[drinksinbars]

finished heirs of the blade... was impressed. the improvement from the first book is almost profound and this guy can churn them out at a ridiculous rate. really looking forward to the last few books.

[Mentalist]

ooh, awesome, DiBs!

i'm waiting for my last paycheck to get mailed to me so that I can justify splurging on books again.....

also, Amazon.co.uk has the synopsis for the next book... it's called " The Air War"

synopsis spoilered:

Spoiler

All is in turmoil as the world moves towards war. In Solarno, the spies watch each other and ready their knives, while Myna sees the troops muster at its border and emotions run high as it vows never to be enslaved again. In Collegium, the students argue politics, too late to turn the tide. In the heart of the Empire, new pilots have completed their secretive training, generals are being recalled to service and armies are ready to march. Their Empress, the heir to two worlds, intends to claim her birthright. And nothing – either within the Empire or beyond it – will stand in her way. A conflict is coming, the like of which the insect-kinden have never seen.

should be freaking awesome.

[Mentalist]

Read HEirs of the Blade.
It is indeed amazing.
I don't remeber who asked me this, but no Spiderlands in this one. nonetheless, a superb book.

[Sinisdar Toste]

just finished heirs of the blade as well. pretty sweet ending. the next book is gonna be a barn-burner methinks. several of the questions i've had for a good long time were answered in heirs, but of course, they just raise more questions.

[Mentalist]

my only concern is that Tchaikovsky's currently setting up something so huge he may not deliver.

And I want him to link the Sea Watch stuff into the last 3 books. because that would be epic.

and, quite frankly, i'm still having a hard time believing he mange to (slight series-general spoiler)

Spoiler

make me not hate Che anymore. His characterization has improved by leaps and bounds. In Heirs, I was actually looking forward to her chapters. whereas up to and including mid Scarab Path, I hated her with a passion, and was just waiting for when she'd finally get killed off.

[QuickTidal]

I'm still only halfway through BLOOD OF THE MANTIS, I'll get back to it at some point, but I've not been driven to it yet.

[Sinisdar Toste]

Mentalist, on 27 May 2012 - 03:58 AM, said:

my only concern is that Tchaikovsky's currently setting up something so huge he may not deliver.

And I want him to link the Sea Watch stuff into the last 3 books. because that would be epic.

and, quite frankly, i'm still having a hard time believing he mange to (slight series-general spoiler)

Spoiler

make me not hate Che anymore. His characterization has improved by leaps and bounds. In Heirs, I was actually looking forward to her chapters. whereas up to and including mid Scarab Path, I hated her with a passion, and was just waiting for when she'd finally get killed off.

Spoiler

yeah, che's story has really taken off. looking forward to her and seda's final showdown. on the other hand, i could hardly stand to be in tynisa's head so much this book. in other books she's been somewhat admirable, despite her flaws, in this one, the flaws take over. the self-loathing, the willful ignorance, the petty goals. i suppose you can blame that on tisamon's shade, but still, it was somewhat infuriating to read. glad he's now been turned into an automaton, coz it makes me see a tynisa/che v. seda/tisamon confrontation in the future.

[Sinisdar Toste]

ok, had to drag this thread out it's grave, because I've just finished Air War and god help us all. this is all just gonna spew onto the page, but the gist of it is: this is, hands down, the best book of the series to date. not even a competition. for sheer action, plot, thrills and pace, it takes the cake from everything that's come before.

to details:

Spoiler

the title is apt, of course, and the best, most thrilling scenes in the book involve pilots and how the world is adapting to air-power. one of the best puzzles in the book involves the wasp air superiority and how it's achieved. got a little rush when i figured it out this book is heavily inspired, quite heavily i'd imagine, from London c. 1942 and i'm sure you all know what that means. although there are some things that weren't seen even in that conflict, and here i'm talking about (don't read this if you haven't read the book, it will seriously ruin the whole goddamn thing)

