New UK cover art for Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shadows of the Apt

Via The Wertzone.

Apparently Tor UK will publish those new covers next year. I am not sure I like them. They are flashy, but the character arts are a bit kitsch. And as usual no recognizable characters could be discerned. The artists keep making everyone in Tchaikovsky's world look like a Marvel Comics superhero alien elf robot...

Heirs of the Blade pushed back for October

Adrian Tchaikovsky confirmed on his blog that the seventh book in his Shadows of the Apt series - Heirs of the Blade - won't be released in the UK in August as originally planned, but on October 7th. In other news, we are still waiting for a US release date for the sixth one - The Sea Watch - from Pyr, and who knows when that will happen. Still, it is slightly comic that the author would apologize for a delay that would still see him publish two big books in one year, but you gotta admire guys like him or Sanderson who could actually pull off a good quality work in such a short period of time.

Cover art for the US edition of Adrian Tchaikovsky's The Scarab Path

I still think that the US editions of Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shadows of the Apt (published by Pyr) are way better looking than the UK version, not to mention the format is easier to read. So, on that note, here's the cover for The Scarab Path - book 5 in the series, and first in the second story-arc. Release date is April 2011.

The books I'm expecting in 2011

This is just a short list, and I haven't put that much thought into it, but I felt the need to write down the books I'm most eager to read in order of their anticipated awesomeness.




1. The White Luck Warrior by R. Scott Bakker
Even though I was slightly disappointed with The Judging Eye (there will be a review soon, after I reread it), I still can't wait to read this one. The Prince of Nothing trilogy is by far my favorite work of fantasy, and I trust Scott Bakker to deliver again with The Aspect Emperor.



2. The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
For whatever reason, it's always been extremely hard for me to explain why I like The Name of the Wind so much. It is more or less a generic "orphan goes to school to become a great magician" story, but it felt neither generic, nor cliche. I am planning to reread this one as well, and I hope I can pinpoint what makes it so good. That said, The Wise Man's Fear took its sweet time, risking to put Pat Rothfuss in the same basket where George Martin is happily writing A Dance With Dragons with one hand, while supposedly programming Duke Nukem Forever with the other or something like that. Which would not be an issue, had the series not been promoted as an "already written" kind of deal, and had Rothfuss not been a writer with only that one successful book under his name. Still, the waiting is almost over and The Wise Man's Fear will be awesome. I just know it.



3. Embassytown by China Mieville
Probably not for the first time, I have to admit to the terrible shame of having never read an entire China Mieville book. It's not that I don't want to, I actually crave to! I just never seem to be able to get around to it. So, apart from about 250 pages from Perdido Street Station, read before the dawnatime, I have no experience with Mieville. However, I know enough to know that I have to read Embassytown. This writer, doing a space opera? Yes, please!



4. Home Fires by Gene Wolfe
Gene Wolfe is the greatest living writer in the speculative field area. That doesn't always make him the most interesting or approachable one, but it's a nice thing to be, none the less. I am not always in love with his fantasy, magical realism and mystical works in general, but his SF is always spot on, and terribly, terribly engrossing. Home Fires promises the usual Wolfeisms - confusing identities, stories within stories, and weird romance. In a futuristic setting. What more can the heart desire?


5. The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
Say what you want about Sanderson, his Mistborn trilogy was one of the best fantasy works I've read in years. So, when he announced that 2011 will see the publication of a stand-alone novel set in the same world, but 300 years in the future, in a society much more technologically advanced than the Final Empire... well, appetites have been whet. There is still very little information about this book, particularly concerning its release date, but I am fervently hoping it's around the summer. The Alloy of Law would make for awesome summer reading!



6. The Crippled God by Steven Erikson
Had you asked me three years ago, this book would be at the top of the list. However, the Malazan series is not what it once was, and I have utterly lost faith in Steven Erikson's ability to deliver a satisfying conclusion to it. I have been so disinterested lately, that I haven't even gotten around to reading Dust of Dreams (that will happen soon, however, followed by a review of the book here). Still, it has been a long ride, and at least the first half of it was quite memorable. Hoping against hope has always been appealing to me, so here's to hope!



