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Adrastus
Adrastus – What happens when your family’s skeleton in the closet is a giant robot, by Liz Staley. What you need to know about Liz is that she is absolutely awesome. Passionate about her work, her characters, and the source material from which the story is drawn. This enthusiasm comes through loud as day in every interview I have heard with her, and is clear in her work as well. Course, you don’t have to take my word for it. As a WA pick of the week it’s clear that other people love her and Adrastus too.
So what is Adrastus? The story follows Sarah Bryant, one part college student, one part mechanic, and one part motorcycle-racing adrenaline junky. But even this bad-ass chick finds an attempt on her life, the cryptic assistance of Agent Michael Baxter, and the fact that there really IS a giant robot on the family farm to be a bit much! Discovering the family secret turns her whole life upside-down, putting the defense of the world into her hands.
Adrastus takes a lot of its cues from old-school Mecha Anime, and any fan of that genre is sure to get a kick out of the seamless mix of embracing the Mecha spirit while winking at familiar tropes. However, if the idea of Anime influence makes you groan, don’t discount Adrastus just yet! What keeps me coming back are the characters, as both Sarah and Michael quickly became favorites of mine. Cast interactions and pacing are solid, and make it an enjoyable story, regardless of your usual story fare.
Interested? You can find Adrastus here! Even better, you can also buy her book from her website OR, if you’re near Crystal City, VA, you can find her from November 18th-20th at Anime: USA. She’ll be there with a booth AND will be doing some panels with the creators of Shadowbinders, which you may remember from my July Featured Link.