THE SAPIEN EMPIRE

The first book in the series tells the story of Shindo Dacan, a socially awkward young man gifted in all things engineering living in a Mad-Max style world. He is forced by a brutal tyrant, Vibrun Magrite, to create machines that aid Vibrun in his path of conquest. If you can imagine Elon Musk having to make machines for the Hells Angels, you'll have an idea of the situation Shindo is living under.

This all changes after Shindo exacts revenge on Vibrun with the aid of a woman, Jarim Alsaedon, from a derelict underground archive. From then on, they begin the process of rebuilding civilization across the planet. As their realm expands, they're constantly haunted by the mistakes of past civilizations. Shindo, in his new role as dual head-of-state, finds his desire to better understand people an absolute necessity.