Reviews

Dragonfly Falling by Adrian Tchaikovsky

mordshunger's review

Professor student pairing.

It is very uncomfortable and inevitable from the first interaction. (Unpleasant self insert?) 

"He had always reserved the greatest of contempt for masters who prayed on their students in this way (...) But it wasn't like that. (...) It was ever the dream to sleep with a spiderkinden woman before you die." 

Fuck this forever. I suppose we are to find this okay because she is a spy. I will not, thanks.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

andre93na's review

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

tadhgerman's review against another edition

5.0

This second installment in the series sees our protagonists having to grow up pretty fast as they are faced, each in their own way, with the horrors of war. Book 2 is definitely better than book one with a tighter pacing and more exciting happenings. I feel that the war and fighting in it is also treated as suitably horrifying and never really glorified except by people that we are clearly not meant to empathise with.

Definitely would recommend.

booleancat's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

enbypirate's review

adventurous dark hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

jaydoncornell's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

poorlywordedbookreviews's review against another edition

reflective slow-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? N/A

4.0

Book 2 in the Shadows of the Apt series, and a return to the political and war machinations of the many insect-kinden. This huge book continues to build on the first’s foundation of a sprawling, factional world, and large cast of characters, but the pace of the action speeds up considerably. That said, despite all the action and conflict, it’s a slow read - as there are so many characters to establish. At times I felt my interest waning, but all that investment in character arcs means that the emotional beats land well. 

   

If you like political/military fantasy then the series is worth a go - the overarching plot so far feels unoriginal, but the world building with its insect influence feels fresh, and Tchaikovsky (in his debut series) shows his skill at both believable characterisation and weaving many threads with dropping any. 

noranne's review against another edition

3.0

Wow this one took forever. It's not a bad book, exactly, but it's long and so much of it is about fighting. I do not really like reading about fighting. I wish I could have read an abridged version of this book that was about half as long but covered the same plot and character points. The pacing was also strange, the battles in the first half are lovingly detailed and then the last quarter of the book it's like "this happened, this happened, this happened."

I find the overall plot to be pretty straightforward, but it's not uninteresting. The characters feel sketched in still even after two books.

Not sure if I'll continue with this series or not, but it's not terrible or anything.

mwplante's review against another edition

4.0

Tchaikovsky really kicks the Shadows of the Apt into high gear with this second entry. This one makes good on the epic battles the last book seemed to promise lay ahead. In fact, I am now even more in awe of Tchaikovsky's ability to move the plot along. He manages to fit at least three major battles in this relatively slim volume. Cities fall, seiges are broken, and armies are slaughtered. The characters continue to be interesting but an epic of this scale has little time to spare on intricate characterization of its sprawling cast.

groenling's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0