Phil Elmore: Individual Authoring Services

Click to Order Mechanical War in Paperback

Mechanical War was released in the summer of 2006. It takes up the storylines of many of the characters in my first novel, Demon Lord, but translates those characters to a science fiction setting. I am extremely proud of this book, which I think is much better than my first effort. I've learned a lot about writing since I first completed Demon Lord and I believe Mechanical War is a very entertaining action novel.

Mechanical War follows former government agent Kalin Shadeuz as he works to protect a mercenary spacecraft crew from a growing galactic conspiracy. Having made powerful enemies, Kalin discovers he is also being targeted by a supposedly extinct alien race. When another government agent with whom Kalin once worked starts using his position of power to foment a government coup, Kalin and his comrades are caught in the middle. Bullets fly and laser beams crackle as the whole affair culminates in gun battles and spaceship duels, not to mention a final confrontation between Kalin and his mortal enemy.

What Readers Are Saying:
Thinking about reading Mechanical War? Sharpen up your blade and grab some extra mags, because Phil Elmore is about to take you on a faster than light slalom through a galaxy full of conflicts and you're going to need the extra ammo.

Kalin Shadeuz, last seen in Elmore's Demon Lord is a man with a problem. Chased by his past, he's not really paranoid--there really are planets full of creatures out to kill him for reasons both personal and professional. He's lost everything: his profession, his sense of purpose, and mostly the family of traders, techs, and mercenaries that gave him the refuge that turned into the only home he ever had.

But even such a large universe is filled with small worlds. Kalin crosses paths with his old friends again when they get in the way of those who are looking to put Shadeuz back into the crosshairs for one last assignment, and those who just want him put him out, permanently and as painfully as possible. This time the stakes aren't just Shadeuz's honor and his friend's lives: it's for control of every planet in the galaxy when Kalin finds himself in the middle of a plot to take over the Trans Galactic Federation run by the very people he once trusted . Tricked and used before, this time Kalin has to decide if redeeming himself by squaring old accounts will be worth what's left of his life. And if Kalin Shadeuz is good at one thing, it's getting even.

Mechanical War is full of interesting takes on science fiction and action fiction tropes--galactic empires, feuding alien races(and bureaucracies!), intelligent machines, plus weapons exotic and familiar, just for starters.

There might be a desire to call Mechanical War military science fiction, and there's some good reason for that. You're going to see lots of action, all sorts of weapons, superbly trained humans and aliens duking it out with said weapons against huge odds for the biggest stakes, and no lack of hand to hand gritty look and feel across the pages. But Elmore gives us more than a standard shoot 'em up with a complex plot and a solid cast of characters.

In the intro Phil says he's not trying to write "War and Peace", but a love story, of sorts, spread across decades, wrecked planets, and lots and lots of of spent rounds. Button up the kevlar, strap yourself in, and find out if Kalin can pull it off.

– John G.