Empire in Black and Gold (Shadows of the Apt #1)[June 14, 2024]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

This is a Buddy Read for Empire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky starting on June 14, 2024.


Happy Reading!

[Nirkatze]

Thank you!

Tentative schedule, if this works out--nothing requested except #1 yet:

1. Empire in Black and Gold June 14th
2. Dragonfly Falling Aug 4th [link]
3. Blood of the Mantis Jan 16th [link]
4. Salute the Dark TBD
5. The Scarab Path TBD
6. The Sea Watch TBD
7. Heirs of the Blade TBD
8. The Air War TBD
9. War Master's Gate TBD
10. Seal of the Worm TBD

Tales of the Apt--seeing most folks recommending reading these in publication order, after finishing the series, even though some stories take place during. If interested, we could continue:
1. Spoils of War TBD
2. A Time for Grief TBD
3. For Love of Distant Shores TBD
4. The Scent of Tears TBD

Let me know what y'all think!

[Tonari no Emily]

Excited for this :)

[Nirkatze]

Yay! Me too!

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

I picked up Empire in Black and Gold in the Audible Boxing Day sale, so I'll join in for the first book and then see from there.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I forgot this was put on the schedule... but only this first book, so far...

I've added the rest of the year to my personal schedule as a reminder, but if you guys want to break it into request chunks, the story is told in 3 arcs:

1-4, 5-7, 8-10

I'm 100% sure of 1-4, and am making some assumptions about 7 being the end of the second arc... I know there are 3 arcs for sure, but online resources are lacking past the first half of the series (wiki/etc)...

I read 1-4 with Olivia a few years ago, and haven't made time to continue since... I hope people in this BR stick with it more... most people from the last BR disappeared, and me and Olivia slowed down and read when we had time, for awhile...

The series worldbuilding is really interesting...

I assume the short stories are recommended at the end because they'd spoil things better kept secret until they're revealed in the main series... enemy POVs, actions happening in other parts of the world that affect things in the main storyline, etc...

[Nirkatze]

Oh you know I'll stick with it. ^^ I'm looking forward to these!

[Tonari no Emily]

Saw this in my notifications and had the exact thought as Iain lol
But yeah as long as I'm not in a slump I'll be here!

[Nirkatze]

Sweeeeeet!!

[Janny]

I loved this series from start to finish. Wish I had time in schedule for a re-read - I will try to duck in now and again. One book in particular broke my heart and the scar has not healed.

[Carrie]

This was such a fantastic read

[Nirkatze]

Glad to hear such positive comments ahead of the read! Makes me look forward to it more.

[Tonari no Emily]

Janny wrote: "I loved this series from start to finish. Wish I had time in schedule for a re-read - I will try to duck in now and again. One book in particular broke my heart and the scar has not healed."

Oh very high praise indeed! Hope to see you around here :)

[Monika]

Started. Looks good so far.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I read 1-4 with Olivia, the first story arc, a few years ago... think I'm going to make time for a re-read, and join to the end this time... Olivia might too, I mentioned when she signed up for the reading competition a few months ago...

[Monika]

Up to chapter 3 so far as I'm reading few other books...

[Felina]

I started this yesterday. I didn’t get very far though. Today and tomorrow are super busy IRL so hoping to dig my teeth in more later this week.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

There's definitely alot to learn in this first book, to set the stage for future books and big character arcs (plot happens, too)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Started my re-read... there's definitely alot to sink your teeth into, in this series... even when you don't know much, you can start theorizing about the characters/races/kinden, once you understand how their bug affinity affect their personalities/cultures...

Even only having read books 1-4 before, coming back and re-reading book 1 and re-meeting the characters is super interesting... so much character development/evolution happens in this series, from book to book... an intricate web...

[Monika]

Up to chapter 5. Will read more tomorrow :)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I paused Tuesday night for sleep and read other stuff since then... return soon... not too worried about when, as a re-read, and wanting to see others start...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

This BR doesn't seem to be going very well...

