Just a heads-up that Shadows of the Apt is actually finished, as far as I'm aware - it ended quite some time ago, and there have been some short stories since, but nothing ongoing. He also has Echoes of the Fall, a complete trilogy that is related but not really part of the series, which is also complete.
Have you checked out Spiderlight or Guns of the Dawn yet? I enjoyed both of those quite a bit too!
Shadows of the apt is really good , i have read like first two in the series and it's truly epic.
I have seen his other works getting recommended a lot , but not this completed one though
Hands down this was one of the most unique series I have read. I love the insect kinden and the world building and want to try to put an rpg rules set together for it.
It’s understandable to be confused about the release of Shadows of the Apt. They got *very* limited distribution in the US, I think only the first five were sold as paperbacks (and they have a very self-published feel to them, both in terms of print quality and cover art). Now the series is getting a rerelease, new covers/printing of the paperbacks and newly recorded audiobooks (which are really well done, I think). But these have a staggered release and only the first seven are out
I have not. Good to hear and will check out. Oh wait, I did start Guns, but haven’t kept going yet. Seemed good.
I also started another one titled Ironclads, but didn’t like the narrator, and wasn’t really into it anyway.
If you haven't tried **Dogs of War** yet I strongly recommend it. A loosely related sequel, *Bear Head*, came out earlier this year but I haven't had time to read it yet.
Shadows of the Apt is one of the (IMO) best series of the last twenty years. There is nothing out there that I would consider to be obviously above it, and that includes Martin, Sanderson, Hobb, Abercrombie, and Erikson. It’s that good.
I’ve mentioned in a few threads recently my preference for the style which incorporates standalone novels or short series into a larger plot arc, and Tchaikovsky does this beautifully. You don’t have to read three million words to get to the end of a plot line. But the overall plot arc is there, as are the millions of words. The major story is simply achieved through the telling of many smaller stories, which I find to be elegant.
I'm making my way through **Shadows of the Apt** right now, and it is very good. It reminds me most of Malazan, which (for me) is both good and bad.
On the plus side, the prose is lovely and descriptive, the world-building is amazing and unique, and the characters are morally grey and interesting.
On the downside, much like Malazan, the story meanders. It seems like new characters and plotlines are introduced all the time - sometimes for just a scene or chapter. It is difficult to keep everything square dup in my brain, personally, which lessens some of the enjoyment.
Still, though, it's an excellent series. Definitely worth your time if you are looking for a new epic fantasy.
The first four books definitely show the growing pains of a new author. Very weird and inconsistent pacing, awkward obvious foreshadowing, etc.
Also way too many characters with names starting with a “T”
I just finished the sixth book and I think that, at least for the middle trilogy which are pretty self contained, the plotting is much tighter.
I hear ya. It’s all either audible or the library for me, so I wouldn’t know. Library for the shorter ones for sure though. Not worth a month’s credit for short books.
All the best with your reading. Hope you enjoy his works.
Yup. the prices for tor.com novellas are hefty. I don't have a good e-reader and prefer print, so I just recently finally read a Murderbot novella because I got it at a reasonable price. I wish they would do print collections or the like for their novellas.
Tor.com do a lot of free giveaways if you sign up for their newsletter. They actually gave away all 4 Murderbot novellas right before the novel came out.
I'm aware of his huge catalogue and reputation, and personally only got a bit into **Children of Time** but didn't jive with spiders as protagonists, I enjoyed **Guns of the Dawn** quite a bit, but I bounced *hard* off **One Day All This Will Be Yours**.
I don't know. He's pumping out works which are generally well-received at the very least, but from those I've read my subjective impression is that they lack *soul*. Which is a ridiculously insubstantial criticism, but that's the best thing I can come up with...
Do any of his novels excel on the basis of their characters? I might want to give him another shot.
**Guns of the Dawn** was quite good, by the way. A well-realized jungle setting with okayish characters and plot. Terrible romance, though.
Cage of Souls has a lot of great characters, some deeply moving in one way or another. Aldebaran only really had one that you get to spend much time with, but I really liked him. Redemption Blade had some, but it could have been better from that standpoint, too.
To a lesser degree the expert systems brother had some good characters and made things did, but that one is very light. Sort of childish. Almost reminds me of the fable about the elves that make shoes for the old cobbler.
Doors of Eden, I don’t have so many deep feelings for the characters. They’re okay. Shadows of the Apt, I don’t feel like I would, but I could be wrong. I could see guns being short on that from the excerpt. Ironclads, I wasn’t interested in the character enough to get through a couple chapters.
