Just a few months after the epic events on Heavensday, when Eris, Sona, and the Gearbreakers successfully brought mass destruction to the leaders of Godolia and their Mechas, the few survivors remain in hiding. But they wont escape that easily if the last Zenith – Enyo – has anything to do with it. And he managed to capture Sona, brainwashing and using her to destroy the Gearbreakers once and for all. In Godslayers, Zoe Hana Mikuta’s epic sequel to the action-packed sci-fi YA novel Gearbreakers, readers return to Godolia and the Badlands for the remaining obstacles that the rebels face to bring peace.

Read my full review of Gearbreakers here. 

The Gearbreakers are in hiding, mourning the ones they lost and taking care of traitors within their ranks. Eris’s sister Jenny takes the latter more seriously than the rest of the crew. Supplies are scarce and Mechas are regularly patrolling the Badlands to find the remaining survivors. And while there seems to be little hope for them, things look even worse for Eris. Enyo imprisons her and uses Sona to carry out his bidding. Eris manages to escape and rejoin her crew in order to pick up where they left off. 

The remaining events in Godslayers are filled with offense and defense strategy, action sequences (with 100-foot robots!!), and angst of human relationships in a post-apocalyptic world. The stakes are higher – Mikuta took things up a notch for the sequel. Our favorite rag tag group of rebels are up against Godolia’s next model series of mechas – and their new Pilot recruitment strategy ensures no shortage of soldiers. 

As far as characters go, readers get more of Jenny in Godslayers, which I appreciated. Readers also get intimate insight as to Enyo and Sona’s relationship, which becomes a key factor in events to come. How Mikuta created a sympathetic antagonist, I do not know. Either way, I loved that we get more of everyone – not to mention more sophisticated relationships. 

The only problems I had with this is Mikuta’s choppy writing style. At times it was hard to follow along; nevertheless, I remained engaged with the story and wanted to know what would happen next. That being said, this is a worthwhile book to add to your shelf – but reading Gearbreakers first is a must. 

Zoe Hana Mikuta returns as a second-time guest for a Cantina Conversation on The Nerd Cantina Show podcast. We catch up with her publishing experiences this second time around, and dive into fleshing out more characters and giving them more dimensions. Stay tuned for the interview in an upcoming episode and pre-order Godslayers, available June 28. Gearbreakers is available now.