[Aptorian]

Looking at Pats blog today I noticed that he had a cover up for the seventh, SEVENTH, book in the Shadows of the Apt series.



Now, I was no fan of this series, despite buying the first two. The story was boring, the characters uninteresting, the fantasy cliche, etc. and yet... there were small gems. The "Apt" powers were interesting, the idea of societies built on insect traits were original, the Nazi bees were cool bad guys, and of course it was a pleasure to watch the Mantis guys fuck things up. But after two books of what I thought was supposed to be a trilogy, the story was not really moving along and in the second book the author decided to introduce a whole different threat that I didn't really see being resolved properly along with repelling the bee empire in one book. So I quit.

Now I learn there's been released 6 books and a 7th is on the way! What the hell is going on here?

Has anyone read beyond the first couple of books? Does the series get better? Does some kind of awesome magical craziness happen with that box of evil thingy?

Or did the series just putter into utter stupidity like the Saga of the Seven Suns?

This post has been edited by Jenisapt Rul: 18 December 2010 - 09:23 PM

[Mentalist]

I've read up to Book 4, so far.

pacing gets better, new characters and new settings are introduced. Che gets almost no screen time to whine, battles get really badass, and a lot of characters actually die and stay dead (though not always enough)

The main arc was really knda resolved in Book 4 though. I'm not sure about the others. I pick them up occasionally, and they can be entertaining reads if you don't expect much. But I get the feeling the series is running out of steam, in that in Book 5 the author apparently invents a brand new threat out of nowhere.

[Aptorian]

How fast is he writing these books? It seems like he must be releasing the books faster than once every 12 months.

[The Dark Wanderer]

From an interview somewhere, I remember the fact that the author said that he had planned out a 10-book series with three separate threads, first of which would be resolved in book 4. As previously said not exactly hard work, but the concepts are interesting enough and they fall into the easy read category. I quite like them and am pleased the author can keep producing at what appears to be a silly rate (book every 6 months or so), but can understand why some people don;t find them quite as enthralling.

[Dag]

I read the first 5 books and can't wait for the book 6 to come out in February.

Now, don't get me wrong - I am not praising this series and saying it's brilliant or even recommending it further (actually, I told several firends who saw me drooling over the books that they shouldn't waste their time on them), and I agree that it suffered from some quite annoying deficiencies in the beginning (Che's & Stenwold's constant whinging and Tchaikovsky pulling deus-ex-machinas out of his bottom all the time, stubbornly refusing to let any harm happen to his main protagonists). So I can't really explain what kept me reading the series; I just have this feeling that these books are a bit like fast-food snacks, the guilty pleasure you occasionally secretly enjoy between meals, knowing that what you're eating is just a bunch of unhealthy calories and that you're doing your body no favours - but you just can't stop yourself because they taste soooooo good...


When Ment says that

Mentalist, on 18 December 2010 - 09:29 PM, said:

pacing gets better, new characters and new settings are introduced. Che gets almost no screen time to whine, battles get really badass, and a lot of characters actually die and stay dead (though not always enough)

it does in fact mean that the story improves after book 3, but I would argue it is an improvement in the sense that Tchaikovsky finally learned how to properly use the mustard/ketchup/mayo in order to cover the slightly disturbing taste of the shredded dead animal squeezed between two pieces of stale bread that constitute his metaphorical McApt burger. Will the fact that I understand how the trick works stop me from reading the series? No. Unless he really screws it up and starts adding artichokes to the mixture, I will continue devouring all of his books as they come out and guiltily enjoying every single one of them. But I would only very reluctantly offer them to anyone I really care about, being not really eager on causing them an intellectual heart attack.

PS: Have I mentioned already that I reeeeally hate artichokes...?

[Sciz]

wtf artichokes taste great!

[QuickTidal]

I really enjoyed the first half of book one but the second half slowed down way too much. With the amount that they keep coming out I am tempted to give it another go.

Sigh.

Um...and the cover for the sixth book was...badass.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 18 December 2010 - 11:16 PM

[End of Disc One]

Briar King, on 19 December 2010 - 12:49 AM, said:

What the Fuck? Ive never heard of these but those 2 covers are absolutey goregous! I might look into this series if I have time. Fucking awesome artwork there!

Fucking A....

Agreed. Those are the UK covers, but the US covers are awesome too. I've been meaning to read these for a while because the world seems very interesting. The author has drawings of the various races on his website.

[Mentalist]

Dag, on 18 December 2010 - 10:16 PM, said:

I read the first 5 books and can't wait for the book 6 to come out in February.

Now, don't get me wrong - I am not praising this series and saying it's brilliant or even recommending it further (actually, I told several firends who saw me drooling over the books that they shouldn't waste their time on them), and I agree that it suffered from some quite annoying deficiencies in the beginning (Che's & Stenwold's constant whinging and Tchaikovsky pulling deus-ex-machinas out of his bottom all the time, stubbornly refusing to let any harm happen to his main protagonists). So I can't really explain what kept me reading the series; I just have this feeling that these books are a bit like fast-food snacks, the guilty pleasure you occasionally secretly enjoy between meals, knowing that what you're eating is just a bunch of unhealthy calories and that you're doing your body no favours - but you just can't stop yourself because they taste soooooo good...


When Ment says that

Mentalist, on 18 December 2010 - 09:29 PM, said:

pacing gets better, new characters and new settings are introduced. Che gets almost no screen time to whine, battles get really badass, and a lot of characters actually die and stay dead (though not always enough)

it does in fact mean that the story improves after book 3, but I would argue it is an improvement in the sense that Tchaikovsky finally learned how to properly use the mustard/ketchup/mayo in order to cover the slightly disturbing taste of the shredded dead animal squeezed between two pieces of stale bread that constitute his metaphorical McApt burger. Will the fact that I understand how the trick works stop me from reading the series? No. Unless he really screws it up and starts adding artichokes to the mixture, I will continue devouring all of his books as they come out and guiltily enjoying every single one of them. But I would only very reluctantly offer them to anyone I really care about, being not really eager on causing them an intellectual heart attack.

PS: Have I mentioned already that I reeeeally hate artichokes...?

all very true.

as i've mentioned above, I pick them up occasionally. I don't pretend to be a fanatic of the series, but when I get a lull in the "to read" pile, or I'm busy with exams/school and can't dedicate time to a serious book, I'd pick up one of these.

and i'd argue the story really picked up in Book 3, esp with the cool new setting he introduced there. that really carried the book. and then after that, Book 4 really built on all the great parts of book 3, and eliminated most of the series' weaknesses. Tchaikovsky HAS gone a long way from Book 1, that much is certain.

[Werthead]

I'm reading Book 1 now and really enjoying it. It has a different magic system, the great idea of insect totems and the fact it's set during an industrial revolution with guns (or gunpowder-driven crossbows) and airships but still very much epic fantasy is genuinely interesting. Characterisation and prose are pretty much MOR fantasy, but the ideas boil off the page at quite a clip. Certainly Book 1 moves very quickly and interestingly. I've heard that Book 2 loses the plot before it comes back strong in the third volume.

Overall, it's a ten-book series divided into three acts. The first, the showdown between the Empire and the Lowland free cities, occupies the first four books. Then the next three (5-7) form a new arc and then the story is resolved in 8-10.

Book 6 is out in February and Book 7 in the autumn of 2011, whilst Book 8 is just about done IIRC. Book 1 only came out in early 2008. IIRC Tchaikovsky was deep into writing the series (on Book 3 or 4 IIRC) when he sold the first one, so his writing speed is a bit illusory. He reckoned that publication would catch up with him around Book 8 or 9, so the wait would only increase moderately very late in the books. He's also the first fantasy author directly inspired and influenced by Erikson to be published, IIRC, so it's interesting on that score as well.

[champ]

Im about half way through book 4 at the momet and whilst it hasn't kept me hooked, I've still felt the need to continue on with the read to find out what happens... I pick it up every now and again for a light read, don't feel the need to power through it and get it finished...

It's strange, I wouldn't recommend the series to read to friends as there are a load of better books out there yet I stick it out...

This post has been edited by champooon: 19 December 2010 - 12:31 PM

[End of Disc One]

Briar King, on 19 December 2010 - 04:18 AM, said:

Damn I fucking hate books that have different covers for different countries...Those are fucking nice covers so when I look em up if our covers dont match up and I decide to order then I guess I ll go with AmazonUK.

Well for the first 3 books, the US covers are much better than the UK ones. The UK covers didn't get good until recently.

[Abyss]

Reviews here and elsewhere have been all over so this has remained on my watch-list. When it's over and done i may check it out.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 20 December 2010 - 04:43 PM, said:

Reviews here and elsewhere have been all over so this has remained on my watch-list. When it's over and done i may check it out.

I recall liking huge chunks of the first book and feeling that the second half weighed down...but it wasn't awful. Just pissed me off how good the first half was and the second half didn't stack up....I always planned on giving it another go down the road...

[Werthead]

I think the disconnect is because the world is so interesting and the story and characters are more traditional, even possibly a bit lightweight. I actually quite like the way the two work together.

@ QT: It appears that a lot of people agree that Book 2 is hugely problematic. Book 3 and onwards seem to have gotten much better reviews though.

[QuickTidal]

Werthead, on 21 December 2010 - 06:25 PM, said:

I think the disconnect is because the world is so interesting and the story and characters are more traditional, even possibly a bit lightweight. I actually quite like the way the two work together.

@ QT: It appears that a lot of people agree that Book 2 is hugely problematic. Book 3 and onwards seem to have gotten much better reviews though.

Indeed, that seems to be the consensus. I might pick this series back up in the new year.

[coferblack]

I have been enjoying this series. I live in the United States and I have been able to get the UK editions of all of the books from bookdepository all for under $10 (US). For two of the books, I paid less than $6 (US). Great series. Not too heavy and not too dark. I highly recommend this series.

[Mentalist]

Werthead, on 21 December 2010 - 06:25 PM, said:

I think the disconnect is because the world is so interesting and the story and characters are more traditional, even possibly a bit lightweight. I actually quite like the way the two work together.

@ QT: It appears that a lot of people agree that Book 2 is hugely problematic. Book 3 and onwards seem to have gotten much better reviews though.

Book 2, a lot of emo-ish characters got a lot of pages. Book 3 and onwards, he seriously cut down on that.

[Mentalist]

I finished book 5 yesterday.

Tchaikovsky has improved A LOT. The new setting was really well-executed, and he played with some really deep themes here, which reminded me a lot of RG, actually. The story was well-paced, and he built up suspense for the entire book to deliver a great, Erukson-style convergence. nowhere near as epic as Malazan, mind you, but very well-executed, imho.

[caladanbrood]

The first book is sitting on my shelf waiting to be read. Hopefully get around to it after The Stainless Steel Rat and Shades of Grey. I remember a very mixed reaction to the first few, which did put me off for quite a long time, but the later ones in the series have been much better received, so I thought I'd give it a go.