War Master's Gate (Shadows of the Apt, #9) in Beyond Reality

Jun 17, 2013 Jason rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2015, e-books

5 Stars

The War Master's Gate book #9 in the Shadows of the Apt series does what all second to last novels should do. First, it is truly a pinnacle book in the series for both the story lines and the characters as well as for the craft by the amazing author. This is a remarkable series made so by a remarkable writer. Not only does Tchaikovsky keep things fresh from book to book, he also keeps the story lines under control and weaves them together masterfully.

With nine books down, The War Master' 5 Stars

The War Master's Gate book #9 in the Shadows of the Apt series does what all second to last novels should do. First, it is truly a pinnacle book in the series for both the story lines and the characters as well as for the craft by the amazing author. This is a remarkable series made so by a remarkable writer. Not only does Tchaikovsky keep things fresh from book to book, he also keeps the story lines under control and weaves them together masterfully.

With nine books down, The War Master's Gate is a standout in the series. Books #5 The Scarab Path, and Book #7 Heirs of the Blade are tied for my favorites. This one and #4 Salute the Dark are my next favorites. This book has two very different story lines. One story centers on Collegium as the Wasp army comes together again and advances on it threatening Stenwold Maker and his home. This is the story line that covers the Apt, the technologically driven. The other story centers on Che versus the Empress in a race for finding the mystery that is Argastos and the power behind it. They are both Inapt and powerful each of the sisters now are steeped in magic.

The plot is very fast paced and there is plenty of action to keep the pages turning. In the one story line there are many battles filled with crossbows, bombs, and vehicles. Of course there are also many aerial fights as the technologically driven use aircrafts to make war. On the other side of the world you have the two sisters coming into their own and both utilize magic to expand their power. Many of the action scenes here are dark and twisted and Che and Seda plot the downfall of each other.

As I have said before two characters stand out the most to me. First is Cheerwell Maker for all of the obvious reasons as well as for the fact that her relationship with Thalric brings the heart and the hope to this war. No character has grown and changed more than her. The other character that is my second favorite is Tynisa. Once again she is a pivotal character and single minded in her motivations as she shows why she is a weaponsmaster. Both women are powerful and brave and easily carry much of the weight of this amazing story. I love how far both have come and enjoy them each for their differences. I cannot wait for more.

My only real gripe is that because I am so into both of the leading ladies that I previously mentioned (Che and Tynisa), having their story lines take place together made me have a tough time keeping interested in Stenwold's war at Collegium. I found myself quickly reading through those battles just to get back to these two story lines. The Apt battles were fantastic but the dark fantasy story line was simply far more interesting.

The cliffhanger ending can easily be forgiven as the series draws to a close. The War Master's Gate is a fabulous fantasy read made all the better that it takes place as book 9 in this awesome series. The Shadows of the Apt must be read by all fantasy lovers and probably all science fiction readers as well. It is phenomenal....

Must read! ...more

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Jul 02, 2022 Janny added it · review of another edition

Shelves: own

A solid build up to what promises to be a spectacular finale in a strikingly original setting. I have been delightfully surprised by the unpredictability of the plotting in this series, and a broad range of well rounded characters who are molded by their experiences and change - some for better and some for worse.

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Jun 28, 2016 Katy rated it liked it

This one seemed to drag along for me. Don't know if that is because I have now read so many of them or what. Again we are back to the Collegium & the Empire battling between themselves. We are left with quite a cliff hanger as we prepare for the last installment of the series with the next book. ...more

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Jan 20, 2025 Kathi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 52-book-club-2025-challenge

9/10
This is the 9th book in a 10 book series, so the various plots are threads are starting to come together. The author does a good job balancing the large battles with the smaller, more personal skirmishes, the Apt technological advances with the Inapt mysteries and magic, the action with the introspection. I continue to find it hard to keep track of all the characters (and there are a lot of them) and the way seemingly secondary characters suddenly move to the forefront.

I was reminded frequen ...more

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Dec 29, 2024 Natalie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

