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Some authors do not write enough books while others write heaps. Tchaikovsky is one of the latter group. I feel as though I am never going to catch up with him, but starting the Shadows of the Apt series is a small step in the right direction. I liked this book but did not love it, mostly because there was just too much war. The author actually writes war really well but it is not my favourite subject and I admit to skimming a bit. The characters were good and I had developed an attachment to, o...
I'm sure every reader knows the feeling of starting a book you're skeptical about and being pleasantly surprised. Empire in Black and Gold was that and so much more. I had continually pushed it down on my TBR list because the whole insect idea just didn't click with me. Eventually I caved thinking that what if it ended up being a gem? Tchaikovsky writes pretty damn fast for a new-ish (I know '08 isn't that new but still) author whom not a ton of people know about.The human race is divided into s...
I first discovered Tchaikovsky with his Children of Time and have read most of his science fiction, but EIBAG was his first foray into writing and also a fantasy epic. Yet, many of the themes found in his later science fiction novels may be found here as well. EIBAG was his first novel, and while that shows a little, I still found it an engrossing and fun read. Tchaikovsky is known for his 'big ideas', world building and biological 'constructs' for lack of a better world and all are on display h...
Second read, March 2021: after having listened to the first 4 books which contain one story arc I went back for a re-read before going on to the next. With so many characters and places a second read always is more rewarding, cause nuances are more appreciated in hindsight, characters are better known etc. So I would tend towards 5 stars now, but in light of the level up that is book 4 I'll go for 4.5 star rating now.I'm happy to say that "Shadows of the Apt" is the second epic Fantasy series af...
Excellent debut fantasy set in a quite unusual world of various human races that have some specific insect adaptation and are called insect-kinden, e.g. beetle-kinden squat, mechanically inclined, mantis-kinden fast deadly warriors, spider-kinden masters of intrigue in whose society women dominate, moth-kindeb mystical former rulers until the mechanically inclined kinden, beetle, ants and flies overthrew them and built an early industrial society of city states - Lowlands - loosely allied and h
Empire in Black and Gold is the first volume of the fantasy series Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky.My impressions:There is a wise man, a threat, a "party", a travel, betrayal, fights. Hmmh, sounds familiar. But there are no elves, dwarfs, hobbits or trolls. Instead we find steampunk elements and most unsual: insect-kinden.Insect-kinden? There are several human races who long ago adapted to prehistoric insects. Examples: mantis-kinden are warriors, beetle-kinden like mechanics, wasp-kind...
War, war, and rumours of war, and yeah, war is here and war is HERE!I wish I liked epic fantasy novels of war more. I'd probably be a bit more enthusiastic.The wasps are an implacable and vast, vast army, an empire made up of slaves, slaves, and yet more slaves. This is a foe that makes me feel a knee-jerk reaction. Hell, most of the arguments made up of those still living in the lands that haven't been taken over make it sound like the ramblings of ignorant peeps in the face of the Chinese. All...
I hadn't even known about this epic fantasy series, until a friend outside the USA mentioned it. The good thing about that is: all ten books in the series are out (though one or two are not published here yet), which means not having to wait, if the succeeding volumes entranced me as much as this first one did.It has a zillion reviews, most of which give a general outline of the plot, and hint at the world building: basically a world of human-insect races, called kinden. Within some of these are...
3.5. Solid but not spectacular start to this fantasy series. I enjoyed the steampunk industrial elements and learning about the various kinden races. There is a large cast of characters but only a couple have me interested. Hopefully they will develop over time. I was entertained but it hasn’t kicked me in the feels.
This is an amazing start to a finished series. Topnotch intrigue and action, set against a complex backdrop with many races, a wide range of interests and motivations, with characters that are written with a superb touch - you care about all of them from the very start. There are no cardboard villains, quite the opposite, from the traitors to the 'bad guys' each one is presented with credible motivations, unanswered mysteries of character, adding up to incredible depth and scope.The execution is...
