Mechcraft By Brian Fitzpatrick: Reviewed by Chris Preiman
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Jake London is your average-ish fifteen year old artistic and, somewhat, nerdy kid that just happens to be wracked with intense pains that his parents insist are simply growing pains. The thing is, they aren’t growing pains but the first sign that a swarm of Nano machines are waking up and starting to change his body in ways puberty could only dream. His powers as a Mechcrafter awakened, Jake is enough to throw the tenuous peace between three different groups of Mechcrafters out of balance. Whichever side ends up with Jake will likely win the ensuing conflict and, by doing so, change the course of history.
Okay, let’s get this out of the way from the start - Mechcraft is a power fantasy, but I don’t say that to disparage it. It is an enjoyable power fantasy. One that pulled me along from beginning to end. The idea of nano machines giving people powers isn’t exactly a new one. Hell, we used it in our novel and, while I believe our novel is a lot of wonderful things, it is also nothing if not derivative. Sometimes it is how an idea is used that makes it special, and here we have people being able to use their nano machines to manifest solid objects such as blades, tendrils, shields, and, in advanced cases, firearms. These machines even heal wounds that would normally be fatal. This theme provides all sorts of opportunity for mayhem which is something Mechcraft takes full advantage of.
One of the main strengths of Mechcraft is the action and pacing. Once you get going, Mechcraft keeps you on the edge of your seat slowing down only long enough to let you catch your breath before ramping right back up in new and startling ways. The finale is pulse-pounding. Even if you are like me and can see the ultimate conclusion coming, it still feels satisfying when you get there. I mean, some things are tropes for a reason.
The setting seems interesting although the underground world thing has been done before. I say this even with the not-quite warring factions recruiting people for the day when the not-quite war becomes a war in truth. Nevertheless, fight clubs where no faction holds sway, buildings are full of self-hating super powered cultists, and hidden military bases are all still really cool. I would have enjoyed seeing that aspect flushed out a bit more, but maybe we’ll get that in the sequel.
Some of the characters, aside from Jake, come off a little flat at times, but the core cast is fairly well developed. I found myself caring when bad things happened to them and, oh boy, do bad things happen to them. I do want to take a moment to call out the main antagonist Sasha, the leader of one of the three factions, because she is one of Mechcraft’s real strengths. She is a Mechcrafter, but one who believes the powers the nano machines give them is unnatural and should be exterminated. Her twisted logic and warped sense of morals did a lot to elevate what might have, otherwise, been a fairly run-of-the-mill plot about a young person entering yet another secret underground world. Sasha is the catalyst for almost every plot development in one way or another and, frankly, steals every scene in which she appears. By the end of the novel, you may find yourself rooting against her as much if not more than you find yourself rooting for Jake.
I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys action packed thrillers, anyone who ever wished they were more than naturally special, and anyone who ever wanted to throw Neo, the T-1000, and the Green Lantern into a blender and read about the person who emerged on the other side.
Four out of five stars
If you’d like to get your own copy of Mechcraft, you can do that Here, or Here, the Audiobook,
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