#shadows of the apt

[caardvark]

Haven't posted anything in a while it's because I was devouring the Shadows of the Apt series by talented and wonderful author Adrian Tchaikovsky here enjoy some of my blorbos from this my blorbo book if you like bugs or fantasy or the horrors please go read it

I will be posting more Shadows of the Apt art

[headcanonsandmore]

Probably a good thing that 'Shadows of the Apt' doesn't really have a fandom on here, because I don't think Tumblr would be able to deal with the sheer amount of moral greyness that Thalric embodies. XD

[nfinitefreetime]

#REVIEW: The SHADOWS OF THE APT series, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

I am tempted, in writing about Adrian Tchaikovsky’s ten-book, 6000+ page, nearly two million word series Shadows of the Apt, to be terse: read it. But, like, that’s kind of a big ask, y’know? The series is 1.924 million words long. As a comparison, the Wheel of Time series is 4.36 million words. A Song of Ice and Fire is currently at 1.749 million, with two imaginary books left to go. James S.A.…

[lordansketil]

It was rare for Thalric to be able to mix business with pleasure but, still, he took his pleasure first, moving quick-eningly atop the Wasp-kinden slave-girl, sourly aware that her responses were born of a need to appear willing, and that the pleasure, such as it was, was all his. Even this pleasure was a distant thing to him, a need that he could watch and analyse even as it was being fulfilled. As he reached his peak Thalric was thinking wryly of the flesh-pots of Helleron, whose varied depravity he would now miss, and that this was the first time in some years that he had lain with one of his own kinden.

I'm rereading the first book of Shadows of the Apt and holy shit Thalric is deep in gorgeous Wasp pussy and thinking about Beetle-kinden brothels?? HELLO???

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

[krinsbez]

A Book Question

So, I've been hearing about how good Adrian Tchaikovsky's books are for sometime, and a couple months back, I got Empire in Black and Gold out m'local library and I loved it, and reserved a copy of Dragonfly Falling. It's taken until now for it to get into my hands, and in this time I have discovered that, rather than trilogy I assumed, there are actually 14 books!

This is not a bad thing, except, I need to know. the first book has Our Heroes barely eking out a bittersweet W at great cost, that it is implied isn't really an L for the bad guys. Is every book like that up until the end?

[analysisroulette]

Do you enjoy talking about bugs? Talking about penises? Oh boy do I have an episode for you...

[mossmanthemossman]

She seal on my worm til an ancient enemy stirs once more

[unendingliveblogging]

the pain of nobody having read shadows of the apt is that even fewer people have read echoes of the fall

[sadwetwaspman]

If you don't know, I am basically holding up Thalric and swinging him around like a cat owner would with their cat

[fannishstuff]

Reading "War Master's Gate" in the Shadows of the Apt series. Adrian Tchaikovski is very, very, very good at foretelling major losses on the part of the villains while still making the stakes for the heroes high, and he does it by knowing full well that the beast keeps biting long after a fatal blow... because very, very small errors can be fatal in war. It goes the other way, too: the protagonists of the story have satisfying victories, but they ALWAYS suffer substantial losses.

[hamstermastersamster]

Congrats to @lordansketil for being the Single Other Person on Earth who Ever Heard about Shadows of the Apt from Someone Other Than Me.

In your honour, I will reupload this other fanart I did of Salma (Salma my beloved), which was previously up on my deviantArt account (RIP).

[headcanonsandmore]

One thing I'm really enjoying about "Shadows Of The Apt" is the gradual increase in the scope of the world. We start the series with just the lowlands and the western edge of the wasp empire but, as the characters' worldviews grow, so does the awareness of the wider world beyond that initial setting.

[westgateoh]

Book Five of “Shadows of the Apt” was so good! I swear, how does this series stay this good? This one was smaller in scope, but reached deeper into the mythos of the world. I just love the characters so much, and the way the tension between Totho and Che resolved was emotionally fulfilling without being awful, so I was glad of that, and the very ending of Thalric and his “fuck off” to the higher ups was sweet, sweet satisfaction. I love these people so much. Bring on book six!

[lordansketil]

in your post about old fics i thought there was going to be a pun about "potter"-y shards lmao

curious, what are your thoughts on shadows of the apt (for the uninitiated)?

Wow, there should have been, what a wasted opportunity. Hmmm... giant fantasy-steampunk saga by Adrian Tchaikovsky about a world full of insect people speedrunning the industrial revolution. There's a lot of action and massive battle set-pieces, but what I really appreciated were the character arcs across the series.

There's a reasonable amount of character attrition, but the deaths are meaningful and I enjoyed the insect-based fantasy world-building. Not much lgbtq representation (I had to supply all the gay myself sigh), but lots of poc main characters and many freaky weirdoes to enjoy.

I listened to the series on audiobook as the narrator, Ben Allen, is really good and does voices for everyone.

Thanks for asking, Nonny!

[nathan-thorn]

Question for y’all

Been reading a book series and a particular detail caught me off guard. Specifically, the characters in a certain city drink their wine from bowls. Initially I thought they just… hadn’t invented cups, since this book series could’ve honestly gone that route, but they’re mentioned a few other times at least.

Now I really doubt I’ll get much in the way of serious answers, but is there/would there be any benefit of drinking wine out of a bowl, rather than a cup or a glass?