Salute the Dark (Shadows of the Apt #4)[March 16, 2025]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

This is a Buddy Read for Salute the Dark by Adrian Tchaikovsky starting on March 16, 2025.


Happy Reading!

[Nirkatze]

Thank you!

Arc 1:
1. Empire in Black and Gold (Jun 14) [link]
2. Dragonfly Falling (Aug 4) [link]
3. Blood of the Mantis (Jan 16) [link]
4. Salute the Dark (Mar 16)

Arc 2?:
5. The Scarab Path (June 16) [link]
===Scheduled up to here===
6. The Sea Watch (TBD)
7. Heirs of the Blade (TBD)

Arc 3?:
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

Are we good to start the next arc?

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

looking at really small book cover is triggering my pariedolia...

[Nirkatze]

It does look rather dragony to me.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

pariedolia (when I mention it) generally means I'm seeing a face somehow...

In this case the wings and white near them look like eyes... which leads to other parts looking close enough to a nose/mouth...

[Nirkatze]

Yup! I saw a dragon face! Or maybe JarJar Binks.

[Nirkatze]

Started this! Eye reading, so only in Chapter One. So glad there's a short recap...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Series Recaps Included are a great QoL feature of some authors... I wish I'd been tracking that as a bookshelf 12 years ago when I started using Goodreads... such good info to have about a book/series you want to read...

Good luck remembering which series/authors do that, now, tho, 3000 books later...

Dramatis Personae are nice too, and sometimes work as an alternative to a full recap... only books I can think of that do that, immediately, tho, are Malazan, Locked Tomb, and Jodi Taylor / St. Mary's (altho she calls it a Dramatis Thingamie, because of course she does :D )

Gonna jump into this one tonight...

This is the last book I read before, and the end of Arc 1... if nobody else shows up / catches up, in the next week or 2 (doesn't seem like they will), we can just start scheduling monthly, and finish this up by the end of the year, for the most part...

After we finish everything in your schedule, we could tack on his other series, too, if you want:

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

Same world, different continent, Animal Kingdom shapeshifters instead of insect Kinden...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Also, we'll see how well I read Tales of the Apt, past the single audiobook :D

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I did 90% of my re-read at work last night... been getting alot more reading done at work since returning to overnights... especially in the 2nd half of the night, given the process I've developed over the last few days...

Knowing how this one plays out in the end, took away some of the wonder from my first readthrough, but it gave me time to focus/think about the real world parallels Tchaikovsky is playing with...

This feels very World War I, with the growth of airplanes and mustard gas and projectile weaponry... which leaves alot of room for Arc 2/3 to become World War 3, with refined weaponry and equal footing on the tech front...

Of course, all of that ignores the magic aspect of the story, which tends to be the real wildcard in deciding victors... and now this foreboding prophecy of The Worm, which has to come to fruition in book 10, given the title/blurb...

[Nirkatze]

Still putzing along slowly--these last two weeks have really tanked my commenting ability, since my students were running a fundraising festival this past weekend meaning I didn't get a weekend, and it snowballed into the week, then there were extra meetings during the week too... The festival went off great though!

So I'm only in Chapter 5. Hoping to knock a lot more out this weekend though--I should actually be able to relax some. Not really much to say, though the conversation at the start of Chapter 5, with (view spoiler)[Teornis the Spider Ambassador & Nero the Fly painter talking about the courting rituals of their perspective cultures is pretty interesting--I like it when Tchaikovsky's science background shines through in little things like this.

I'm also not rooting for any of the romances. I want the original crushes from book 1 before everything went to hell to get back. Che & Totho and Salma & Tisamon's daughter (whose name I always forget). And Stenwold and the spider girl makes me uncomfortable. I don't mind Tisamon and the Dragonfly though--so of course that's the one relationship that's going badly. I don't think I'm going to get my wishes though. (hide spoiler)]

I'm down with your suggestion: waiting to see if anyone else continues, and then just making our own schedule if not. I'm also interested in Tchaikovsky's other works--so down for those other books as well.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I dunno how you do it… or I do… on alit less sleep than I can handle on a regular basis…

[Nirkatze]

Well, on the plus side, I can't access work from home anymore (the MFA I was using was discontinued due to a security breach from a high-up user, and they haven't come up with an alternative yet) so I'm at work late every day--but then just crash when I get home, instead of crashing when I get home and then staying up late to get work done, and going to actual sleep really really really late... And audiobooks help keep me sane when I'm at work from 7am to 11pm...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Recoup time is great... I don't know how you do 16hr days, since I assume you don't really get paid beyond 8hr class day... given all that's said about teaching salaries...

Lets you keep up with my more efficient reading and 6-10hr sleep schedule, tho ;)

FYI, I signed you/us up for a Sun Eater re-read in the BR Invite thread... Paula was seeking BR Buddies, with the finale coming out this Winter, and I think we vaguely discussed the possibility of a re-read a few months ago in the Vagabond thread, when Soo was calling me crazy for contemplating it?... if you're not interested, I can always do it with Paula without you... I said we could start in June, once Naamah trilogy is over... I still need to read #1 of that, in the next few days...

[Nirkatze]

LOL I'm down for a reread of Suneater! I've been wanting to give it another look. ^_^ First time I read it, I was still training wheels on the audiobooks...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Sounds good... just pass it along to Paula in the BR invite thread... still need to pick a day... if we're replacing Naamah that's probably June 18th

[Nirkatze]

Only through Chapter 8 (view spoiler)[I'm enjoying Thalric & Che's weird journey from capturer/prisoner to hesitant respect and trust. I'm also really curious to see the Commonwealth now that Stenwold & co have arrived.

