Tulpa War

Colonel Megan Evita Schmidt and her sentient Tulpa, Kitsune, have ignited a full-blown war with Earth's destroyers. For the first time, the seemingly-invincible rulers of Mars and Earth are threatened and escalate the conflict.

The regime has a new leader, far more cunning than her predecessor, and her patient schemes threaten to undermine the brave efforts to save the dying Earth. An advanced new weapon is forged. His rider, an angry young man named Joey, named him Tengu....
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Colonel Megan Evita Schmidt and her sentient Tulpa, Kitsune, have ignited a full-blown war with Earth's destroyers. For the first time, the seemingly-invincible rulers of Mars and Earth are threatened and escalate the conflict.

The regime has a new leader, far more cunning than her predecessor, and her patient schemes threaten to undermine the brave efforts to save the dying Earth. An advanced new weapon is forged. His rider, an angry young man named Joey, named him Tengu. Together, they carve through the rebel ranks, relentlessly hunting Megan and Kitsune.

While the cause that she founded fractures with shifting loyalties, deep intrigues, and the dark secrets in her past, Megan must ride with her Tulpa once again to face her ultimate adversary.

★★★★★ from Amazon:
"More mecha! More destruction! More satisfying.
While its not necessary to read the first in the series, it would help to better appreciate the characters. In any case: Giant mechs and their riders battling to the death for: glory/honor/love?/desperation/brainwashing/encroaching madness! Oh the fun!
This sequel ups the amount of conflict while still keeping us in touch with our troubled protagonists as well as introducing some new and much more colorful antagonists."

★★★★★ from Amazon:

"An suprisingly effective combo of sci-fi military fiction and space opera drama
This is an excellent sequel to Tulpa Uprising, both real hidden gems. What struck me most about this book and its predecessor was the ability of the author to combine entertaining, schlocky science fiction fun with a believable depiction of the future.

The fights between 'Tulpas', the giant flying cybernetic mechs that the books are centered around, use the language of military target designation, control surfaces, point-defense systems, along with energy swords, fists, and polearms. The author straddles the line really well between a story of people and advanced military technology. The need for human pilots in these mechs is explained as the need for a human brain to encrypt signals in a way that machines cannot trace. I'll take it! Allows for the fun of mech fights.

The world has a number of quirks that add a great deal of nuance to the story. The primary adversaries of the the book are the Olympians, immortal through technology and greedy to a fault, siphoning the life of Earth for their pleasure palaces on Mars. What makes them interesting as an adversary is that our resistance group can never shake the feeling that even resistance to their Olympian masters is on some way part of their plans, that they are just pawns in the intrigues of one Olympian against another.

All of this sets the stage for both interesting and believable applications of future technology, while still letting that human element shine. Lots of fun twists and turns along the way. Very strong recommendation."