I've continued my re-read... chapter 13... 1/3 through... main plot is taking place in Helleron...

On my first read-through, the events that led to this point were a bit jarring and slowed my reading a bit, but this time around I knew what to expect and vaguely remember where things are going...

One of my favorite aspects of this series is how much the characters/relationships change from book to book, as people learn/grow/embrace their Kinden/deal with the threats/etc... so many things happen...

[Felina]

I lost this at the library and it’s several weeks wait so I just bought it on audible. I want to read this series but I will obviously be late!

[Nirkatze]

I'm almost done with my previous eye-read... I'll be jumping in, just late...

[Nirkatze]

Good thing we only scheduled book 1--we can always move book 2 later.

[Felina]

Yes. Please later!!!!!!!

[Marie]

I am still thinking of joining this one, I just have a lot on my plate already...

[Nirkatze]

What if we move book 2 to the start of August? Say, August 4? We can see if that time works better for folks.

[Felina]

That could work.

[Tonari no Emily]

Yeah last half of June Ive fallen really behind but Ill be here! Delaying the second is A-Okay for me lol

[Monika]

in the middle of chapter 6...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Almost done… people online call this book the slow one… sets up the series and gives time with the characters while they’re still bright eyed and bushy tailed, before they’re given a front row seat to the realities of war… things ramp up in the back 33-50% of the book…

[Monika]

22% behind me. Don't think it's slow. quite few things happened already.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I dunno that I personally found it slow… took time to sink in and not want to stop reading tho, first time around…

[Felina]

It was slow when I started it through the library. I’m going to restart it with my purchased copy and do something that will let me concentrate. I kept losing concentration.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Different people find different books/styles slow... I'm the hype man trying to get people to stick with it on the promise it gets better, whether it's needed or not...

[Monika]

We can say my reading is going slow :))) but I have 6 books on my plate at the moment, some going faster, some bit slower:)

[Nirkatze]

I started reading early last week but haven't been eye reading much... mostly in Chapter 1 until yesterday, when I zoomed through six more chapters... Through Chapter 7 now, and really enjoying it, about 1/5th in... (view spoiler)[I like the addition of the group of college kids all from different backgrounds...

Really curious about Tynisa--seems like her mother must be the Spider mentioned as "betraying" them all in the first chapter... But what exactly happened to her mother, and how did Sten end up with her? Each of the kids has a curious backstory--how did Totho's parents end up together? What are Salma's people like? With the next book named "Dragonfly Falling"--well, that's ominous for the Commonwealth. As for Che... being the underdog among geniuses makes her a quick spot to latch on to empathy-wise. She might not have any mysteries in her past (or she might, who knows) so we can expect great things from her in the future.

The crap all hitting the fan with first the assassins, and now the Wasps on the airship is turning up the pace. I really enjoyed seeing Tynisa's analysis of the Wasp captain--how possessive he is. Actually, I find it really interesting how Tchaikovsky is incorporating insectoid characteristics into his races--I was actually expecting something more like Children of Time, with actual insects & arachnids as characters... but maybe he wasn't ready to take that step in his first series. This feels like laying the groundwork before taking the plunge to Portia & Fabian. (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

I requested the second book, btw, for Aug 4th--I'll hold off on requesting the next until we see how that timing works for us all as a group.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "I started reading early last week but haven't been eye reading much... mostly in Chapter 1 until yesterday, when I zoomed through six more chapters... Through Chapter 7 now, and really enjoying it,..."

This is definitely a stepping stone to Children of Time...

To me, this feels like a mix of well-known epic fantasy plot points, with a Tchaikovsky zoology bent...

Maps of this world/series tend toward mimicing Europe/Middle East/Africa... I'm not sure if this is official, but that and Africa being a sandy continent makes me think of the map of ASOIAF...

Kids thrust into a fantasy narrative is classic fantasy trope and very Wheel of Time/Lord of the Rings...