7. The Scarab Path by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Yes, yes, I know this book is already out in the UK. But the Pyr editions are so much more... well, beautiful. Plus, I am yet to finish Blood of the Mantis, so there's no rush. Tchaikovsky's Shadows of the Apt series is slowly finding its pace, and getting better and better with each installment. I have been told that Salute the Dark marks an ending to the current story-arc, which means that The Scarab Path would be the beginning of a new one. I admit I'm curious as to how Tchaikovsky will handle that with the experience he's acquired since Empire in Black and Gold.



8. The Cold Commands by Richard Morgan
Just like Mieville, the next two places on my list are left for writers I am really interested in, but haven't had the chance to check out. I've been meaning to read something by Morgan ever since Altered Carbon, but never got around to it. I am definitely planning to try The Steel Remains however, and if it's half as good as everybody says, then The Cold Commands should go a lot higher on my list.



9. The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie
I've heard so many good things about Abercrombie, that I just couldn't not put The Heroes on my list. The reason for it being so far back is that I am yet to even start The First Law trilogy, and considering my reading speed lately, it would be a long time until I get to this particular book. But I will get there! One has to believe in reaching for the stars!



10. By Light Alone by Adam Roberts
My first and only contact with Roberts was through one of his parodies - The McAtrix Derided. I did not fall in love with the book, and although there were a few really funny moments, the overall feeling I got was that the writer wanted to mix serious SF with a movie spoof, and it hadn't really worked. That said, since then I've read a lot of Adam's posts in his blog, and I have gradually warmed up to the idea of reading more of his work, preferably not spoofs, but his own stuff. By Light Alone seems like a wonderful place to do that, with its promised "Fitzgeraldian" futuristic New York atmosphere. I will be checking it out, that's for sure.



Honorary mention: A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin
Yeah, I know. But for what it's worth, I think we have an actual shot at reading this book in 2011, even if it's a Christmas present. I wouldn't mention it though, if it weren't for the fact that I am currently rereading A Game of Thrones, due to the HBO show coming up (there will be review of it, btw, followed by other cutting edge reviews such as The Lord of the Rings and Conan the Barbarian! Stay tuned!). It was a good ten years since I last read it, and that wasn't in the original language either, so I am thoroughly enamored with it. As for Dance... well, time will tell.

2010 In Retrospect

I read a staggeringly small amount of books this year (you will notice that only two of my choices were actually published in 2010), due to life coming out of nowhere to intervene with my quiet geekiness. Also, this is the first time I've ever actually had to do this kind of thing, so I decided to keep it modest. If - Xenu willing - I'm here next year, I'll probably put more thought into the task.

So, here's

Roland's Random Lists of 2010:

Best books of 2010:



1. The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (Review)
There is absolutely no competition for my first place this year. Bacigalupi's environmental dystopia is easily one of the best books I've ever read, and I am happy it got all the acclaim it deserved. I am expecting great things from Bacigalupi, and can't wait to read his novella The Alchemist, if only to see what he would do when unleashed on the Fantasy field.



2. Dragonfly Falling by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Review)
After the first slightly uncertain steps Tchaikovsky made in his debut novel Empire in Black and Gold (review here), the second book in his Shadows of the Apt series showed how grand his world really is, and how much more complex it will get in future novels. The totemic relationship between kindens and their insect avatars, as well as the steampunk elements make for one of the most original epic fantasy worlds in a long time. The fact that Tchaikovsky seems to be getting better with each new novel doesn't really hurt either.



3. Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (Review)
I honestly didn't know what to expect from Doctorow's dystopic YA tale when I started reading it. I am allergic to books that are too "savvy" when it comes to the techno-slang and online culture, but in this case the balance between that and actually good story-telling turned out to be so good that I instantly fell in love with the book.



4. Leviathan Wept and Other Stories by Daniel Abraham (Review)
Although slightly underwhelming - after the hype I'd been exposed to - Daniel Abraham's short story collection was among the events of 2010, and definitely shows an amazing storytelling potential. A name to pay attention to, without a shadow of doubt.



5. The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson (Review)
Although not the best of the series (that honor falls to Mistborn (review here, and here for The Well of Ascension)), The Hero of Ages was a great and mind-bogglingly epic conclusion to one of the best fantasy trilogies written in a long time. Sanderson's detractors keep pointing out his "shyness" when it comes to the topic of relationships and sex, as well as his two-dimensional characters, but in truth, the Mistborn series was almost a text-book example of how to do high fantasy without being numbingly cliche about it. And of course there is the gloriously good magic system(s) that seems to be Sanderson's trademark.


