The Sapien Empire by Nathan Ogloff

SPSFC 2024

A post-apocalyptic novel where civilization is making a comeback. Shindo Dacan is a socially awkward but gifted engineer who has made the most brilliant machines seen since before the All-Silence—machines that ruler Vibrun Magrite used in his creation of the Domain as he brought all four of the city-states within his iron grip. With the help of a friend of his, Shindo is secretly planning to provide prosthetic limbs to the many victims of the war his machines have waged. When Magrite finds out and slaughters Shindo’s friend before his eyes, Shindo tricks Magrite into funding a warrior mech to wreak revenge and is unwillingly rewarded with a woman from Magrite’s harem, Jarim Alsaedon. With his mech machine and Jarim’s help, Shindo stages a coup d’état that leaves Magrite dead and him and his accomplice as platonic dual heads of state. As Shindo and Jarim work to rebuild their civilization, they’re beset by factions both within and beyond the Domain’s borders. Can Shindo learn how to design a stable peace before the new world he’d envisioned becomes a wasteland of death and destruction?

Adult • Science Fiction/Post-Apocalyptic • Science Fiction/Dystopian • Literary Fiction

Content Warning: Profanity, Sexuality, Violence