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August Kitko and the Mechas from Space
August Kitko and the Mechas from Space | Alex White
13 posts | 3 read | 1 reading | 8 to read
When an army of giant robot AIs threatens to devastate Earth, a virtuoso pianist becomes humanity's last hope in this bold, lightning-paced, technicolor space opera series from the author of A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe. Jazz pianist Gus Kitko expected to spend his final moments on Earth playing piano at the greatest goodbye party of all time, and maybe kissing rockstar Ardent Violet, before the last of humanity is wiped out forever by the Vanguards--ultra-powerful robots from the dark heart of space, hell-bent on destroying humanity for reasons none can divine. But when the Vanguards arrive, the unthinkable happens--the mecha that should be killing Gus instead saves him. Suddenly, Gus's swan song becomes humanity's encore, as he is chosen to join a small group of traitorous Vanguards and their pilots dedicated to saving humanity.
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review
Robotswithpersonality
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Pickpick

I rarely read anything where the action alone is enough to suck me in and keep me reading but this is so very engagingly written, you care about the characters immediately, so that finding out what's going to happen is a riveting enterprise, that and between the rocking amidst giant mechas, basically everyone having incredible tech-aided style and the evasion and fight scene choreography, the action itself is a hell of a ride. 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? Did I mention Ardent and Gus, and the situations they get into are hilarious? There's a warmth and humanity that reminds me of Scalzi, definitely my favoured direction in sci-fi, though that doesn't mean there's not some heavy shit going on, as in Scalzi. 7mo
Robotswithpersonality 3/? The epic duel/duet between Falchion and Ardent is a scene I'm going to have in my head for a long time. Serious cinematic potential.
Very much dug the nod to the original meaning of robot.
Non-binary main character for the win!
7mo
Robotswithpersonality 4/? The world building can feel a little 'in media res' but it helps with the flow of the narrative, what's introduced varies from not too far from where tech is currently/where people are currently studying for future innovations to extrapolate and have no trouble believing in its existence, and casual reference to things like star metal which have a very 'just go with it' quality that is my preferred version of sci fi world-building (as opposed to getting bogged down in the detailed breakdown of how it works when I may or may not have the math/science background to comprehend it). 7mo
Robotswithpersonality 5/5 The ending is at a good place where it's not a cliffhanger, you could stop and keep this as a standalone, but I am happy to read on in the series. Next one apparently comes out next month!

⚠️non-con body modification/body horror(?), suicidal ideation, depression
7mo
6 likes4 comments
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Robotswithpersonality
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What a chillingly evocative analogy. 😨

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Robotswithpersonality
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The mecha with resting bitch face. 👿😂

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Robotswithpersonality
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New (to me anyway) gender neutral significant other term alert!
It also happens to be awesome. 🥰

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Robotswithpersonality
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OMFG, Gus, you and Graymalkin deserve each other, you're both disasters! 😆

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Robotswithpersonality
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A classy move for the apocalypse. ☺️

5 likes1 stack add
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Lizpixie
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7th from my #BirthdayHaul is the 1st in a new series by the author of A Big Ship At The Edge Of The Universe. Jazz pianist Gus Kitko thought his last moments on Earth would be playing piano at a party & maybe kissing rockstar Ardent Violet, before the Vanguard, giant robots from dark space, destroyed the planet forever. Instead he‘s saved by a group of rebel mecha & joins the quest dedicated to saving humanity.

35 likes1 stack add
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Lyssa131330
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I‘m finding this book hard to read but I think it‘s less the story/writing and more just the sensory discomfort from seeing the other page of writing through the thin pages 🙃. I do love space operas and I do love mechas from space so I‘m hopeful it‘s worth the eye strain lol

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sebrittainclark
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My #LetterA recommendations are:

August Kitko and the Mechas from Space by Alex White
Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed
Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

The #AlphabetGame is such a fun idea @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

@rachelsbrittain

31 likes1 stack add
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thegirlwiththelibrarybag
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🫣 what is this?! Tricky covers to add a library barcode to day?

Lizpixie I love this author! Didn‘t know he had a new book out🙌 #stacked 2y
MidnightBookGirl So my boss at the bookstore will slap on a Signed By Author sticker just anywhere she thinks it will be seen without any thought to what it covers up, but I am always trying to put it in the perfect spot so that it doesn't cover anything up (because I'm always thinking of people who like to take pictures of their books). 2y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @Lizpixie, kismet! It did sound good 😊 2y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @MidnightBookGirl, team agonising over sticker placement 🧐 2y
50 likes1 stack add4 comments
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BookBelle84
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sebrittainclark
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Pickpick

5/5

Earth's last chance to defeat the Vanguards has already failed, and all August Kitko can do is wait for the end of the world. When two Vanguards arrive and begin fighting each other, August decides to play along on the piano. His music calls to one of the Vanguards, and August learns that humanity might still have a fighting chance.

This is exactly the kind of sci-fi I love: mechs, mystery, and music in this very literal space opera.

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sebrittainclark
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June was a pretty rough reading month with my maternity leave ending, but I'm excited to get some more reading done in July.

#bookspin #doublebookspin #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 2y
34 likes1 comment