Cloak and Dagger Fantasy

Another excellent entry into the Shadows of The Apt series which has become the most pleasant surprise of my 2023 reading year. I will say though I felt Blood of The Mantis was a but different than the first two volumes.

Whereas the first two books in the series are about direct conflict with the Wasp Empire with sieges and big battles being the main set pieces, this book shows a different side of conflict. To me what this series really is at heart is a big geo-political thriller in a fantasy setting. It makes sense that if we got the big battles we might also get the cloak and dagger espionage part of it as well. We really get that here as characters split off into different groups and try to have an effect on the war behind the scenes. It works because everything in these books is interesting and Tchaikovsky never stops introducing us to new kinden, new elements of thus world and new mysteries. That being said it feels much more moving pieces into place for the next book than a complete satisfying arc we got in the first two.

I did really all the political games and manipulations here and seeing the spider politics and wondering what they are up to. And oh yeah we get more about magic here as well. And finally we get some really interesting new povs and and significant character development even for characters that don't have much page time Totho.

Even though I may have enjoyed this entry slightly less than the first two it really wasn't by much. And honestly I kind of loved the different feel of this book. This series is becoming an all-timer for me and I can't wait for the next one.epic-fantasy shadows-of-the-apt23 s BradleyAuthor 5 books4,419

I've been a big fan of Tchaikovsky ever since I read Children of Time, and have since raved over all his SF since then.

On the other hand, when it comes to his original older fantasy, and specifically the Shadows of the Apt epic fantasy, I've had a hard time getting into them.

Almost everything about his writing is superior in his SF. I believe this. Characters, descriptions, plots, everything. He still has his focus on insects and animals, (almost a trademark,) but the early fiction is pretty much a standard almost Hickman/Weiss clone with races that say that they're spider-kin or ant-kin, etc, with hardly any evidence of it. I probably would have fallen right into it a lot more had the descriptions been lush and full of real consequence.

As it is, it just didn't grab my attention. This is my third try in the series.2021-shelf fantasy23 s Olivia735 127

This is the third book in the Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

HeÂ’s one of my favourite authors. If you're reluctant to dive into a long series without first getting to know an author, I've got a few recommendations. Fantasy: Guns of the Dawn (Austen's Elizabeth Bennet goes to war); Sci-Fi: Children of Time and Dogs of War.

The premise of the Shadows of the Apt series (which spans ten books) is simple: every species in this fantasy series is an insect-kinden, and has got the mannerisms, characteristics and qualities of said insect. We've got dragonflies, beetles, ants and flies etc.

Then one day, the Wasp Empire attacks.

This is a vast, detailed world and Tchaikovsky's love for everything that crawls is found on every page. The plot is of epic proportion with a sprawling war, and there's a huge cast of characters. Tchaikovsky excels at writing morally grey characters.

This third book is much shorter than the second one but Tchaikovsky continues to treat his characters with great care. Especially Thalric is a fantastic morally grey character which amazing depth. I canÂ’t wait to see what he does next.

I highly recommend this series to all fans of epic fantasy. This is innovative, original and has not been done before.fantasy22 s Tanabrus1,899 176

Per ora il volume più debole della serie.
Dopo l'azione e le sorprese dei primi due, qua la storia si divide su tre fronti.

Stenwold, con Arianna e una mosca, va a Sarn per convincere la regina e dignitari provenienti da tutte le Lowlands a formare un'alleanza contro le Vespe.

Che e Nero, invece, sono spediti a Solarino, ridente cittadina sotto l'influenza dei Ragni, per cercare di intralciare i piani di conquista delle Vespe e magari fare alleati.

Infine il resto del gruppo, vespe più o meno rinnegate comprese, va a Jerez alla caccia della Scatola delle Ombre.

Non so se è stata l'azione troppo frammentata o che altro, ma il libro mi ha preso meno.

La parte meno avvincente è sicuramente quella di Master Maker, che è quella più politica. Bello vedere come il Refek possa infiltrare spie anche nella comunità delle Formiche, ma prende davvero poco.

Poi abbiamo Che, Nero e la nuova conoscenza che facciamo, la pilota Tiki. Interessanti i caratteri dei piloti e il loro cameratismo, interessante la caotica politica di Solarino, ma la cosa più interessante di questa parte è l'assassino dal passato e il gioco che sta giocando il nostro nobile Ragno preferito, il primo esempio che abbiamo di come questa gente giochi davvero il suo Gioco.

Infine il pezzo migliore, Jerez.
Abbiamo la caccia alla Scatola, abbiamo un mezzo colpo in mezzo al lago, abbiamo molteplici fronti e l'ennesima sorpresa di questa ambientazione, frutto della penna di Tchaikovsky quanto delle meraviglie della natura reale.
E abbiamo anche un grande colpo di scena, che chissà come cambierà le carte in tavola per il futuro (dato che al momento non c'erano doppioni per la sua figura).

Bene, ma non benissimo.
Un classico libro di transizione, in attesa che finisca l'inverno e riparta la guerra.fantasy inglesi read_2023 ...more21 s Phil1,985 204

Tchaikovsky really hits his stride in the third installment of the Shadows of the Apt, and this is a very different type of book then the last one in the series. Dragonfly Falling constitutes a military fantasy dripping in blood; BofM in contrast deeply develops his main characters and explores new lands while the wasp war is on something of a hiatus.

Once again, Stenwold's students are cast about the Lowlands and beyond on various missions while Stenwold tries to build an alliance of the Lowlands to defend the Ant city of Sarn. Sarn is close to the Collegium and a staunch ally to boot; yet, are the insular ants ready to combine forces with former enemies to repulse the wasp invasion? Meanwhile, Che and Nero the fly find themselves deep into spider lands, trying to warn them of the wasp's invasion plans.

Among all the politicking, the magical 'box' stolen from a Collegium's collection finds it way (via the spider changeling who stole it) deep into Imperial territory; an old smuggler town where anything can be bought and sold. Stenwold and friends know the box is important and send a crew to take it back. The box is something from the 'times of lore' when the Moths and Mantid's ruled the lowlands; powerful magic, but it is unclear exactly what it can do. The mosquito-kinden 'slave' of the Wasp Emperor has promised his 'master' eternal life if he can use it in some arcane magical rite. It seems everyone is after the box!

Tchaikovsky finally resolved his issues of pacing that put a bit of a damper on the first two in the series and this flows nicely, with many shifting POVs and of course cliffhangers everywhere! We learn more about the spider kingdom and Mr T introduces some fun characters from the spider city Che finds herself in. We also troll around a bit in Wasp occupied cities that are fermenting with revolt. The tension mounts throughout!

I guess one could see this installment as a 'place keeper' in the series, situated between the horrible warfare of the second book and what seems will be a major battle in the fourth as the Wasp's threaten Sarn and the lowlands as a whole. I think, however, that Mr T took the time here to more fully flesh out the world around the edges if you will and develop his characters in more detail. We still follow the story arcs of the main students (and of course, Sten trying to build an alliance of the lowlands), but the stories feel richer, more nuances and personal. This series is impressive to be sure and in the BofM, Mr T seriously upped his game! 4.5 stars, rounding up!!fantasy steampunk20 s Metodi Markov1,489 363

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??????? ????? ??????????? ? ?????, ? ??????? ?????????? ?? ????????? ???? ?? ?????????!2019 adventure brexit ...more20 s John McDermott415 77

3.75 starscamelot-its-only-a-model21 s Patremagne254 85

This is easily becoming one of the best series I have ever read.

In my of Empire in Black and Gold and Dragonfly Falling, I wrote of how hesitant I was beginning the Shadows of the Apt series. Insects are something that had never really made a presence in fantasy. TheyÂ’re (mostly) disgusting creatures and the thought of reading a series where the oprhan boy has been replaced by all of these bug- people was a complete turn-off for me. I said, I gave it a shot. I couldnÂ’t be happier that I did, especially after Blood of the Mantis. The series is quickly becoming one of the best I have ever read, sitting right next to the Malazan series. What makes me have even more drive to read Apt rather than Malazan is the fact that the latter books are tomes. TheyÂ’re huge. Tchaikovsky keeps his books at a more feasible length for the most part.

By now, if you’ve read the series at all or my , you know the deal with the different kinden and how they’re all humans with insectoid traits – as well as their Apt and Inapt abilities. The plot from Dragonfly Falling continues, with Achaeos, Tisamon, Tynisa, Thalric, and Gaved tracking the deadly Shadow Box to a remote town in the Wasp Empire called Jerez. Jerez is home to another fantastically unique race, the Skater-kinden. The kinden, the bugs themselves, have very long limbs and can literally skate across the water. The town is full of these kinden as well as other shady thugs and mercenaries looking to do business in the black market. Nero and Che have traveled all the way to Solarno, a city on the Exalsee that remains free from the grip of the Empire. Solarno distinctly reminded me of Renaissance Italy, with many different factions vying for control over the council that rules the city as well as the way they address eachother, Bella for a woman and Sieur for a man. Stenwold travels to Sarn for the conference he hopes will cement the alliance of the various peoples opposed to the Wasps and Uctebri has his own sinister plans involving the royal family in the capital of the Empire.

Read the rest here: http://abitterdraft.com/2013/08/blood...15 s Chris Berko471 126

Let me begin this review with a five minute standing ovation...

Okay, wow. That was fantastic. The story remains huge, and I mean really big, but this book felt more personal and intimate. Amazing multiple story lines with tons of hot, wet, dripping imagination stuff running around. I mean seriously, c'mon if you've made it this far in the series you know what I'm talking about. Highly original and boatloads of awesomeness, definitely a series to invest in. You truly get to appreciate the scale of the goings on in this one. Not from big battles and sprawling epic-ness, but more from the political intrigue and the behind the scenes stuff in all the different locations. There is not one character I dis and not one boring story arc, again rare in my opinion in books with casts this large. In short, read this shit. 13 s Sud6662,090 172

Tchaikovsky's excellent series continues- Blood of the Mantis really opens up the story. While the usual Wasp Empire conflicts are all in place, we are able to see other, older powers also making a come-back.

There are two main stories in this volume- the first is the story of Solarno, where Che and Nero try to fight off the influence of the Wasp Empire. The Second is the mission of Tsiamon, Tynissa, and Aechoes who are trying to find out what is in the Shadow Box. What it is will be very interesting to how this world is going to shape out.

No more spoilers. Shadows of the Apt is a great series and the world is unique and well-developed. The characters are well-rounded and make the reader root for them. Even the "bad guys" are well-developed and have a myriad of different motivations.

A top-notch series, with this third book being the best one yet.fantasy12 s Gabi723 143

Loving it how Tchaikovsky manages to write all the characters in a way that makes them interesting for me. I'm positively rooting for at least half a dozen of them and even the antagonists are mainly in the multi-layered grey scale. Adding to this the superb worldbuilding and multi location plots brings Shadow of the Apt to the top of Fantasy series.

Yet I will change to the written form for the next volume (aside from the fact that I would have to wait for the release of the audiobook for a while), because I need to see the names of characters and places written down for a change. The cast is getting larger and larger and I have difficulties to keep track with only listening. (Yet Ben Allen does a great job in narrating)fantasy-series12 s Emiliya Bozhilova1,548 280

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????? ? ?? ????????? ?? ???????????? ?? ???????? ????? ?? ????????? ?????? ?????? - ???????? ???????, ????? ????? ?????? ?? ?????!

4,5 ??????
***
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??”????????????????? ? ??????? ? ?? ???-???????? ????????????”
ebook epic fantasy9 s Scott Hitchcock788 236

Book 1: 4.5*
Book 2: 4.5*
Book 3: 4*


Another good chapter in this story. Still hoping he expands the world. steampunk8 s Kevin75 7

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT FANTASY LITERATURE

WARNING: one spoiler in last paragraph

After Dragonfly Falling, I was pretty excited for the next instalment in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s SHADOWS OF THE APT series — and Blood of the Mantis didn’t disappoint. In this third book, Tchaikovsky sends Cheerwell and Nero to the city of Solarno, where they meet the fly-kinden pilot Taki as they resist the Wasp Empire’s unquenchable thirst for conquest. Meanwhile, Thalric, Tynisa, Tisamon, and Achaeos are off hunting the Shadow Box in Jerez, a magical artifact of great, dark power. While Justin doesn’t seem to Blood of the Mantis quite as much, I personally thought it was the best book in the series so far.
One of the first things that I noticed was the structure of Blood of the Mantis: it begins in media res, with the first chapter two months ahead of the next few. Tchaikovsky does something similar later on in the novel as well. I know I noted that the structure of book one wasnÂ’t quite to my satisfaction, but whatÂ’s changed with Blood of the Mantis is simply that IÂ’m now more familiar with TchaikovskyÂ’s world and better situated to understand whatÂ’s going on plot-wise, whereas this wasnÂ’t quite true in Empire of Black and Gold. As a result, the temporal differences in Blood of the Mantis worked perfectly for me both times because Tchaikovsky is able to create suspense and drama with this technique; there was some excitement to look forward to even as the action slowed a little, and that kept me turning pages.
Â’d to add here that as Justin noted in his review, Blood of the Mantis has slowed down significantly compared with the earlier books. While I agree with him completely, IÂ’m not sure itÂ’s such a bad thing: the characters combined with some other factors more than make up for a slower book. For me, Blood of the Mantis is all about the characters; Tchaikovsky brings them to the forefront and forces us to confront their existential crises: will Totho return to Collegium or will he cast his lot in with Colonel-Auxilian Drephos and the Wasp Empire? Will Thalric turn traitor once more and betray Stenworld or remain exiled from the Empire? When Tchaikovsky lets us ask these questions, he brings out a level of internal conflict previously almost nonexistent in SHADOWS OF THE APT. By the end of Blood of the Mantis, I felt I knew all the characters intimately and understood their psychologies. Not only did this character-building add a new level of depth and complexity to the series, it more than made up for the weak subplots and lack of action, which helped Blood of the Mantis form a welcome contrast with its action-packed predecessors.
One final aspect of Blood of the Mantis that I enjoyed was Tchaikovsky’s scope. By sending his characters on quests in distant lands, he exposes his readers to new cultures, new insect-kinden, new ways of thinking, and of course, new factions in politics. Having finished book four as of this writing, I can also say Blood of the Mantis does a fantastic job setting up its successor and expanding the scope of the series. Throughout Blood of the Mantis, it’s just fascinating to meet all the new people in Tchaikovsky’s world, so if you’ve read book two — don’t stop there! Perhaps the only thing I’m not sure about yet is what purpose the beetle-kinden under Lake Limnia near Jerez serve. Hopefully we’ll find out in the next few novels. Onward toward book ten we march!7 s aria749 111

This thing, this snapbow, is not progress. It is just another way of killing someone and, even if it is an inch more efficient, then that does not make it progress. Progress is made by the improvement of people, not the improvement of machines.

“Blood of the Mantis” is the third instalment of the Shadows of the Apt series. There’s not much I want to say about this book, other than it was quite a shift from the previous book. ‘Dragonfly Falling’ was packed with action (I really love sieges okay) but ‘Blood of Mantis’ focuses more on infiltration. That’s why individually I would give it five stars but compared to the previous two books, it falls more on three stars, so it falls in between. Also my review will not that good since I’m on vacation right now and just wanted this review to be out.

The main plot follows Achaeos, Tisamon, Tynisa and Thalric as they hunt down the shadow box. We are introduced to several new characters, most of which I canÂ’t remember their names. Of the four, I donÂ’t really care about Tisamon and Tynisa so I was more invested in Achaeos and Thalric. AchaeosÂ’ character arc seemed to come to a halt as heÂ’s obsessed with the box and all the visions heÂ’s receiving and with how the book ended, itÂ’s not looking good for him. Thalric on the other hand is struggling. HeÂ’s angry that his people have turned against him and him watching others serve his beloved Empire feels him with an ache. Of the new characters introduced, I want to learn more about Sef and her underwater city.

The side plots included Che and Nero going to a Spider city state to warn them of the Wasp Empire. I need Che to stop being kidnapped. All sheÂ’s doing at this point is being rescued and recruiting people to help Stenwold. Of the new characters introduced in her chapters, I find Cesta, the assassin bug, the most interesting

Stenwold is struggling to get the Lowlands to unite. They all want the plans to the snapbow but Stenwold knows that if they defeat the Wasp empire, they would start turning the machines against each other. ItÂ’s an ethical dilemma he has to think through and even though he disappointed me in the last book, his speech! Progress is made by the improvement of people, not the improvement of machines. Yes Stenwold! Give those Captain America speeches!

We donÂ’t see much of Totho in this book which sucked because he became my favourite character but this one scene: You bastards have kept me down all my life, he had thought. Now see how you it. Good for you Totho, good for you.

I donÂ’t even know what Salma is doing at this point.

While I did enjoy it, one thing I was really looking forward to but was not explored was StenwoldÂ’s reaction to what happened in the previous book with one of his students. why wasnÂ’t it discussed?! IÂ’d argue that itÂ’s something very major that needs to be talked about but all we got was one throw away line!! HOW ARE YOU NOT AFFECTED STENWOLD!

Anyway, that disappointed me but the chapter where the bees started rebelling was the best part of this book. I’m really pumped up for ‘Salute the Dark’ because the Bees have rebelled…… and I believe Drephos has made a bioweapon. That mad scientist is surprisingly endearing. All he wants to do is make weapons of mass destruction.

We are the dispossessed, your Majesty, and we fight adult-sff military-fiction political-intrigue ...more6 s Eric179 64

3.5 Stars

Rounding up to 4 stars. Blood of the Mantis was a solid addition to the Shadows of the Apt series that didnÂ’t quite live up to the first 2 books. In some ways it felt a bridge book setting up future events.

The book opens with Stenwold and his allies sorting through the aftermath of the attack on Collegium. There is a reunion between Stenwold and Che but it doesnÂ’t last long as events force our little group apart once again. Achaeos leads a group north to recover the stolen Shadow Box while Che heads south to the Spider city of Solarno, the next battlefield against the Wasps. Meanwhile Stenwold works to consolidate the tentative alliance brought together in defense of Sarn and Collegium and hammer it into something resembling a unified front against the next Wasp offensive.

There was a lot to in this book. The world the author has created continues to grow, with much of the book spent in areas previously unexplored. I particularly enjoyed seeing the Spider city of Solarno, which is the closest look so far into their culture. It also introduced a few interesting new characters. The whole atmosphere of a city on edge, not allied one way or another yet, was fun to read.

Seeing Stenwold work to muster support was also enjoyable. I think the author did a good job showing the difficulty of getting very different groups of people to come together, even in the face of an existential threat. There was also an event that illustrated that even their allies arenÂ’t quite as pure as they might , making the war less simplistic than the good Lowlanders fighting the evil Wasps, which gives the whole conflict some depth.

The biggest issue with Blood of the Mantis is that not a lot really happened, especially compared with the nonstop action of Dragonfly Falling. While the authorÂ’s writing style of short POV passages that switched frequently kept the pacing moving along, the story itself didnÂ’t advance much. I also wasnÂ’t a huge fan of the plot thread at the Skater town at Jerez. I realized at one point that whenever the story moved to what was happening there I was disappointed as I found the other aspects of the plot more interesting.

While Blood of the Mantis was my least favorite book so far in the series, it was still entertaining and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next in the fourth book, Salute the Dark. adrian-tchaikovsky fantasy5 s ???????? ?????Author 33 books198

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? ????????? ? ????? ? ?????? ?? ????? ? ????????? ??. ?? ???????? ??????, ??? ??????? - ??????, ?????????? ?? ?? ?????, ? ???????? ?? ??????? ?????? ? ????????. ??? ? ??, ???????????? ?? ????????, ????? ????? ?????? ? ???? ? ????? ???????? ?? ?????????? ?? ??????????. ?? ?? ??????? ?? ? ?????? ? ??????????? ?? ???????, ???????? ?? ????????? ???? ?? ???????? ????

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After reading part 2 of this series, I was hesitant to get into this book, and now that I have finally read it, Im sorry I waited so long!

The various principals are all in their places, and the storyline progresses as their progress moves both forward and backward. Fabulous story!5 s Tom Maguire71 9

I'm at risk of repeating myself, yet another interesting, complex and entertaining book from the Shadows of the Apt series, the characters seem old friends now and I really care about what's going to happen to them.

This is true of the whole series, but, amazing world building, character development and storytelling.fantasy sci-fi10 s Mark Harrison881 21

Stunning continuation of this epic story as the search for a mysterious box consumes the Wasps, Ants and the Beetles while the Bee kinden find themselves drawn into the war. Lots of battles, a plethora of new characters and betrayal at every turn. Brilliant saga this.4 s Carly79 13

ItÂ’s inevitable I guess that in a 10-book series, some of the books are going to be a bit weaker. I didnÂ’t find this one as engaging as the first two, and this was in large part because the various plotlines felt too independent from each other. The Salarno plotline especially felt a sideshow that didnÂ’t go anywhere, even if it did serve to expand the world of the series closer to the intriguing Spiderlands (though not really into them, I guess thatÂ’s coming in future books).

This book felt its main purpose was to position a bunch of the plot threads for the next book, which I suppose it did. It didnÂ’t really do much in the way or character development, with the possible exceptions of the two wasps involved in the heist plotline. I would have d to learn more about the Skater kinden and the mysteries going on in their lakes (though maybe this will be explored in future books).

Not much more was revealed about the way magic works or why everyone has bug magic, so count me unsatisfied about that. The Apt/Inapt distinction was explored in greater detail but not the cause of it. I want answers and IÂ’m willing to forgive a weak installment after how strong the first two were, so I will probably read on.fantasy4 s York181 51

3.5 stars
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