The Tempered Steel of Antiquity Grey
Ratings3
Average rating3.3
15
Ratings3
Average rating3.3
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 Imperium is not so willing to losen its grip, needing Erth's valuable titanium resources at a time when war spreads among the stars. In response, the Governor of Erth sends Star Sentinel—his mightiest mech, which nothing can stand against—after Antiquity.
As she flees into the wilderness in a desperate attempt to uncover the secrets of her past and free an entire planet, Antiquity learns friendship can mean more than family, even the hardest heart of an enemy can soften, and adventure is not what she thought it would be.
Featured Series
1 primary bookThe Tempered Steel of Antiquity Grey is a 1-book series first released in 2021 with contributions by Shawn Speakman.
Reviews with the most likes.
Coming of age with mechs in a future version of earth. This is very much in the Science Fantasy realm - futuristic but with a plot and style more reminiscent of fantasy. Coming of age is a tricky trope to balance and often ends up with a distinctly YA feel, and on this story it has definitely slid into that kind of characterization for me. The characters are very naïve in there outlook, the main questing party is almost entirely filled with children rather than being balanced out with a decent number of older figures to give more grounding. The prose also leaned heavily into what I would call YA stylings. At the same time, the setting and some of the action (especially the tendency to kill off characters) pushes this in a more adult direction leaving it a bit confused at times as to what the audience really is.
That said, there are a lot of ideas abound here. I like the world building that has been done - the future earth has enough believability whilst still being fantastical. The history presented is intriguing. I do want to find more about the world!
