“Earth was like a flower, forever turned towards the sun.... Earth’s mantle had been peeled back, like petals whose tips formed spiralling tendrils a thousand kilometres long. The planet’s core had gouted forth into yearning, reaching shapes, formed into rings and whorls, arches, curved arms . . .”

My thanks to Pan Macmillan/Tor for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Shards of Earth’ by Adrian Tchaikovsky in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book in Tchaikovsky’s Final Architecture series.’Shards of Earth’ is set a hundred and twenty-three years after the Earth was destroyed by an Architect, a moon-sized alien entity. While many escaped, billions died. In response the Intermediaries were created to combat the Architects as they moved on to other colonised planets. However, all they could do was delay them, allowing for a more thorough evacuation.

Then forty years ago after making brief mental contact with three intermediaries, the Architects disappeared. Humanity began to believe that they were gone forever but truthfully no one knew when or if they might return. One of the original intermediaries, Idris Telemmier has not aged or slept since the end of the war. He avoids unwanted attention by working as a navigator on a salvage ship, the Vulture God.

Then Idris and his crew discover a ship abandoned in space and its damage appears to be the work of the Architects. In order to find answers they race across the galaxy though they are hunted by gangsters, cults and governments.

Following the main narrative Tchaikovsky has included a very useful reference section that includes a glossary, character lists, worlds, species, and ships. The final section is a timeline of events that counts down to the destruction of Earth and then to the present day of the opening of the novel.

I am in awe of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s creativity. ‘Shards of Earth’ is a brilliant space opera with plenty of action and characters that are complex and relatable, even when they are strange hybrid creatures.

His dialogue is a pleasure to read as even in the midst of danger his characters are quite able to partake in quips and banter. In addition, Tchaikovsky is continually coming up with such inventive aliens. His galaxy-building is impeccable.

Overall, a fabulous opening to a new series from this master of the genre. I shall be eagerly awaiting the second book.

Highly recommended.

Idris is a fascinating character – one of those so challenged by his previous experiences that he is difficult to relate to. I don’t normally enjoy these types of characters, but Tchaikovsky’s writing skill comes into play so even though I didn’t exactly warm to him, I could empathise with him. I also completely understood why those around him want to give him a wide berth…

This book hits many of the classic tropes within the genre – segments of humanity amongst the diaspora scattered throughout the galaxy, now separated by generations in different cultures and environments… an interesting mix of aliens… a great big nasty threat looming over everything else… But this being Tchaikovsky, he puts his own spin on these plot devices which sets this epic adventure apart, making it memorable. As well as poor old sleepless Idris, we have Solace, who is a vat-born warrior designed and raised in a female-only society in reaction to the atrocities carried out against women in a number of the differing societies emerging across different worlds. Needless to say, they aren’t universally welcomed or trusted by the Council of Human Interests, who govern the surviving human colonies after the fall of Earth.

While Tchaikovsky is very good at writing slow-burn, tension-filled stories, this isn’t one of them. While there is plenty of rich characterisation and vivid and varied backdrops, we are also treated to lots of action and battle scenes, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s always a blast to be able to visualise exactly what is happening to whom as it all kicks off. Especially as the Big Bad in this story is absolutely terrifying – huge moon-sized aliens who tear apart and sculpt planets, moons and space stations into entirely different shapes. Needless to say, the hapless creatures inhabiting those places don’t survive the process, as inevitably the shapes are complex. And the Architects only ever select planets, moons, asteroids, space station – even ships – if they contain life…

This was a fast-paced read covering a detailed, complicated galaxy so I had to pay attention and slow down, or I would have floundered. Tchaikovsky has provided an extensive character and species list at the back of the book, in addition to a fascinating timeline of events leading up to the action in the story. I wish I’d known about it at the start, as I would have liked to refer to it at times along the way. Presumably it will be in the final Contents page, which wasn’t available in the arc.

I thoroughly enjoyed this entertaining, well written space opera adventure and look forward to reading the next book in the series. Highly recommended for fans of space opera on a grand scale. While I obtained an arc of Shards of Earth from Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
9/10

'Shards of Earth' by Adrian Tchaikovsky is a hard sci-fi space opera novel that dazzles with its complex world buidling and equally dazzling characters.

I have to say that the fact that this book has characters who are non-humanoid aliens is one of the best aspects of the novel. I hate reading sci-fi novels that take place in space and there are either no alien life forms or aliens that look exactly like humans.

