Wish I'd bought the book...

Not as imaginative as AT's previous books, this seems a little vanilla. What really let's it down is the narration. There's no menace or peril, some of the characters sound like 14 year old children. I'll read the next one.

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8 people found this helpful

wonderfully funny, imaginative & horrific

I'd previously only read Children of Time from Tchaikovsky, a novel which is endlessly imaginative if a little... cold. The relative lack of humanity in the story was born out in the text, which lacked much in the way of humour or levity. However, it made up for it with sensational world-building, speculative evolution spinning off into such bizarre but credible pathways.

His Final Architecture series is, so far (I've listened to the first 2 books) quite different. The detailed, complex and slightly inscrutable setting is certainly still present, though with as much focus on technological advancement as biological evolution this time.

The characters, meanwhile, are far more relatable than in Children of Time. They are flawed, brave, cowardly, and determined in turn, with a strong core of idiosyncrasies running throughout each of them. Most of all, though, they are just damned FUNNY, despite not all of them even being human.

Special commendations to Olly and Trine, in particular. Olly is so beautifully profane in her speech, which is set off perfectly by the sardonic Yorkshire-esque twang that Sophie Aldred gives her. The level of mortal offence she takes at the presence, the mere existence, of others is a delight. She is the grumpiest arsehole with a heart of gold that I have come across in a while.

Then we have Trine, a character so utterly alien, yet man-made. The Hivers are basically sentient colonies of insects. Trine has refused to return his constituent parts back to the central depository for so long that they (accurate pronoun) have developed ego and eccentricities in equal measures.

I never get bored of these characters. The only one who annoys me a little is Idris, who is ostensibly the central character of this space opera. However, he makes up for his meek timidness by refusing to back down, insisting a course of action is necessary until it happens. Besides being a human McGuffin, always being kidnapped and passed from pillar to post against his own desires, he slowly develops into someone determined to do the right thing no matter the cost, so by the end of book 2 you are stood up rooting for him!

I have loved this series, and cannot wait from the next installment at the end of April 2023.

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1 person found this helpful

The choice of reader is a shame.

Fascinating storyline. The reader leaves a lot to be desired. A very samey voice, whatever the action.

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1 person found this helpful

Perfect start to a trilogy

A great story by an author in their prime made excellent by the best narrator I've heard in a long time.

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Tchaikovsky can do no wrong

A brilliant tale, well told.

I shall be demolishing this series in days at this rate!

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Fascinating tale with memorable characters

I really loved AT's Children series so picked Shards of Earth up when I saw it on sale. so glad I did. The story AT has come up with is great, and equally as complex and riveting as the Children series. I have loved the characters. Ollie Teemu is now one of my favourite characters from any series. Looking forward to part two.

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Decent enough

I’d only read Children of Time and Children of Ruin before this so take that into consideration. Both of those books I found to be incredibly creative and compelling to read. What I got with this was something of a rinse and repeat space opera. A well trodden story and predictable character mashups - with some more endearing than others. Dialogue was uninspiring and I’m not sure whether it was narrator or not, but I found a number of the crew generally pretty annoying and whiny and not particularly endearing. The creatures of both the children books were far more relatable. Will I listen to the next one? Probably. However, for his type of jaunt I’d recommend Peter Hamilton or Iain Banks or even the Expanse series for a far more rewarding experience.

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4 people found this helpful

Adrian Tchaikovsky does it again

Space opera served up hot. A brilliantly imaged universe with wonderfully fleshed out characters whose dialogue had me laughing my ass off at points. (A good knifing?! Seriously Adrian? 😂) Seriously, it Adrian Tchaikovsky. That alone should be reason enough to part with your shekels.
Also, Sophie Aldred is quickly becoming Adrian Tchaikovsky most evocative and impressive narrators. She has a gift for bringing his diverse characters to life. Brilliant and enviable!

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1 person found this helpful

Fun start to a space opera

Great fun with good pacing and characters, atmospheric world building and interesting concepts and threats

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Fun space opera romp

This is a fun space opera romp, modified humans, big evil alien baddy, canned secret service/gangster villains. It occasionally shows through how quickly Tchaikovsky writes, with a couple of minor inconsistencies, but overall thoroughly enjoyable.

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