I also keep wondering about that random encounter in the last book, with the spiderwoman from under the lake... I don't remember what happened to her, except for... was it the mercenary wasp? forming an attachment to her... Will the underwater folk end up being another threat later? (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Thalric is my favorite wasp, by a mile...

[Nirkatze]

Three cheers for that... The relationship is reminding me of something, but I've been having a harder time sorting through brain lately for connections...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I hear ya... some of my vibe comments have been lacking, or just removed from comments in general, because I can't think of the thing I'm being reminded of...

[Nirkatze]

I used to be really good at it, but my memory's gone shot in the last several years...

Anyway, through Chapter 11--I can see the WWI vibes you mentioned. I'm also getting Revolutionary War vibes--at least with how (view spoiler)[Salma is inventing guerilla warfare. I was a bit shocked at his decision to slaughter the Sixth... especially since that general just got introduced. Then again--it was off page. Which means it might not have happened. Maybe Salma managed to recruit him and his loyal Bees instead...

Meanwhile, Che's captured, again... I like the tense situation though. How do you prove a negative?

I'm curious about Tynisa's voice-in-her-head. Is it something connected to her Mantis heritage and the ghosts in her rite of passage? Or a remnant of the Mosquito-kinden who bound her? Something else? I was surprised that she found Tisamon so quickly. (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Also, I don't know if you saw, but Paula is joining us in the series, though she's just in book one...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I think we can schedule book 5 for June… if she reads 2 in April and 3-4 in May as she just said recently… maybe only schedule 5 as a semi-placeholder until we’re sure she’s caught up then schedule 6-10…

[Nirkatze]

That sounds good to me.

[Nirkatze]

Finally have some time to read, and the book's picking up too! Through Chapter 20 now. (view spoiler)[The WWI vibes you mentioned are starting to hit--what with D making something like Agent Orange--loved that scene!--and then all of the world's armies starting to get embroiled... the Dragonflies with their honor and oaths--but still able to play games. The Spiders beaten by their own arrogance. Conquered Ants and Bees ready to rise...

With the movement in the capital, I'm wondering if Uctebri's plans involve Tisamon and the Dragonfly, or if they'll get in his way... I'm feeling the former... And then, if this arc will end like the death of Ogedei Khan, the only thing that stopped the Mongol Horde's advancement into Europe in the 1200s was the death of their leader... Will all the Wasps turn home, to wrangle for power, with the death of their Emperor? How long will the reprieve last? (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Finished last night. What a shakedown ending! (view spoiler)[Things went about what I thought--but I loved seeing the (now) Empress get one over on Uctebri! And marrying Thalric! I loved Thalric arc in this book--I can't believe I forgot to comment earlier, on how he was offered back in to the Rekef... and rejected it by killing one of the three Rekef heads!! That was awesome!! And Che hugging him at the end... awww!! I can only hope that the new Empress will be less about conquest than the old insecure emperor...

There was one line, I don't remember who said it, about the Emperor being both intelligent and insecure, and that was a dangerous combination. Tisamon! Pretty much what I thought would happen... but now he's IN THE SHADOW BOX?? So curious to see how that works out... and RIP Salma...

Biggest surprise was Totho turning Agent Orange around, and freeing Szar... hot damn!! (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Top post updated with link.

[Paula]

@Nirkatze, ch 5 (view spoiler)[ I also liked the courting rituals of their cultures. The spiders are very fascinating

I don't mind Che and Acharos but I also prefer the other crushes from book one. I also don't like the Taki Nero one, hopefully it won't happen, it reminds me of Stenwold and Arabella. (hide spoiler)]

[Paula]

@Nirkatze, ch 8 (view spoiler)[ Yeah, agreed. My favourite part at the moment is Che's and Thaldric's dynamics.

I almost forgot about the underwater kinden too (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Are you commenting on Scarab Path or Salute the Dark?

[Paula]

@Nirkatze, ch 11 (view spoiler)[ I really thought Salma killed the general. I quite liked that especially after the Tir alain trilogy where the bad guys are left alive

Che is the Houdini in this world...

I think Tynisa's voice is the same as the Mantis woman that talked to Tysamon. (hide spoiler)]

[Paula]

Salute the dark, I am behind the series. But I will finish this one tomorrow

[Nirkatze]

LOL "Che is Houdini"! LOL That made me laugh!

Nice parallel between Tir Alainn and here...though I think Salma isn't encumbered by the same over-inflated sense of morality...

[Paula]

Finished! (view spoiler)[ I agree with Nirkatze, Thalric's arc is the best. He is my favorite character, so fascinating. I admit I was a bit taken aback by him liking Che but if they develop more I can be behind their relationship, especially now that Achaeos is dead.

So many people died too. I was surprised by that. Salma, Achaeos, Tissamon, Felipe, Nero... But I don't feel too sad for them. This series is more about ideas than characters, I don't feel attached to many of them. The only ones I truly like are Che and especially Thalric.

Totho is also very interesting. He is still with Dephros and his inventions will shape the wars to come too. And now I am also curious about the invention of that type of gas. The Agent Orange was the first one? (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

I know!! (view spoiler)[What a death list!! So many big players... really makes this feel like the end. Of the Arc. Agree about not really feeling too sad... I wasn't super connected to any of the characters, and their deaths open up the next interesting arcs... (hide spoiler)]