Praise for Shadows of the Apt
‘The insectile-humans premise is inventive, shaping the world in all sorts of ways’
SFX
‘Adrian Tchaikovsky makes a good and enjoyable mix between a medieval looking world and the presence of technology … I really enjoyed the novel and with certainty I will read the next novels of the series’
DarkWolfsFantasyReviews.blogspot.com
‘Salute the Dark impressed me to no end … MrTchaikovsky showed he mastered the art of managing an epic almost to perfection … Salute the Dark fulfils the promise of the Apt series and brings its first part to an excellent conclusion, while starting new threads to be explored next. An A++ based on my three reads of the book so far and vaulting to the top of my 2010 fantasy novels’
FantasyBookCritic.blogspot.com
‘In recent years Tor, in the UK at least, have developed something of a reputation for publishing more serious, innovative fantasy. China Miéville has been around for a while, but new, exciting authors have emerged from the Tor stable: Alan Campbell, Hal Duncan, Adrian Tchaikovsky. Something all these authors have in common is that they’ve delivered novels that deviate from the norm, that are a cut above much of the bubblegum fantasy being peddled around at the minute. Their novels actually try to do something a little different’
SpeculativeHorizons.blogspot.com
‘A novel brimming with imagination and execution … The Shadows of the Apt series is quite distinct, mainly due to the insect-kinden and Tchaikovsky’s fertile imagination. His writing is accessible, if dense, while the sheer amount of extra content he has published on the web with regards to his series adds nuanced flavour to the proceedings’
SciFiNow
‘With all the groundwork laid so well in book one, book two leaps straight into the action and rarely lets up for the entire of its almost 700 page length, and while the scale of book one was big, the story has now become nothing less than epic … Reminiscent of much that’s gone before from the likes of Gemmel, Erikson, Sanderson and Cook but with its own unique and clever touch, this is another terrific outing from Mr Tchaikovsky and a worthy sequel in this epic saga’
Sci-Fi-London.com
The Scarab Path
Adrian Tchaikovsky was born in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire before heading off to Reading to study psychology and zoology. For reasons unclear even to himself he subsequently ended up in law and has worked as a legal executive in both Reading and Leeds, where he now lives. Married, he is a keen live role-player and occasional amateur actor, has trained in stage-fighting, and keeps no exotic or dangerous pets of any kind, possibly excepting his son.
Catch up with Adrian at www.shadowsoftheapt.com for further information about both himself and the insectkinden, together with bonus material including short stories and artwork.
The Scarab Path is the fifth novel in the Shadows of the Apt series. Have you read Empire in Black and Gold, Dragonfly Falling, Blood of the Mantis and Salute the Dark?
ALSO BY ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY
Shadows of the Apt
Empire in Black and Gold
Dragonfly Falling
Blood of the Mantis
Salute the Dark
To Val Patchett, who taught me much of the writer’s art
Acknowledgments
Again, I couldn’t have done it without Simon Kavanagh, constant fount of cautions and advice, Peter Lavery of the masterful pencil and wine glass in equal measures, Julie Crisp and Chloe Healy and everyone else at Tor, and Jon Sullivan for his sterling work on the covers. I should also thank Lou Anders of Pyr for all his help and support across the water. Furthermore, anyone who turns up at signings, conventions, or posts on www.shadowsoftheapt.com, is also entitled to no small measure of thanks.
For the better edification of the reader, there is a complete cast list at the back of the book, as well as a complete cast list for the series on the website.
Summary
The war that the Wasp Empire brought against all the cities of the Lowlands has ended in a stalemate and an uneasy truce.
The Mantis-kinden weaponsmaster Tisamon, in his dying moments, destroyed the Shadow Box that held all the darkness of the Forest Darakyon and the twisted history of his race. In the same clash, the Emperor himself died, as did the Mosquito-kinden Uctebri, who had sought to use the Box to make the Emperor’s sister, Seda, an immortal puppet-queen. Now Seda has become Empress of a people never ruled by a woman before, and while she tries to hold onto power, the rest of the world is safe from Imperial ambition.
At Seda’s side is Thalric, once an his so-calledofficer in the Rekef, the Imperial secret service, and then a fugitive on the run from his own people. His war record is one of dubious deeds done for both sides, but he provides Seda with a male figurehead while she rebuilds her Empire.
In Collegium, Stenwold Maker works on preparing his city for a return of hostilities that he sees as inevitable. Reminders of the toll that the war took are all around him, though. As well as Tisamon himself, it is the loss of the Moth-kinden, Achaeos, that cuts most deeply. Dying of his injuries during a ritual that invoked the power of the Darakyon, Achaeos left behind two women whose lives are shattered by his death. One is Stenwold’s niece Cheerwell, Achaeos’s lover. The other is Tisamon’s daughter, Tynisa, who gave him the wound that eventually killed him.
First published 2010 by Tor
This electronic edition published 2010 by Tor
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ISBN 978-0-330-53394-2 PDF
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Copyright © Adrian Czajkowski 2010
The right of Adrian Czajkowski to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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