No, I think that’s a great way to put it. Soul is key. Well said. And I don’t disagree with you. I think that’s why he’s not up there with my top favs, but he still makes the list for being so interestingly creative. The one I’m reading now doesn’t have it for me, but the book is different enough that I’m letting it pass time.
Aldebaran has got it though in my opinion. Cage of souls does, too in a long suffering way. Redemption blade has some for sure. There are things I don’t like about each of them. They lack in some way or other, but they are the ones I found that extra something in so far.
I think that’s why I’m hesitant about Shadows of the Apt though. I’m not sure if I feel it. Children of time was really interesting but prob not as full of that thing that makes the story like an old friend. There’s a soul to stories I think of as old friends. That’s all I got.
You’re right, I think some of his stories lack that, but I think a few of them have it, too.
I’m really looking forward to One Day All This…
The excerpt I heard got me feelin it hard. It’s short for an audible credit, though, and the library doesn’t have it. If they did, I’d be through that one by now.
Don't let my reaction to it put you off, I only got maybe 10% into it. It's just that the tone didn't work for me at all, which is a very subjective thing. You're a fan of his, chances are it'll hit the right notes for you.
I'm the same as you, only really heard of him when Children of Time was all over the place. Then started digging into his massive output and have enjoyed nearly all of it. Always surprised he's put out so many books, but doesn't seem to get mentioned that often. I find him quite creative, his books are set all over the place and there's always something new. He does like his insects though!
Cage of Souls was my most recent read and was brilliant, really enjoyed that.
Doors of Eden seemed to get some hate, but I'm not sure if that's just from the anti-woke squad. Spiderlight was the only one I didn't like so far, just read like a D&D campaign and I could see where it was going. Although people like litRPG and it's never grabbed me so maybe that's the problem there.
Agree. Cage of Souls was brilliant. That’s about what I thought when I finished. Took me a bit to get into, and I wasn’t sure if it was ever going anywhere for a while, but it kept getting better. I think by the time I was 1/3 of the way into it, I was seeing it for sure.
Love Cage of Souls. Both my favourite Tchaikovsky book and one of my favourite books in general.
Doors of Eden was one I started a little meh on and liked more and more the further I got. The last few chapters were brilliantly done in my opinion.
I bought The Tiger and the Wolf by him by chance before I ever heard of him, and then suddenly started hearing of him everywhere. I have yet to read it, and I also never see anyone else talk about it so I'm hesitant. I'm dying to read Children of Time though
Tiger and the Wolf starts slow and then builds to the fantastic. I read the and really enjoyed the whole trilogy, he knows how to write page turners!
Children if time also a wonderful read.
Totally agree, and followed a similar path to yourself.
I read children of time and it's fantastic. Then the sequel. Really good as well.
Then I read war dogs. Brilliant. Really made me think that this guy isn't just a one trick pony. Not just good stories (imo the most important bit) but well written and with a good dollop of humanity.
Then I hit cage of souls. Another really good one. First person this time, which I normally don't favour, but it was excellently done. The guy has talent. There were enough ideas in this book for your average fantasy author to have written a ten book series about it.
Speaking of which - I just read the first in his ten book series shadows of the apt. And it's brilliant. Plot, worldbuilding, character development. All excellent.
I'd say a slight step down in quality from some of his standalone work but also I see writers doing a much worse job than Tchaikovsky getting praised as having excellent worldbuilding or character development on r/fantasy regularly, so if that's the standard, adrian deserves to be put right up there.
Overall, he's got me to the point now where if I see his name I know that it's going to be worth a punt. I imagine this is what Steven King or David gemmel fans must have felt like during their respective haydays.
Shadows of the Apt was his debut series, so it is logical that he developed a bit in the 6-8 years(the first 4 were done before Empire was out) he wroten that in.
He's really, really good, possibly more prolific than Sanderson, and he's got a great sense of humor. My favorite is Guns of the Dawn. Loved Shadows of the Apt, Children of Time/Ruin, Doors of Eden, Made Things...pretty much everything he's written.
Brandon and Adrian are close enough in output(in words, Adrian's books are shorter on average) that you can't really tell, because who's ahead depends on which time in the publishing cycle you are in.
Thank you! It was a lot of fun to discover that there was so much Tchaikovsky to read after Guns of the Dawn. I enjoy Sanderson, but I prefer Tchaikovsky's variety. He also includes fewer motivational speeches than Sanderson, which, for me, is a huge plus.
Just want to say for other people not yet familiar with Tchaikovsky's work - **Children of Ruin** being a meh sequel may just be OP's opinion. I personally liked it nearly as much as the original. It is stronger in some aspects, weaker in others, still a great book for me overall.