Author of 2010:



Brandon Sanderson
He may not be the brightest literary star in the fantasy genre (it's hard with competition such as George Martin, Gene Wolfe, Scott Bakker or Steven Erikson), but regardless of whether you're a fan or not, Sanderson's success can't be denied. 2010 saw the publication of three of his novels, and the guy doesn't seem to ease up or slip in terms of quality. To be as prolific and consistent is no small feat, and I believe it deserves recognition. As well as the fact that - my respects to both the late Robert Jordan and his most dedicated fans - he is single-handedly saving The Wheel of Time from an underwhelming and disappointing ending while writing with a speed three times that of its creator. So how was your 2010?


Biggest disappointment of 2010:



The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (Review)
Yes, I know this book is on the top places in most other people's "best of" lists, and of course I'm not putting it in this category because I think it's bad. It just didn't connect with me in any conceivable way, and I felt it was completely unequal to the praise it got. And although Ian McDonald is obviously an amazingly talented writer, both this book and the 3/4 of Desolation Road that I read make me think that he just doesn't have the spark that makes the reader actually want to go on reading his work. Or at least he definitely doesn't have the spark that makes me want to...


Discovery of 2010:



Paolo Bacigalupi
There was a pretty big list of names to chose from, considering most of the writers I read this year I had no previous experience with. But Bacigalupi is easily the most promising of all of them, and I can't wait to read his next mature novel. Of course, my mild dislike of environmental themes might ultimately ruin the relationship, but so far it's all going so well...


Most underwhelming new voice of 2010:



Jon Sprunk
I feel slightly penisy for doing that, especially considering that Sprunk's Shadow's Son (review here) wasn't half-bad. Thing is, it was way, way, WAY too predictable and "by the numbers". I'd read it before. Many times. And in some cases more interestingly written. I guess that's the curse of the time we live in - you can only use the classical tropes if you are really amazing with them (Patrick Rothfuss), or if you introduce new elements (Adrian Tchaikovsky). And since Jon Sprunk did neither of those things, Shadow's Son read like something... tired. You don't want that from a debut novel. I am having my fingers crossed for the second part in the series to do better; I think Sprunk has the potential for that.


The books I'm most sorry I didn't get around to:

This is just a list of the titles I really wanted to check out, but couldn't read this year. There's no particular order to it.

Kraken by China Mieville
Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
The Gathering Storm and Towers of Midnight by Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan
The Sorcerer's House by Gene Wolfe
Dust of Dreams by Steven Erikson
The Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham
The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie
The Living Dead and The Living Dead 2 anthologies by John Joseph Adams
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
Anything by Glen Cook, Michael Moorcock, Alastair Reynolds, Paul Kearney, K.J. Parker and Richard Morgan


Well, that's all folks. 2011 promises to be utterly amazing on the SFF front, and I hope I have more time to dedicate to that, as the amount of forthcoming books I HAVE TO read is slightly scary. But anyway, Happy New Year to everyone, and I hope you didn't make any NY resolutions, as those are lame, but I also hope the year turns out to be all you're hoping it to be!

Dragonfly Falling (Shadows of the Apt, Book 2) - Adrian Tchaikovsky

I was a bit slow to start reading the second book of Adrian Tckaikovsky's series, as I have had way too many experiences with sequels of promising debuts turning out worse than expected. What's more, second parts of big series are often prone to dragging and keeping the plot in the same place where Book 1 left it. I need not have worried though, as Dragonfly Falling surpasses Empire in Black and Gold virtually in every aspect.

War has finally come to the Lowlands, as the vast armies of the Wasp Empire are marching on the Ant city-states of Tark and Sarn, while the intrigues of Major Thalric of the Imperial Rekef have seen that the Ants of Vek are preparing to attack their hated enemy - the scholars' city of Collegium - center of Lowlands enlightenment and the heart of the post-Revolution world.

