Mac must learn some lessons the hard way: stay loyal to his country? Or loyal to the ones he loves?

Two aspects of Mecha Samurai Empire made this story for me: the world-building and the characters. I know a lot of readers may be more interested in the mecha action, and don’t get me wrong, I had a blast with that! But this is a well-rounded story and has something for everyone. Tieryas’ world-building was so strong, and he convinced me that the United States I’m familiar with is no longer real. The USJ is ruled by the Emperor and the citizens are completely loyal to him. Children are raised to uphold the ideals of this society, which is heavily based on Japanese culture. I lived in Japan for a year, so many of the cultural nuances were very familiar to me. Mac is a young teenager with dreams of following in his parents’ footsteps and fighting for his country, idealistic about what he’ll be fighting for. But it isn’t until he starts studying at BEMA that reality sets in. Adults make mistakes that lead to the deaths of civilians and soldiers, and Mac learns certain things about the fate of his parents that he must come to terms with. Many of the USJ citizens value honor above all else, and suicide is common among those who feel they have let down their squad. It was a chilling story element that went against everything I personally believe in, but because of the beliefs of these characters, it made sense for this story.

Tieryas has created an entire history to back up his world and it was fascinating—scary, but fascinating! I also loved that the story takes place in my own backyard. I’m a California native, so I thoroughly enjoyed all the name dropping and the different cities where the action takes place, like San Diego, Granada Hills, Berkeley and San Francisco.

As for the characters, Tieryas does a great job of making them believable as well. Mac is an innocent when the story begins. He’s lost both his parents in war and grew up as a war orphan. His adoptive family abused him and never gave him any love or support, so he’s basically been on his own most of his life. He’s got a few close friends in school—Hideki, a boy who also wants to be a pilot, and Griselda, an exchange student from Germany—but he must stand on his own for the most part, especially when he keeps getting turned down for military school. One of the things I loved most about Mac is that he isn’t the best at anything, which is a nice change of pace from all the “special snowflake” stories you see everywhere. He fails, over and over. He gets beat up because he’s late to class. He’s attacked by a gang of kids who don’t like the fact that he hangs out with a “Nazi.” And yet, he keeps getting back up and trying again. His relationship with Griselda was particularly well done. Griselda may not be a Nazi, but she is German and she’s persecuted over and over for this, despite her inability to change her nationality. Mac’s friendship never wavers, though, and I loved him for that.

And of course, this story is full of mechas! Mac and his friends get to strap into the pilot area inside the giant robots and are taught how to control the arms and legs, wield weapons and even fight in hand-to-hand combat (mecha against mecha). And just because they’re inside the mecha doesn’t mean it’s at all safe. Piloting mechas is dangerous work, and Tieryas isn’t afraid to put his characters in mortal danger. I love the idea of giant robots looming over the city, ready to fight at a moment’s notice. There’s a definite video game influence to this aspect of the story, so if you’re a gamer I’ve no doubt you’ll love all the fighting action. There were a couple of scenes in this story that really disturbed me, however, so word of warning if you have trouble reading about torture and corporal punishment.

Despite all the violence and action, Mecha Samurai Empire ends on an upbeat and heartfelt note, which makes me even more eager to see what comes next. Tieryas has created a fascinating world with a complex political structure, and I feel as if he’s only scratched the surface. I just have one question: when is the movie coming out?

Big thanks to the publisher and Wunderkind PR for supplying a review copy.