Humanity’s Greatest Mecha Warrior SystemAnother novel with a cheesy long title, but it’s a top ranker on Webnovel’s charts and others tales by Aoki Aku are also highly praised. After a lot of fantasy, I’m in for some science-fiction for a change, so why not ?The setting is not hard SF, more like a space opera, although more grounded than Star Wars. While it draws heavy inspirations from top SF universes (Warhammer 40K, Mass Effect or Alien/Predator, among others), it really feels unique and original. It also includes plenty of well-coordinated elements of strategy, politics, economy, diplomacy, social, technology … that give consistency to the whole and make it feel alive. It truly is one of the highlights of the book.The other is the characters, especially the two protagonists. Yes, because there are two, the power couple Keres Max and Nico Tarith, one can’t go without the other. One is a more classic hero down-to-earth with amazing tactical and psychological insights, the other is a battle-maniac with a gift for technology and massacre, both are intelligent, strong, funny and made for one another. The secondary characters are also well-made, not as detailed but good enough for the screentime they get. Of note are Nico’s mother Mary and the group of Envoy from the Alliance. The only downside is the final antagonist who, while understandably mysterious, doesn’t get enough attention.The power system is really well-thought. For one, it is not exclusive to the protagonists, in fact, this nanobots-based power is the trademark of the empire where they are born, they just have the highest level of compatibility possible with it. This system gives special powers specific to each person as they pass thresholds in their physical abilities while raising their physical peak to superhuman levels. Max tends to get, beside his initial mind-reading power, more combat-oriented abilities, whereas Nico gets more engineering/hacking perks. You could also consider the memories they get from their previous lives as part of their power, but since there are related to mostly unrecorded ancient times, they are a boon but not always relevant.The story is very good, with a fine progression of the stakes from the small and local (on a galactic scale) to the universe shaking, with a great variety of subjects, involving matter of war, politics, discovery, romance (amazingly told, that’s rare), a lot like Babylon 5, but more light-hearted. The problem here is the ending, which is rushed and a bit frustrating, although the author makes it clear this novel is only the first part of an epic tale.The writing is very good, the action gives sensations like fine anime mecha/power-armor combat scenes, the intrigue parts are also greatly described and the exchanges between the two MCs are a real treat. What prevents the writer from being qualitied as “excellent” are the various typos, grammar and homophones mistakes (few but a bit cringy for a tale that well-told) and the pacing, especially toward the last fifth of the novel. I understand that Aoki Aku intended to write a multiple parts story, and it relieved me to know this end is but a pause, but there should have been a better way to prepare the reader for this.Still, even with its bad sides, Humanity’s Greatest Mecha Warrior System is a very good SF novel, borderline excellent. Great characters (one of the best power couple of protagonists I’ve read about), fine system, excellent setting, a very good story served by a writing of equal level, my final verdict is a high 8 out 10 (and it could have been 9 with a better ending/transition to part 2). Aoki Aku deserves his spot as one of Webnovel’s best original author, I will be reading the next part of Max and Nico’s tale when it will be out and likely read another story by him in the meantime.Kergonan out
