Almost uninterrupted fighting

It felt like the whole book was one endless sword fight, which was described with one cliché after another. Blades were not slaked and so on.
The steam punk insect-people world was interesting, but I enjoyed A T's sci-fi books better.

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Completely hooked

It's not often I feel compelled to write a review, however, this book (and series so far) deserves it. What started as an easy listen while I painted became so distracting I was so engrossed it was hard to be doing anything else while I listened. The reader, Ben, does a superb reading. Each character it seems is instantly recognisable by voice. He does a great job of helping build the large scope of the world with each accent and variation.

The story itself is thrilling, and has a hook that just keeps pulling, which made me want to read more and more until it was over, and I was left wanting. After finishing books one and two I ordered the full series, something I've never done before now as I know how long series can become monotonous and sour. After reading through some reviews however I think I've definitely made the right choice.

Overall I can't fault this book on anything, even if the full series is not for you, I highly recommend giving this a read (or listen) as it opens the door to a very interesting and unique world.

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Surprisingly engaging.

Starts as pretty run-of-the-mill high fantasy but it did grow on me over time. It grew on me despite it being nothing new. My main criticism is that there is a lot of combat: excessively so. I suspect Adrian dungeonmastered excessive games of D&D in his youth. I am still going to give the sequel a go as I suspect he is still finding his feet in the swords-and-sorcery genre and the weak points in this novel speak more to the editing rather than the writing.
Narration was excellent which also flattered the novel.

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Slow Going

I really struggled to rate this one, hovering between 3 and 4 stars.

The ideas behind this book and cast are exceptional and on paper made it a must read.

Insect type humans, in a steam punk fantasy universe, in an invasion setting? sign me up!

The narration is also superb.

However, I found large parts of the actual content to be really slow going and dare I say, sometimes boring.

I had to rewind numerous times where I had zoned out and missed what was going on.

This said, the story was engaging enough that I wanted to keep listening. wanted to uncover more of this brilliantly crafted world.

I will be giving the second book a go for sure.

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Great start to a series

Can not get enough of this narrator. Very talented and brings the story alive. Look forward to the next one

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Pleasantly surprised…

I struggled for the first hour or two, so many names and ideas I couldn’t assimilate it all. That said it was worth sticking with, can’t wait to listen to the next one.

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did not finish

I love the sci-fi books I've read by the author and I like fantasy, so I had high hopes. However, this one just did not grab me. The characters felt flat and their back stories not really believable (talented fencers and students off making some big impact in the world etc.). in any case, it just didn't hold my interest long enough to find out if things get better or if there are good explanations for the things that bugged me, like "what were a bunch of kids from uni doing off in a warzone, and how did they convince people to follow their plan?

A bit of googling indicated that the later books do improve on the first, but not by a huge amount. Life is too short to get invested in a long series of books that maybe get quite good at some point.

For fantasy with weird bug people, China Mieville does a much better job.

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its rare that I give all stars but...

this is what fantasy is meant to be! its the start to an epic series, it has characters that I can care about, an intriguing setting, it has espionage and great battles... The story and setting are just amazing and this book really made me want to read the rest of the series right away - (they are even better) overall - read it

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7 people found this helpful

A good young adults' book

I enjoyed the reading / preformance style, accents are believable and voices well modulated without getting childish.

The writing style is great, as one would expect from the author. The world building is interesting, but this is where the young adult theme begins to show. The plot is really not that great, and some of the characters are very predictable and one dimensional.

Over all I think this is a fine book for teenagers, with teeny romance and coming of age magic powers suddenly emerging. It is not Tchaikovsky's best book, nor the most exciting. I got it because I finished a few epic fantasy and scifi series recently and was hoping to find a new one. Sadly for me this is not it.

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Sensational

For me the best read since Lord of the Rings 40 years ago. The depth of character, the use of language and the story itself are just amazing. You really care about all the characters and what happens to them. You share in their emotions. Adrian Tchaikovsky is very skilled indeed. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

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