Hey Space Cadets, here is the next installment in my series of book reviews. It was written by an author whose work I love, none other than Scott Bartlett. This is one of my favorite mech series, so I wanted to share it with you. This is the third book in the series and I reviewed the first book here and the second book here. This book was written in the Ixan Prophecies universe, but it can be read as a standalone series. I know, because that is how I read it. In fact, this series is how I discovered Scott’s works! This world is the tale of a galactic corporate empire with a sweeping space opera storyline. Even cooler, it has all the kick-butt military science fiction that I love. Throw in the mechs and I was sold!
Before we go any further, let me show my bias. I’m such a fan of Scott’s works that I volunteered to run his Facebook fan group, Scott Bartlett’s Spacers. It’s a motley collection of super nerds who also geek out over the books this author creates.
When I picked up this series of books, I wasn’t a fan of his work yet, this is the series that sold me. It didn’t hurt that it had mechs, because I’m a sucker for the mechs! After liking the first novel in this series, I went in expecting to like the follow-on books. It’s written like most of Bartlett’s books, with an emphasis on the sensory details and a focus on the emotional resonance between the readers and the characters. If you don’t love that, if you’re not a fan of rip-roaring action scenes, then this novel isn’t the book for you. However, this is my jam, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Okay, about this cool series. There are four books released in this completed collection, but I’ve been trying to peer pressure the author into writing more for us! I truly believe that after reading this book, you’re going to join me in begging for more of these awesome machines!
I’ve met Bartlett in person at one of the 20 Books to 50K author conventions a few years back. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he’s as nice there as he is online. He truly engages with his audience and values them, which I’ve learned to appreciate even more after I started managing his fan club. He’s thankful that they let him get paid to share these romps through the voids of space. I’m thankful too, since it lets me read these fun books!
Now, more about the author, Scott Bartlett. He’s a Canadian science fiction author specializing in military space opera and action-packed narratives. His tales all focus on the futuristic awesomeness that makes science fiction fun, maybe the maple syrup or poutine help him write better? Anyway, he was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, which Google and his Amazon bio tell me is the easternmost province of Canada. On my maps, it’ll just say “here be moose.” Or is it “meese?” What is the plural of moose? Anyway, he lives in the frozen northern waste lands and fights frost giants before breakfast, writes a novel before lunch and wrassles dragons to cool down before bed. True story, honest.
He loves to tell you that while he pursued writing as a career, it wasn’t an easy journey. It took over a decade, where he supported himself through various jobs while honing his craft. In some of his rare interviews, he’s talked about how he had to overcome challenges like the “inner critic,” the Canadian need to apologize and maintaining consistent output. Way back when dinosaurs roamed the land, in the late cretaceous era of 2014, he achieved his goal of becoming a full-time novelist and has since produced science fiction prolifically. He must be part machine, because when does he have time to sleep?
As for a focus, Scott mainly sticks to the military science fiction that I love, though he has explored other areas of fiction in the past. A staple of his works is how his immersive worldbuilding brings the stories to life, making the high-stakes battles feel more real. Throw in the advanced technology that he creates, and you’ve got a gripping plot that pays homage to the classics of the genre like Ender’s Game. He’s been known to remind us that he’s reread the book multiple times, but I think he’s just showing off!
Now, about the series that brought us here today! The basic premise of this series centers around the main character’s quest to merely survive in a hostile galaxy where even your allies might be your enemies. In the pursuit of that drive to survive, we get to see Jake Price, the main character, adapt and evolve from the raw recruit of the first book to a more seasoned warrior in this one. He’s still boot, just not AS boot as he was in the last installment. He’s a young mech pilot who’d always dreamed of joining the military. In the context of this book, which means that he wanted to join Darkstream’s forces, a private corporate military outfit. He wanted to protect humanity and follow in his father’s footsteps, despite his family’s reticence for him to do so.
The main character isn’t static; he’s evolving from page to page and book to book. In this novel, Jake’s still adjusting to his new job of piloting one of humanity’s most advanced war machines, the armored mech giant. He’s grappling with doubts about whether he has what it takes for this career field, especially as the threats escalate with the new enemy factions. Further, things get more complicated when they gain powerful new humanoid mechs from a mysterious third species. But I won’t say more, you need to read the book already!
