Mechaniek: The King of Tartessos
by JC ComptonPublish: Jul 23, 2022Series: MECHANIEKScience Fiction Book Overview
Power has changed hands in Toweren: after the assassination of King Viryankar and the arrest of Rufus Doreabris, Nex Denisov has taken the throne through a coup and hired a professional manipulator, Laurent, as his first lieutenant. Traumatized after the death of his wife, Nex refuses to see their daughter and focuses instead on defeating King Byryam of Tartessos, with whom he is at war. Both kings rely on a personality cult to secure their power and are racing to create hybrids from the DNA of giant creatures found in the ruins of ancient civilizations. Between the war, the religious conservatives, the anarchists, and Nex’s youth militia, Towerenians live in a climate of fear and unrest.
Arnau Donovan transfers to the Royal School of Mechanics from a remote region at the age of eighteen. The son of a lumberjack but a genius mechanic, he immediately attracts the attention of the king and his teachers, and the jealousy of his classmates. Annoyed by this rude and unpolished youth at first, Goram, now a teacher, soon becomes fond of him. Jealous of his former rival, Nex tries to lure Arnau to his side, but it is to no use. The young man falls deeply in love with Goram, who rejects him at first, so he decides to join the army along with his friend Alistair, who has ties with the anarchists. Forced to carry out inhumane experiments on soldiers, both begin to plan the assassination of their king. Arnau is then reunited with Goram and they secretly marry, bringing upon them Nex’s wrath. The young king finds himself more isolated than ever, relying only on Laurent and his relative and hitman Miro. But after his own daughter is kidnapped by a spy, who can he really trust?