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Mercenaries of Artem #1
Revenant: City of Artem : A gritty LitRPG
Blood, chrome and betrayal.
Sergeant Harry Kabutt has seen better days. He's been shot down, blown up, and then tossed to the wayside by the corporations, left to rot in a ratty apartment in gang territory.
His own limbs? Shredded, cut away, and left to rot on a mountainside. The replacement mods? Likely to fall apart or leave him to die in sepsis.
No longer an operator of the feared APS mecha, Kabutt has hit rock bottom. But he’s on foot, he’s armed, and he’s in serious pain…
…so, now it’s time to take that pain and spread it around the mega-city of Artem, see who flinches first.
Revenge never goes out of fashion
Sergeant Harry Kabutt has seen better days. He's been shot down, blown up, and then tossed to the wayside by the corporations, left to rot in a ratty apartment in gang territory.
His own limbs? Shredded, cut away, and left to rot on a mountainside. The replacement mods? Likely to fall apart or leave him to die in sepsis.
No longer an operator of the feared APS mecha, Kabutt has hit rock bottom. But he’s on foot, he’s armed, and he’s in serious pain…
…so, now it’s time to take that pain and spread it around the mega-city of Artem, see who flinches first.
Revenge never goes out of fashion
447 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 1, 2023
99 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 23, 2024
Good sci-fi from Jez Cajiao about a hardcore mech pilot
The MC is a mech pilot whose team is wiped out by backstabbing REMF’s in his chain of command. Then they force his early retirement and provide the bare minimum care for his many injuries after stripping his bank account.
This world is a negative utopia for everyone but the top corporate blood suckers who live in luxury while everyone else is barely getting by. Cybernetic modifications make a major impact on everyone’s life and lifestyle. But sketchy or infected mods kill organics, while the cybernetics turn them into zombies called specters. These specters are basically nanite vampires trying to eat nanites from the living to feed their post-life hungers. The MC must face betrayal, no money, substandard mods, specters, gang bosses, over and above a savage kill or be killed society to obtain some better mods. Only can he make enough money to remind backstabbing wankers what a poor life choice it is to screw around with a highly motivated, trained killer with a bad attitude.
The book is well crafted with action and intrigue from beginning to end. The world building is consistent though a very dark place, where trust, honor and kindness are rarely seen. The characters are ok, with a few standouts. The action is fast paced, with the MC jumping from frying pan into fire, then into hotter fire before finding a cooler area to regroup and reload in.
The MC is a mech pilot whose team is wiped out by backstabbing REMF’s in his chain of command. Then they force his early retirement and provide the bare minimum care for his many injuries after stripping his bank account.
This world is a negative utopia for everyone but the top corporate blood suckers who live in luxury while everyone else is barely getting by. Cybernetic modifications make a major impact on everyone’s life and lifestyle. But sketchy or infected mods kill organics, while the cybernetics turn them into zombies called specters. These specters are basically nanite vampires trying to eat nanites from the living to feed their post-life hungers. The MC must face betrayal, no money, substandard mods, specters, gang bosses, over and above a savage kill or be killed society to obtain some better mods. Only can he make enough money to remind backstabbing wankers what a poor life choice it is to screw around with a highly motivated, trained killer with a bad attitude.
The book is well crafted with action and intrigue from beginning to end. The world building is consistent though a very dark place, where trust, honor and kindness are rarely seen. The characters are ok, with a few standouts. The action is fast paced, with the MC jumping from frying pan into fire, then into hotter fire before finding a cooler area to regroup and reload in.
August 17, 2023
Excellent
Really well done. Excellent story, great world building and the characters are all top notch. Editing was on point with zero typos or errors of any kind.
I'm going to nit-pick because I'm an avid fan of the author, but the tension and anger levels were slightly too high for my personal tastes. I feel like the tension was already was a little heavy handed and a tad overdone. Not to the point of truly hurting the story or the book, but I do believe the book would have been fine without so much of it.
The MC's anger is understandable and relatable, especially given the story, but at times it felt like he was constantly on a short fuse. It almost because thematic to the character himself which made him less relatable than he otherwise would have been.
The slime and haggling... Again, a little too much. Great for world building, great for lore and creating tension, but when every vendor is looking to screw everyone over hard... Well it makes the reader seriously dislike the entire world itself, as If nothing is worth saving and it should all be blown to kingdom come.
