Adrian Tchaikovsky

[williamjm]

51 minutes ago, RedEyedGhost said:

Mild spoiler question:

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The Worms?  With them having the name of the final book, I assume that's where it's going.

They were mentioned at the end of book seven with Che in the Commonweal, and Seda went to one of the seals in book eight.

Spoiler

Yes, that is referring (although a bit misleadingly) to the kinden who play a big role in the final story arc.

 

29 minutes ago, Rhom said:

I do assume that those will be the kinden in the final book based on the title, but no there's a line near the end of The Scarab Path as Che is escaping the Masters who have been pretty enigmatic where it says:

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"Che would remember for ever the sight of them as she glanced back one last time: beautiful by an alien aesthetic, huge and commanding, and gleaming in that bluish light.  The immortal Slug-kinden, the Masters of Kanaphes."

Prior to that, I don't recall their kinden being mentioned.  But the slime that was mentioned on the walls of the great pyramid made sense as well as their bloated appearance once that line was revealed.

But I do think they were the first kinden not related to an insect.  Then in Sea Watch there are obviously several that are not related to insects.

I think they're the first non-arthropods, I think before that the only non-insect kinden we see are the spiders and scorpions, although others may be mentioned as something the moths have encountered in the past.

[Corvinus85]

I finished Children of Memory and have mixed feelings about it.

Spoiler

I like time loop stories, but I'm not a fan of it-was-all-a-dream or in this case it-was-a-simulation stories. And really the time loop part was more frustrating than enjoyable. The non-linear story telling was a bit too much in this one. This probably could have been a novella instead of a novel.

But the characters were good and I liked the concepts he laid out at the end about sentience. Creative as always in that regard. Another interesting way to expand this universe he has been meticulously crafting. That being said, I hope he explores more of the established space-faring civilization than simply add yet another new thing if he writes more books.

It's interesting that he diverged a bit from the formula where a near great tragedy happens because of misunderstandings and personal agendas, as the main sad part really was no one's fault. 

So the last part of the book improved the book enough that I didn't hate it, but definitely my least favorite in the series.

[RedEyedGhost]

Finished War Master's Gate and decided to move straight into Seal of the Worm.  

[Rhom]

On 3/15/2023 at 12:11 AM, RedEyedGhost said:

Finished War Master's Gate and decided to move straight into Seal of the Worm.  

Funny... we both had some extra reading time yesterday it seems like.  I finished Heirs of the Blade.  Gonna read something else before I get into the last trilogy of the series though.

[williamjm]

I got a notification earlier today that somehow Tchaikovsky has published yet another story:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Away-Childish-Things-Terrible-Worlds-ebook/dp/B0BMSH79CR/ref=sr_1_10?crid=2G7VGN5PBM13M&keywords=adrian+tchaikovsky&qid=1680034668&sprefix=adrian+tch%2Caps%2C216&sr=8-10

Quote

 

All roads lead to Underhill, where it’s always winter, and never nice.

Harry Bodie has a famous grandmother, who wrote beloved children’s books set in the delightful world of Underhill. Harry himself is a failing kids’ TV presenter whose every attempt to advance his career ends in self-sabotage. His family history seems to be nothing but an impediment.

An impediment... or worse. What if Underhill is real? What if it has been waiting decades for a promised child to visit? What if it isn’t delightful at all? And what if its denizens have run out of patience and are taking matters into their own hands?

 

 

[dog-days]

That one's next on my list. I've had my eye on it since it first came up on his Amazon profile page. 

[RedEyedGhost]

Finished Seal of the Worm on Sunday.  Probably the best book of the series.  Really dug the epilogue, except for one thing 

Spoiler

Taki lost in her adventuring.   Was a bit surprising that it took Che and Thalric three years to return to civilization.

 

[williamjm]

1 hour ago, RedEyedGhost said:

Finished Seal of the Worm on Sunday.  Probably the best book of the series.  Really dug the epilogue, except for one thing 

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Taki lost in her adventuring.   Was a bit surprising that it took Che and Thalric three years to return to civilization.

 

I did think it was a really good conclusion to the series.

If you want more in the setting then Tchaikovsky has also written three volumes of short stories in the world (plus a fourth by other authors, which I haven't read). I don't think they're essential reading but they do have a good variety of stories and have a mix of familiar characters and locations and bits set in parts of the world that weren't visited in the main series.

[williamjm]

I see that Tchaikovsky has a couple more novels scheduled now.

There's a (semi-)sequel to City of Last Chances called House of Open Wounds:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/House-Open-Wounds-Adrian-Tchaikovsky

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City-by-city, kingdom-by-kingdom, the Palleseen have sworn to bring Perfection and Correctness to an imperfect world. As their legions scour the world of superstition with the bright flame of reason, so they deliver a mountain of ragged, holed and scorched flesh to the field hospital tents just behind the frontline.

Which is where Yasnic, one-time priest, healer and rebel, finds himself. Reprieved from the gallows and sent to war clutching a box of orphan Gods, he has been sequestered to a particularity unorthodox medical unit.

Led by 'the Butcher', an ogre of a man who's a dab hand with a bone-saw and an alchemical tincture, the unit's motley crew of conscripts, healers and orderlies are no strangers to the horrors of war. Their's is an unspeakable trade: elbow-deep in gore they have a first-hand view of the suffering caused by flesh-rending monsters, arcane magical weaponry and embittered enemy soldiers.

Entrusted - for now - with saving lives deemed otherwise un-saveable, the field hospital's crew face a precarious existence. Their work with unapproved magic, necromancy, demonology and Yansic's thoroughly illicit Gods could lead to the unit being disbanded, arrested or worse.

Beset by enemies within and without, the last thing anyone needs is a miracle.

Also what seems to be a book in a new setting called Alien Clay:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alien-Clay-Adrian-Tchaikovsky

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The planet of Kiln is where the tyrannical Mandate keeps its prison colony, and for inmates the journey there is always a one-way trip. One such prisoner is Professor Arton Daghdev, xeno-ecologist and political dissident. Soon after arrival he discovers that Kiln has a secret. Humanity is not the first intelligent life to set foot there.

In the midst a ravenous, chaotic ecosystem are the ruins of a civilization, but who were the vanished builders and where did they go? If he can survive both the harsh rule of the camp commandant and the alien horrors of the world around him, then Arton has a chance at making a discovery that might just transform not only Kiln but distant Earth as well.

 

[dog-days]

House of Open Wounds is due on 7th December. 608 pages in hardback according to Amazon. I'd like to know what Tchaikovsky adds to his porridge in the morning...

[AncalagonTheBlack]

2 more books announced! 

https://www.tor.com/2023/10/26/putting-the-tea-in-i-t-announcing-two-new-books-from-adrian-tchaikovsky/

[Calibandar]

That Service Model book he has coming out in June looks interesting.

[Rhom]

I did finish Shadows of the Apt a couple weeks ago and really enjoyed the entire series.  Doing a bit of a palate cleanser with Sanderson for some light reading, but I'm looking at Children of Time in the very near future.

[RedEyedGhost]

7 hours ago, Rhom said:

I did finish Shadows of the Apt a couple weeks ago and really enjoyed the entire series.  Doing a bit of a palate cleanser with Sanderson for some light reading, but I'm looking at Children of Time in the very near future.

I miss dipping my toe into that series every few books.  After such a long ride, I still miss that fresh content.  Maybe it's time to read the in between and after stories...  Let me know when you start The Bear and the Serpent (book two of Echoes of the Fall) because I'd like to know what chapter a thing happens in, so that I can reread that myself.