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試作実験機アタランテ、開発中止!?
幼い頃に見た領主様に憧れて「正義の騎士」を目指す少女エマ。
試作実験機「アタランテ」のテストパイロットである彼女は、母艦の軽空母「メレア」の改装のため第七兵器工場へと訪れる。
メレアの「里帰り」を歓迎する第七兵工場のスタッフだけど、第三兵器工場のスタッフであるアタランテ開発チームとは険悪な様子。
「マッド・ジーニアス」と呼ばれる変わり者の技術者も現れて――
「この機体は駄目ね。欠陥機だから、降りた方がいいわよ」
アタランテ開発中止の危機に!? さらにアタランテを狙う組織も暗躍し……!?
落ちこぼれの少女騎士が成り上がる「星間国家」英雄譚、待望の第２幕!!
幼い頃に見た領主様に憧れて「正義の騎士」を目指す少女エマ。
試作実験機「アタランテ」のテストパイロットである彼女は、母艦の軽空母「メレア」の改装のため第七兵器工場へと訪れる。
メレアの「里帰り」を歓迎する第七兵工場のスタッフだけど、第三兵器工場のスタッフであるアタランテ開発チームとは険悪な様子。
「マッド・ジーニアス」と呼ばれる変わり者の技術者も現れて――
「この機体は駄目ね。欠陥機だから、降りた方がいいわよ」
アタランテ開発中止の危機に!? さらにアタランテを狙う組織も暗躍し……!?
落ちこぼれの少女騎士が成り上がる「星間国家」英雄譚、待望の第２幕!!
256 pages, Paperback
First published September 25, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 12, 2025
And that's the problem with rivals. More often than not, they manifest out of nowhere with zero prompting and shift one's professional trajectory off-course. The idle motives of a skilled mercenary is one thing to fear, but what about discipline, jealousy, and false requital?
I'M THE HEROIC KNIGHT OF AN INTERGALACTIC EMPIRE v2 takes a curious step forward, slowly at first, and then all at once, shoving the titular sub-lieutenant to an asteroid repair shop to await the Atalanta's reconstruction. The crew of the Melea is its typical lazy self, but Emma's burgeoning popularity has tweaked everyone's interesting in whether the throwaway ship is actually worth more than House Banfield's meager investment. After all, if that wild, experimental nemain-prototype yielded a big return, from a ship full of laggards, out in the boonies, then what else is Rodman's team capable of achieving?
The current volume is entertaining, but the action takes a modest backseat to a several plot and character mechanics. For example, the infamous Gold Raccoon model of House Banfield is currently collecting dust in a military hangar (and warily eyed by a young mercenary commander), the brilliant engineers of the Third and Seventh Weapons Factories are butting heads (and threatening to tank development of the Atalanta), and while Emma and her team wait around the asteroid base to newly outfit their ship, the political and martial forces raging against House Banfield eye a slow-moving target.
Structurally, HEROIC KNIGHT v2 favors building up the background dynamics that will presumably give rise to greater conflict. The trouble with dueling weapons factories. The emergence of the Vulture Mercenary Alliance and it's rebel ace commander with a grudge. The connections between anxious royalty and repeated strikes against House Banfield. Themes of loss, retribution, and duty, all wrapped up in a sci-fi epic about characters who are afraid to admit they care about their comrades.
Readers may not be particularly amused or entertained by the deception deployed by Sirena, commander of the Dahlia Mercenaries, who attempts to get close to Emma in an effort to learn why her assassin-guild patron wants the knight dead. But if the woman's awkward and rote rebellion against Emma's glassy-eyed fervor is the foundation for legitimate character growth ("She desperately wanted to show the ignorant girl how the world worked," page 144), then perhaps the momentary boredom is worth it.
Similarly, the appearance of Evil Lord mainstays like Head Knight Claus and bloodthirsty knight Chengsi Sera Tohrei, who fight off a surprise attack, feels regrettably short-lived, but necessary. Claus is a great character, but it's clear that his presence here serves a key purpose: to lift up Emma when she's feeling outgunned by her rivals and brought low by her peers' battlefield sacrifices (Claus: "Your allies will eventually get hurt if you're selfish," page 206).
HEROIC KNIGHT v2, in short, is about shifting the focus away from Emma-as-a-newbie and more toward Emma-learning-to-know-what's-what. The young woman watches a friend die in battle, is deceived by a cohort, and must teach herself the value of letting go. Not exactly fodder for giant robot action in space, but hopefully, another volume will make good on this foundation. At the end of the novel, a two-year time-skip certainly tells the tale.
Until then, the best part about HEROIC KNIGHT v2 is probably its cast of cameos. The appearance of Claus and Chengsi are delightful, as readers can finally see these characters through the eyes of others. Is Claus truly as much of a nervous wreck as he feels? Is Chengsi truly as single-minded as everyone presumes? Backstories from Emma's colleagues on the Melea, an introduction from a captain who serves beneath Claus, and a feud between engineers gives this novel series' characters plenty more nuance.
Engineering Major Nias Carlin, of the Seventh Weapons Factory, is probably the star of the book. Now so distant from the brutal grind of the sales department, no longer subjected to withering desk work, and out from under the gaze of her dear patron, Nias is an exquisite badass. Everyone fears, loathes, or wonders in awe at her unvarnished brilliance. Nias' cold, shrewd behavior grinds most people to dust. But in HEROIC KNIGHT v2, she's an engineer through and through, especially when it comes to repairing mobile knights on the fritz. In the novel's most compelling scene, Nias buzzes into Emma's cockpit in the middle of a frantic battle: "Sorry, but time is tight, so I'm going to adjust the software right now" (page 181). Meaning: Nias is going to rewrite the Atalanta's code, manually, during battle.