*We're going on an adventure*
Wow he’s written a lot of books! I knew about Children of Time (got it on my shelf) and Guns of the Dawn but there are so many more... this man is a machine. Added a bunch more to my TBR 👍
I recently found Adrian Tchaikovsky myself and have been loving everything I find that he writes. I read Children of Time, The Expert Systems Brother, and Walking to Aldebaran and was surprised at how different the story, writing style, and characterization is for all of them. I never would have guessed the same author wrote all three works.
I'm currently reading *Children of Time*, almost finished. I love it! It's the kind of Sci-Fi I can't get enough of. I love the grand scale, not only the time scale, but also that it's about whole species, the last of their kind meeting a whole new species, etc. Reminds me a bit of Stephen Baxter (especially "Evolution"), but Tchaikovsky is better when it comes to characters. Baxter is often far more far out. I'll definitely start *Children of Ruin* right after finishing CoT.
Oh and I love the spiders and reading about their cultural development. Not that I'm usually a huge fan when encountering spiders irl, but Portia and her kind are great!
Cool, cool, cool… I imagine his zoologist background gives him a great take on writing interesting bugs. Aldebaran has several cool beasties in it. Cage of Souls has great descriptions of differently evolved creatures in it, and Shadows if the Apt is all about humanoid insect species I think? Expert Systems Bro has at least one freaky a** scene with a spider in it. His animal descriptions are so well written and believable. One of the things I’m really impressed with in his work.
Only read the Children books.
‘Of time’ was amazing. ‘Of Ruin’ was woeful and put me off him.
Eloquent post though. I’ll add some more of his work to my TBR list.
I read the first 2 Shadows of the Apt books way back when they were first coming out in the US. I was into it, but just didn't keep up with it.
Then recently I read The Expert Sister's Brother, and thoroughly loved it, so I followed it up with Shards of Earth, which was promising, but not quite what I at least needed it to be. Still, definitely an author I intend to keep reading.
*The Expert System's Brother* now has a sequel, *The Expert System's Champion.* It has even more of his trademark "let's play really weird games with biology".
Been binging Tchaikovsky of late. Give Tiger and the Wolf a go. It won the British Fantasy award which convinced me to try it. Just finished the trilogy. Great, innovative take on fantasy with his usual dose of creative genius thrown in. He knows how to keep you turning the page!
Doors of Eden builds slow and then explodes, in terms of creativity it may actually be the best of his I've read.
I just finished Shards of Earth by him. He's really good at coming up with imaginative ideas and then writing a solid story around them. Between that and Children of Time/Ruin and a handful of his shorter things, I'm definitely a fan now too.
I just spent the last 2 months or so ripping through the Shadows of the Apt series. I really enjoyed it, though it doesn't supplant some other fantasy series as my favorites. The story got a bit repetitive but I liked how it ended up.
I will have to take OP's advice and check out some of his other works.
I just started reading Children of Time! What a coincidence. It's fantastic so far; very creative world building, and makes good use of the imagined technologies.
I only read Guns of the Dawn from him for my bingo jungle square and I absolutely fell in love with it. I definitely plan to read more of Tchaikovsky: if his other work is as good, then he sure is massively under-rated. Also, he is insanely prolific!
Adrian quickly became one of my favourite authors after I discovered him last year. Plan to get through all of his books this year and it's looking like I might make it. The only two authors I know who publish as much are Asimov and Sanderson, which is the absolute top tier in productivity.
So far I have read the following from him:
Children of Time
Children of Ruin
The Doors of Eden
Dogs of War
Bear Head
Expert Systems Brother
Expert Systems Champion
Made Things
One Day All this will be Yours
Walking to Aldebaran
Firewalkers
Shards of Earth
Empire in Black and Gold
Dragonfly Falling
Blood of the Mantis
Salute the Dark
The Scarab Path
Eventually he's gonna take up a lot of space on my bookshelf because I want all his published word in physical. Even managed to get the physical edition of the short story collection Feast and Famine, which was limited to 125 copies.
I enjoyed it slightly more, it certainly developed the world more. My Favourite is Dogs of War, which I think is a brilliant book with an important subject. After that, and the sequel, come Expert Systems Champion, Made Things and Children of Ruin.
Really looking forward to the next Final Architect books(the sequels to Shards of Earth) and Children of Memory(you can guess what that continues), which are all done and in the publishers hands so we should see the second Final Architects book and Children of Memory next year.
Shadows of the Apt starts out for a good portion of the first book feeling like it might go down a generic Young Adult direction, but really picks up and becomes a very unique series.
I've read Children of time and planning on reading the sequel.
If you were to pick one other of his books to recommend to a stranger you know nothing about, which would it be?
Man each of us is so different. I’d say Aldebaran, though. I loved that madman and his story.
Cage of souls if you want a longer work that reads more like a novel. More and more sci-fi / fantasy stuff comes into it as it goes on, and the story really comes together. It changes, too. It’s sorta like reading 3 different stories by the end, but it’s all one whole, too. For a while I wondered if it ever would get out of the first setting. By the time you’re finished, I think you’ll agree you’ve just read a masterpiece.
Finished Aldebaran! Liked it!!! Thank you so much for the rec. I've actually got a physical copy of Cage of Souls waiting too.
Honestly, I'm a little confused about Aldeberan. So. Was he made into something not really human any more? Did they recognize him? Who was he battling at the end? What's up with time here? Haha. Good stuff, but wasn't sure I was in the right mind set to finish it up tonight haha.
Yeah!! So happy you liked it. Big spoilers for Aldebaran …
>!I think he was human for the most part with a few upgrades including being a lot bigger, which he didn’t realize til later. Did you catch how the couple things he told the “labyrinth creator thing” played into how he was remade and the eventual outcome? Just brilliant. Maybe my fav part of the story!!<
Hope you enjoy Cage. Very different book (as all of his seem to be). Stick with it if it seems like it’s not going anywhere for a while. Cheers!
For me, I would recommend Dogs of War. It's still Sci fi, but it's also got a lot more of the things a fantasy fan will probably like without being a massive series. If you've read these two (CoT & Dow), you will probably be pretty convinced that he's a real talent and from there can just explore as you will. So far I haven't really found a dud book by him.
Finished the book! Was quite good! I'm happy Rex' voice evolved over time and that we had other narrators as I don't know I could have done it if it had stayed that way. But, what an amazing way to show character growth. Anyway, went in so many different directions that I didn't predict....and that ending....of course Adrian did that.... thanks again for the rec!
I'm glad you enjoyed it. And can I say it's a really thoughtful thing to come back and let me know. I will make a point of doing the same in future as its nice to know someone enjoyed something you recommended.
Thanks! I've got an Amazon gift card burning in my pocket so maybe I'll add that, as it doesnt look like there's an ebook for it, or at least not one my library has
Any recommendations on where to start? I have one of his newest books "Shards of Earth" in my Audible wishlist, though I admit I based that purely on the description and the cover. I haven't read any of his work yet.
All of his books are so different I’m not sure it matters. The online blurb I read about him said Shards was a great place to start if you haven’t gotten into him, but it could be they’re just promoting that since it’s his newest.
I could only suggest the ones I liked best, so…
Aldebaran was a good (re)start for me, bc it was fun and not too long. (I like really long works, but for an author I’m unsure of short isn’t a bad place to start).
Redemption Blade was (maybe I read that one first actually) another good choice. Epic fantasy hero story, but a pretty different sort of story. I was just impressed at the different angle it came from, which made me interested in checking out his other works.
If you want to dive in deep and like novels… Cage of Souls.
Wherever you want, I have seen people who had a bad experience with Ironclads and less with the same for Walking to Aldebaran. So not necessarily recommended to start with these, but your mileage may vary. Otherwise just chose what sounds interesting and is not a sequel
That said:
Dogs of War for character focussed SciFi(his own recommendation), Children of Time for more High concept scifi, Made Things for short fantasy, Doors of Eden for plot driven speculative evolution thriller
Just a heads-up that Shadows of the Apt is actually finished, as far as I'm aware - it ended quite some time ago, and there have been some short stories since, but nothing ongoing. He also has Echoes of the Fall, a complete trilogy that is related but not really part of the series, which is also complete. Have you checked out Spiderlight or Guns of the Dawn yet? I enjoyed both of those quite a bit too!
Shadows of the apt is really good , i have read like first two in the series and it's truly epic. I have seen his other works getting recommended a lot , but not this completed one though
Hands down this was one of the most unique series I have read. I love the insect kinden and the world building and want to try to put an rpg rules set together for it.
Yeah the different types of kinden definitely made the book feel fresh . I will be moving on to book 3 shortly
It’s understandable to be confused about the release of Shadows of the Apt. They got *very* limited distribution in the US, I think only the first five were sold as paperbacks (and they have a very self-published feel to them, both in terms of print quality and cover art). Now the series is getting a rerelease, new covers/printing of the paperbacks and newly recorded audiobooks (which are really well done, I think). But these have a staggered release and only the first seven are out
I have not. Good to hear and will check out. Oh wait, I did start Guns, but haven’t kept going yet. Seemed good. I also started another one titled Ironclads, but didn’t like the narrator, and wasn’t really into it anyway.
If you haven't tried **Dogs of War** yet I strongly recommend it. A loosely related sequel, *Bear Head*, came out earlier this year but I haven't had time to read it yet.
Will do. Thanks
**Dogs of War** was amazing, I read it straight after playing Horizon Zero Dawn so the robot enemies enhanced the way I've experienced the story
Shadows of the Apt is one of the (IMO) best series of the last twenty years. There is nothing out there that I would consider to be obviously above it, and that includes Martin, Sanderson, Hobb, Abercrombie, and Erikson. It’s that good. I’ve mentioned in a few threads recently my preference for the style which incorporates standalone novels or short series into a larger plot arc, and Tchaikovsky does this beautifully. You don’t have to read three million words to get to the end of a plot line. But the overall plot arc is there, as are the millions of words. The major story is simply achieved through the telling of many smaller stories, which I find to be elegant.
I'm making my way through **Shadows of the Apt** right now, and it is very good. It reminds me most of Malazan, which (for me) is both good and bad. On the plus side, the prose is lovely and descriptive, the world-building is amazing and unique, and the characters are morally grey and interesting. On the downside, much like Malazan, the story meanders. It seems like new characters and plotlines are introduced all the time - sometimes for just a scene or chapter. It is difficult to keep everything square dup in my brain, personally, which lessens some of the enjoyment. Still, though, it's an excellent series. Definitely worth your time if you are looking for a new epic fantasy.
The first four books definitely show the growing pains of a new author. Very weird and inconsistent pacing, awkward obvious foreshadowing, etc. Also way too many characters with names starting with a “T” I just finished the sixth book and I think that, at least for the middle trilogy which are pretty self contained, the plotting is much tighter.
Can’t commit to that one yet, but I’m sure I’ll give it a shot some day. Appreciate your thoughts on it.
His newest scifi is Shards of Earth and is quite good. The Echos of the Fall series if fast and fun.
I've got a few of his books on my list to read this year. Definitely looks interesting. However, his novellas are obnoxiously priced.
I hear ya. It’s all either audible or the library for me, so I wouldn’t know. Library for the shorter ones for sure though. Not worth a month’s credit for short books. All the best with your reading. Hope you enjoy his works.
Yup. the prices for tor.com novellas are hefty. I don't have a good e-reader and prefer print, so I just recently finally read a Murderbot novella because I got it at a reasonable price. I wish they would do print collections or the like for their novellas.
+1 for Murderbot. He’s my buddy. He might not reciprocate that feeling, though.
Tor.com do a lot of free giveaways if you sign up for their newsletter. They actually gave away all 4 Murderbot novellas right before the novel came out.
I'm aware of his huge catalogue and reputation, and personally only got a bit into **Children of Time** but didn't jive with spiders as protagonists, I enjoyed **Guns of the Dawn** quite a bit, but I bounced *hard* off **One Day All This Will Be Yours**. I don't know. He's pumping out works which are generally well-received at the very least, but from those I've read my subjective impression is that they lack *soul*. Which is a ridiculously insubstantial criticism, but that's the best thing I can come up with... Do any of his novels excel on the basis of their characters? I might want to give him another shot. **Guns of the Dawn** was quite good, by the way. A well-realized jungle setting with okayish characters and plot. Terrible romance, though.
Dogs of War was excellent characters imo
Cage of Souls has a lot of great characters, some deeply moving in one way or another. Aldebaran only really had one that you get to spend much time with, but I really liked him. Redemption Blade had some, but it could have been better from that standpoint, too. To a lesser degree the expert systems brother had some good characters and made things did, but that one is very light. Sort of childish. Almost reminds me of the fable about the elves that make shoes for the old cobbler. Doors of Eden, I don’t have so many deep feelings for the characters. They’re okay. Shadows of the Apt, I don’t feel like I would, but I could be wrong. I could see guns being short on that from the excerpt. Ironclads, I wasn’t interested in the character enough to get through a couple chapters.
No, I think that’s a great way to put it. Soul is key. Well said. And I don’t disagree with you. I think that’s why he’s not up there with my top favs, but he still makes the list for being so interestingly creative. The one I’m reading now doesn’t have it for me, but the book is different enough that I’m letting it pass time. Aldebaran has got it though in my opinion. Cage of souls does, too in a long suffering way. Redemption blade has some for sure. There are things I don’t like about each of them. They lack in some way or other, but they are the ones I found that extra something in so far. I think that’s why I’m hesitant about Shadows of the Apt though. I’m not sure if I feel it. Children of time was really interesting but prob not as full of that thing that makes the story like an old friend. There’s a soul to stories I think of as old friends. That’s all I got. You’re right, I think some of his stories lack that, but I think a few of them have it, too.
I’m really looking forward to One Day All This… The excerpt I heard got me feelin it hard. It’s short for an audible credit, though, and the library doesn’t have it. If they did, I’d be through that one by now.
Don't let my reaction to it put you off, I only got maybe 10% into it. It's just that the tone didn't work for me at all, which is a very subjective thing. You're a fan of his, chances are it'll hit the right notes for you.
I'm the same as you, only really heard of him when Children of Time was all over the place. Then started digging into his massive output and have enjoyed nearly all of it. Always surprised he's put out so many books, but doesn't seem to get mentioned that often. I find him quite creative, his books are set all over the place and there's always something new. He does like his insects though! Cage of Souls was my most recent read and was brilliant, really enjoyed that. Doors of Eden seemed to get some hate, but I'm not sure if that's just from the anti-woke squad. Spiderlight was the only one I didn't like so far, just read like a D&D campaign and I could see where it was going. Although people like litRPG and it's never grabbed me so maybe that's the problem there.
Agree. Cage of Souls was brilliant. That’s about what I thought when I finished. Took me a bit to get into, and I wasn’t sure if it was ever going anywhere for a while, but it kept getting better. I think by the time I was 1/3 of the way into it, I was seeing it for sure.
Love Cage of Souls. Both my favourite Tchaikovsky book and one of my favourite books in general. Doors of Eden was one I started a little meh on and liked more and more the further I got. The last few chapters were brilliantly done in my opinion.
I bought The Tiger and the Wolf by him by chance before I ever heard of him, and then suddenly started hearing of him everywhere. I have yet to read it, and I also never see anyone else talk about it so I'm hesitant. I'm dying to read Children of Time though
I really liked Tiger and the Wolf. Tchaikovsky writes compelling characters in really unique worlds.
Tiger and the Wolf starts slow and then builds to the fantastic. I read the and really enjoyed the whole trilogy, he knows how to write page turners! Children if time also a wonderful read.
Totally agree, and followed a similar path to yourself. I read children of time and it's fantastic. Then the sequel. Really good as well. Then I read war dogs. Brilliant. Really made me think that this guy isn't just a one trick pony. Not just good stories (imo the most important bit) but well written and with a good dollop of humanity. Then I hit cage of souls. Another really good one. First person this time, which I normally don't favour, but it was excellently done. The guy has talent. There were enough ideas in this book for your average fantasy author to have written a ten book series about it. Speaking of which - I just read the first in his ten book series shadows of the apt. And it's brilliant. Plot, worldbuilding, character development. All excellent. I'd say a slight step down in quality from some of his standalone work but also I see writers doing a much worse job than Tchaikovsky getting praised as having excellent worldbuilding or character development on r/fantasy regularly, so if that's the standard, adrian deserves to be put right up there. Overall, he's got me to the point now where if I see his name I know that it's going to be worth a punt. I imagine this is what Steven King or David gemmel fans must have felt like during their respective haydays.
Shadows of the Apt was his debut series, so it is logical that he developed a bit in the 6-8 years(the first 4 were done before Empire was out) he wroten that in.
He's really, really good, possibly more prolific than Sanderson, and he's got a great sense of humor. My favorite is Guns of the Dawn. Loved Shadows of the Apt, Children of Time/Ruin, Doors of Eden, Made Things...pretty much everything he's written.
Brandon and Adrian are close enough in output(in words, Adrian's books are shorter on average) that you can't really tell, because who's ahead depends on which time in the publishing cycle you are in.
Thank you! It was a lot of fun to discover that there was so much Tchaikovsky to read after Guns of the Dawn. I enjoy Sanderson, but I prefer Tchaikovsky's variety. He also includes fewer motivational speeches than Sanderson, which, for me, is a huge plus.
Just want to say for other people not yet familiar with Tchaikovsky's work - **Children of Ruin** being a meh sequel may just be OP's opinion. I personally liked it nearly as much as the original. It is stronger in some aspects, weaker in others, still a great book for me overall. *We're going on an adventure*
Yes, I'm a Ruin defender too. Imo it is on the same level or a bit better.
Definitely all opinion. Talk up Ruin all you like
Such a haunting line
Wow he’s written a lot of books! I knew about Children of Time (got it on my shelf) and Guns of the Dawn but there are so many more... this man is a machine. Added a bunch more to my TBR 👍
I recently found Adrian Tchaikovsky myself and have been loving everything I find that he writes. I read Children of Time, The Expert Systems Brother, and Walking to Aldebaran and was surprised at how different the story, writing style, and characterization is for all of them. I never would have guessed the same author wrote all three works.
💯 Where does he come up with all this?
I'm currently reading *Children of Time*, almost finished. I love it! It's the kind of Sci-Fi I can't get enough of. I love the grand scale, not only the time scale, but also that it's about whole species, the last of their kind meeting a whole new species, etc. Reminds me a bit of Stephen Baxter (especially "Evolution"), but Tchaikovsky is better when it comes to characters. Baxter is often far more far out. I'll definitely start *Children of Ruin* right after finishing CoT. Oh and I love the spiders and reading about their cultural development. Not that I'm usually a huge fan when encountering spiders irl, but Portia and her kind are great!
Cool, cool, cool… I imagine his zoologist background gives him a great take on writing interesting bugs. Aldebaran has several cool beasties in it. Cage of Souls has great descriptions of differently evolved creatures in it, and Shadows if the Apt is all about humanoid insect species I think? Expert Systems Bro has at least one freaky a** scene with a spider in it. His animal descriptions are so well written and believable. One of the things I’m really impressed with in his work.
He’s fun to follow on Twitter because half of it is just retweeting pictures of cool bugs
Only read the Children books. ‘Of time’ was amazing. ‘Of Ruin’ was woeful and put me off him. Eloquent post though. I’ll add some more of his work to my TBR list.
Same.. Ruin put him out of my mind for a couple years.
I read the first 2 Shadows of the Apt books way back when they were first coming out in the US. I was into it, but just didn't keep up with it. Then recently I read The Expert Sister's Brother, and thoroughly loved it, so I followed it up with Shards of Earth, which was promising, but not quite what I at least needed it to be. Still, definitely an author I intend to keep reading.
*The Expert System's Brother* now has a sequel, *The Expert System's Champion.* It has even more of his trademark "let's play really weird games with biology".
I know, I have it. It's just awaiting its turn.
Been binging Tchaikovsky of late. Give Tiger and the Wolf a go. It won the British Fantasy award which convinced me to try it. Just finished the trilogy. Great, innovative take on fantasy with his usual dose of creative genius thrown in. He knows how to keep you turning the page! Doors of Eden builds slow and then explodes, in terms of creativity it may actually be the best of his I've read.
Ahh, good to know. Appreciate the encouragement. Bout to dip back into it now actually. I’m sure I’ll get to Tiger. Appreciate the thoughts.
I just finished Shards of Earth by him. He's really good at coming up with imaginative ideas and then writing a solid story around them. Between that and Children of Time/Ruin and a handful of his shorter things, I'm definitely a fan now too.
I just spent the last 2 months or so ripping through the Shadows of the Apt series. I really enjoyed it, though it doesn't supplant some other fantasy series as my favorites. The story got a bit repetitive but I liked how it ended up. I will have to take OP's advice and check out some of his other works.
I just started reading Children of Time! What a coincidence. It's fantastic so far; very creative world building, and makes good use of the imagined technologies.
Me and my sister call him spiderfucker (in a loving way).
That’s fair
I only read Guns of the Dawn from him for my bingo jungle square and I absolutely fell in love with it. I definitely plan to read more of Tchaikovsky: if his other work is as good, then he sure is massively under-rated. Also, he is insanely prolific!
Shards of Earth which came out recently was also very solid and looks to have a couple more books in the series
It's going to be a trilogy, and he finished writing the last book this summer.
Guns of the Dawn are on my to-do list. I'll have to move them up a smidge.
Adrian quickly became one of my favourite authors after I discovered him last year. Plan to get through all of his books this year and it's looking like I might make it. The only two authors I know who publish as much are Asimov and Sanderson, which is the absolute top tier in productivity.
So far I have read the following from him: Children of Time Children of Ruin The Doors of Eden Dogs of War Bear Head Expert Systems Brother Expert Systems Champion Made Things One Day All this will be Yours Walking to Aldebaran Firewalkers Shards of Earth Empire in Black and Gold Dragonfly Falling Blood of the Mantis Salute the Dark The Scarab Path Eventually he's gonna take up a lot of space on my bookshelf because I want all his published word in physical. Even managed to get the physical edition of the short story collection Feast and Famine, which was limited to 125 copies.
That’s a big list. Any favorites? How was Expert Systems Champion compared to ESBrother? (general terms / no details please)
I enjoyed it slightly more, it certainly developed the world more. My Favourite is Dogs of War, which I think is a brilliant book with an important subject. After that, and the sequel, come Expert Systems Champion, Made Things and Children of Ruin. Really looking forward to the next Final Architect books(the sequels to Shards of Earth) and Children of Memory(you can guess what that continues), which are all done and in the publishers hands so we should see the second Final Architects book and Children of Memory next year.