The half-breed artificer Totho and the Dragonfly prince Salma get caught in the siege of Tark that will see both of them changed forever. The Beetle-kinden spy-master Stenwold sends his niece Che and her Moth lover Acheos in Sarn in hopes of both calling upon Collegium's alliy city and making contact with the agents of the ancient Moth holds in preparation for the Wasps' invasion. At the same time the Mantis-kinden Weaponmaster Tisamon and his half-breed daughter Tynisa travel to the Mantis hold of Felyal to try and acquire the help of the great Mantis warriors. Meanwhile in the intrigue-ridden Empire's capital of Capitas the Emperor is approached by an ancient sorcerer of a kinden long thought extinct, with a promise too tempting to refuse. And as schemes are sent in motion and armies are deployed, a lone Dragonfly noblewoman is hunting for the Wasp Thalric to avenge a terrible crime.

Dragonfly Falling centers around the Empire's first push into the Lowlands and has no distinct beginning or end. At the same time, there is significant plot-development and a lot of characters end up in a place drastically different than the one they started in. Especially Totho and Thalric see a lot of change, although the latter has considerably less "screen time" than in the first book, which I consider a loss as the Wasp agent was my favorite character in Empire in Black and Gold. The element of magic from the Age of Lore is more powerful here, and promises to get ever more important in further installments. The steampunk side is also on the rise, as newer and more powerful engines of war are developed in the service of conquest as well as defense.

What I particularly liked about the book was the way it focuses on different kinden. In the first part we were given a distinct view of the Beetles and to a lesser extent the Moths. Beetles' artifice is not extremely interesting as a quality though, and Moths' appeal lies in their mystery. In Dragonfly Falling the center-stage is reserved for the Ants, and those are truly amazing. With their shared mind and unwavering discipline, Ant-kinden are extremely fascinating and Tchaikovsky even gives us a few Ant PoVs to truly experience what it is to be a part of one consciousness. The book also offers a short glance at the splendor and machinations of Spider-kinden Aristoi from the Spiderlands, and especially in the clash between an Aristos and a Wasp general the multitude of ways in which their cunning and web-spinning are manifested are a joy to read.

Still, the quantity of battles gets a little tiring at a certain point and Dragonfly Falling could easily have been around fifty or sixty pages shorter without losing anything. The constant shifting between places gets a bit annoying too, but to Tchaikovsky's credit, he rarely makes you wait long to see how your particular favorite story-line progresses.

His style has improved as well, and the book reads a lot more smoothly than the previous one. Possibly due to the point that the plot has reached, there are no slow places at all, and events just pile one after another. Tchaikovsky's habit of switching PoVs in the middle of a paragraph is still present though, and I really hope he gets rid of that, since it's really aggravating to read a conversation from the point of view of one side, and suddenly realize you're now looking through the eyes of the opposite one, even though it's almost the same sentence. Dialogues themselves also suffer a little in comparison to Empire in Black and Gold, as moments of true realism and heartfelt connection (as those between Che and Thalric in the first book) are noticeably absent.

However, even with those small problems, Dragonfly Falling is still a great read, and a solid development both in terms of plot and writing. I can only hope that Tchaikovsky will maintain the quality in the next installments, because if that happens, Shadows of the Apt is setting to be one of the bar-setters in epic fantasy. And now, on to Blood of the Mantis!

8/10

Empire in Black and Gold (Shadows of the Apt, Book 1) - Adrian Tchaikovsky

Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of those names that everyone hears about these days, part of what I like to call the New Wave of Fantasy. His Shadows of the Apt series got a lot of praise both in the UK and the US, so I decided to give it a try.

The world Tchaikovsky paints is one where prehistoric giant insects threatened humanity with extinction. To escape that fate, humans developed a form of meditation that gave them physical and symbolical traits of the insects that surrounded them. Thousands of years later there are numerous human races called "kindens". Each kinden has the traits - or Art - of the insect they are connected to. Some of those traits are inborn, others - like flight or the ability to see in the dark - have to be achieved through meditation during childhood. Not everyone has the same abilities, and not everyone is equally strong with their Art.

