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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-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
Of course I love it. Adrian's Scifi books are just always right up my alley. I also love war fantasy and this is everything that is great about books these days
3,5 stars
I have this feeling I just gobbled through ungodly amount of text and bunch of action scenes, but I can sum it up in one sentence:
And that's it- if first book was setting the world and introducing the characters, this one was all about progressing the plot.
Empire changed their strategy of fake diplomacy and trying to take Lowlands on surprise all at once and reverted to their well known and trained way of conquering city by city. First stop, Ant-Kinden city Tark.
With this book it became clear to me what's one of Thaikovsky's strongest point: he writes detailed, strategically imagined and logically played out battle scenes. It's one of reasons I am itching to try his stand alone book, [b:Guns of the Dawn|23524779|Guns of the Dawn|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1421364877s/23524779.jpg|43127821]. It's amazing, especially because his insect-world idea plays right into his hand: we have walking Kinden as infantry and flying Kinden are acting as aerial force. For example, my favorite part are Ants because they have hive mind thing going on and it really makes an interesting fight. :)
It's also where difference between Apt and Inapt Kinden becomes crucible...maybe even so much, it becomes the difference between losing and winning the war.
Following events from book #1, empire upped their game directly attacking Tark, but the fight start looking little more complex since politics and ancient grudges some cities have against their neighbors are used to form alliances. Lowlands were always divided and it's something Stenwold mentioned as their downfall even at the end of first book.
Shaping the story towards full-on war had a bit of setback on characters: no significant character development, and I was hoped it will be some, since first book didn't make me really invested in any of them. It made me ask myself what was the point of introducing Stenwold as spymaster with his young spies when none of them is..well, spying? This especially goes for Totho whom author made go on some misplaced guilt-trip and I didn't really like what he did with him. Let's hope we'll see them using skills they learned in Collegium in future books.
All in all- I don't think author stepped up with book #2, but he didn't make it worse either.
I have this feeling I just gobbled through ungodly amount of text and bunch of action scenes, but I can sum it up in one sentence:
Lowlands are in war with Wasps.
And that's it- if first book was setting the world and introducing the characters, this one was all about progressing the plot.
Empire changed their strategy of fake diplomacy and trying to take Lowlands on surprise all at once and reverted to their well known and trained way of conquering city by city. First stop, Ant-Kinden city Tark.
With this book it became clear to me what's one of Thaikovsky's strongest point: he writes detailed, strategically imagined and logically played out battle scenes. It's one of reasons I am itching to try his stand alone book, [b:Guns of the Dawn|23524779|Guns of the Dawn|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1421364877s/23524779.jpg|43127821]. It's amazing, especially because his insect-world idea plays right into his hand: we have walking Kinden as infantry and flying Kinden are acting as aerial force. For example, my favorite part are Ants because they have hive mind thing going on and it really makes an interesting fight. :)
It's also where difference between Apt and Inapt Kinden becomes crucible...maybe even so much, it becomes the difference between losing and winning the war.
Following events from book #1, empire upped their game directly attacking Tark, but the fight start looking little more complex since politics and ancient grudges some cities have against their neighbors are used to form alliances. Lowlands were always divided and it's something Stenwold mentioned as their downfall even at the end of first book.
Shaping the story towards full-on war had a bit of setback on characters: no significant character development, and I was hoped it will be some, since first book didn't make me really invested in any of them. It made me ask myself what was the point of introducing Stenwold as spymaster with his young spies when none of them is..well, spying? This especially goes for Totho whom author made go on some misplaced guilt-trip and I didn't really like what he did with him. Let's hope we'll see them using skills they learned in Collegium in future books.
All in all- I don't think author stepped up with book #2, but he didn't make it worse either.
This is the second book in the Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
He’s one of my favourite authors. If you're reluctant to dive into a long series without first getting to know an author, I've got a few recommendations. Fantasy: [b:Guns of the Dawn|23524779|Guns of the Dawn|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1421364877s/23524779.jpg|43127821] (Austen's Elizabeth Bennet goes to war); Sci-Fi: [b:Children of Time|25499718|Children of Time (Children of Time #1)|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1431014197s/25499718.jpg|45276208] and [b:Dogs of War|35827220|Dogs of War|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1501011224s/35827220.jpg|57331336].
The premise of the Shadows of the Apt series (which spans ten books) is simple: every species in this fantasy series is an insect-kinden, and has got the mannerisms, characteristics and qualities of said insect. We've got dragonflies, beetles, ants and flies etc.
Then one day, the Wasp Empire attacks.
This is a vast, detailed world and Tchaikovsky's love for everything that crawls is found on every page. The plot is of epic proportion with a sprawling war, and there's a huge cast of characters. Tchaikovsky excels at writing morally grey characters.
I highly recommend this series to all fans of epic fantasy. This is innovative, original and has not been done before.
He’s one of my favourite authors. If you're reluctant to dive into a long series without first getting to know an author, I've got a few recommendations. Fantasy: [b:Guns of the Dawn|23524779|Guns of the Dawn|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1421364877s/23524779.jpg|43127821] (Austen's Elizabeth Bennet goes to war); Sci-Fi: [b:Children of Time|25499718|Children of Time (Children of Time #1)|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1431014197s/25499718.jpg|45276208] and [b:Dogs of War|35827220|Dogs of War|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1501011224s/35827220.jpg|57331336].
The premise of the Shadows of the Apt series (which spans ten books) is simple: every species in this fantasy series is an insect-kinden, and has got the mannerisms, characteristics and qualities of said insect. We've got dragonflies, beetles, ants and flies etc.
Then one day, the Wasp Empire attacks.
This is a vast, detailed world and Tchaikovsky's love for everything that crawls is found on every page. The plot is of epic proportion with a sprawling war, and there's a huge cast of characters. Tchaikovsky excels at writing morally grey characters.
I highly recommend this series to all fans of epic fantasy. This is innovative, original and has not been done before.
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes