Tag Archives: Adrian Tchaikovsky

books, Reviews, science fiction, Space opera

Lords of Uncreation (The Final Architecture 3) by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Leave a comment

Amazon link (sponsored)

Stars: 4.5 out of 5

This is a fitting conclusion to an epic trilogy. I must say that Mr. Tchaikovsky created a truly unique world. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with concepts of real and unreal (or similar) that are so well integrated into the story. This world feels lived in. It has an inner logic and it works. 

Things have gotten from bad to worse since the end of the previous book. You would think that a treat of truly galactic proportions would unite people, right? You couldn’t be more wrong. Humanity fractures and splinters, because each faction has its own idea of how exactly humanity will be saved, one which leaves them in power over the rescued remnants, of course. And none of those ideas include taking the war to the slavemasters of the Architects. 

I even understand why. Fighting something so unimaginable and unreachable is daunting, to say the least. It’s much easier for the human psyche to find a smaller enemy and concentrate on them. Hence Hugh and the Parthenon are at each other throats again. And the Boyarin want their Arcs back. The galaxy is a mess even without Architects popping up at random solar systems to turn inhabited planets into tragic art. 

And the crew of the Vulture God is still stuck in the middle of it all. Though I’m not sure if they are a crew anymore since only Oli and Kit are technically on the ship itself. Idris and Kris are on the Eye, where Idris is killing himself, trying to find the mysterious Masters who send the Architects out into the real. Solace is also there with the Partheny Ints, but it seems like everyone has their own agenda now. Until all hell breaks lose, that is. 

If I had one complaint about this book it’s that the first 30% of it or so drags. I understand that all the pieces had to be put on the board and set in motion, but it made for a rather boring read. However, once the attack on the Eye happens, things pick up. And after Anku brings the hammer down on the whole system, the action doesn’t let down until the end. 

All in all, I liked how things got wrapped up in this book. And the fate that befell the Lords of Uncreation was a fine example of poetic justice. I was a bit surprised bout Oli, but it makes sense and is in tune with her character. Solace had a huge crisis of faith in this book, and I’m happy with the choice she made. Also, she is a badass. The only non-Int to stand in the middle of creation, face a very alien and overwhelming force, and not give ground. “Pret at combattre” indeed. 

I am also happy with Idris’s arc. It felt at times like he was drifting through the story as a passenger more than an architect of the events, and he would make a lousy action hero, but he saved the world in the end. And now Kris might even save the Ints from indentured servitude, but either way, unspace is a lot more welcoming for them from now on. And I like the concept of Saint Idris.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

books, Reviews, science fiction

Shards of Earth (The Final Architecture 1) by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Leave a comment

Stars: 5 out of 5

I love discovering a new series that I thoroughly enjoy and knowing that there are still at least two more books I can look forward to. Strangely enough, the only book by Tchaikovsky I have read before this one was One Day This all will be Yours, which is a novella about the consequences of time travel and a time war. And I had loved it as well, but I hadn’t tried his scifi series until I found this one on my TBR list. Well, Mr. Tchaikovsky, I’m a convert now. You write it – I will read it!

The premise of this book is interesting. Sixty years ago, humanity stood united with other alien species, locked in a desperate battle with an alien treat that destroyed entire planets in a matter of hours. They were desperate, they were on the brink of extinction, and all they could do was evacuate as many people as possible before the Architect showed up and destroyed yet another planet. Then an Intermediary, a specially modified human, managed to make contact with the vast consciousness of the Architect, and the Architect just… left. None has been seen since.

It’s been 60 years, and none of the desperate unity remains. humanity is squabbling for power and dominance. The war’s heroes are now humanity’s pariahs, mistrusted and hated by regular humanity. Who aren’t much fond of other alien species as well. Tempers are high, and the known galaxy is on the brink of yet another bloody war, until the crew of a small salvage freighter uncovers proof that the Architects might be back. Now the whole galaxy is after them, and not everyone’s intentions are friendly.

Most of the time, characters are what makes or breaks a book for me. I had been known to read stories with wobbly worldbuilding and giant plot holes because I was in love with the characters. I’ve also been known to walk away from a wonderfully constructed story with a lot of thought put into the structure of the world because the characters were one-dimensional or I simply couldn’t connect with any of them.

Fortunately, it’s not the case here. I LOVED the crew of the Vulture God! Idris was damaged and confused a lot of times, but loyal to his friends, and with a strong sense of what is right and wrong. And willing to die for humanity when that was needed. Solace was wonderful as this grizzled soldier who started caring about the crew of the Vulture despite herself. She could also relate to what Idris was going through because she experienced the war with the Architect first hand as well.  And I am still so  so salty about Rollo. That particular death really packed an emotional punch. 

This book answered some questions, but left a lot for the following books. Even though the wreak was a hoax, the Architects are back, and they will continue exterminating inhabited planets. Not because they want to, but because they have no choice. So all sentient life in the galaxy is in danger. Everyone would have to band together if they want to survive what’s coming. And the crew of the Vulture God will be right in the middle of it. And I will be along for the ride.

PS: I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Post-Apocalyptic, Reviews, science fiction

One Day All of This Will Be Yours by Adrian Tchaikovski

1 Comment

Stars: 4 out of 5.

This was a delightful little novella and a very nice introduction to the author, as far as first impressions go.

The story itself is quite an interesting take on time travel that I haven’t seen explored before, even though there is a certain logic to it. If someone was sent back in time to change the past, the present they come back to wouldn’t be like the one they left. And if they are sent again to change it back because say another faction changed something in the past to suit their agenda… well, there is no guarantee that the change they make will bring back the same present they were born in. 

So what you have left with in the aftermath of a time war is a bunch of time agents trying to fulfill the agenda of governments that don’t exist anymore, or have never existed, depending on the twists the time war took along the way. That just keep changing things and fighting each other through time because they have no present to come back to. In some cases, they never even existed in the new present, because their parents never met or they died when they were a child.

This is meaningless slaughter both of people and of the time continuum until one time agent realizes that time is already so irrevocably broken that fighting over it doesn’t make sense anymore. His solution? Eliminate all the other time agents, then eliminate anyone who might ever invent a time travel machine. Anywhere. Anywhen. It’s brutal, it’s ruthless, and it’s very in character with our protagonist.

He isn’t a nice person. I would go as far as call him a psychopath, but anyone who’d fought in a time war for endless iterations of said time would have to be. He sits in the bottleneck between the broken remains of the time that was before and doesn’t let anyone with time travel technology get past him into what will become after. And he is perfectly happy to enjoy his little paradise of now in solitude. Until a time traveler comes from that after and claims that he created their whole civilization…

It was a fun read, even though all the characters in it were equally awful. Like I already said, the protagonist is a killer with absolutely no remorse or scruples, and the people he is fighting against are coming from a society that is just as awful, so as a reader I couldn’t really root for either of them. They both deserved to be erased out of time for different reasons. Heck, the only character I was rooting for was the dinosaur, but that’s because how cool would it be to have a pet dinosaur?

But even thought the characters are awful, it’s a fun romp through the broken shards of time watching them heap horrible things on each other. The ending was not what I had expected, but I admit that it has a certain poetic justice to it. It also leaves the door open for a sequel.

All in all, this was an enjoyable read that kept my attention for an afternoon and I wouldn’t mind revisiting this if the author ever writes a sequel.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.