For centuries the Elder races have ruled unopposed - the Moth-kinden mystics, their Mantis-kinden warrior servants; the subtle and manipulative Spider-kinden, and the graceful Dragonfly-kinden. But then, five hundred years prior to the story's beginning, the lesser kinden - the slaves of the Elders - started a rebellion. Both an industrial revolution and a renaissance, it freed those kinden from the yoke of their masters, but it also revealed another difference between the different races of the world. The Elder kinden turned out to be "Inapt" - incapable of comprehending the mechanics of even the simplest mechanism. Soon the new "Apt" kinden ruled unopposed, while the Moths and Mantids withdrew into secluded places, their old ways and mystical beliefs laughed at by the new masters of the world.

The story begins in the Lowlands, where city states thrive, bound by commerce and the occasional bickering. At the center of it all is the glorious city of Collegium - a place of learning and invention, of commerce and philosophy. But now a new force has risen in the west - the Empire of the Apt Wasp-kinden. They move like an unstoppable tide, using their deadly Art and engines of war, as well as the numerous enslaved races under their command. The Lowlands refuse to acknowledge this threat, preferring to pretend that life will go on as before, and even going so far as to supply the Wasps with weapons for their far-away wars. Only the Beetle artificer Stenwold Maker realizes the true nature of the invaders. After witnessing the fall of a Beetle city beyond the western border of the Lowlands, he starts to build an army of spies, while at the same time his warnings against the Wasp Empire fall on deaf ears.

It is now seventeen years after the battle of Mina. The Wasps are at the door of the Lowlands, but they come under the banner of peace and commerce. And Stenwold is not ready. What's worse, the Empire seems to have taken interest in him. And in the center of the intrigue, assassinations and conspiracies are thrust four students of the Great College - the Beetle-kinden Cheerwell (Che) Maker, Stenwold's niece; Salma, a Dragonfly-kinden prince from the faraway Commonweal; Totho - an Ant/Beetle halfbreed artifcer; and the Spider-kinden Tynisa - Stenwold's adopted daughter of mysterious origins. They have to rely on each other to escape the clutches of the Wasps and somehow prevent them from invading the Lowlands.




Empire in Black and Gold is a great sword and sorcery adventure set in a New Weird/Steampunk world that sometimes resembles Ancient Greece, and sometimes - classical pseudo-medieval fantasy. World-building is one of Tchaikovsky's strongest points. From the mechanical factories and forges of dirty crime-ridden Helleron to the shadowy streets of conquered Myna, to the mountaintop holds of the Moth-kinden, the world of The Shadows of the Apt is fleshed-out and intriguing, while still making it clear that we haven't seen even a tenth of it.

The race concept is also one of the best I've seen in years. Even though there isn't one non-human race in Tchaikovsky's world, it is still filled with humans more fantastic than any classical fantasy race. No elf could hold a candle to the shadow-dwelling Moth-kinden sorcerers, or their daylight brothers, the enchanting Butterfly-kinden. What's more, it is a world where it is normal for any human with a flying kindred-insect to be able to fly himself, even though Beetles are notoriously bad at it while the little Fly-kinden are the best fliers in the world. That makes for some pretty spectacular aerial battles in addition to the amazing ground action.

The characters are also very well thought out. Even if they are somewhat two-dimensional - with most of them you know where you stand from the beginning - there is a lot of thought put into their actions and behavior. I like imagining better versions of situations with intense dialogue - it's just the way I'm wired. It's not rare that an author makes their characters act or speak stupidly for the purpose of plot-movement. Not so here. I was really impressed when Che - a mousy little creature of middling talents for the most part - stood up to a Wasp officer interrogating her with the following (I rephrase obviously): "Why won't you just let it go and let me leave? I know nothing. I am just a student that has been thrust into something monstrous. What threat could I be to your Empire?" What's more, this conversation did have impact on the story later on. Kudos to Tchaikovsky for being able to make his characters behave convincingly without the story suffering for it!

What Empire in Black and Gold isn't so good at is the pacing of the story. It takes more than a hundred pages to actually get going, and then sort of stumbles in many directions at once, not really getting to the point until the very end. That is not to say the novel is boring. Even if we forget the amazing world-building, the book is still packed with action and adventure. It is just a bit aimless for a while, but I guess that's ok for the first of four parts.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Adrian Tchaikovsky's debut work. It's scope is vast, the world-building is of the first degree, the characters are likable and interesting. And what's even better - Empire in Black and Gold is considered to be the weakest in the series so far. Personally, I can't wait to get my hands on Dragonfly Falling.

8/10