All the talk of fancasting in recent threads, Stenwold feels very Gary Oldman to me (he's done alot of spy stuff... Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy and Slouch House)... or the boss man from the Alex Rider show:



The Gary Oldman look in Slouch House / Slow Horses seems more fitting to the character... older, should be retired, etc...

[Nirkatze]

I can see them in personality, but Sten is described as dark of skin and receding of hair; stout and bulky, so I was thinking more of someone like Danny Glover or Morgan Freeman... or Barrett from FF7 as a 50 year old retired bartender....

This quote in Chapter 8 just made me laugh: there were at least three private fistfights going on, and one large one to which everyone was invited.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "I can see them in personality, but Sten is described as dark of skin and receding of hair; stout and bulky, so I was thinking more of someone like Danny Glover or Morgan Freeman... or Barrett from ..."

DANNY GLOVER... thanks... yea... that makes more sense...

Speaking of, I heard Mel Gibson was trying to revive Lethal Weapon...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Did a google and Adrian Tchaikovsky did a fancasting with fan help back in 2014... and I think he really nailed the characters (not surprising, as the author)...

Lawrence Fishburn for Stenwold... Mads Mikkelson for Tisamon... Tilda Swinton for Scyla (later in the book)... so many good castings that make complete sense to me...

https://shadowsoftheapt.com/blog/1016

[Nirkatze]

Oooh, I totally see Laurence Fishburne! I should have remembered he has fancasting on his blog... he had one for Children of Time too... thanks for digging.

As much as I love Chiwetel Ejiofor, I feel like he's aged out of the college kid range for Totho... lots of good up-and-comers though, not that I know any names...

[Nirkatze]

Through Chapter 16 (view spoiler)[I'm really enjoying how all the pieces and coincidences are falling together... the crew was separated, and now parts are coming back together, Che meeting the Moth and him helping her out in return... Sten discovering Elias, Tisamon showing up... Elias dying for his greed was very satisfying. Each of the kids wrestling with their kinden, ideas of society and stereotypes... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

(view spoiler)[I like Thalric, too... very complex character, and not your typical wasp kinden... very interesting to follow, even as he's on the bad guy side of all this... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

re: Thalric--getting that impression of him. My brain cast him as Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister)...

[Nirkatze]

Finished! Solid opening to the series--(view spoiler)[definitely finding Thalric an entertaining antagonist. I do enjoy a bad guy who isn't just blindly evil... he makes me think of one of the antagonists in Of Blood and Fire, or Melisandre in Kushiel series... I wonder if he'll turn against the Empire by the end?

I find it interesting how there's so many tangled relationships... does Che have a crush on Salma in addition to being in a relationship with Acheros and being the subject of Totho's unrequited love? Then there's Salma crushing on butterfly girl while Tynisa pines after him, not to mention Tynisa's whole family history. Seems like a proper high-school tangle there.

I thought the cliffhanger chapter endings worked well with good timing--we weren't kept waiting long, we could usually guess where things were going, but sometimes there were some good twists hidden in there.

I also really like the twist on the common magic/technology split--that it's actually a racial comprehension issue, that the inApt can't even comprehend technology while the Apt have a mental block against magic, and Che is a prodigy for being able to accept and (possibly) work both. (hide spoiler)]

Looking forward to continuing! I'm curious how the Tales of the Apt fit into the timeline... may have to do more research. My copy of this book had a few shorts at the end that I haven't read yet--I want to see if they're included in the collections or not:
"Fallen Heroes"
"The Spoils of War"
"The Dreams of Avaris"
"Ironclads"

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I think the Tales of the Apt fit in all over the place, but I saw recommendations to wait to read in publication order because spoilers...

There's also the Echoes of the Fall trilogy:

The Tiger and the Wolf
The Bear and the Serpent
The Hyena and the Hawk

Same world, different continent, mammal & reptile shifters... instead of insect-kinden...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Also, only the first Tales of the Apt made it to audio... the one review wasn't great (different narrator than main series, changed voices/accents of kinden/etc)... guess it didn't do well enough to make the rest...