(August 28th, 2017)
The Story
Now, let’s talk about the story that brought us here! Just so we’re clear, I’m going to prove a spoiler free review for you today… here goes nothing!
We’re again with Chief Roach, who has merged with an alien mech, but can he control its power? Harnessing alien tech was the only way to counter the power of the quadruped mechs piloted by the Quatro. It seemed like a simple choice at the time, famous last words, right? Except, Roach’s awesome new weapon is like a sword with no hilt. It seems to be doing everything it can to fragment his psyche, one already weakened by the loss of the love of his life.
Roach must lead Oneiri Team across an Eresos engulfed by the fires of war. Their mission is to stop the legions of Quatro from laying waste to what remains of humanity’s colonies. If Roach can’t resist the alien mech’s promises of glory and chaos, there will be a meltdown. Not just for Oneiri Team, but for everyone on the planet.
If you like mechs, explosions and plenty of gritty combat, then you’ve come to the right place! This follow-on novel is a brilliant sequel to the Mech Wars Universe, an epic military science fiction series. To give you an easy comparison, if you enjoyed the Terran Armor Corps Universe by Richard Fox, then you’ll love this novel! There are other mech books out there, but I won’t recommend books I haven’t yet read.
Like all the military fiction that I love to read, this was an action-packed novel. I didn’t think that Scott Bartlett could outdo himself, but he’s again raised the bar with this novel. The story is set in a world where humanity is post-Sol System. The premise of this series has humanity having used worm holes to permanently colonize the Steel System, under a purely capitalistic society run by the Darkstream Corporation. Unfortunately, the system was occupied and not every race is keen on sharing. A war ensues, and now there’s a third player in the game, the mysterious “meddlers.” They’re playing both sides, and I think they’re planning on swooping in to kill whoever survivors.
This novel had an awesome set-up and well-executed premise that held my interest from the first minute of audio. The plot grew and expanded, and never once did you ever feel cheated for not having read Scotts’ earlier books in this larger world. The author balanced the action scenes with amazing exposition and world building. This story never felt flat or dull. Everything that was good about the first two books remained, but he kicked the espionage and intrigue angles up a notch! We also see more of the “meddlers,” which I saw coming. I really got into this book, and couldn’t put it down because the plot was that compelling. Even in the audiobook format, the novel was easy to follow. I really loved the premise of this plot, and more importantly, I enjoyed how he executed it. The pacing was excellent, and there was never a slow moment. I couldn’t ask for anything more; a unique premise, perfect execution, and incredible pacing!
But for me, what separates a good book from a great one is how well the author describes the world around them. I want to picture the story as a movie in my head. I want to experience the action and not just observe it. In this area, Scott Bartlett did an amazing job. This novel was chalk full of visualizations, and you could definitely imagine yourself in this world. The only scenes that were confusing and difficult to envision were the alien species known as the Quatro. This is a bit more problematic, as we’re three books in. Luckily, once they get their super-secret outfits, I had no problem visualizing them!
Because I love visuals, I wouldn’t mind it one bit if the author shared artist’s rendering of these creatures! Seriously, it would’ve made reading this book a lot easier. This issue wasn’t so glaring that I couldn’t enjoy the hell out of the book, and those loving books light on description will be in heaven. Another place where Scott went lite on the details was on how everyone looked. I know this is the current trend, so I reluctantly accept it, but I don’t personally like it. I’ll reign in my rant and move on to the next point of this section.
But there is a ton of good news! The author, Scott Bartlett, has improved in his craft in the time between these three books. He described parts of the world in which the series is set with vivid detail in this novel. This was a huge plus for me. His descriptive use of language was balanced against the explanation of this new world, while still moving the story along. This book didn’t have a single place where I couldn’t picture the scenery and the equipment, which added to the world and made it feel tangible. It was a change that I enjoyed, so hats off to Scott! The author’s description of his universe was so evocative that I began imagining myself in the mech suit fighting with Gabe and Jake. It only got better in this book, when compared to the last two. This is partly because one book in the series builds on the next but even as a standalone it was good.
