[acesn8s]

Just starting Seal of the Worm, looking forward to coming back here in a week or so and reading the last few pages unspoilered.

[amphibian]

I decided to tackle this series after reading Robert Jackson Bennett's Divine Cities books and a couple others.

As a result of reading those brilliant books, I have a slightly different take on the Apt/Inapt series than most of you do.

I've read the first six (past Sea Watch) and am starting Heirs of the Blade.

The initial setup is not great. It's too D&D. Tchaikovsky stretches the parameters as he goes and the world gets better put together. He has a nice habit of leaving things open ended so he can elaborate and build upon them without breaking the story. The hard Apt/Inapt thing makes little sense so far. Perhaps more will come.

I hated most of the Khanapes-specific segments because it felt like Tchaikovsky was trying hard to be diverse. In City of Stairs and City of Blades, Bennett is effortlessly diverse. He built the world in such a way that the diversity is so built into the way of things that it is like breathing. Scarab Path felt like Tchaikovsky sitting down and saying "Imma do an Egypt book."

The odd thing is that Sea Watch is much better at being diverse and moving us to new places and dynamics than Scarab Path.

I also think Totho and Che are some of the stronger character work Tchaikovsky does. They flex unexpectedly and move to interesting places. Tynisa is the weakest, followed by Achaeos. They have no real identity alone and essentially must be linked to another strong character to have an effect on the story.

I'm also a bit peeved at the tech development. The development of materials used to power the machines in the books is taking place in less than ten years, when in the real world, it took 70 to 80. I understand tech compression for story happens, but it's seeming to take place because Tchaikovsky wants to play with Euro history, rather than spend time in this world.

I also think Tchaikovsky doesn't like having his female characters interact with each other much. We've had basically one extended run with Che and the Fly pilot. That's it. Perhaps post-Sea Watch, we will get more Aristoi time.

This post has been edited by amphibian: 25 February 2016 - 05:18 AM

[acesn8s]

 amphibian, on 24 February 2016 - 08:38 PM, said:

The initial setup is not great. It's too D&D. Tchaikovsky stretches the parameters as he goes and the world gets better put together. He has a nice habit of leaving things open ended so he can elaborate and build upon them without breaking the story. The hard Apt/Inapt thing makes little sense so far. Perhaps more will come.

I had this feeling as well. In the early books the various Kinden seemed to simply replace Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, etc. Once hit book 5 or so I stopped worrying about that and started to enjoy the ride. I'd put Tchaikovsky in the same category as Gemmel - fun, brain candy books.

[acesn8s]

I finished Seal of the Worm over the weekend. I enjoyed it and the series overall. I agree with the criticism from Andorian and Mentalist. It rates a solid 5/7.

[amphibian]

So my complaints about the women characters interacting were addressed in Heirs of the Blade. Quite liked the time spent with Che, Seda, and Tynisa. However, it seems like Tchaikovsky doesn't know what direction he wants to point Tynisa in by the end of the book.

Air War, I have mixed feelings for. Yes, the action is well done. However, none of it means anything to me because Tchaikovsky didn't put the ground work into me giving a crap about any of the characters beyond Stenwold and Ammon. The problem lies in his forgetting to introduce new characters to take up roles in earlier books as the main cast got killed off. So I read it and I don't care about the air raids on Collegium much.

On the ground, Tchaikovsky is making the World War 1 tank stuff more interesting by tactics and not caring much about who drives the new tanks. It is odd that I like this more than the air stuff because it's given less screen time. The pilots/bombardier stuff came off as "you will like these characters due to sheer virtue of time spent with them" to me. The Sea Kinden got a better response from me, even the enemies, because Tchaikovsky made them more interesting from the get go.

I'll get to War Master and Seal of the Worm, but I'm not liking big chunks of what Tchaikovsky does. Maybe the focus on Che and Seda and Stenwold will revive my flagging enthusiasm.

[End of Disc One]

I'm a little over halfway through book 6, The Sea Watch. I love some good world building and I'm impressed at what Tchaikovsky is doing here, six books into a series. There is a lot going on under the sea, and again I'm loving the visuals. This one had a slow start for the first third of the book, but now I'm sucked in. I'll be very impressed if he manages to bring in the characters from books 5 and 6 to the conclusion in a satisfying way...hopefully these aren't just side stories.

[JPK]

I was reading over the old stuff after being pointed here. I completely agree with what a lot of you said years ago. The first arc is decent, there's enough originality to the setting that it keeps you going even though the first two books aren't the best.

It really gets super compelling in the second arc though. I'm loving THE SEA WATCH and will be finishing the series by the end of the year.

I think it helps that they're getting the audiobook treatment and that typically helps me getting through sloggier books whereas if I were reading it in physical or ebook format I tend to drop books way faster.

[JPK]

I've been very careful. The spoilers are pretty vague when they're not blocked though.

[JPK]

Back at it with HEIRS OF THE BLADE. The first section dragged for me super hard due to the pov character. I really hope she gets better during this book because I dread all of her chapters now.

I'm pleased to say that the second section involving everyone else is moving along far better for me. The stuff sounding The Empire specifically is fascinating. With the alliances forming here I really fear for the future of the Lowlands.

[JPK]

The last three books dropped in audio this past week. As soon as I finish my current listen, THE AIR WAR is up next.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

My library only has book two in a format where I can only read it on my phone instead of kindle, which is lame. Also it seems like they do t have the entire series. I might jump ship which is a shame because I really
Liked the first book, but I can’t subject myself to the torture of phone reading and then not finishing the series.