Adrian TchaikovskyThe Sea Watch: Shadows of the Apt

This series is a heckuva lot better than you might think it would be. The steampunk-plus-everyone-has-insect-totems premise seems a little silly at first, but Tchaikovsky is a good enough author that he pulls it off, and pulls you into the story regardless; when all's said and done, it might just be that he suffers for his originality -- we're used to Elves and Orcs and so forth, but not to, say, Wasp Kinden, so these books seem a little strange and silly at first blush, but they're excellently done. If you even *suspect* you'd like it, take the gamble: my bet is you won't regret doing so.If you're new to the series, don't start here, start with the first book,  Empire in Black and Gold . This is the sixth book of a planned ten, and the middle volume of the second of three planned subdivisions within the series (the head, thorax, and abdomen, as it were).It's tempting to describe the books in terms of other authors -- specifically, the steampunk aspect invites inevitable comparisons to China Mieville, albeit with less Marxist preaching, and the relatively "clean" tone is reminiscent of Robert Jordan, if he'd been willing to kill off major characters -- but Tchaikovsky is an innovative and imaginative author in his own right, and within the pages of these books he's written well-realized, complex and human characters moving through stories that have intriguing beginnings, page-turning centers, and climactic endings. If some of his tropes are a little well-worn (good servant to evil master, orphans discovering parentage, etc.), here they're well-written and well-wrought, so who's to complain?It's hard to talk about this particular volume without spoilers, but generally speaking, the political maneuvering / spy-novel, cloak and dagger aspects of the series come to the fore here, almost totally replacing (at least for now) the epic battle set-pieces that have been its hallmark. There's also a great deal of truly excellent world-building (to the point that I sometimes found myself thinking "Seas of Bugworld Expansion Pack!") as Tchaikovsky takes this opportunity to explore the niches and corners and undercurrents of his world. As this volume begins, the Great War has come to a lull as the Wasps take care of internal rebellions, and Stenwold Maker's loose network of allies is beginning to fracture in the absence of an immediate existential threat. To top it all off, something is preying on Collegium's shipping, vanishing ships without a trace. In tracking down that threat, Stenwold uncovers a yet greater peril to his city, and finds himself caught up in a sequence of events he could not have imagined, with strange new allies helping him in a struggle against former friends.Overall, if you've read the first five books and you enjoyed them, and especially if you're the sort that enjoys fantasy world-building and richness of setting, you'll probably like this one also. All in all, I highly recommend both this book and this series.

"The Sea Watch" is the sixth book in the 'Shadow's of the Apt' series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. The book is 480 pages in length and the Kindle e-edition is a 1313 Kb download.*SPOILER*This sixth book refocuses on Stenwold Maker, one of Collegium's leading figures and who was primarily responsible for turning aside the Wasp's recent attempt of conquest of the Lowlands. Collegium is one of the major cities in the Lowland territory and is the heart of learning and culture for humanity within this large geographic area. Humanity however, in this series of books requires some definition...all humans in this world have some connection to one of the many different species of insects; sometimes in their physical appearance and also in the the fact that they harbour some special 'talents' usually associated with the insect class e.g. flying or the ability to sting, just to mention only two of many insect 'attributes'.The tale is broken down into three sections, initially beginning in Collegium, then going under the ocean for the second part and finally finishing back in Collegium with a short excursion back into the ocean depth.Both new and old threats have evolved to threaten the Lowlands, with Collegium as the main target. This time the new enemies are from beneath the sea AND a previous ally from afar, the Spider kindren. While the old nemesis is, not surprisingly, the Wasp kindren, from the far north eastern section of the territories.*END SPOILER*Tchaikovsky continues to weave the magical tale of the 'Apt'. This book is filled with unexpected twists and turns, battles, political intrigue and a new classification of undersea kindren. However, this was the first book of the six that I didn't entirely enjoy...let me explain. I found the middle section (beneath the ocean) entirely too long, during which time the political maneuvering and several attempted abductions/escapes became somewhat repetitious...but mainly, I felt this environment and its protracted tale, to be increasingly claustrophobic. After what seemed an eternity to me, I was glad to be back on dry land with the start of the final section. If the author intended to create a rather smothering ambience here, then he certainly succeeded.Maps: there are two good maps, BUT the Kindle edition (through the IPad App) continues to show a major weakness in rendering such drawings...let me elaborate. When you look at either map in the 'landscape' perspective on your IPad, the map is shown in the 'portrait' viewpoint. If you hold your IPad in the 'portrait' view the maps are displayed in the 'landscape' perspective. No matter which way you hold your IPad the maps are at right angles to your line of sight. Strange!Conclusion:A solid sixth book! I'd be interested to see if any other reviewers had the same concerns about the middle section as I did. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this latest installment of this ongoing 'Apt' saga and look forward to the continuation of this interesting story. 3 1/2 Stars.Ray Nicholson