The only slight drawback of how descriptive Scott was is that it could be a little bit distracting. In a good way, though! Seriously, it made you wanna take a moment and explore every nook and cranny. That’s a sign of an amazingly built universe and not everyone can pull it off. I didn’t find any issues with the descriptions, except for the previously mentioned alien species. In every other way, how he described the world around the main characters only improved. Like many authors these days, Scott Bartlett was lite on some of the details of what the various characters looked like. I don’t really like this trend, but the action was so gripping that I just didn’t care. I wanted the action, the adventure, and the PEW PEW! Scott brought it, this was definitely his A game.
Overall, I really loved this book, and it made my morning walks extremely enjoyable. I even found myself hiding in the bathroom, so I could listen to this while I was supposed to be writing my own book! Shh, don’t tell my publisher! The production quality of the audio narration was top notch, and the story was compelling. Gave me a case of the feels, as I found myself getting angry at the injustices perpetrated by the Darkstream Company. I had moments of frustration, as we saw things the characters didn’t. I metaphorically screamed, “look behind you,” a few times. Scott did his job, and nobody came away unscathed.
Seriously, I wanted to strap into a mech and storm down the orbital elevators with the reserve regiments! I even mourned the loss of the brave warriors killed in battle and drank a few shots in their honor! This was my third novel by author Scott Bartlett, and I’m sold on his writing style.
What first caught my eye was the fantastic cover, it was amazingly compelling. Seriously, if I weren’t color blind and art dumb, I’d add a section to the book review template on the covers because so many of them are kicking butt these days! They fit into the genre, while not looking like a cookie cutter version of what’s already out there. I especially liked how Scott made this cover fit with those for the other two novels in this series, they really work together.
The military culture shown in this book was spot on, and unlike the last book in this series, there were no issues with rank confusion or from the book’s military culture. In this novel, he even mentioned the combat reloading of weapons which is often missing in the genre. Further, he addressed the reloading and shifting/morphing of the mechs themselves. This added that bit of grounding that every military science fiction novel needs. They DO run out of ammo, which is a plus. I was curious about their weapons, but alas I didn’t get enough answers on that front. Scott kept the science of the mechs close to the vest, which is a smart way to handle the situation. I took notes for my own later use.
Moving right along, the ground combat Scott described was visceral and immersive. This is just what you want from the military science fiction genre. I said in my review for Powered that “I’ve never considered mech combat in my worlds, so I’ve not had reason to think about what their tactics might be.” Well, after reading these books, I’ve begun to consider this concept, and I’m even more impressed with Scott’s work. It’s even more clear that the author has spent A LOT of time noodling this out. The battle scenes were believable, gripping and the machines weren’t portrayed as godlike. I never felt like the author missed a chance to get creative with the tactics. Such a detailed portrayal of the tactics is rare, especially when coming from a civilian. Seriously, the author weaponized the awesome power of the PEW PEW and is now a certified Grand Master in the Church of the PEW! I was hooked from the first page! He wove the action in such a compelling way that you wanted to jump into a mech as well. Basically, Scott had me hooked from the beginning and kept it going throughout the whole novel.
The Characters
In this novel, we get to interact with a smaller cast of characters than in the previous novel. It was still a larger cast than many authors can manage, but to be honest, I think it was necessary to cover the scope of the author’s expansive universe. All of the characters were fleshed out, and three-dimensional. I found them to be a lot of fun to get to know and they left me wanting more. Seriously, I was left feeling like these were real people. Even cooler, I loved that it felt like the characters continued to grow in this follow-on novel. They didn’t stagnate after they were first introduced. Instead, they continued to grow, and didn’t stagnate after he first introduced them. They were all so fleshed out at this point that maybe we should advance them to the four-dimensional category! I felt like I could relate to them as people, and I would love to hang out and drink a beer with them. Here’s a summary of the main characters.
