This is Alex’s first entry into a new ‘The Starmetal Symphony’ series and packs in all the fun of Sylvain Neuvel’s Sleeping Giants, meets Gundam, meets Pacific Rim but these ‘Vanguards’ were not actually built by humans. They’ve come to earth to extract all human knowledge from our brains and leave our bodies to die. And there’s not only giant robots terrorizing the world, there are also the ‘ghosts’ which are robotic beasts with fangs that plunge into your skull and suck out your knowledge.

Stuck in the middle of all of this falls out depressed protagonist August Kitko. A bar-scene jazz pianist just waiting to die as the world and the ones he loves dies around him. Until he casually tickles the ivory for one last tune that will change his life.

Throughout the story of Gus and Ardent, Gus continually falls under the umbrella of ‘hapless hero’ where he struggles in his new role of humanity’s savior and opposes this ‘chosen one’ trope. He relies heavily on his non-binary ‘joyfriend’ rockstar Ardent Violet for the comfort and encouragement to dig up confidence to fight for humanity. I felt like Gus was a little too resigned to his fate and really wanted him to snap out of it and get some more gusto through the evolution of his story.

White does a great job on the action, chasing, and giant robot fights and he’s not afraid to put his characters through the ringer. His writing tends to shine the spotlight a little more on the relationships of his characters than the bad-ass fighting robots. I felt that through the 60-80% mark of the book slowed down a little and got me out of the groove. I liked meeting the tertiary characters and their history and enjoyed the attention to detail on the musical composition going on. The final battle was fairly epic and the villain of the story was quite sinister and powerful and I’m glad i stuck with it.

I would recommend that you give this a shot if you’re a fan of Alex White’s other writing, perhaps softer scifi, and love an apocalyptic gay romance covered with giant fighting robots and modal musical composition.

ARC audiobook provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“August Kitko and the Mechas from Space” kicks off at the end of the world. The Vanguards (giant, powerful robots from space) are landing on Earth with one mission: destroying humanity, wiping out the planet for reasons unknown. As the world prepares for the end, August “Gus” Kitko, a jazz pianist by trade, faces his final moments playing piano at a goodbye party with hopes of kissing rockstar Ardent Violet before the lights go out.

As the Vanguards (“mechas”) arrive and the destruction commences, Gus braces himself for his own finale. However, the unthinkable happens. Amidst the chaos, a mecha named Greymalkin steps in and saves Gus’s life. It seems that not all of the mechas want to destroy humanity. Soon Gus and Ardent join ranks with the rebel Vanguards on a mission to save the world…with a little help from some music.

I was truly blown away by this book. The title and the description piqued my interest enough for me to give the book a try, but I honestly wasn’t expecting a book that was this good. The story was one of the most original plots I’ve experienced in a long time, and the author weaves a thoroughly engaging tale. The main characters are likeable, although the two main characters, Gus and Ardent, are deeply flawed. It’s these flaws that make them more relatable, however. I found myself cheering Gus and Ardent on, going along for the roller coaster ride. At multiple points in the narrative, I found myself on the edge of my seat, not knowing whether the author was going to kill off a main character or not. To that end, I’m not going to give away any spoilers.

The plot is complicated, and there are a lot of characters and story arcs to keep up with. I did find that the author did a good job of balancing these, so I was able to follow along. The only confusion I had in the very beginning was the author’s reference to “they” and “them.” I must admit I was a bit slow to pick up on the fact that Ardent is nonbinary, thereby referred to as they/them. Frankly, nonbinary characters just aren’t seen in most novels, so it was a pleasant surprise for me. I applaud the author for introducing a nonbinary character in this novel. It needs to happen more.

My ARC copy of this book was an audiobook, so I must comment on the narration. I found it to be absolutely perfect. The narrator did a good job with not only the narrator’s voice, but also voices for the male, female, and nonbinary characters. I find that most narrators have a weakness with one of these categories, but this narrator was flawless. The narration kept me fully engaged in the story.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. This story is great for adult and young adult readers, and fans of Sci-Fi, fantasy, and just fiction in general. The author did such a great job that I’m going to be looking into their prior body of work. I absolutely can’t wait for more books in this series, and I’ll be picking up a written copy of this book upon its release. I encourage you to pick up a copy of this book in either written or audiobook form immediately!