The Shadows of the Apt series is quickly becoming my favorite fantasy series. With so many characters and so many story lines, Tchaikovsky could have tried to write POV chapters so we could follow the movements of each character in the vein of the Song of Ice and Fire books. Thankfully he didn't go down that path. The preceding novel, The Scarab Path was Che's story with several other supporting players. This novel is Stenwold's book. He takes center stage and plays out a story among an entirely new branch of the kinden.We are introduced to the sea kinden and over the course of the novel we meet a nearly overwhelming number of them along with several branches of the sea kinden. The story is political in nature and the pacing is very slow. Some characters we've not heard from for a while make reappearances, and a few new players are introduced.There are two scenes where Stenwold confronts two factions threatening Collegium that are superb. The one with Jons Allenbridge is terrific. I really like Sten's style. No blustering, no shouting matches, just the right approach to get someone to see the larger picture.And then there's the ending scene. The end scene is priceless. The line Stenwold speaks in answer to the challenge of an approaching host is simply perfect, a great piece of humor. The outcome of the final confrontation adds to Sten's larger-than-life reputation and is the crowning moment of the book.

A fascinating book this - with the author exploring yet another environment as the world is expanded via exploration and, in this case, kidnap. Everything is here that has marked the series out as such an enjoyable expenditure of time: well crafted characters, very little down time, a fierce attention to the physics, culture, and politics of the universe, excellent pace.Of course, it is book 6 in a series of books, and it is in that that I have my only reflection. As with the previous book, this seems like a standalone novel within the world rather than part of a series. I do wonder if these novels are but components of an integrated finale, with strands rushing together, wrapping themselves in beautiful shapes and then completing the opus that is the final page of this huge investment by both reader and writer.Only time will tell but it is time I am happy to put aside. Well 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.

Felt this novel was a real dip in form.Stenwold spent most of the story in a funk before everything conveniently falls into place for him..he was incredibly tiresome.There were a couple of deaths and betrayals for established characters which felt like plot over plausibility...none of it rang true.Then we had a whole new world thrust on us for most of the book which was tedious in the extreme...didn’t help the flow of the story.There was some much needed fleshing out of the details of Collegium which was great and the fly linden were good value but this is not Adrian’s best work.