Jake Price: He’s the son of a former Darkstream soldier, who follows in his father’s footsteps, despite his father’s reluctance to support the decision. He graduated from the mech training and becomes one of the leaders in the small unit where he’s assigned. He serves with Oneiri Squad where he shows his prowess in combat. More than that, he demonstrates that his top marks during his training weren’t just a fluke. After the training and real-world experience from the first two books, he begins to shine as a rising star. We learn of his deep love for his ailing sister, who motivates him to fight so he can pay for her medical care. Through this family trauma, we learn that he’s a man of strong moral fiber and the kind of person you’d want on your side in a pinch. Overall, I really loved Jake’s character development throughout the story. I can’t tell you more about this character without spoilers, so I’ll leave it right here!
Gabe Roach: He’s a grizzled veteran of the UAF and a Chief in the Darkstream military forces. He is the stereotypical military badass, with a duffel bag full of regrets. In this book, we learn more about those regrets, but again, no spoilers! He’s the kind of guy you’d want on your side in a firefight, though he’s a bit of an ass to his own subordinates. After losing someone very close to him, he takes the fight to the enemy and begins helping slow the gradual combat losses the company is having against the aliens and the new merc company that appeared out of nowhere. You get to see a lot of character growth from him in this book, as he comes to terms with having merged with his mech in ways we didn’t think were possible in the last book. His experience is still the same draw back that it was before. Every war leaves scars, and his runs deep. He was a deeply complex man, without sliding into the soldier stereotype realm. Overall, I really liked his character arc, but I started to not like him as a man.
Lisa Sato: She is a junior enlisted soldier for the Darkstream military, and a true believer. That is, until reality smacked her in her face. Her religious fervor was shaken by the events of the first two books, and oh what a ride you had with her. It only gets better in this book, as we get to see her mature and grow into the leader of the militia fighting for their home world against Darkstream. I’d love to hash that out, but I promised a spoiler free review. In this novel, Meltdown, we see her grow as a leader and diplomat. More importantly, we see her evolution from soldier to combat leader, and it was a fun evolution. I’d give an example, but again with that spoiler free review!
Tess Notaras: She is a gray-haired, retired Darkstream soldier, who is disillusioned and jaded. She’s got nothing nice to say about the company and thinks they train soft soldiers, unlike her training in the UAF military. She takes full advantage of this weakness with a righteous fury when she joins forces to combat the corruption within Darkstream. She deepens her friendship with Lisa and seeks to shepherd her into the promised land of leadership competency. In this novel we learn her backstory, and oh what a surprise that was. Unlike previous books, we get to see her morph and grow. Finally, a character arc is worthy of her potential! This doesn’t feel like pandering though, as you never feel like she’s a superfluous addition to the universe. If you ever want to include a mentor archetype, follow Scott Bartlett’s example because he got it right with Tess.
Quatro: This is the alien species that inhabits the Steel System, and I envision as a cross between a horse and a bear. Humanity still thinks they’re not fully sentient, merely apex predators. That’s all that I can say about that without spoiling bits of the plot. If you didn’t read book one, skip this line! Okay, so we now know these aliens are sentient. But that isn’t all, we find out a lot more about this species in this book. Let’s leave it at saying you’d feed them your Granny to save yourself and get away from these hulking monstrosities!
Meddlers: This was the alien species that wasn’t around much, but they lurked around in the backdrop. Now that the veil was lifted, we see more of these mechanical monsters. We still don’t know a lot about them, but you get the idea that they’re not the kind of alien you bring home to mommy. The created the Amblers and the Gathers, robots that seemed to collect resources for some unknown reason. The humans in the system took advantage of this, never wondering about who or what built these machines and whether or not they would come back.
The World
This is the third book in the Mech Wars Series, and I absolutely loved it. I liked it even better than the last book, it just kept getting better. This novel had a very flushed out world that was consistent; a world that made sense and sucked you in. I loved the way he handled inserting new tidbits about the larger universe and history in such a way that you didn’t even notice. In this novel we see a lot more of those tidbits, though they didn’t feel like info dumps. Scott Bartlett did it so well that I was able to start with this series, even though it’s an offshoot of his earlier Ixan Prophecies Trilogy. You never felt like you were missing anything to understand the world. It made me want to become part of the larger world, this novel sealed the deal and now I’ve added the previous novels to my TBR list. I’m hooked, now I want to know it all!
