A review by st_aurafina
Empire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Motherfucking epic. So epic. I loved the world-building, I loved the clans of humans with insect-like characteristics and how this played into archetypes. I loved the general rolling history of it all, and the connections you can draw to early 20th political history. 

Sometimes, the epic nature of the storytelling was, in itself, a bit of a lead weight. I feel quite intimidated about taking on the next book. That could be because I read in audio? Kudos to the narrator for accent work helping me keep track of characters, including a startlingly good Australia accent.