Long time acquaintance/friend Gunbroker, rips him off. Gang rips him off. Merc guild 1 again. So on and so forth. When everyone does it so much, it loses meaning and really makes for an irritating setting. It's okay to have good people in a cyberpunk story, just saying.
Really well done. Excellent story, great world building and the characters are all top notch. Editing was on point with zero typos or errors of any kind.
I'm going to nit-pick because I'm an avid fan of the author, but the tension and anger levels were slightly too high for my personal tastes. I feel like the tension was already was a little heavy handed and a tad overdone. Not to the point of truly hurting the story or the book, but I do believe the book would have been fine without so much of it.
The MC's anger is understandable and relatable, especially given the story, but at times it felt like he was constantly on a short fuse. It almost because thematic to the character himself which made him less relatable than he otherwise would have been.
The slime and haggling... Again, a little too much. Great for world building, great for lore and creating tension, but when every vendor is looking to screw everyone over hard... Well it makes the reader seriously dislike the entire world itself, as If nothing is worth saving and it should all be blown to kingdom come.
Long time acquaintance/friend Gunbroker, rips him off. Gang rips him off. Merc guild 1 again. So on and so forth. When everyone does it so much, it loses meaning and really makes for an irritating setting. It's okay to have good people in a cyberpunk story, just saying.
November 9, 2023
25 hour audiobook, yet far too short in my opinion. Now I'll be scratching my neck like an addict until the next audiobook is released. This is Jez's best work by far in a while, IMO.
I fell in love with his writing with "Brightblade", yet found myself tiring of its sequels' repetitive nature. I loved how "Rise of Mankind" started, until it quickly became very odd and boring with a crappy MC. "Arise" got my hopes up, yet also fell off the rails. "Prototype" was great for several hours until it turned into yet another crappy MC constantly complaining internally.
Here's to hoping that this MC doesn't drag down the supporting characters and series as a whole once again...
Also, props to Jessica Threet for yet another knockout narration performance!
I fell in love with his writing with "Brightblade", yet found myself tiring of its sequels' repetitive nature. I loved how "Rise of Mankind" started, until it quickly became very odd and boring with a crappy MC. "Arise" got my hopes up, yet also fell off the rails. "Prototype" was great for several hours until it turned into yet another crappy MC constantly complaining internally.
Here's to hoping that this MC doesn't drag down the supporting characters and series as a whole once again...
Also, props to Jessica Threet for yet another knockout narration performance!
August 4, 2023
nothing really new here, good story, subpar MC.
Good storyline, very interesting MC. There’s some good world building here and some great action set pieces. The only problem I still have with this author and a lot like him is why do they feel they have to make the characters into meat shield You know you’re not gonna kill your MC And since he’s your MC, he should be the one doing the rescuing and getting his associates and friends out of danger. And this book is the other way around. The MC is supposed to be an elite soldier, so why does he make so many mistakes. The story is great, the mc not so much I will read the next book to see how the story progresses.
Good storyline, very interesting MC. There’s some good world building here and some great action set pieces. The only problem I still have with this author and a lot like him is why do they feel they have to make the characters into meat shield You know you’re not gonna kill your MC And since he’s your MC, he should be the one doing the rescuing and getting his associates and friends out of danger. And this book is the other way around. The MC is supposed to be an elite soldier, so why does he make so many mistakes. The story is great, the mc not so much I will read the next book to see how the story progresses.
November 11, 2023
Sadly not for me. I really didn't like how MC went constantly from the frying pan into the fire. I like my MCs badass and he was, in some ways, but he was also barely surviving and being f***ed over on the regular. He was in a really shity situation, trying to crawl out of it and constantly slipping when new buckets of shit were thrown at him. I have no doubt that he will end up on top eventually, but I just can't stand reading about another thing that went wrong. It's not that everything goes wrong for him all the time, he would be dead if that was the case, just... too much.
August 2, 2023
Wonderfully Crafted Post Apocalyptic Cyperpunk
This is a bit of a new genre for Cajiao, but the characters are what we have come to expect with plenty of action and sass. With this being a bit more active in street fighting and political intrigue against decrepit environments and hidden society class divisions. This ticks all the Cyberpunk genre tropes and should satisfy any fan of his previous series.
