Sibling Rivalry

Review from March 2026
As soon as I clocked on to the premise of this story I was kinda shocked that I hadn't read it before. It is so obvious and idea, so natural a plot for the genre, that it feels a little absurd that I hadn't seen something like it before (Maybe I'm not all that well read, I dunno): a sibling rivalry where the two of them are both trying to beat each other out in the trials to become a handler's latest hound.

The coming twist is obvious from the start in a way that really lends a bleak inevitability to the whole competition, there's the further bleak inevitability that we, as genre savvy readers, all know what it actually is they're competing for. We all know that the reward at the end is not fun or nice or happy and I think that reader knowledge really enhances the twist by letting our emotions and the emotions of the characters intermingle and recontextualise.

I really recommend this one to pretty much anyone that has interest in mechsploitation. It's a pretty straight up mechsplo setting with two really great characters.

And how was the personal sacrifice: not completely pointless, the empire still gets its weapon, the war keeps on going and surely both of these characters are still bound inevitably for the mud. However there is still a little victory in there, there is some meaning in what was done.