Empire in Black and Gold (Shadows of the Apt)

Product Information

Now the Empire is marching toward the Lowlands and his home city of Collegium lies directly in the path. Ma il colpo di genio si ha con un altro fatto: non sono normali umani. Cioè, lo sono, ma in un mondo dove da sempre camminano insetti giganteschi. E le tribù umane per sopravvivere e prosperare hanno da sempre appreso come "legarsi" a loro, dividendosi così in base ai tratti "insetti" che hanno assorbito.

I was listening to it (lovely performance by Ben Allen) and so it took me some time to get into the world, cause it starts in medias res with a lot of names and places which certainly is easier to follow on (e-)paper. But not long and I started to feel for and with the characters. And that's the linchpin for me and Fantasy. When I start rooting for some (or more than some) of the folks I'm reading about, I'm bought. We already know, the wasps are BAD. We know what they can do, we know what they want to do. And so do our characters.I can’t believe this is a debut novel. There were some slower chapters and a lot of worldbuilding to get used to. Otherwise this was such an exciting world of insectoid beings. Some have talent in magical abilities called Art, and others create mechanical or technological devices called Apt.

You take away the main challenge, an author faces, when deciding to tell a story in a SFF setting, the exposition and information needed for the reader, to be immersed and believe in the world; to have an understanding, that can create urgency and feels consistent.This is an interesting world where the people have traits, think abilities, derived from different insects (Kinden). From the ability to fly or having a sting. These traits also influence their culture and styles of thought. But meanwhile, in far-off corners, the Wasp Empire has been devouring city after city with its highly trained armies, its machines, it killing Art . . . And now its hunger for conquest and war has become insatiable. 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... I’ll be honest; I struggled with the beginning of this book. I even tried to pass it off to other reviewers. I felt that I wasn’t jiving with the whole premise. I kept reading because I recognized quality writing and hoped that in itself would endear me to the story. Well, it did. I was so glad I didn’t set this one down. Adrian Tchaikovsky’s characters and world grew on me and I finished the last ¾ of the book in half the time it took me to read the first ¼. I can only speak for my own experience, but it felt like a pretty brutal way into the story. Had I missed something? No, but it was definitely his way of saying: ‘You’re in it now, best finish it so you understand it properly.’