Muchas veces nos pasa que ponemos demasiadas expectativas en nuestras lecturas, o que erróneamente pensamos que una novela va a seguir un camino y acaba yendo por otros derroteros. La verdad, cuando vi la cubierta y el propio título de August Kitko and the Mechas from Space, lo primero que se me vino a la cabeza fue David Bowie y la novela Space Opera de Catherynne M. Valente. Ninguna de estas referencias resultó ser válida, la primera porque aunque el libro está basado en la música los personajes ni se acercan en carisma a Ziggy Stardust (misión casi imposible) y la segunda porque Valente adopta como propia la tradición de Eurovisión y la lleva al espacio, elevando la mamarrachez a su máxima potencia y Alex White nos ofrece una obra mucho más comedida.


La Tierra está condenada, porque al igual que la práctica totalidad de las colonias humanas en el espacio está destinada a la destrucción por parte de unos mechas alienígenas de insuperable poder. Cuando el pianista de jazz Gus Kitko está pensando en el suicidio justo coincidiendo con la llegada de los Vanguards, pero una improvisación con su piano consigue lo impensable y se convierte en la esperanza de salvación de nuestro planeta.

El punto de partida es algo absurdo, por mucho que digan que la música amansa a las fieras (se ve que a los robots asesinos gigantes teledirigidos también) y hay que aceptar que ese será el tono del libro en general. Hay muchas escenas de acción bastante entretenidas y una historia de amor muy tierna que vemos cómo se va desarrollando poco a poco entre invasión, catástrofe y revelación inesperada. Pero el libro me parece muy descompensado y los protagonistas, bastante planos. Me gustaría que se hubiera explorado más la verdadera causa raíz de la llegada de los Vanguards, porque eso sí que es un tema que merece investigar en profundidad, pero le autore se pierde un poco entre sesiones jam y movimientos poco sutiles del fandom, lo cual me parece una pena.

Tampoco sabía que esta es solo la primera entrega de una serie, aunque la lectura está perfectamente contenida en un solo volumen. Me gusta la representación de la bisexualidad y la presencia de personajes no binarios, me parece que encaja perfectamente con la obra y con lo que resultará ser el futuro de la humanidad. Es solo que mis expectativas me han jugado una mala pasada al escuchar el audiolibro.

La narradora del audiolibro es Hayden Bishop y realiza una tarea muy adecuada al ritmo del libro, aunque su voz no me resulte especialmente musical, como sería lo lógico cuando estás representando a varios artistas de diversas extracciones. No obstante, su labor es muy buena.

No puedo recomendar el libro si no es sabiendo un poco de antemano lo que te vas a encontrar, para que no entres con una expectativas que no se podrán alcanzar.

“Then why do you fight for us? // Because the right kind of demise trumps the wrong kind of survival.”

AUGUST KITKO AND THE MECHAS FROM SPACE is the first book in a queer, music-driven space opera about finding hope for humanity when it seems all is lost. Set in a world several hundred years ahead of our own, a climate-ravaged Earth that has barely survived and been forever changed faces an extraterrestrial challenge in the form of massive mechas from space. Outfitted with artificial intelligence that makes them nearly impossible to defeat, they’ve drained the memories from millions on Earth and its galactic colonies, and are bearing down to end humanity once and for all. That’s where we meet August, a jazz pianist, preparing for collective death at a massive, somber goodbye party. But then Greymalkin, a so-called traitor vanguards arrives, a mecha who has defected from the group and decided to fight alongside humankind. Gus and Greymalkin team up with other abdicators and their conduits (including Gus’ new lover, the rockstar Ardent Violet) to challenge the mecha force and perhaps change the tide of war whose end seemed all but guaranteed.

This book was fun! Epic space battles between huge robots, a very cool music-inspired kind of fighting, fun technologies like mecha-sized swords and super-powered corsets, a nonbinary pop celebrity with a penchant for neon, and queer romance at the heart of this galaxy-wide conflict. Gus has suffered significant losses, been depressed and suicidal, and has felt hopeless about the future of the planet; Ardent manages panic attacks and their own anxieties about their family. I loved how these experiences were represented, the care and tenderness they show each other, and how hope is integral to them individually and as a couple fighting for what’s possible. It felt incredibly relatable to the state of our current world, with the recent isolation of the pandemic and the ongoing devastation from human-induced climate change. It was beautiful and inspiring to see how important music is for each of them and I really enjoyed how the value of creativity and collective memory was integrated into the plot. This book was a bit too action-heavy for me personally, but it was really well-executed and I’m sure it will work for others. It’s incredibly cinematic and I would absolutely watch a screen adaptation of this series. Thanks to Orbit Books and Hachette Audio for the review copies!

Content warnings: suicidal ideation, completed suicide (past), loss, grief, violence, body modification, hospitalization