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

3.0

I'm making my way through Adrian Tchaikovsky's books and this was the first one that I feel conflicted about if I liked it or not. (My favorite by far is the Children of Time series, but I also really enjoyed The Expert System's Brother.) This book started out intriguing and I love the types of "kinden" (Ant-kinden, Beatle-kinden etc). I also like the characters and their complex relationships - some of my favorites relationships are Che and Tynisa - Stenwold and Che - Achaeos and Totho - Thalric and Stenwold - Thalric and Che. Also great descriptions of the cities, they feel real and alive - Helleron and Tharn especially.
*spoilers*

Spoiler

However I felt that too much of the book was spent trying to rescue Che and Salma and the end felt rushed to tie up the ending in a meaningful way for the war. The battle of the Iron Road was too long in my opinion too. My favorite part was when Che found her Art (both times but especially the last). My least favorite story line is Salma and Grief in Chains. The second book in the series is mostly about Salma, so I'm undecided if I want to read it or stop here.

Empire in Black and Gold still feels like Adrian Tchaikovsky's writing and style, but I think it could have been edited down and polished more to make it truly enjoyable throughout.