Empire in Black and Gold (Shadows of the Apt)

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But Stenwold isn’t so parochial as that. Collegium, from whence he hails, is known for being open to all species, and even to accept (with considerable reservations) half-breeds. One of his students is Totho, a cross between an Ant and a Beetle, and especially gifted at mechanical engineering. Tynisa is his ward; she is a beautiful and treacherous Spider-kinden. His niece, Cheerwell or Che, is of full Beetle blood but has never been able to access her Ancestor Art — apparently a sort of maturation that allows one certain abilities that are inherent to one’s race, such as the ability to sprout wings and fly (yes, that’s literal). The fourth in Stenwold’s band is Salma, a prince among the Dragonfly-kinden. Each has a distinctive personality, with his or her own special interests, worries and, ultimately, plot: the group is divided up this way and then that, with the threads of the story traveling across many lands and involving many more characters. Tchaikovsky has regularly expressed his intention regarding the Shadows of the Apt series not to make science better than magic, [16] or vice versa: "This is another key element, really: the magic/tech divide is a concept that turns up here and there in fantasy, but usually one side is good (mostly magic) and the other (dirty polluting tech) is bad. With the world of the kinden, they’re basically both as bad as the people who use them, whether it’s blood sacrifice in a Mantis-kinden grove or the Wasp Empire’s city-levelling weaponry." [17] Awards and nominations [ edit ] So with that, their furstration while trying for years to convince the capitalistic and blinded societies they live in, that they need to act against this unstoppable, fanatic empire, becomes the frustration of the reader. Also, what's with creating steampunk-ish multi-legged automobiles rather than ones with, I don't know?, wheels?!

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The city states of the Lowlands have lived in peace for decades, bastions of civilization, prosperity and sophistication. They have been protected by treaties, trade and a belief in the reasonable nature of their neighbours. A fast paced and interesting story. The world building is quite good, from the various powers, the intra-Kinden conflicts, the differing cultures and philosophies of the kinden and the hidden history. The characters are also excellent. From Stendwold and Tisamon, to Cheerwell and Achaeos, all the characters were interesting and each had their own skill set that made them integral. Terrible Worlds: Revolutions (Solaris, 2023), ISBN 978-1786188885. Collects three novellas: Ironclads, Firewalkers and Ogres.

We already know, the wasps are BAD. We know what they can do, we know what they want to do. And so do our characters. Clute, John (13 June 2022). "Tchaikovsky, Adrian". In Clute, John; Langford, David (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (4thed.). I also enjoyed the trust he put in me as his reader. Now this might be something he’s done before but this was definitely the first time I noticed. In places, he almost channels Hemingway and doesn’t fall into the trap of over-describing his world. His prose, while heavily stylised (and a distinctive voice throughout) uses quite plain, utilitarian language, like he was writing me a scaffold to support my imagination, rather than smothering me with details I didn’t need.The Lowlands’ city states have lived in peace for decades, hailed as bastions of civilization. Yet that peace is about to end. A distant empire has been conquering neighbours with highly trained soldiers and sophisticated combat techniques. And the city states are its desirable new prize.

It’s an interesting plot concept which brings to mind the film 300 (well, my mind. maybe nobody else’s). The Wasps play the part of the Xerxes led Persians as they sweep over the land conquering all before them aiming for their end goal of ‘One Nation’. Stenwold Maker, a beetle spymaster defeated in the books opening battle at Myna, is laying low in Collegium keeping his eye on the advancing Wasps as they slowly make their way to the Lowlands. His attempts at convincing the governors of Collegium to take action and prepare for the inevitable invasion are rejected due to their selfishness. The idea of invasion is a joke to them so they’d rather turn a blind eye and live like fat kings. Fed up of Collegiums ignorance Stenwold assembles a team and departs for the Industrial city of Helleron, which seems to be the Wasps next conquest.

Seventeen years ago the Wasp Empire stormed the city of Myna as part of their war of conquest. Witness to this savage ferocity was Stenwold and since that time he has been training agents to fight the Wasp advance and has preached against this threat. There are several insect groups represented and I hope to see more in forthcoming books. Stenwold is a beetle who is an academic. Tisamon is his Mantis warrior friend. Tynisa is his foster Spider-daughter. Che is his beetle niece. Salma is a flamboyant Dragonfly swordsman. Tothe is a half-breed who is very good at mechanical devices. Achaeos is a Moth-seer and becomes an unwilling participant in their fight. Then there’s the main antagonist, Thalric, a captain of the invading Wasp Empire. These are all great characters and easy to route for. I'm happy to say that "Shadows of the Apt" is the second epic Fantasy series after Sanderson's "Stormlight Archive" that convinces me on all levels. All in all this was a fantastic debut and I'm very pleased that I am able to dive right into Dragonfly Falling and subsequent ones without waiting. Provided that I whittle down Mount TBR a bit between books. I want to say here that this shouldn’t contain any spoilers, though it will explore some of the plot points and certain characters, their traits and the world in general. If you’re squeamish, look away now…