Empire in Black and Gold: Shadows of the Apt 1
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4.1 • 11 Ratings
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
The first volume in a dramatic and colourful new fantasy series, Shadows of the Apt, concerns the fight for survival against a menacingly regimented empire.
Seventeen years ago Stenwold witnessed the Wasp Empire storming the city of Myna in a brutal war of conquest. Since then he has preached vainly against this threat in his home city of Collegium, but now the Empire is on the march, with its spies and its armies everywhere, and the Lowlands lie directly in its path.
All the while, Stenwold has been training youthful agents to fight the Wasp advance, and the latest recruits include his niece, Che, and his mysterious ward, Tynisa. When his home is violently attacked, he is forced to send them ahead of him and, hotly pursued, they fly by airship to Helleron, the first city in line for the latest Wasp invasion.
Stenwold and Che are Beetle-kinden, one of many human races that take their powers and inspiration each from a totem insect, but he also has allies of many breeds: Mantis, Spider, Ant, with their own particular skills. Foremost is the deadly Mantis-kinden warrior, Tisamon, but other very unlikely allies also join the cause.
As things go from bad to worse amid escalating dangers, Stenwold learns that the Wasps intend to use the newly completed railroad between Helleron and Collegium to launch a lightning strike into the heart of the Lowlands. Then he gathers all of his agents to force a final showdown in the engine yard ...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Longtime epic fantasy readers will find many familiar elements in this intriguing debut. There s the peaceful, vulnerable land, in this case the Lowlands, threatened by the Mongol-like Wasp Empire. The lone man who sees the danger is unwilling Lowlands spymaster Stenwald Maker. A charmingly diverse group of agents and allies draws from most of the strictly delineated insect-themed clans (which rather resemble the character classes of role-playing games) and runs the gamut from na ve student to embittered mercenary. Patriotic but conflicted Wasp Thalric puts a sympathetic face on evil. Tchaikovsky exercises considerable talent in assembling these well-worn pieces into a new puzzle, developing an interesting story and world with humor and skillful prose. Readers may be pleasantly surprised to find themselves looking forward to future installments.
