Shards of Earth

Although the space farer, polyasora, dystopia type stories has a long history thanks to Asimov; this one had refreshing new ideas about Alien races and their own carried forward dramas.Though not as mysterious and slow unraveling as other contemporary writes, it still has a good sense of newness to the mystical...The characters are well understood, however the writer is new to this type of storytelling. His description of alien races and planets is far superior to character building. Yet, Rollo and kit.. Olli , Idris.. Idris and solace and such pairing works as a dichotomy of philosophy and ideas.

It has been a while since I picked up a book by Tchaikovsky. I think the last time was back when Children of Time came out? I think? In any case, it was high time, I actually read something by this author because I still remember being amazed by Children of Time and how amazing it was. So, it was with slightly high expectations I was going into the book and it delivered and then some. I mean, it’s not the most original trope but the way everything was plotted made this an absolutely brilliant ride for me.This is a multi- POV book that starts with a bang. Truly. We have humans scattered across the universe because something called the Architects came and made the earth unlivable and it was only through sheer luck that the humans survived to the point where there are multiple factions now that are oftentimes on the opposing sides. The one thing about this book and this author that I really love is that while providing a good story and tight pacing, there’s so much science and technology that could be, the whole thing makes the immersion all the more real.So, the story starts to pack even more of a punch when a salvage ship comes across something in the Unspace. It might be an indication of the Architects coming back and if it is, the scattered humanity might once again be in danger. A danger they still have no idea how to face or defeat. I am a sucker for mysterious alien artifacts or some long forgotten civilization artifacts being found and this book ticked off that box too. We don’t get too much information about the Architects but there’s crumbs scattered throughout the book and it’s enough for me to know that we’ll most likely get more information as the series progresses.There’s enough political intrigue to keep those who are interested in such things thoroughly entertained too. There are a lot of factions and some of them are about being ‘pure’ humans and not so humans so it is probably relatable on some level seeing as our world has problems of the same scale. I really enjoy reading about people and how thoroughly predictable they can be no matter what setting they are in. This is not the book to ease you into science fiction though, I think. It has too many technical terms and such but if you are not afraid of trying to understand things, this is a great book. It also feels very much like the author is just setting the stage for more explosive things to happen in the later books even though this book has plenty of explosive things happening. So, don’t be afraid to pick it up if you want an adventure in space with a wide scale.

I read a lot and I cannot leave a book unfinished which sometimes leaves me in a desert of hum drum novels, then an oasis appears and I start a book that I yearn to have the time to read when I am not reading it. Iain m Banks left a void when he passed. Tchaikovsky fills that voidHis world building is imaginative and never seems to revisit itself. Paired with his story telling that somehow manages to maintain a cracking pace throughout while still managing to draw the reader into the characters in all their flawed glory.I am so glad this is the beginning of a trilogy but it stands alone. The antagonists are an unstoppable force and instead of glossing over the faster than light travel it is embraced and expounded on until it is an integral part of the story and becomes one of a dozen reasons to turn the page.It takes me back to the golden age of sci fi where every story was groundbreaking.Unmissable, both the novel and the author

Huge fan of all of the authors previous SF, which I found engaging, thought provoking, and sophisticated. This book is good but like so much SF his depiction of many of the aliens is a bit juvenile. It really annoys me when SF universes are filled with species all of which are able to operate in the same atmospheric, gravitational etc environment as humans. IMO on a par with star treks alien depictions of humans with something stuck on their forehead. A TV show has an excuse. It in a book it is just lazy.Having said that it is better than most SF out there and a good read.I would advise you avoid the audio book version. Whoever directed the reader to overact and put on comedy accents for most of the characters deserves to be shot! The reader also had an irritating habit of putting the stress in sentences in the completely wrong place. IIt was a relief when characters died so I wouldn’t have to listen to their stupid voices any more. I will certainly be listening to a sample of any audio book before I buy in future

I am a HUGE fan of Adrian's - I have read numerous sci-fi and fantasy authors and he's taken over as my favourite from Ian Banks and equals K.J.Parker in those genres respectively.In this book Adrian is perhaps a victim of his own success. Yes it is a good space opera and the characters are good, but overall it feels flat compared to his previous books. Though the last couple have also disappointed me, feeling like they were dashed out to fill in time.It's as if he has move too far from what makes him great, his use of the unusual, the quirky - animal intelligence in Dogs of War, Children of Time/Eden - humans with animal characteristics in The Apt series, homunculi in Pretty Little Things - I could go on. He's best when weaving his stories around something tangible, something earthly. Here he relies on the ethereal, in fuzzy notions of galactic ghouls.Perhaps it deserves a 4* rating but nah, that just doesn't feel right, so it's a 3.5.

Having read most of Tchaikovsky's work over the last few years, I found this to be a relatively disappointing piece of universe building by someone who has proved a master in the past. Having slogged through to the end, I found few of the characters particularly memorable, and many of their attributes being almost willfully bolted on to try and make them interesting. The deaths of what appeared to be lead characters before they had really established themselves didn't really help. This is pure space opera but seems tolack the heart and vision of his best work.

Getting hard these days to find new science fiction that rewards the effort of reading it. A.T. is a better writer than most, certainly far superior to the bosh that comes out of America at the moment, where small groups of talentless authors band together for mutual support, writing each other's reviews. His sci-fi is better than his fantasy, flawed by clichés, his characters involving, his science firm and accessible. However he blethers a bit, dips into writing styles that get in the way of enjoying the story. Not much story in this one, sadly, it's all recycled tried and tested huge-vision space opera, and half way through you lose count of the number of fights and battles. The writing at least is uncomplicated, he has resisted imposing a rigid style, used in many of his recent novellas. A slow novel to get into because he throws it all at you in the first few pages, and that's too much to absorb. And after that it just hits max speed. Looks like the author is trying hard to keep pace with all the other dubiously untalented space opera writers out there. It’s a shame because he can do so much better than them. He should be the one setting the pace for them.This was a tough one to finish, my interest just couldn't be maintained towards the end.