Shards of Earth – Adrian Tchaikovsky

Hello, hello, hello, my book-loving friends!

It’s been too long. Long story short, I started a new full-time job, got into community work, and am in the process of making a lot of other changes in my life right now. It’s been very hectic, but also very rewarding. As such, reading has taken a bit of a hit, but I’m working on it!

Which brings me to the topic of today’s post – it’s my turn for the #UltimateBlogTour on ‘Shards of Earth’!. This book is an engrossing sci-fi with adventure, betrayal, and gangster aliens, and war… all in space! I must admit, I do not have a lot of experience with sci-fi novels, and I’m happy to say that this novel did not disappoint.

The length of the novel was intimidating, and it was a challenge to balance with the other tasks I had to do, but I’m glad that the experience of Shards of Earth became a welcome escape from the stresses of the day.

Anyway, let’s get to it! 

Information:

Name: Shards of Earth (The Final Architects Trilogy, #1)
Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Genre(s): Science Fiction, Fantasy, Adult
Pages: 560
Format: E-book
Publisher: Orbit, Tor Books
Language: English
Publication Date: May 27th, 2021

Synopsis:

The Arthur C. Clarke award-winning author of Children of Time brings us an extraordinary space opera about humanity on the brink of extinction, and how one man’s discovery will save or destroy us all.

The war is over. Its heroes forgotten. Until one chance discovery . . .

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

After earth was destroyed, mankind created a fighting elite to save their species, enhanced humans such as Idris. In the silence of space they could communicate, mind-to-mind, with the enemy. Then their alien aggressors, the Architects, simply disappeared—and Idris and his kind became obsolete.

Now, fifty years later, Idris and his crew have discovered something strange abandoned in space. It’s clearly the work of the Architects—but are they returning? And if so, why? Hunted by gangsters, cults and governments, Idris and his crew race across the galaxy hunting for answers. For they now possess something of incalculable value, that many would kill to obtain.

Thoughts:

Well, this was an EPIC story, you guys. It just about had everything you would expect in a sci-fi novel – incredible starship battles, adventures to a number of planets, complex cultures and various races of aliens, fearsome creatures, and epic war storylines.

The story takes places over 50 years after the Earth has been destroyed by creatures known as The Architects, who destroy planets and make them into art forms, killing millions. Only the Intermediaries, humans that have been modified to fight, could stop them, and most must sacrifice themselves in the process. Now, Idris, one of the last Intermediaries who fought in the war, must be recruited to work for the Parthenon by an old flame, Solace, a Partheni who helped him recover from the horrors of the war.

This sets off a whole stream of events that gets Idris, Solace, and his crew into a lot of trouble when they make a discovery on a job that changes everything they thought they knew, and things get pretty intense. The crew are sent on a wild goose chase across space as they are hunted by gangsters, secret organizations, and rival governments.

The storyline was captivating, although at times I didn’t agree with the pacing. I also enjoyed the world building, and I liked how the author explored a number of social issues in the book whilst still maintaining the focus on the main storyline. I really enjoyed experiencing the adventures of the crew of The Vulture God, and Idris’ own journey of denial, anger, shame, and eventual acceptance of his abilities was incredibly written. The last part of the book, when the stakes were incredibly high, was incredibly thrilling – I stayed up till 1am to finish the book!

However, I will say that whilst I enjoyed this book, I had some small reservations. I could tell that this book was made with science fiction aficionados in mind, so I wouldn’t recommend it if you would like to use this series as a starting point into the genre. There were times when the descriptions were very dense and felt a bit like information overload, so that made things difficult regarding getting invested in the story. I had to take some breaks in the beginning as the story felt too complex at times.

Rating:

If you like books that are filled with lots of action, high stakes, epic world-building, endearing friendships and relationships, and an intriguing plot that fans of sci-fi will LOVE, then this book is for you!

You can check it out on Amazon or Book Depository.

What sci-fi books have you read and enjoyed recently?

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