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awoodalla's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
vickerstaylor's review against another edition
4.0
Definitely felt like part of a larger book (and makes sense considering books 3 and 4 appear to be the shortest in the series). Lots of set up. Lots of new characters. Lots of maneuvering. Where will this first arc go?
Will say that doing this series on audio can sometimes be a little difficult in keeping up with everything going on, but in terms of pure enjoyment, I'm shocked this series isn't talked about more. Each group has it's own distinct lore, attitude, abilities, and personalities. Each area in the world the same.
In terms of narration, Ben Allen is absolutely fantastic in giving each character a voice and personality that makes them stand out. It's a shame he hasn't done more fantasy series. Through 3 books I'd put him in the top tier group of narrators.
Excited to see where Tchaikovksy takes us in book 4!
Will say that doing this series on audio can sometimes be a little difficult in keeping up with everything going on, but in terms of pure enjoyment, I'm shocked this series isn't talked about more. Each group has it's own distinct lore, attitude, abilities, and personalities. Each area in the world the same.
In terms of narration, Ben Allen is absolutely fantastic in giving each character a voice and personality that makes them stand out. It's a shame he hasn't done more fantasy series. Through 3 books I'd put him in the top tier group of narrators.
Excited to see where Tchaikovksy takes us in book 4!
sherrybomb's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Thoroughly enjoying this series. I usually prefer scifi to fantasy but this has definitely changed my mind.
semajluap's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
mikehex's review
4.0
Best of the series so far, with the scene at the auction being very intense and well done. It still dragged in the middle but ranked up to the ending much quicker than in the first two.
kadomi's review
4.0
I am a bit behind on my reviewing, but here we go.
Blood of the Mantis is the 3rd book in the Shadow of the Apt series. What started as a typical 'fellowship of the ring' style story in the first book, with a group of young students setting out to fight the evil Wasp Empire, turned into something like a world war novel in the second book. In the 3rd book, we go back to something more similar to the first book. We have three different groups of protagonists in different locations, all with different goals to weaken the Wasp Empire. For what it's worth, very little actually happens. We have Che and Nero visiting the spider city of Solarno, and they meet one of my favorite characters so far: Taki, the reckless Fly-kinden pilot lady. In Sarn we have Stenwold himself trying to prepare for the next part of the war, and in the skater-kinden city of Sarn we have the Inapt crew around Achaeos trying to locate the Shadow Box. The Jerez chapters were my favorite, because it sounded like such a sinister, dark place, with much dark magic (but also technology) afoot.
Ultimately, few things happened, and the author is juggling many different story threads, maybe too many. I am excited to maybe learn more about Princess Seda in Capitas, and am still recommending this series that is pretty far removed from your classical fantasy.
Blood of the Mantis is the 3rd book in the Shadow of the Apt series. What started as a typical 'fellowship of the ring' style story in the first book, with a group of young students setting out to fight the evil Wasp Empire, turned into something like a world war novel in the second book. In the 3rd book, we go back to something more similar to the first book. We have three different groups of protagonists in different locations, all with different goals to weaken the Wasp Empire. For what it's worth, very little actually happens. We have Che and Nero visiting the spider city of Solarno, and they meet one of my favorite characters so far: Taki, the reckless Fly-kinden pilot lady. In Sarn we have Stenwold himself trying to prepare for the next part of the war, and in the skater-kinden city of Sarn we have the Inapt crew around Achaeos trying to locate the Shadow Box. The Jerez chapters were my favorite, because it sounded like such a sinister, dark place, with much dark magic (but also technology) afoot.
Ultimately, few things happened, and the author is juggling many different story threads, maybe too many. I am excited to maybe learn more about Princess Seda in Capitas, and am still recommending this series that is pretty far removed from your classical fantasy.
jhouses's review
3.0
En esta tercera entrega la saga comienza a alcanzar verdaderas dimensiones de Fantasía Épica. El pequeño grupo del Maestro Stendwold opuesto a los avances del imperio de las Avispas se extiende por nuevos territorios una vez que la invasión de las Tierras Bajas es un hecho. Los acontecimientos se desbordan y las tensiones en el propio imperio comienzan a aflorar.
He odiado al narrador del audiolibro con su voz nasal e impostada con toda mi alma y creo que abandonaré este medio y volveré a la lectura tradicional.
He odiado al narrador del audiolibro con su voz nasal e impostada con toda mi alma y creo que abandonaré este medio y volveré a la lectura tradicional.
jocdillo's review
5.0
This was my favorite of the novels so far. Though there was a lot of political maneuvering for the characters and not a lot of action (until the end), the plot was still solid.