Book Review: The Sapien Empire

 

Shindo Dacan is a socially awkward but gifted engineer who has made the most brilliant machines seen since before the All-Silence—machines that ruler Vibrun Magrite used in his creation of the Domain as he brought all four of the city-states within his iron grip. With the help of a friend of his, Shindo is secretly planning to provide prosthetic limbs to the many victims of the war his machines have waged.

When Magrite finds out and slaughters Shindo’s friend before his eyes, Shindo tricks Magrite into funding a warrior mech to wreak revenge and is unwillingly rewarded with a woman from Magrite’s harem, Jarim Alsaedon. With his mech machine and Jarim’s help, Shindo stages a coup d’état that leaves Magrite dead and him and his accomplice as platonic dual heads of state.

As Shindo and Jarim work to rebuild their civilization, they’re beset by factions both within and beyond the Domain’s borders. Can Shindo learn how to design a stable peace before the new world he’d envisioned becomes a wasteland of death and destruction?

My Review

Don't you just love when as soon as you start reading a book, you are instantly transported within the pages of the story. That is what you get with this book. Instantly, I could see the desolate world that Shindo resided in and all of the people.

Shindo is the guy that you can get behind to cheer for. You feel for him, and he brings a humanity to the story. There is violence but that is to be expected in battle and a tyrant ruler. Yet, the scenes are not too gory in nature.

The pacing of this story is a good steady flow. That is kept moving by engaging characters, good action, and an intriguing storyline. With movies Dune and Rebal Moon out, this is the perfect time to pick up a copy of this book to read.