Heirs of the Blade: Shadows of the Apt, Book 7

I have followed the Shadows of the Apt series since its beginning, and I have found all volumes worthwhile. Some volumes are more focussed on epic battles and politics between Nations, some on personal development and quest of major characters. The previous volume, The Sea Watch, told the discovery of an entire new undersea world by Maker Stenwold, the politician Beetle-kinden hero. It had a rather slow pace fit for the middle-aged character in question, the book mainly driven by Mr. Tchaikovsky outstanding ability to describe strange and wonderful creatures and new people. The end provided a counterpoint to the whole story, with Stenworld Maker back from the depth as a hero able to hold an army by his sheer charisma.Heirs of the Blade is a mix of haunted berseker battle frenzy and discovery of one's purpose in life, with some delightful and subdued romance. We follow the parallel but separate progress of Maker Cheerwell and Tynisa, the daughter and stepdaughter of Maker Stenwold, respectively. Cheerwell is trying to understand here new arcane powers bestowed upon her in previous volumes while Tynisa is on a quest to exorcise her demons, in all senses of the word. Events told in the past volumes are prerequisites to fully appreciate the developments presented here.Let's just write here that Mr Tchaikovsky is a scary writer. He is able to publish sizeable books with high frequency (two this year), to our delight since the quality of his writing and the content of his stories always are at the very top, and even increase steadily.Highly recommended.

Since almost the whole novel takes place in an inapt land, and (with a few exceptions) all the characters are inapt, this gives the work a different tone while existing characters develop. It is especially rewarding to see Che start to come out of her shell (heh-heh) towards the end of this one. Several of the new characters who are introduced are quite interesting (and the likable ones very likable, the evil ones very wicked, etc., while still being rounded characters).Iconic, weird, and well-written, like other works in the same series.

I've been faithfully catching up with Tchaikovsky's "Shadows," which inevitably keep me turning the pages even when he's not in top form. I found "Heirs" up to his usual standard, but without quite enough material to merit its length. Still, I don't think readers who have followed the series up till now will be disappointed. He's an amazingly gifted writer.

Sea watch dragged with descriptions of ocean creatures,This is better if you are ok with lots of sword fight descriptions

This new addition to the Shadows of the Apt was quite well written and entertaining. It continues the overall storie a bit, but was mostly an action packed sideline and elaborated the connection between the queen of the wasps and "the beetle girl". All in all eagerly awaiting the next book.

It's part 7 in the series. If you've already read 6 of these you know what you are in for. If you haven't, go read book 1.

This is a great series that I have enjoyed very much. This is a worthy addition to it and fans will enjoy it.

I greatly enjoyed this continuation of a great series. can not wait until I read the next in this series.

Another great novel from Mr Tchaikovsky, with everything that I've come to love about the series: proper characters, no filler, great pace, and the development of culture, race, and canon.More importantly for me, the movement I had hoped for has begun. As I've explained in my two previous reviews: great books but very standalone tomes. Now, in this outing, despite it also having large parts that could be seen to be standalone, the beginnings of events starting to come back towards what had always been the main flow of the set: the ambitions of the Black and Gold empire. Not just that but, as one would hope for in a fantasy series, the reaching back to the time of power, and the passing of a thread forwards, through Khanapes, the moths, to the suddenly created sisters - enough said.Highly recommended.Fleecy Moss, author of the Folio 55 SciFi fantasy series (writing as Nia Sinjorina), End of a Girl, Undon , and 4659 now available on Amazon.

So, we finally arrive at the core and what an interesting core it is too. I feel that Mr Tchaikovsky has used the back tales and side tales of key characters to pad out the story - I, for one, am very glad he did. I tried to take a break after book #6 and read something else - had to give up and read this instead, I just couldn’t get the story and characters out of my head “what were they doing” I wondered and “what is happening next”. In such a way does a master story teller snare his victims…..

Ah, I've been saving this book up until a slightly quieter time, and now is that time. It's just lovely to slide open the book to that first page and read Adrian Tchaikovsky's familiar tone coming through straight away. I think that's one of the charms of the Shadows of the Apt series; his writing style is quite unique, and it draws you into the world where you can escape into your (and his) imagination as you follow the stories of these wonderfully crafted worlds and their peoples.This is the seventh of the Shadows of the Apt series, and it re-introduces old and familiar characters, and introduces new ones. Tynisa seeks redemption or at least escape from her memories of Tisamon, Achaeos and Salme Dien; Che seeks to save her sister, and Thalric follows her for reasons he does not yet understand. In this book we are largely in the land of the Commonweal, although the earlier actions in Khanaphes and the Wasp Empire also have their part. Seda, the Wasp Empress, seeks to make the world her own, and will stop at nothing to get what she wants. Loyalties shift and settle, old friends and enemies meet new, and the action is non-stop in this great book. A worthy addition to the series, and it left me really keen to get hold of the eighth book and see what happens next. Totally recommended. This is a must-have for anyone already reading the series; and I can totally recommend the whole series for anyone looking for a fresh new series of adventure, imagination, magic and dark forces to dive into.

Book 7, and still keeping it all together!What a fantastic world to be involved with. After 7 books in the series, I still don't want a conclusion.The world, full of people with special abilities similar to that of different types of insects (i.e. beetles - tough and hardy, some can fly some cant, wasps - can fly, sting and want to colonise everything). The characters are still so engrossing, many of which we met right at the start, and feel they are part of your family, some have died, but still have a legacy, or even the occasional ghost! Each book has a story, and yet is a continuation of the overall theme - the wasps wanting to take over the world; lots of wars, a bit of politics, magic, mystery, a whole range of human emotions, tragedy, loss, victory, even moments of love and joy - all the ingredients for a fantastic journey on so many levels.

After book 5 there’s a definite dip in quality and a pattern emerging of a plodding narrative that only ups the ante in the last quarter, presumably to keep you hooked.Tynisa was a thoroughly unlikeable protagonist whose madness seems to have excused her abominable behaviour.Bit of a chore this one.