Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky

[Rodders]

I've been seeing this a lot in book shops and it definitely looks like it could be pretty good and something that I'd thoroughly enjoy.



"Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade his mind in the war. And one of humanity’s heroes now scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers.

Eighty years ago, Earth was destroyed by an alien enemy. Many escaped, but millions more died. So mankind created enhanced humans such as Idris - who could communicate mind-to-mind with our aggressors. Then these ‘Architects’ simply disappeared and Idris and his kind became obsolete.

Now, Idris and his crew have something strange, abandoned in space. It’s clearly the work of the Architects – but are they really returning? And if so, why? Hunted by gangsters, cults and governments, Idris and his crew race across the galaxy as they search for answers. For they now possess something of incalculable value, and many would kill to obtain it."

Anyone read it?

 

[williamjm]

I read it a few months ago. I thought it was a good space opera and I enjoyed it a lot. Tchaikovsky can always be relied upon to introduce some interesting non-human species in his fiction and this was another example.

 

[Rodders]

I bought it yesterday. Once I've finished the Bobiverse books, i'll read it.

 

[Rodders]

Bumping this just because the sequel, Eyes Of The Void, is now available for pre-order And due for release in April 2022. Now all I need is Alistair Reynolds’s latest for pre-order.

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Eyes of the Void is the second high-octane instalment in Adrian Tchaikovsky's Final Architecture space opera trilogy.

After eighty years of fragile peace, the galaxy’s greatest alien enemy is back. Waging a brutal one-sided war, the Architects consume entire planets under their unfathomable directive. In the past, Originator artefacts – vestiges of a long-vanished civilization – could save a world from annihilation. Yet the Architects have discovered a way to circumvent these protective relics. Suddenly, no planet is safe.

Facing impending extinction, the Human Colonies are in turmoil. While some believe a unified front could save the remaining planets, others insist humanity should fight alone. And there are those who seek to benefit from the fractured politics of war – even as the Architects loom ever closer.

Idris has spent decades running from the horrors of his past. Yet as an Intermediary, he could be one of the few to turn the tide in humanity’s favour. Now, he finds himself thrust back onto the battlefront. With a handful of allies, he searches for a weapon that could stop the Architects and save the galaxy. But to do so, he must return to the nightmarish unspace, where his mind was broken and remade.

What Idris discovers there will change everything.

 

[Rodders]

I finished it this morning. A very enjoyable space opera in which I would quite often find comparing the crew of the Vulture God to the crew of the CAT from Consider Phlebas. I am very much looking forward to the sequel. Tchaikovsky is really impressing me at the moment. I won't read any of his fantasy books but he's a go to author for me with his science fiction works. I have Children of Time and Children of Ruin on my Kindle and will read them first thing next year.

 

[williamjm]

I finished it this morning. A very enjoyable space opera in which I would quite often find comparing the crew of the Vulture God to the crew of the CAT from Consider Phlebas. I am very much looking forward to the sequel. Tchaikovsky is really impressing me at the moment. I won't read any of his fantasy books but he's a go to author for me with his science fiction works. I have Children of Time and Children of Ruin on my Kindle and will read them first thing next year.

There were bits where it felt a bit like one of Banks' books. The agent (I forget his name) could have been working for that settings' equivalent of Special Circumstances, although the society as a whole is definitely not as advanced as The Culture.

 

[Vertigo]

I've got my eye on these but I've still a couple of others to read so plenty of time for him to complete the trilogy first.

 

[Rodders]

Yeah, on reflection I should’ve waited too. I hate that year between sequels, but I really wanted to read it.

 

[williamjm]

Yeah, on reflection I should’ve waited too. I hate that year between sequels, but I really wanted to read it.

At least with Tchaikovsky's track record I think we can be fairly confident about him releasing them in a timely manner given that he seems to publish multiple books each year.

 

[Vertigo]

I was going to comment along those lines. He does seem to do that very hard thing of being highly prolific whilst still maintaining quality!