I don't know why I view Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shadows of the Apt as guilty pleasure, given that the stories have well crafted characters, thrilling plots and some stunning battles. I think it was the initial premise - people with some insect-derived powers - that seemed a little twee. Plus the fact that there were spiders too, a move surely designed to callously enrage entomological pedants everywhere.With the Sea Watch, the initial insect focus becomes even more awry, with the revelation of an entirely new category of kinden - no surprises for guessing where they come from. After the events in the Scarab Path we return to Collegium, where Stenwold Maker is trying to prepare for the inevitable resumption of hostilities with the Wasp Empire, whilst avoiding a war between supposed allies in Tsen and Vek. And while he does, ships keep on disappearing...This is a book of three halves, and the initial part, as Stenwold slowly descriptions the mystery of the vanishing ships, I though was gripping We are treated to some new characters, and I liked the Fly Laszlo. There are some stunning developments with Teornis the spider savior of Collegium during the Vekken war and Arianna, Stenwold's lover. One of the strengths of this book is that we get a much better insight in to the spider mindset, and these two characters really come alive in this book. The second part of the book - I cannot say much without giving much of the plot away - I found tended to drag. The descriptions of the new Sea-Kinden are good and as ever the abilities and synergy between creature and kinden are well thought out, but as we are literally flooded with new information the plot itself tends to grind to a halt. This is one example where multiple plot stands would have been better as the lengthy descriptions could have been interspersed with more action. Fortunately things pick up in the final third of the book, and we get some more trademark Tchaikovsky battles and plot twists.The Sea Watch is therefore a solid 4 star book and I have to say I am amazed at the speed the Apt books are turned out, given the quality of the writing. Roll on the next...

While not quite as strong as the previous two installments this is still an impressive edition to the series. The majority of this book deals with the Sea-kinden, a previously unknown race and as such a lot of worldbuilding has to occur. While Adrian does a commendable job in establishing the new setting and various kinden it does feel a bit like a whirlwind tour and many may feel a lot of the new characters suffer. That said there is some excellent characterisation of Teornis the Spider-admiral, and Lazslo the fly pirate. This book also features the creatures that the kinden share their heritage with in a far more proactive role than previously seen and some of the sea-kinden are almost alien-like in their differences.Strangely enough the part of the book i enjoyed the most was the beginning which dealt with a lot of the politics hanging over from previous books. There was also the beginnings of some really well-handled espionage/gangster politics too, which I'd love to see more of in the remainder of the series. Adrian does a good job of handling the two different sections and tying them together in a satisfying, if overly neat fashion.Ultimately I feel as though this entire book is a fun "first contact" style diversion to the main series and fleshes out two existing characters and introduces several more. I think it suffers slightly from only focusing on one character and plot though as all the previous books have at least featured several core cast and I don't think Stenwold was the character to pick for a solo adventure. That said he was the only logical character to pick for the story being told so I commend Adrian for not forcing another character into the role. For fans of the series, it is still one of the best books in the series and it successfully introduces a whole new world into the overall saga.

I've given this book 4 stars. It's not perfect, and does have some issues - but it is really well written.The first four books centred on the war with the Wasp kinden, and were very tight and had a really good arc to tie them together. The 5th book ( The Scarab Path (Shadows of the Apt 5) ) followed on from the war, but seemed separate from the others for the most part - instead focussing on a little known civilisation where the beetles weren't quite as apt as the ones from Collegium. That said, I really liked it. The story was a good one, and I got the impression that it would lead somewhere in the future books. This one, I'm guessing is along the same lines. We are yet again introduced to a whole new civilisation, this time living under the sea.Here lies my first issue with this story. The idea of this series has been that there are lots of different races of human, all taking attributes from a particular insect - the wasp kinden with the ability to shoot lightening bolts from their hands, the moth kinden who can see in the dark, the fly kinden who can of course fly etc etc. This book introduces us to many different kinden living under the sea, and to be honest I found it hard to keep up with - let alone pronounce - who was who. That aside however, there are some sea kinden who are related to the Octopus - the Krakind. Now I'm no expert, but is an octopus an insect? The list goes on, and I know it's not really that important - but it bugged me (no pun intended).This book is also long. Too long? I don't know. The story did flow, but it just seemed to really drag on in some places, with no end in sight.When the story in here kicks in, it is really gripping and you don't want to stop reading. There were too many slow points though in my opinion - but for these minor gripes, I've only deducted one star. As a series, this is still excellent, and I'm now off to read the next ( Heirs of the Blade (Shadows of the Apt 7) ). The Scarab Path (Shadows of the Apt 5)Heirs of the Blade (Shadows of the Apt 7)