Book Review – Empire in Black and Gold
Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky Publisher: Tor UK / Pan MacMillan Publishing Date: July 2008 Binding: Paperback Cover Artist: Dominic Harman Empire in Black and Gold is the debut of British author Adrian Tchaikovsky and the first installment in a trilogy titled Shadows of the Apt. In his debut Tchaikovsky gives us a heroic narrative where a [...]
Exclusive – Dragonfly Falling by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Chapter I – excerpt)
Kick off the work week with some exclusive goodness with the BSC! BookSpot Central is pleased to present the first chapter the first chapter to Dragonfly Falling by Adrian Tchaikovsky. This is the second installment of his Shadows of the Apt trilogy that was kicked off earlier this year with Empire in Black and Gold. It will be published in February 2009 by Pan Macmillan.
Synopsis:
Two young companions, Totho and Salma, arrive at Tark to spy on the menacing Wasp army, but are there mistakenly apprehended as enemy agents. By the time they are freed, the city is already under siege. Over in the imperial capital the young emperor, Alvdan, is becoming captivated by a remarkable slave, the vampiric Uctebri, who claims he knows of magic that can grant eternal life. In Collegium, meanwhile, Stenwold is still trying to persuade the city magnates to take seriously the Wasp Empire’s imminent threat to their survival. In a colourful drama involving mass warfare and personal combat, a small group of heroes must stand up against what seems like an unstoppable force.
This volume continues the story that so brilliantly unfolded in Empire in Black and Gold – and the action is still non-stop.
BookSpot Central hosted a sample from the previous novel as well, and you can check out an interview I conducted with Mr. Tchaikovsky earlier this year.
I want to thank Pan Macmillan for choosing BookSpot Central to present the following excerpt! Some of you might have seen it made available via Pan’s newsletter recently, be we present it again for all readers!
Please check out all of our other exclusives for more chapters/excerpts from novels and complete short stories from collections and anthologies to sample from all the best publishers in the world! BookSpot Central is the choice for several publishers to bring you the goods!
I hope you enjoy!
Exclusive – Empire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Chapter II)
More exclusive content for you! This is the chance to be able to to sample the first two chapters of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s debut, Empire in Black and Gold, the first book in the Shadows of the Apt series. The first chapter is online at the publisher’s website Panmacmillan.com, and we have the second chapter here at BookSpotCentral! An excellent way to dip into a new work and author to see if it and he needs to be on your shelf!
Synopsis:
Seventeen years ago Stenwold witnessed the Wasp Empire storming the city of Myna in a brutal war of conquest. Since then he has preached vainly against this threat in his home city of Collegium, but now the Empire is on the march, with its spies and its armies everywhere, and the Lowlands lie directly in its path. All the while, Stenwold has been training youthful agents to fight the Wasp advance, and the latest recruits include his niece, Che, and his mysterious ward, Tynisa. When his home is violently attacked, he is forced to send them ahead of him and, hotly pursued, they fly by airship to Helleron, the first city in line for the latest Wasp invasion.Stenwold and Che are Beetle-kinden, one of many human races that take their powers and inspiration each from a totem insect, but he also has allies of many breeds: Mantis, Spider, Ant, with their own particular skills. Foremost is the deadly Mantis-kinden warrior, Tisamon, but other very unlikely allies also join the cause.
As things go from bad to worse amid escalating dangers, Stenwold learns that the Wasps intend to use the newly completed railroad between Helleron and Collegium to launch a lightning strike into the heart of the Lowlands. Then he gathers all of his agents to force a final showdown in the engine yard …
I want to thank Mr. Adrian Tchaikovsky and Pan Macmillan for showcasing their work at our venue. Enjoy!
Also, don’t forget that we are currently hosting a contest for two signed copies of Empire in Black and Gold until the 20th of September!
Contest – Empire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky (signed – 2 winners)
Second contest announcement of the day as we celebrate our ‘soft launch’ to be finalized in a couple of weeks! This is what we are talking: What we have here is the first book in the Shadows of the Apt series entitled Empire in Black and Gold signed by the author Adrian Tchaikovsky. This is [...]
