Empire in Black and Gold (Shadows of the Apt)

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From his debut novel (this one) to his more recent works, it seems to be some sort of secret ingrediant... He knows his insects, one could say.

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. Insect-kinden? There are several human races who long ago adapted to prehistoric insects. Examples: mantis-kinden are warriors, beetle-kinden like mechanics, wasp-kinden can fly and use stingers. Stenwold and his last disciples, his spider-kinden ward Tynisa, his niece Chee, his apprentice Totho and a young prince of the Commonweal Salma try one more desperate attempt to do something, while Intelligence Captain Thalric of the Empire currently emissary to the Collegium has Sten on his hit list. The action is very well written and keeps coming, and the dialogue is great. I cannot comment on prose due to the fact that I'm still not 100% sure how to categorize it. The basic plotline is that Stenwold, a Beetle, has been preaching to everyone for 17 years of the imminent Wasp threat, but nobody has listened. The Wasps continue to move and mobilize, and he is laughed at. The cast has many likable characters and their development is also top-notch. All the moving parts. New kinds of humans! Very distinct politics all over the place! Found family! Magic!

Since every reader knows the different types of insects, there is instantly a picture painted, of how these people might look, what their abilities might be, how they might behave, etc. Tchaikovsky's first Warhammer 40,000 novel Day of Ascension (2022), like his short story "Raised in Darkness" from Inferno! Volume 6 (2021), concerns the insidious Genestealer Cults. This was my second go at this series and I'm glad I returned. The story of an empire rising to take over and conquer complacent rivals is an old one. The twist to give all the factions aspects of insect behaviour seems a hard one to get your head around at first, but makes everyone distinct and interesting to follow.

I absolute loved my second reading of this book. The world building is phenomenal. The plot is simple but has so many implications. It’s like the Romans who wanted to invade all of Europe. And the characters are so vivid and real that I can easily picture them in my mind. Seventeen years ago the Wasp Empire stormed the city of Myna as part of their war of conquest. Witness to this savage ferocity was Stenwold and since that time he has been training agents to fight the Wasp advance and has preached against this threat.

Recent Comments

Only the ageing Stenwold Maker – spymaster, artificer and statesman – foresees the threat, as the empires’ armies march ever closer. So it falls upon his shoulders to open the eyes of the cities’ leaders. He sees that war will sweep through their lands, destroying everything in its path. Each Kinden has its own history and predigests towards the others. Beetles, Ants, and Flies were slaves, cowed by the powerful sorceries of their masters that they couldn’t even comprehend. The Lowlands were ruled by the Moth-Kinden, with the assistance of the Mantis-Kinden. This relationship is summed up in the commonly used phrase Masters of the Grey, Servants of the Green. This was until the revolution happened and the slaves rose up with the might force of the machines to overtake their masters and magic is now practiced in certain areas. Adrian, I can’t begin to express my gratitude for creating this masterpiece and I hope many will appreciate this work and all its glory! It has changed the way I want stories to be told forever and I have you to thank! That prologue jumps right into the story with the passage of seventeen years. Stenwold Maker is now a Master at the Collegium and also a spymaster. He seeks to convince the free states of the threat from the Wasp Empire. I feel like this is so far a worldbuilding-focused story, with characters, that are likable and easy to grasp.