Maybe it’s time to start considering a support group for Bartlett Book Addicts? Nah, who am I kidding… Momma didn’t raise no quitter! How did he create this level of reaction to his skillful prose? He described the world with just enough details to let me picture it in the movie theater in my head. However, I still struggled to visualize the Quatro aliens. I love descriptive writing and having the picture painted in my head for me by the wordsmith crafting the novels I read. This has been the one sticking point for me in this series, though not so much that it took me out of the story. On the plus side, you can visualize these aliens when they’re in their space suits or other external garments. Since they were so vital to the world, Scott created, it was a bit irksome. Again, maybe it was the audio?
Another thing that I haven’t gotten used to was Scott’s decision to use naval ranks for the Darkstream military. It still feels odd, since these troops are serving a dirt-side garrison and policing role, which made that choice stand out. It didn’t distract from the plot, so I merely note it here for those who care about such things. Maybe my own Army bias? Or from years of reading space opera? Navy drives the boats (aka spaceships) and the Marines fight in the dirt. Army too, though those tend not to travel in the cool spaceships. But again, breaking tropes does not have to be a bad thing, as Bartlett proved here. If you’ve read this series, let me know what you think!
Finally, the last piece of world building to discuss is the development of the “meddlers.” We see more of them, and they seem genuinely scary in their silence. They never speak directly to anyone, they only attack when you least expect it. I loved this development and can’t wait to see where it ends. Overall, the world building was well done, and I was sold on the way it happened. It felt believable, and the characters fit within the universe Scott created. It was a fun ride that made me wanna suit up…which is the goal of action/adventure authors! Like most of the stories I read, this one didn’t take itself too seriously, which allowed you to focus on the fun which is why I read in the first place.
Politics
This was an apolitical novel, in that none of our current zeitgeists made it into this book. However, the political and military struggle between the three opposing polities; the Darkstream Corporation, the Quatro aliens and an unknown entity. This book would appeal broadly to people on all sides of the political spectrum; the book was pure escapism in the best possible ways.
Content Warning
If this book were a movie, it would be rated as PG-13. There was space and ground combat, and a few characters died, but nothing gratuitous and nothing on screen. The blood didn’t run red on the page, much to my dismay. What can I say, Scott Bartlett is classy like that. Alas, as my dear ole mom is wont to remind me, I am not. The good news, however, is that Scott’s discretion means that I can confidently show this book to my kids and not worry about emotionally traumatizing them.
Narration
The audiobook for Meltdown was well done, and the accents were consistent. That’s the bare minimum, for me, but the narrator nailed it! This story was performed by the legendary narrator Mark Boyett, who did an amazing job reading this book to me. You can’t walk away from this performance and not want to buy more of his book performances. He read the phone book? Here, take my Audible credit already! Seriously, I’ll definitely listen to more books by him. With Amazon’s audiobook price points, which is saying something! These aren’t what I’d consider impulse buys, but I happily forked over the money, and I don’t regret it! Take that, IRS man! Jokes aside, I’d listen to more novels performed by this narrator! Mark didn’t bore me or make you zone out because of his robotic monotone voice. Listening to this rendition of Meltdown, Mech Wars 3 felt like a friend was sitting with me reading an amazing story that he couldn’t put down. Only he made kind of cool voices, with believable accents that didn’t yank you out of the story.
Who is it for?
If you loved The Four Horseman Universe and Richard Fox’s The Terran Armor Corps spoke to you… then you’re going to love this book. If you love the visceral mech-on-mech feel of games like Armored Core and Battletech, then this book was written directly for you. You’ll love Scott Bartlett’s balanced prose and enjoy the Mech Wars Series.
Why buy it
This book is for anyone who is a fan of fast-paced, action-heavy military science fiction. Especially for those amongst us who love mech-focused stories! A childhood spent watching Transformers gifted those amongst us with a soft spot for giant stompy robots and a desire to recapture that sense of awe at their metallic grandeur! This book is for people who enjoy reading gritty, high stakes mech battles that leave you three heart beats shy of a stroke.