This is a bit of a new genre for Cajiao, but the characters are what we have come to expect with plenty of action and sass. With this being a bit more active in street fighting and political intrigue against decrepit environments and hidden society class divisions. This ticks all the Cyberpunk genre tropes and should satisfy any fan of his previous series.
September 16, 2023
Curiosly addictive
Another awesome story from this author, the characters, backstory and world all believable. From the first chapter, I laughed, cried and felt righteous anger at the appropriate times, looking forward to more, as everyone important are still to be saved. The more I read the more I wanted to know!
Another awesome story from this author, the characters, backstory and world all believable. From the first chapter, I laughed, cried and felt righteous anger at the appropriate times, looking forward to more, as everyone important are still to be saved. The more I read the more I wanted to know!
August 20, 2023
I actually enjoyed the writing but halfway through the book I spotted some transphobic comments/views from the MC and this really irked me. It made me questioning keep reading.
I finished it but I'm not sure I'll keep up with this series.
It's sad :(
I finished it but I'm not sure I'll keep up with this series.
It's sad :(
April 17, 2024
Best new Cyberpunk novel.
Finally found a novel in this genre that doesn’t disappoint. Can’t wait for the next installment. Just the right mix of gritty atmosphere, tech, and gratuitous violence. Well done.
Finally found a novel in this genre that doesn’t disappoint. Can’t wait for the next installment. Just the right mix of gritty atmosphere, tech, and gratuitous violence. Well done.
October 3, 2024
A solid 4/5 stars until 80% of the way through he al the sodden became massively overpowered and a genius sword fighter. Prior to this point he had never used a word or referenced it, next thing you know he’s taking on elite soldiers in mecha suits…
June 13, 2025
Seriously solid writing, sharp genre cyberpunk with some lovely variances.
August 31, 2023
A M A Z I N G
He has a way to bring characters to life that they simply live in your head and you'll never forget them ever so thank you for bring this to life for me
He has a way to bring characters to life that they simply live in your head and you'll never forget them ever so thank you for bring this to life for me
August 4, 2023
A great intro to a new series.
I bought this when it came out four days ago, and I couldn't put it down. Obviously I really enjoyed it.
A few (somewhat random) thoughts:
Setting: The setting reminds me of a very dark, very dystopian version of the Shadowrun RPG, in the sense that it's Cyberpunk with elves and orcs. So far no magic though, but it's only the first book. The author doesn't dig too far into the history of the setting, so it's unclear how society deteriorated so much to get to the point that it's at in the story. But the setting feels acceptably realistic and also extremely dark and gritty.
Characters: I really appreciated the realism of the main character. He makes mistakes, gets frustrated and angry, and has a hard time trusting people. He's also not magically bullet-proof; he gets hurt, sometimes terribly. Overall, the MC feels like a real person and not a one-dimensional superhero.
Amazon seems to want to classify this as LitRPG. Although there are a couple of places that refer to levels of equipment or cyber-modifications, this is very much a Lit-RPG lite book. There really isn't much in the way of RPG statistical data or game-like elements here.
Definitely an excellent book, and I'm looking forward to the next one in the series.
I bought this when it came out four days ago, and I couldn't put it down. Obviously I really enjoyed it.
A few (somewhat random) thoughts:
Setting: The setting reminds me of a very dark, very dystopian version of the Shadowrun RPG, in the sense that it's Cyberpunk with elves and orcs. So far no magic though, but it's only the first book. The author doesn't dig too far into the history of the setting, so it's unclear how society deteriorated so much to get to the point that it's at in the story. But the setting feels acceptably realistic and also extremely dark and gritty.
Characters: I really appreciated the realism of the main character. He makes mistakes, gets frustrated and angry, and has a hard time trusting people. He's also not magically bullet-proof; he gets hurt, sometimes terribly. Overall, the MC feels like a real person and not a one-dimensional superhero.
Amazon seems to want to classify this as LitRPG. Although there are a couple of places that refer to levels of equipment or cyber-modifications, this is very much a Lit-RPG lite book. There really isn't much in the way of RPG statistical data or game-like elements here.
Definitely an excellent book, and I'm looking forward to the next one in the series.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews