Book Read Free

Heirs of the Blade

Page 62

by Tchaikovsky, Adrian


  Organizations and things

  Consortium of the Honest – mercantile arm of the Imperial administration

  Iron Glove – trading cartel of artificers led by Dariandrephos

  Landsarmy – the army of refugees led by Salme Dien during the war

  Loquae – a speaker for a Mantis-kinden community

  The Many – Scorpion-kinden of the Nem desert

  The Masters – the ancient, legendary rulers of Khanaphes

  Mercers – Dragonfly-kinden knights errant

  Monarch – the ruler of the Commonweal

  Nailbow – a weapon that shoots bolts via a firepowder charge, powerful but inaccurate and of limited range.

  Rekef – Imperial secret service and police, divided into Inlander and Outlander

  Salmae – Dragonfly noble family led by Salme Elass

  Scriptora – the Khanaphir seat of government

  Shadow Box – artefact linked to the Darakyon, destroyed by Tisamon

  Skryre – a magical leader of the Moth-kinden

  Snapbow – a weapon devised by Totho that projects a bolt over a long range with great force and accuracy

  Twelve-year War – the war between the Empire and the Commonweal

  Way Brothers – a philosophical order providing hospitality to travellers

  The Windlass – Jons Allanbridge’s new airship, replacing the Buoyant Maiden

  Praise for Shadows of the Apt

  ‘The insectile-humans premise is inventive, shaping the world in all sortsofways’

  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 will certainly read the next in the series’

  DarkWolfsFantasyReviews.blogspot.com

  ‘Salute the Dark impressed me no end . . . Mr Tchaikovsky 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 list of 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 Gemmell, 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

  Heirs of the Blade

  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 insect-kinden, together with bonus material including short stories and artwork.

  Heirs of the Blade is the seventh novel in the Shadows of the Apt series. Have you read Empire in Black and Gold, Dragonfly Falling, Blood of the Mantis, Salute the Dark, The Scarab Path and The Sea Watch?

  BY ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY

  Shadows of the Apt

  Empire in Black and Gold

  Dragonfly Falling

  Blood of the Mantis

  Salute the Dark

  The Scarab Path

  The Sea Watch

  Heirs of the Blade

  Acknowledgements

  Firstly, an enormous thank you to my wife, Annie, not just for all the usual, but for her invaluable assistance in reading through and commenting on the manuscript during the editing process, when I was greatly in need of another point of view.

  Secondly, the usual round of people, ‘Without Whom’: Simon Kavanagh, Peter Lavery and Julie Crisp, Chloe Healy and everyone else at Tor; Pete Bayly and the regulars at Oxford and Reading. In particular thanks to Helen Walter for being my consultant armourer.

  Finally, for diverse secret reasons, a special thanks to Lasse Skjalm, Johnny Burlin and Anders Åström.

  A glossary of characters and places can be found at the end of the book.

  First published 2011 by Tor

  This electronic edition published 2011 by Tor

  an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

  Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR

  Basingstoke and Oxford

  Associated companies throughout the world

  www.panmacmillan.com

  ISBN 978-0-230-76172-8 EPUB

  Copyright © Adrian Czajkowski 2011

  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.

  The Macmillan Group has no responsibility for the information provided by any author websites whose address you obtain from this book (‘author websites’). The inclusion of author website addresses in this book does not constitute an endorsement by or association with us of such sites or the content, products, advertising or other materials presented on such sites.

  You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  Visit www.panmacmillan.com to read more about all our books and to buy them. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events, and you can sign up for e-newsletters so that you’re always first to hear about our new releases.

 

 

 


‹ Prev