Blood of the Mantis cover art

Blood of the Mantis

Shadows of the Apt, Book 3

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Blood of the Mantis

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Narrated by: Ben Allen
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About this listen

A dread ritual casts a deadly shadow . . .

Blood of the Mantis is the third novel in Adrian Tchaikovsky's richly imagined Shadows of the Apt series, following Dragonfly Falling. Stenwold must rally his allies for battle against the Empire, even as it seeks a dangerous artifact of enormous power.

Achaeos the seer has finally tracked down the stolen Shadow Box. But he has only days before this magical artefact will be lost to him forever. Meanwhile, the Empire's dread forces are mustering for their next great offensive. Stenwold and his followers have only a short time to gather allies, before the enemy's soldiers march again – to conquer everything in their path. If Stenwold cannot hold them back, the hated black and gold flag will fly over every city in the Lowlands before the year's end.

Yet a more insidious threat awaits. Should the Shadow Box fall into the hands of the power-mad Emperor, nothing will save the world from his relentless ambition.

Blood of the Mantis is followed by Salute the Dark, the fourth book in the Shadows of the Apt series.

©2009 Adrian Tchaikovsky (P)2021 Macmillan Publishers International Limited Action & Adventure Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction

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Critic reviews

Full of sparking, speculative innovation (Stephen Baxter, author of the Xeelee Sequence, on The Doors of Eden)
Breathtaking scope and vision. Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of our finest writers (Gareth Powell, author of Embers of War, on Children of Ruin)
A joy from start to finish. Entertaining, smart, surprising and unexpectedly human (Patrick Ness, author of The Knife of Never Letting Go, on Children of Time)
All stars
Most relevant  
...but it has the same issues as the previous book. Keeping a lot of the characters around without giving them much to do, or reason to be there.. This, while introducing more and more new characters. So it all feels a bit diluted.

The big positive that is keeping me around are the world building. It's still really interesting to explore this world.

Still good...

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with this being the third in the series I thought maybe it would get baggy and so so. impressively not so! the complexity of intrigue, drama and fabulous world building maintains pace and builds interest. I'm still loving the reflection, the prism of humanity in an escapist world, the tension and the unfolding.

continues the quality

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A true genius piece of work that only Adrian could have written with his deep understanding of the animal kingdom perspective.

Masterfully written

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fantastically read again by Ben Allen I'd say easily my favourite reader on here.
the story feels like a bridge to something bigger in the next book and I mean this in the best way possible I know what my next credit will be spent on

so engaging

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Amazing world creation. Great multifaceted characters. Gripping story. Characters of all sorts of personality. Heroes saving the day but with flaws not overly perfect.

Fantasy at its best

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Loved it - best in the series yet! Interesting character development and the plot races on in a very satisfying manner...

Awesome steampunk novel

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Very enjoyable characters and story line, looking forward to the next book in the series.

Blood of a Mantis

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Love this third book in the series. The first 2 were great too. Such a big story. Can’t wait to get the next one. I love the narrators range of accents.

Brilliant

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Between Adrian's story telling and Ben Allen's narration, this is turning into being an amazing listening experience

Keeps getting better

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I think this series would make an amazing TV adaptation. Another amazing book, love all the stories and the lore.

Love this series.

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