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

4.0

I've read better books by Adrian Tchaikovsky, but I really enjoyed this as a quick, fun read. His world building is always excellent, and who could not be engaged by the idea of humans evolved from (or at least having developed the characteristics of) insects? It's genius! Of course, wasps are warlike and nasty, beetles industrious, moths mystic, spiders cunning, you get the idea! It's really good fun.

All the characters are engaging, the female characters are well rounded and have real agency and I got really involved with them. I did skip over a few of the sword brandishing scenes but this is a pacey, interesting adventure that left me wanted to read more of the series.