Stone King: A Mecha Monogatari Novel

by S. Douglas Johnson

For almost a decade, Saionji Kiyohiko operated a twenty-meter-tall bipedal war machine in Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force Titan Corps, defending Japan against the never-ending assault of the Eschatos. He came to be known as Ishio, the Stone King of Ibaraki, but now, his career in the Titan Corps over, he tells his story.Written in autobiographical style, Stone King is set in a not-too-distant future, where wars are fought with mecha operated by thought alone, powered by technology humanity does not fully understand, and piloted by youths conscripted to serve until they can no longer control the mecha...or until they die.

486 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 28, 2012

Reviews

[Jarryd Kalideen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book popped up on a GR suggestion and at first I was a tad apprehensive about reading it, but, being a massive anime, Japan and mecha fan I started.

At first I thought it would fall flat due to it being in first person view, which, to me is quite difficult to write whilst still being engaging an engrossing. This novel ticked those boxes. You do connect with the characters, build up the world quite nicely and you want them to succeed. This story isn't all action and giant robots - it includes plenty of daily life drama which does add to loving it more.

I wish there were more back stories to the world that we read off and a bit more description of the mecha.

An enjoyable book, that is not a quick read but does pay off.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read and exactly what I was looking for after finishing off a giant robot anime right before. I am not a fan of first person narrative but Kiyo was a great narrator.