As the Shadows of the Apt nears the end, the turn of events is rather intriguing. The Wasps have advanced again, just as Seda, the Empress, acts boldly to increase her strength and her magical power. As with other books in the series, we follow a varied mix of characters from both the Wasps and their enemies. This book also makes the point that the various kinden, except in a few cases, do not get along well and that the Empress will always be hungry for more (more power, more conquests, more pe As the Shadows of the Apt nears the end, the turn of events is rather intriguing. The Wasps have advanced again, just as Seda, the Empress, acts boldly to increase her strength and her magical power. As with other books in the series, we follow a varied mix of characters from both the Wasps and their enemies. This book also makes the point that the various kinden, except in a few cases, do not get along well and that the Empress will always be hungry for more (more power, more conquests, more people serving her).
Despite a valiant fight, the kinden of Collegium lose to the Wasp Eighth army, headed by the experienced and tenacious General Tynan. Jodry, the Assembly speaker, Straessa, Gerethwy, students Averic and Eujen, and others fight fiercely but the Wasps are stronger and in larger numbers. Even after the Wasps take the city, a group of student fighters continue to try to retake ground. But they are unsuccessful. During the rebellion, the Spider kinden who have been allies with the Wasps, turn on them and fight, till few Spiders are left.
Meanwhile, Seda, with a small team of people, including the double agent Ostrec, hunts through the Mantis forest for the fabled powerful warrior, Argastos. Che, who can sense with her magic where Seda is, follows with her own group, to try and thwart Seda. But the powerful magic in the forest, as well as the two groups of forest Mantis kinden who dislike visitors, keeps Seda wandering in circles, unable to find Argastos' home. Finally, she makes a sacrifice and is allowed in, thinking she will take Argastos' power for her own, as she has with others in the past. Che is able to follow her, guided by Maure and Yraea, both who hold magic. Once they meet with Argastos, he asserts he will take their power and continue his rule over the dead. Oddly, Seda has to seek help from Che to avoid being overpowered. So instead of taking more power, Seda barely escapes death.
Stenwold, who has resumed his role as War Master, refuses to give in to the Wasps, and then injured, refuses to leave Collegium. In the end, he is almost captured but instead dives into the sea.
Many of the characters endure struggles and disappointments. The Wasp victory is a harsh one, and several of the strong fighters of Collegium are killed in battle or shortly after.
The discontent between kinden and the harsh realities of war are strong themes. And hope seems fleeting. I had hoped to get more insight into Thalric and Esmail/Orstrec but the characters we do follow are very interesting. ...more

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Aug 05, 2014 Cody rated it really liked it

I was initially going to give this three stars, but on second consideration of how Tchaikovsky could have pulled some punches, but didn't, I decided on four stars.

The fact that he didn't pull many punches was exactly the best thing about this novel. As a long time fantasy reader, I've been conditioned to expect that the good guys always win and will always triumph by the skin of their teeth. Not so in War Master's Gate.

The Empire is back on Collegium's doorstep and despite how hard the Beetles h I was initially going to give this three stars, but on second consideration of how Tchaikovsky could have pulled some punches, but didn't, I decided on four stars.

The fact that he didn't pull many punches was exactly the best thing about this novel. As a long time fantasy reader, I've been conditioned to expect that the good guys always win and will always triumph by the skin of their teeth. Not so in War Master's Gate.

The Empire is back on Collegium's doorstep and despite how hard the Beetles have worked to make the Second Army turn back, they now have to defend their own walls from the Empire's onslaught. At the same time, Che and Seda are racing through Mantis forests to get to a source of magical power that could unbalance the scales of power in one of their directions.

Both plot lines have some gut punches while still having weak points. I'll start with the Collegium storyline.

We have the War Master, weary of war, trying to coordinate this final confrontation with the Wasps and the next generation in Eujen and his crew are an increasingly large part of the narrative - which I didn't much care for, personally. Straessa is skilled, but everyone ignores Gerethwy and Averic, which was a shame - I liked them the best. I can't say too much for fear of spoilers, but suffice it to say that Tchaikovsky does a fantastic job of letting his character building come to a head here. General Tynan is having a personal crisis over direct orders from Seda while the idealism of the College's students is being pushed to the limit. When it comes to personal challenges, I still can't get behind Eujen and Straessa's relationship-whatever-it-is. From what I can gather, they're 18 or so, but are acting like 12 year olds when it comes to their feelings. I just didn't care for that subplot - especially while they're both consistently not paying attention to the better emotional/personal arcs that are happening in Averic and Gerethwy. Frustrating.

With the race to Argastos's power between Che and Seda, I was really disappointed that here we are, in another Mantis forest, dealing with magic stuff. I get frustrated that in a world with as much potential variety as Tchaikovsky has given it, we spend far too much time in magic forests in comparison with other places we only hear about. It makes me want the author to do nothing but writes stories in this world so eventually we can see then entire world map and have a list of all the kinden. The race to Argastos makes sense, though, and I love Che's character growth throughout the novel. It's only here where I really started to believe she had the power to solve problems instead of being to stupid, bumbling Beetle she'd been previously. Having to work together with Seda was just a bonus in some well written tension. At the same time as Che's character is growing, Seda's is showing cracks. When she first becomes Empress, she seems really self-assured, but the loner we spend in her head, the more you see that she's just a little girl playing the role and trying to hide her emotional baggage. Which is her fatal flaw which opens the Seal of the Worm.

I want to say I think the Worm are the Centipede-kinden, but until it's finally said out loud in the novel, I leave it to conjecture. Either way, they already seem really creepy with some crippling Art. Looking forward to the conclusion of the series! ...more

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