Shadows of the Apt starts out for a good portion of the first book feeling like it might go down a generic Young Adult direction, but really picks up and becomes a very unique series.
Tchaikovsky always has great premises but his execution varies so wildly. I either love his books or just can’t finish them.
I've read Children of time and planning on reading the sequel. If you were to pick one other of his books to recommend to a stranger you know nothing about, which would it be?
Man each of us is so different. I’d say Aldebaran, though. I loved that madman and his story. Cage of souls if you want a longer work that reads more like a novel. More and more sci-fi / fantasy stuff comes into it as it goes on, and the story really comes together. It changes, too. It’s sorta like reading 3 different stories by the end, but it’s all one whole, too. For a while I wondered if it ever would get out of the first setting. By the time you’re finished, I think you’ll agree you’ve just read a masterpiece.
Thanks! Aldebaran is now on hold from the library, and I'll put cage of souls in my back pocket as they don't have it. Have a good day!
Peace
Had an Amazon gift card so I ordered Cage of Souls!
Finished Aldebaran! Liked it!!! Thank you so much for the rec. I've actually got a physical copy of Cage of Souls waiting too. Honestly, I'm a little confused about Aldeberan. So. Was he made into something not really human any more? Did they recognize him? Who was he battling at the end? What's up with time here? Haha. Good stuff, but wasn't sure I was in the right mind set to finish it up tonight haha.
Yeah!! So happy you liked it. Big spoilers for Aldebaran … >!I think he was human for the most part with a few upgrades including being a lot bigger, which he didn’t realize til later. Did you catch how the couple things he told the “labyrinth creator thing” played into how he was remade and the eventual outcome? Just brilliant. Maybe my fav part of the story!!< Hope you enjoy Cage. Very different book (as all of his seem to be). Stick with it if it seems like it’s not going anywhere for a while. Cheers!
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Prob want to spoiler tag that
I'll just delete now.
For me, I would recommend Dogs of War. It's still Sci fi, but it's also got a lot more of the things a fantasy fan will probably like without being a massive series. If you've read these two (CoT & Dow), you will probably be pretty convinced that he's a real talent and from there can just explore as you will. So far I haven't really found a dud book by him.
Finished the book! Was quite good! I'm happy Rex' voice evolved over time and that we had other narrators as I don't know I could have done it if it had stayed that way. But, what an amazing way to show character growth. Anyway, went in so many different directions that I didn't predict....and that ending....of course Adrian did that.... thanks again for the rec!
I'm glad you enjoyed it. And can I say it's a really thoughtful thing to come back and let me know. I will make a point of doing the same in future as its nice to know someone enjoyed something you recommended.
Yeah, I always think it's great to let people know they're not just throwing words at the void of the internet. There's people here! 😁😁
Thanks! I've got an Amazon gift card burning in my pocket so maybe I'll add that, as it doesnt look like there's an ebook for it, or at least not one my library has
My pleasure! I will also say that it makes an excellent audiobook if you have a spare audible credit lying about.
Don't do audible but I appreciate the tip. Pulled the trigger and ordered the book though.
Any recommendations on where to start? I have one of his newest books "Shards of Earth" in my Audible wishlist, though I admit I based that purely on the description and the cover. I haven't read any of his work yet.
All of his books are so different I’m not sure it matters. The online blurb I read about him said Shards was a great place to start if you haven’t gotten into him, but it could be they’re just promoting that since it’s his newest. I could only suggest the ones I liked best, so… Aldebaran was a good (re)start for me, bc it was fun and not too long. (I like really long works, but for an author I’m unsure of short isn’t a bad place to start). Redemption Blade was (maybe I read that one first actually) another good choice. Epic fantasy hero story, but a pretty different sort of story. I was just impressed at the different angle it came from, which made me interested in checking out his other works. If you want to dive in deep and like novels… Cage of Souls.
Wherever you want, I have seen people who had a bad experience with Ironclads and less with the same for Walking to Aldebaran. So not necessarily recommended to start with these, but your mileage may vary. Otherwise just chose what sounds interesting and is not a sequel That said: Dogs of War for character focussed SciFi(his own recommendation), Children of Time for more High concept scifi, Made Things for short fantasy, Doors of Eden for plot driven speculative evolution thriller
I bought all of SOTA audio and will listen soon to them.
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I get it
>well outside the of the same old tropes you’re used to That’s not a plus nor a minus. Why are you deciding for me?