The current volume has plenty of skulking, whispering, bickering, and the like. And readers will doubtlessly feel as if they're being offered the premise to a much larger and more widespread narrative. The action is sparse but enjoyable. But at its heart, the novel's secondary cast does a good job of offering the main characters room to stand out and find themselves among the chaos and confusion that typically accompanies an assassination attempt or two.
I'M THE HEROIC KNIGHT OF AN INTERGALACTIC EMPIRE v2 takes a curious step forward, slowly at first, and then all at once, shoving the titular sub-lieutenant to an asteroid repair shop to await the Atalanta's reconstruction. The crew of the Melea is its typical lazy self, but Emma's burgeoning popularity has tweaked everyone's interesting in whether the throwaway ship is actually worth more than House Banfield's meager investment. After all, if that wild, experimental nemain-prototype yielded a big return, from a ship full of laggards, out in the boonies, then what else is Rodman's team capable of achieving?
The current volume is entertaining, but the action takes a modest backseat to a several plot and character mechanics. For example, the infamous Gold Raccoon model of House Banfield is currently collecting dust in a military hangar (and warily eyed by a young mercenary commander), the brilliant engineers of the Third and Seventh Weapons Factories are butting heads (and threatening to tank development of the Atalanta), and while Emma and her team wait around the asteroid base to newly outfit their ship, the political and martial forces raging against House Banfield eye a slow-moving target.
Structurally, HEROIC KNIGHT v2 favors building up the background dynamics that will presumably give rise to greater conflict. The trouble with dueling weapons factories. The emergence of the Vulture Mercenary Alliance and it's rebel ace commander with a grudge. The connections between anxious royalty and repeated strikes against House Banfield. Themes of loss, retribution, and duty, all wrapped up in a sci-fi epic about characters who are afraid to admit they care about their comrades.
Readers may not be particularly amused or entertained by the deception deployed by Sirena, commander of the Dahlia Mercenaries, who attempts to get close to Emma in an effort to learn why her assassin-guild patron wants the knight dead. But if the woman's awkward and rote rebellion against Emma's glassy-eyed fervor is the foundation for legitimate character growth ("She desperately wanted to show the ignorant girl how the world worked," page 144), then perhaps the momentary boredom is worth it.
Similarly, the appearance of Evil Lord mainstays like Head Knight Claus and bloodthirsty knight Chengsi Sera Tohrei, who fight off a surprise attack, feels regrettably short-lived, but necessary. Claus is a great character, but it's clear that his presence here serves a key purpose: to lift up Emma when she's feeling outgunned by her rivals and brought low by her peers' battlefield sacrifices (Claus: "Your allies will eventually get hurt if you're selfish," page 206).
HEROIC KNIGHT v2, in short, is about shifting the focus away from Emma-as-a-newbie and more toward Emma-learning-to-know-what's-what. The young woman watches a friend die in battle, is deceived by a cohort, and must teach herself the value of letting go. Not exactly fodder for giant robot action in space, but hopefully, another volume will make good on this foundation. At the end of the novel, a two-year time-skip certainly tells the tale.
Until then, the best part about HEROIC KNIGHT v2 is probably its cast of cameos. The appearance of Claus and Chengsi are delightful, as readers can finally see these characters through the eyes of others. Is Claus truly as much of a nervous wreck as he feels? Is Chengsi truly as single-minded as everyone presumes? Backstories from Emma's colleagues on the Melea, an introduction from a captain who serves beneath Claus, and a feud between engineers gives this novel series' characters plenty more nuance.
Engineering Major Nias Carlin, of the Seventh Weapons Factory, is probably the star of the book. Now so distant from the brutal grind of the sales department, no longer subjected to withering desk work, and out from under the gaze of her dear patron, Nias is an exquisite badass. Everyone fears, loathes, or wonders in awe at her unvarnished brilliance. Nias' cold, shrewd behavior grinds most people to dust. But in HEROIC KNIGHT v2, she's an engineer through and through, especially when it comes to repairing mobile knights on the fritz. In the novel's most compelling scene, Nias buzzes into Emma's cockpit in the middle of a frantic battle: "Sorry, but time is tight, so I'm going to adjust the software right now" (page 181). Meaning: Nias is going to rewrite the Atalanta's code, manually, during battle.
The current volume has plenty of skulking, whispering, bickering, and the like. And readers will doubtlessly feel as if they're being offered the premise to a much larger and more widespread narrative. The action is sparse but enjoyable. But at its heart, the novel's secondary cast does a good job of offering the main characters room to stand out and find themselves among the chaos and confusion that typically accompanies an assassination attempt or two.
April 18, 2026
Life in the Banfield Army is pretty good. They are respected by most in the Empire and their Knights feared by Pirates. Knight Emma life does not follow the norm though. She is having issues fitting into a regular Knight Armor and she seems to only be able to fly the over powered prototype.
With the impending end to the Prototype tests will Emma lose her Knighthood?
Lots of action on this one.
With the impending end to the Prototype tests will Emma lose her Knighthood?
Lots of action on this one.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews