Watch my video review by clicking here.

Absolutely wonderful from start to finish, and is turning into the wonderful multi-POV epic story that I wanted so badly from the first book.147 s4 comments BradleyAuthor 5 books4,419

The good? Non-stop action. It's war and it's really war, with all the grand deaths you could ever hope, and for me, the world-building of all these insect-ish humans helps drag me *out* of feeling emotionally invested, so I could get through so much death and destruction without falling into a stupor of sadness.

Drephos really stands out as mr. mad scientist and I did really enjoy the hell out of him. The artificers in general got me going pretty good and some of the reversals were rather enjoyable, and I mean both the good reversals and the bad.

The bad? Non-stop action. It's war and it's really war, with only small scenes of character building not related to war, and while it is slightly more interesting than the first book's skirmishes, I kinda wish that I had been able to really get *into* the action rather than just note what was happening.

It's probably just a personal preference thing. I didn't really *love* any of the characters enough to pull me along with huge enthusiasm.

I can be enthusiastic about the all the insect-human races and the fact that those who can use magic can't use artificing and the same is true for the opposite, as well. Unfortunately, while I could have been dragged deep into a story that explored these rules deeper and perhaps even broke them more spectacularly, it just didn't happen enough for me to get excited.

War. War never changes. Even if it's a flying army of wasp-men fighting steampunk airships.2016-shelf fantasy worldbuilding-sf50 s Olivia735 127

This is the second 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.

I highly recommend this series to all fans of epic fantasy. This is innovative, original and has not been done before.fantasy27 s Joel34

New favorite author to add to the list! If you enjoy military themed fantasy (two different sieges!) great characters, and unique fantastic worldbuilding then this is for you!29 s Metodi Markov1,489 363

? "?????????? ???????" ????????????? ?? ??????? ???????? ?????? ? ???????? ?????? ??????????? ???????????.

??????? ???????????? ?? ? ???? ?????? ?????????? ?? ????????????? ????????, ?????? ?? ?????? ?? ???????? ???? ????? ? ?? ?????? ???? ? ????????? ????? ?? ????????.

????????? ?? ????? ?????? ??????? ?? ??????? ?????????, ?? ?????? ?? ???????? ? ???????, ?????? ?? ???? ?????? ???????? ?? ?????????.

??????????? ? ??????? ? ?????????? ????, ?????? ?? ? ??????????? ?? ???? ????? ??????????? ?? ??????? "??????? ?? ???????"!2019 adventure brexit ...more24 s Solseit402 96

On a re-read, this is easily a 5 star read! I do not think I caught a few remarkable things the first time around. It is a story about second chances (and there are at least three who get these second chances here). Loved the theme around choices. Top notch.

Better late than never! Review is finally in!

https://solseit.wordpress.com/2019/03...

Review to come; I struggle to avoid gushing right now. The main features are the story (so much happening, so many different story lines balanced beautifully) and the characters. Their development is just uncanny; their morality is dubious in many cases and it makes it for an incredible journey.
I cannot wait to start Blood of the Mantis.23 s Brent482 64

Another absolutely fantastic book in this series. If the quality of the books stays this high it will make my all time favorite series list. It's such a great mix of action, politics, and characterization there really don't seem to be any weaknesses. Oh yeah and the extremely creative worldbuilding gets even better here as more kinden and characters are introduced. If you fantasy read this series.epic-fantasy shadows-of-the-apt23 s Eric179 64

4.5 Stars

That was a really good book. Dragonfly Falling took all of the good things from Empire in Black and Gold and made them better. ItÂ’s a sequel that improves on what was already a high quality start to the series and takes it to even greater heights.

At the end of the first book Stenwold and his charges had managed to stop the WaspÂ’s attempt to take Collegium by surprise. But now the real war begins. The hidden strategies are over and the Wasp Empire makes its move to take over the Lowlands.

the first book, the story is told from a number of different POV. Certain characters got more page time than others. In Empire in Black and Gold, Cheerwell and Tynisa got a lot of attention. Neither of them got quite as much time this go round. Instead there were more chapters focused on Totho, Salma, and Stenwold. For the most part I thoroughly enjoyed all 3, although for me StenwoldÂ’s story was easily the most interesting.

While I really enjoyed the first book, the plot did seem a bit slow at times. That is definitely not an issue here as the action starts early and never lets up. There are some truly incredible battle scenes in this book, from the siege of Tark to the assault on another city. The combination of the technology with the unique abilities of the different kinden made for some very unique and compelling sequences. I definitely wouldnÂ’t consider this book grimdark because of the more likable characters and lack of dreary tone but some of the action is still brutal.

We also got to see a bit more detail about some of the different kinden in this book. The Ants were a big part of the story and their shared mind perspective was interesting. We also got to learn some more about the Mantids and Dragonflies. The author did a superb job building upon the foundation from the first book to add more layers to the different races, including the Wasps. In Dragonfly Falling a bit more is revealed about them and IÂ’m curious to see what comes of some of the plot points seeded in this book.

The only real negative for me is that IÂ’m still not a huge fan of the authorÂ’s writing style. Some of the phrasing and dialogue still feels a bit awkward. There are also some POV switches that happen without any real warning, although it seemed fewer than in the first book.

I really enjoyed Empire in Black and Gold and Dragonfly Falling was even better. I've heard from a few people that the series improves as it goes on. If that's the case this could end up being a favorite series. adrian-tchaikovsky fantasy20 s John McDermott415 77

This was a real step up from Empire of Black and Gold and I had a great time reading this sequel. Epic is definitely the best word to describe Dragonfly Falling as you experience huge battles and sieges across Tchaikovskys' world. Loved all the characters as they really get suffer the brutality of war and while these books may not be of the grimdark variety it is certainly unstinting in the level of violence.
The concept of humans with insect abilities is really cool and the author really delivers on this in a big way.
So, if you want the excellent characterisations of Gemmel with the intense action of Abercrombie set in a world that has the depth and complexity of the Malazan,then this is the series for you.
Brilliant and highly recommended.camelot-its-only-a-model19 s Gabi723 143

The second book is even more about war than the first one ... strictly speaking it is one long account of war on several fronts. At first I wasn't sure I'd that, but as the war goes on, the known characters from book one find themselves in different places and sometimes even on different sides of the battle. Some get even more depth and grey layers which is quite rewarding to witness. My two favs from book one, Cheerwell and Tynisa, didn't get many scenes in this second book, but I was assured by the author himself that Cheerwell will play a major role later on, which delights me to no end.

So even though this second book is 600 pages about nothing but warfaring, I found myself again hooked and rooting for the characters. This is what I wanted to have in a book. After several Fantasy books I've dragged through I'm especially happy to finally have started this series which is worth my time!fantasy-series18 s Chris Berko471 126

Definitely an improvement on the first, which was no slouch of a book. Bigger in scope but not hard to follow. There's a lot going on in here, a technological evolution, multiple war fronts, interpersonal drama, politics, a lot of shit. But it is fun throughout and highly highly original. Fo sho continuing the series. 17 s aria749 111

Take away my machines and they would be at each other’s throats with swords and knives instead. Then take away their steel and they would pick up rocks and clubs. There is no saving them: they are merely the fuel for war’s engines. Only we, Totho – we are the point, the reason. We, because, alone amongst this destruction, we create, and we create so that they may destroy, so that we may create anew.

Let me scream in the pure bliss that I experienced while reading this book. Oh, the sieges. The beautiful, monstrous, life-ending sieges!!! AHHH! Okay. Okay. Let me try and put all my thoughts somewhat coherently.

“Dragonfly Falling” is the second instalment in the Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky, who has now cemented himself as one of my favourite authors. The man outdid himself. Now, the book picks up after the end of Empire in Black and Gold but we are introduced to a new character, the Emperor of the Wasp Kinden. Different from the first instalment, Dragonfly Falling has an array of characters, many of them having recurring point of views throughout the book. These different characters give us a needed point of view of the other side of the story.

The book is definitely more plot-driven than character-driven with what I feel is Tchaikosvky setting up the rest of the series. There are multiple battles in this book as the characters are spread out in the Lowlands. While Salma and Totho are in the Ant city state of Tark, Stenwold, Tynisa and Tisamon remain in Collegium with Che and Achaeos having been sent out to try and get the rest of the Lowlands to band together. We are introduced to another character named Felise Mienn, a dragonfly hunting down Thalric across the Lowlands and she is the definition of a slightly deranged girlboss. Dariandrephos (Drephos) is an artificer working for the wasp empire. A half-breed of wasp and moth and he is the mad scientist character who just wants to invent weapons. He may be a bit mad but itÂ’s a quirky trait you grow to love. Thalric continues to work for the Rekef and serving his empire.

We are all grown now. Che, when the Wasps enslaved her and put her before their torture machines. Tynisa when she discovered her birthright. To me on the point of a sword . . . and to Totho here and now. We have put childish things behind us, and look at the world we have grown into.

Che and Achaeos are barely in the book so thereÂ’s not much to say about them other than I am so excited for AchaeosÂ’ storyline in the next book. LetÂ’s see that awesome Inapt magic. I sadly still donÂ’t care for Tisamon and Tynisa which sucks, cause the next book is named Blood of the Mantis and I just donÂ’t care about them (lol). Though I am excited for the certain journey they will be taking. In this book, we see Tisamon take Tynisa back to his homeland for her MantisÂ’ rite of passage. Thalric isnÂ’t well explored in this book with little to no screen time and that slightly disappointed me because I found his character fascinating and he was a favourite in the first book along with Stenwold, but those two were quickly swept away by a certain characterÂ’s incredible character arc. The characters I want to focus on are Salma, Stenwold and Totho.

I was severely disappointed by Salma’s storyline in this book. Despite the fact that the title references Dragonflies, our very own dragonfly character barely gets screen time and when he does, he’s just pining over what’s her name. I am excited for where his character ended up and is heading towards. I just hope he gets the attention he deserves in the later books. As Salma said: ‘In the Lowlands they don’t understand it. In the Empire too I’d guess. I’d almost forgotten it myself, but I am a prince and that still means something, wherever I am.’ You better remember Salma, you better.

The “Defence of Collegium” was one of the best parts of this book. It was a perfect representation of what I love so much about military fantasy. The siege was so well-done and executed that I found myself crying in some instances. The only thing I hated was whatever the hell Stenwold was doing. I understand the reasoning for the whole situation and I’m happy he actually has a flaw but that doesn’t mean I have to it. That whole situation removed him from my favourite character of the series. I was rolling my eyes the whole time.

Totho. Totho! Totho!! In the span of time it took me to finish the audiobook, Totho just swooped in and became one of my favourite characters. Being a half-breed, he is used to being ignored and taken for granted, even by those considered his friends and family such as Stenwold, Che, Salma and Tynisa. And this resentment has been unknowingly growing in him and when he meets Drephos (I love this mad scientist so much), it all goes to hell and I loved every single second of it. That last scene with Drephos was so chilling to the bone and I just UGH!!!. I canÂ’t wait to see where his character goes and IÂ’m honestly rooting for him.

*sweeps Stenwold and Thalric (still have hope for him) aside*

SLAMS TOTHO ON THE TABLE!

IÂ’M ROOTING FOR YOU TOTHO!

The themes explored in this book about war are glorious. Especially the relation between scientific advancement and war. As the quote I first highlighted explained, it is during war that most weapons are invented. Look at our own world and the nuclear bomb. Look at OppenheimerÂ’s reaction to the weapon he created. Look at that parallel reaction between Master Graden and Drephos with that character. Adrian Tchaikovksy you genius. I love you. I canÂ’t wait for the next book.

But he was an artificer and this war was an artificerÂ’s thing, a mechanical process cranked over and over by the constant refinement of the weaponsmith and the armourer, the automotive engineer and the volatiles chemist. Seen in that light, in that harsh but clear light, the whole business became somehow admirable. If he looked past the meat, contrived not to see it, then it was just another process that sharpened and honed itself each time it was set in motion. adult-sff favourite-of-the-series military-fiction ...more16 s Phil1,985 204

Mr. T's second novel and the next installment of the Shadows of the Apt continues the saga of the Lowlands and the Wasp's empire's military adventures to conquer it, one city at a time. Mr T has build an intriguing world here; at one time, various huge insects dominated humanity, but somehow (magic?) humans adapted, sporting/becoming somewhat insect themselves and mastering the bugs with their 'art'. Hence, we have wasp-kinden, beetle-kinden, ant-kinden, spider-kinden and so forth. Each kinden has their own art-- ant-kinden have telepathy with one another, wasp-kinden can shoot fireballs from their hands, and on and on.

The wasp empire is relatively new on the scene, cobbled together over just a few generations, transforming the wasps from a bunch of squabbling tribes into an empire. After a brutal 12 year war against the Dragonfly lands, the wasps now eye the lowlands-- the center of the Apt. 500 years ago, the moth-kinden ruled humanity, their strange magic backed up by the cold steel of the Mantis-kinden-- stone cold warriors. The former slave races/kinden threw off their chains, however, and carved their own ways, utilizing technology (e.g, the 'apt'). The former rulers-- moths, mantis, spiders, etc., are known as 'inapt' in that they cannot make sense of or use 'modern' technology, even things crossbows. The former slave races, however, march forth with ever new and developing tech, very steampunkish even though steam power is not very often utilized.

The last volume left us with a cliffhanger-- the wasps were about to besiege an ant city and another wasp army was threatening the heart of the lowlands. Mr. T takes us on a blood soaked journey here, with war manifesting in all its ugliness. Our main protagonists remain the same: Stenwold Maker, a beetle from Collegium, the center of learning of the lowlands; 'Che' Maker, Stenwold's niece who has fallen for Achaeos a moth; Tisamon, a Mantis-kinden weaponmaster and his daughter Tynisa (half spider); Salma, a Dragonfly nobleman, Totho, a halfbreed artificer and so forth.

In a way, this novel seems to be one bloodbath after another, and for sure it is, but on the other hand, we get to see some pretty rich character development and world building on display as well. More and more kinden are introduced and we begin to catch a glimpse of how huge the world actually is-- the lowlands are a very small part of the whole.

Mr. T is known for his biological 'constructs' and his kinden are a pleasure, each with their own 'art', and the technology is amazing as well-- flying machines of all sorts, 'automobiles' something military ATVs, repeating crossbows and nailguns, all kinds of tools of war. We learn much about the ants here, perhaps the most war of the lowlanders, but also more of the Mantis-kinden as well. Tricky spiders with their cunning and endless 'dance' of guile and deceit politically, and of course, the wasps and their secret police pulling strings where ever they can.

My primary issues with this concern the uneven pacing at times; at times a bit of a slog, and in other places, impossible to put down. Yet, Tchaikovsky seems to be getting better at this the second time around. It almost feels he has so many cool ideas that the narrative gets in the way a bit! Nonetheless, overall a gripping read. Highly recommended if you military fantasy. 4 buggy stars! fantasy science-fiction15 s Mark1,038 79

"Have you any idea how many bolts we've loosed in the last few seconds? Let Malkan spend his men instead, because they are more easily replaced."

I expected more of the same from the first book of this series, and when I read Dragonfly Falling, I was very surprised, because where the first book is at most a story of duels and skirmishes and guerrilla battles in the streets, this one drops you into a war. And I don't mean that there is a whole book worth of setup and then the war is the climax. The war rages through the whole book and there's not much pausing to catch one's breath for either the characters or the reader. It's army vs. army and there are a lot of armies and there is a lot of death.

It's rare in epic fantasy to really cut to the core of war as a dehumanizing thing, because most focuses on the valor of the heroes of the given story. Even in something A Song of Ice and Fire, for all of its gritty realist take on fantasy, it's really only one shred of the story (Arya in books 2-3 and Brienne in book 4) where the cost of war is brought home to the reader in the way that it is here. That's because something the Battle of the Blackwater happens only through the eyes of a handful of POV characters, but Tchaikovsky's mode of telling the story gives you a much more total experience as the Wasp Empire begins its war against the Lowlands and the Lowlands, to the surprise of all, rally to fight back. And the scale of this war is epic, and it's told in an epic way in the classic sense. There are a huge number of characters who seem to be introduced only to be killed, reminiscent of something The Iliad in the way that the reader is there with them in their final moments. The sheer number of these drives home that tragedy of war: that the lives of those people all amounted to naught because they're grist for the mill.

The blend of the fantasy and the steampunk is fantastic here, with a lot of focus in this volume on the core of that technology being to devise new and more effective ways for different people to kill one another. It's telling how the artificers on different sides of the conflict respond to the use of their creations. A brilliant character of the Wasp Empire is introduced here to drive this home: Colonel-Auxilian Drephos, whose frequent monologues espouse the notion that people would be killing one another with sticks and stones if there were no machines, and so why not use his intelligence to streamline the process of those people (whom he repeatedly refers to as just meat) to kill one another? He is mad and he is a genius. When I read a new series I often find myself comparing characters to the standard archetypes, and how certain qualities remind me of certain characters from another work. Drephos certainly fits the mad scientist vein, but he's so un the way this is usually presented because we see him in his element, and not as a direct antagonist because he, himself, is not taking the field against the good guys, nor sending assassins to kidnap/kill someone's child or whatever.

Also introduced in this volume is the Emperor of the Wasps, which I think was important to do at this point because it shows the power behind the menace. He is not directly a significant character here, but clearly he will be impacting the story in subsequent volumes.

This is really a great second installment. If what's left of the series is anywhere near this level, then there's something special on our hands.fantasy12 s Emiliya Bozhilova1,548 280

? ???? ????? ??? ?????? ?????????, ?. ?. ??????? ??????. ????????-?????????? ??????? ?????? ?? ???? ??????, ?????? - ?????????. ??????????? ?? ? ?????? ?????? ?? ?????????? ?????, ???????? ?? ???????? ?????? ?? ??????????? (?? ??? ?? ???? ???? ?????????), ????????? ????? ?? ????????????? (??????-???????-???????), ? ?? ??????? ? ????????????-????????????-???????? ???????????? ??????? ??????? ?? ?????? ??? ?????. ??????? ??????????????? ??? ??????, ?.?. ???????? ?? ????????. ????? ? ??????? ????????? ??? ????? ????? ? ?????.

?????? ?? ????????? ?, ?? ??? ?????? ??????????? ? ???????????? ???????? ??????? ?????? ?? ???????? ? ?? ?????? ??????? ???????????????? ??. ???? ? ???? ??????????? ??????????? ????????? ??????, ???????? ????????, ?????? ?? ?? ??????? ? ????? ?? ??????????? ?????????? ?????-???? ????????? ?? ????? ????? ??? ??????. ??????? ?? ?? ??????, ????, ?????? ? ??????, ??? ?? ?? ?????? ? ???????? ?? ???? ??????. ???? ? ????????? ? ????? YA ????? ? ???????? ?? (???-???? ?? ?????? ????? YA “???-???-??-??????????” ???????) ? ?? ?? ??????? ????? ????? ????? ???????????.

??????????, ?????????? ? ????????????? ?????????? ???? ?? ??-????? ????????. ??? ???? ?? ?????? ??? ??? ?? ?????? ??? ??? ???????, ??? ??? ???? ???? 200 ???????? ???????, ????????? ?? ??????? ????????????? ????? ? ????????? ????????, ? ????????? ????? ?? ????? ? ???????? ???????? ? ? ??????? ???????. ?? ??? ???? ? ?? ?? ????????? ??? ??????? ? ?? ???????.

?? ????? ????? ?? ??????? ?? ??????? ?? ??????? (????????, ??? ???? ????????? ??? ???? ???????? ?? ????????) ??-???????.

***

Autor del comentario:
=================================