Spoiler

what i think was an EMP, though i'm no expert.

in this book, i think AT has done a masterful job of characterization as well, some formerly side-players get a lot more attention, and some really strong new characters stand-up, easily making up for the weaker new ones. there's a good sideline with the empress and her quest to increase her power, overcoming resistance from within, and involving a character who i know is going to be a huge PoV going into the Empress's endgame. the scenes with esmail/ostrec were extremely powerful and put the reader right in the head of a character who's fighting the same battle as the reader themselves. AT portrays every side of this conflict from a realistic light, and it's hard not to find yourself sympathizing with certain elements of the 'bad guys' side.

then there's the Seal of the Worm. i'm thinking this connects to the single throw-away line from way back when achaeos was first teaching che about moth history. something about surviving the caterpillar-kinden, who burst from holes in the earth. can't wait to see how that plays out.

[Sinisdar Toste]

As Samuel L.J. the dinosaur-computer nerd would say, "hold on to yo butts."

[drinksinbars]

will have to pick up air war, didnt seem that long ago the last book was out!!

[QuickTidal]

So I'm over the halfway mark in my read of BLOOD OF THE MANTIS now...and I love the Solarno / Exalsee stuff, the Alvdan and Seda and Vampire Mosquito guy stuff, but I'm annoyed at how much time the auction / search for the Shadow Box is taking in Strider Town....it's really stalled that section for me....though Scyla's response to the box istelf and how she claims it's taking over her mind is interesting....but otherwise I need that plotline to move along already. I'm okay with the Totho / Drephos areas...and I'm curious what those big fans are....but that section is KIND of stalling as well.

It's funny, I never thought I'd say that the Che-section of an Apt book wou ld be the most compelling.

Oh and Felise is still such a kickass character and I want her and Tisamon to get together and kick some serious ass.

Also, Salma....not sure where that mercenary band plotline is going, but it's very interesting.

[QuickTidal]

Yeah, I'm gonna finish this one up and pick up SALUTE THE DARK before Xmas probs.

[QuickTidal]

I appreciate it, and trust your judgement BK, so no worries.

[Ukjent]

The Air War was and really entertaining book, the only thing I'm wondering about is when the story is going to end.

[Sinisdar Toste]

i'm pretty sure there's just two books left. warmaster's gate and seal of the worm. AT comes off much more like SE in that i actually believe he can wrap up the series in the final two books.

[QuickTidal]

So I'm about 100 pages from the end of BLOOD...and everything's finally starting to pop off. I'm curious where the Solarno thing will go, especially with Taki being wooed by the Wasp aviator...

Also, poor poor Sperra.

Not totally impressed by Sef and the "under the lake cities" revelation...I thought she'd be something more interesting. Though the big fuckers with the claws are super cool.

[Sinisdar Toste]

yeah the under-the-lake kinden were a sweet but kind of underwhelming revelation. lakes are pretty small comparatively....

This post has been edited by Sinisdar Toste: 29 November 2012 - 10:44 PM

[Sinisdar Toste]

Briar King, on 29 November 2012 - 04:53 AM, said:

I'm just hoping to get a smooth satisfing ending instead a rush crammed info dump ending which I'm confident he ll be able to pull off. He's a cool guy to talk to on his Apt page. I actually invited him to come post on this thread but he wants to avoid posting until the end which I'm cool with. Y'all should go to the pg and check him out.

i read the blog posts, but never the comments. so he comments back?

[QuickTidal]

Started SALUTE THE DARK this morning, and I'm about 40 pages in...wow, really excellent stuff! The most compelling the series has been thus far....and it feels like the last book was a table dressing for this...all plot lines interesting and everything is moving forward.

Oh and does anyone else picture Thalric as played by Michael Fassbender? I just do.

[QuickTidal]

Yeah, I figure since it begins a whole new arc, that book 5 would start slow. I'll probably read it in the new year.