A small improvement over the first novel that drives the plot forward and has a pretty satisfying ending, which is pretty rare for middle books in a trilogy. Our main cast returns, with Hugo Longchamp being made a POV character and given lots of screentime.I liked this change. Hugo's definitely not a unique character by any means, but the 'grizzled hardass snarky veteran with a hidden sensitive side' is always a fun archetype and it's nailed here. There's a lot less outright torture in this book, and most of the graphic violence is contained in Hugo's chapters. I thought the first book was maybe a bit extreme in its violence, so having it mostly contained was welcome.

The Rising is much more fast-paced and action-focused than The Mechanical. Hugo's chapters are almost entirely focused on the war and the siege, which was really well done, but it comes at the cost of having less room to dive into the deeper philosophical and ethical questions of the first novel.

I really liked this one. It was definitely more of a page turner than the first book, and the ending sets up the finale fantastically. The ending also really sets up Jax as the main character. While other characters share equal screentime, the series at its core is about the Mechanicals' struggle for free will and autonomy and that point is driven home at the finale of the novel.

The writing itself is consistently good. For most genre fiction (that isn't Le Guin, Kay, Tolkien, or their ilk) the highest praise you can give is that the prose doesn't get in the way of a good story. Tregillis can write really well, and there were no awkward phrases or poorly constructed sentences that took me out of the story. There is quite a bit more cursing, which felt the tiniest bit out of place compared to the first novel, but this one having a much more militaristic focus didn't make that too jarring.