Empire in Black and Gold (Shadows of the Apt)

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The prose isn't quite as smooth as in Tchaikovsky's later books, but it's already filled with his unmistakable humour.

I should also note that this has a definite steampunk feel to it. The beetles have invented cars running on steam, spring tension and even electricity; the same goes for air craft. Trains are just coming into the picture. Weapons seem to be the cutting edge, however, with gunpowder fired crossbows (with repeating action), massive siege engines and such. The imagination of Tchaikovsky is truly amazing and his prose is a pleasure. I am not a fan of how he depicts swordfights, chases, general battles and the likes... It feels disconnected in a way and not "exciting"... But maybe that is just me being spoiled by all the great action-writers I read at the moment...What really makes this novel stand out are the races of humans, whether Apt or non-Apt. Those who use magic can't use tech at all, even latches on doors, but they can take on the aspects of the insects (or arachnids) that they're linked to. The normal races of humans (for they're all human) have a thriving steampunk society and they fear the magic. Of course, all types of people show up in every land, but how they deal with the types allows for a lot of diverse conflict situations. The cast of characters is varied, fleshed out, and I particularly enjoyed the amount of work the author put into his antagonists. The Lowlands’ city states have lived in peace for decades, hailed as bastions of civilization. Yet that peace is about to end. A distant empire has been conquering neighbours with highly trained soldiers and sophisticated combat techniques. And the city states are its desirable new prize. And if not 100% clear, if I there is just the information sprinkled in, that they like to play mind-games, politicing and manipulating, I think most of the work is done and the author can go on to tell his actual story without needing to worry about these things too much. Imprerium Czerni i złota – Adrian Tchaikovsky" (in Polish). Rebis. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010 . Retrieved 12 October 2010.

Relying on a simple premise as this, gives you a large amount of advantages as an author, that you would otherwise have to be very careful about, and especially as a first time author get you into some problems or inconsistancies. This brings me round to my first issue. Whether by accident or not, there are some gaps here. Tchaikovsky does a good job with his supporting cast, in particular with Salma, Tynisa and Thalric, who all undergo real development as characters and feel like they’ve grown past their starting limits. I could write a lot about each of their journey’s but I’ve pledged to keep this spoiler free. The idea of an all devouring race slowly conquering an entire world just appeals to me and the execution is pretty good. The standout sections are the political scheming and negotiations between the different insect/human races; dialogue is definitely the authors strongest writing skill. The downside to this book is the fighting/battle scenes; they’re such a drag. I found myself zoning out every time there was a scuffle. They seemed amateur compared to the rest of the book. TERRY WEYNA, on our staff since December 2010, would rather be reading than doing almost anything else. She reads all day long as an insurance coverage attorney, and in all her spare time as a reviewer, critic and writer. Terry lives in Northern California with her husband, professor emeritus and writer Fred White, two rambunctious cats, and an enormous library. Stenwold, Tynisa, Totho, Tisamon and Achaeos travel towards Asta to try and rescue Cheerwell and Salma while Scuto remains in Helleron. Stenwold does something he has not had the oportunity or courage to do before now, introducing Tynisa to Tisamon. Tisamon, recognizing Tynisa as almost identical to Atryssa, threatens to kill Stenwold unless he explains. Stenwold tells him that Atryssa never betrayed them at Myna, but was discovered by Wasp agents and forced to flee. She gave birth to Tynisa, her and Tisamon's daughter, before dying, entrusting Tynisa to Stenwold. Though she appears full-blood Spider, Tynisa is in fact an unheard-of Spider-Mantis halfbreed.This strange melange of humanity for hundreds of years was ruled by a theocracy of Moth-kinden, the most 'magical' of the humans in alliance with the 'mantis-kinden' who provided the muscle with their legendary prowess with blades. 500 years ago, the 'slave races' rebelled and cast off the moth yoke. It seems moths and some of the races possess an inability to employ technology while beetles (what is called the 'apt'), ants and so forth are really good at it. In a way, it was new tech and mass production that lead to the downfall of the moths and company. The moths have been reduced to living in a few scattered cities while the former slave races populate an area known as the lowlands. Whew! Helleron is an industrialised splurge and centre of industry somewhere west of Collegium. It’s interesting, with it’s different districts, gangs and sheer scale. By comparison, Collegium feels like every fantasy university town, a little indistinct apart from the institution it surrounds. I wrote in my notes –‘isn’t this just his version of [George R. R. Martin’s] Oldtown?’ (And even Oldtown just feels like Isengard with people in it). A fast paced and interesting story. The world building is quite good, from the various powers, the intra-Kinden conflicts, the differing cultures and philosophies of the kinden and the hidden history. The characters are also excellent. From Stendwold and Tisamon, to Cheerwell and Achaeos, all the characters were interesting and each had their own skill set that made them integral.