But I digress! 'Shards of Earth' was incredibly compelling and I believe one of its strengths was the characters. Solace, Idris, Kris, Kit, Olli, Trine (and of course Captain Rollo) were fully formed, three-dimensional characters that the reader cannot help but get emotionally invested in. Not only were these characters wonderful, flawed and filled to the brim with personality; their relationships with each other was where they each showcased their true selves. Solace, for instance, was my absolute favourite character because we have her juggling her two warring loyalties; that of the crew of the Vulture God and that of her people, the Partheni. Through Solace, we see how she begins to grow, coming into her own outside of being a now covert agent for her people. She builds friendships, and yes some of then volatile, but friendships nonetheless. Idris, another one of my favourite characters, was the star of the show, in my opinion. He is a gentle man who just wants peace (both internally and the universe itself) who has found himself as a man outside of his time; not aging for the past 70 years can do that to a person. But he cares so much for a people who only really want to keep him and his abilities leashed. But as an Intermediary between the universe the feared Architects, he finds himself in the middle of a burgeoning inter-galactic war.

It's safe to say that I adored Idris.

The narrative itself centres on the possibility of the Architects coming back and wreaking destruction on what's left of humanity or 'Colonists'. The Architects, their story and how and why they do what they do, absolutely fascinated me and was an element of the novel that kept me on the edge of my seat. Who are they? From what I understand, they are an alien-type of mass, pretty sure they are encased in what looks to be like a gigantic space ship type of thing. They have no 'human' figure or anything as their consciousness and mass are too much to be stifled into a humanoid form. They just are. They unmake and remake planets (and various other things that get in their way) that they deem to be in need for reconstruction.

They were fascinating.

We then have political maneuvering, different peoples about to fall into war, mafia-like organisations wanting what they think is theirs (spoilers, it's not) and the very strange nature of unspace and unspace travel.

The only issues I had, and the reason why this book is not a five star read, was the pacing. The first 54% of the novel took quite a long time for me, as the reader, to orientate myself to the language of the world, the characters and the world-building. In order to help along the reader, there are a few instances of information dumps, which are not a terrible thing it actually helped, but it did feel jarring at times to be transported slightly out of the narrative in order to be given contextual information. Most of the actual meat of the story happened in the last 25-30% of the story and I wish that the pacing was more consistent across the story itself.

However, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and will definitely be continuing the series!

First things first this book is by far the best Space Opera I’ve ever read! This is the 2nd novel by Tchaikovsky I’ve read, the first being The Doors of Eden and I can honestly say I’m now a huge fan. I can’t believe I’ve been sleeping on him! In fact I can whole heartedly say he is now my most favourite Sci-if author ever. Shards of Earth is the 1st instalment of Tchaikovsky newest series The Final Architect.

I’m not going to go into details in this review because I think the beauty of this book is the Mystery and trying to figure out what’s going on and what everything is. What I really liked about this books was the extremely compelling mystery and Characters at the centre of the story. Not only do you get this amazing mystery that keeps you turning the page and Characters that are so fleshed out they feel real, but you also get mind-blowing science and technology and a whole onslaught of the craziest monsters and creatures I’ve ever read about.

Despite this being a first in a series the ending is truly incredible and self contained, I love it when each book in a series is a self-contained novel in itself as well as being a part of a whole series. What I truly respect about Tchaikovsky is that there’s no spoon feeding at all, he doesn’t hold your hand and guide you, you’re given the novel and at the back of the book a glossary with everything you need to know and a timeline. At first you will have to work at trying to understand what’s going on but once you have the basics down it’s so rewarding and exciting when you start seeing everything come together and set things up for the next book.

I’m so so upset I don’t have the next book in the series already in my hands and that I’ll have to wait at least a year! This book was phenomenal and a masterpiece. The characters, the story, the atmosphere and the world building were all incredible and made me fly through the book. Highly highly recommend if you’re also into Space Operas.

I am a huge fan of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s work and his willingness to try new things, rather than rest on his laurels. SHARDS OF EARTH is the start of a new trilogy unrelated to any previous works. The author said he views it as “space opera, whereas CHILDREN OF TIME/RUIN was always intended as more of a hard SF”.
In a distant future, humanity had successfully spread to many systems and encountered other intelligent life forms. But then came the Architects; mysterious moon-sized structures which destroyed planets, shaping them into strange artistic sculptures. For nearly a 100-years they hounded humanity, and other alien species until finally a new weapon was found. A human weapon – with their brains surgically altered, human Intermediaries could make mental contact with the Architects. With this contact, the Architects simply went away and galactic civilisation has had nearly fifty years to rebuild, squabble and drift away from erstwhile allies.
Idris is one of the few remaining original volunteer Intermediaries. Subsequent generations have been developed using criminal prisoners and don’t have the independence and freedom of the originals. The story starts when Solace, one of a genetically-engineered group of female warriors, is sent to try and “recruit” Idris, as Intermediaries are still valuable as they can navigate the voids of “unspace” (thus being of huge economic and military value). She finds Idris working with a rag-tag salvage crew, whose current job is to recover a missing ship from “unspace”. What they find there then leads them to a series of significant discoveries about the Architects, all while trying to dodge the attentions of several factions including gangster aliens, slave-owners and their own governments.
While this author has yet to write a bad book in my opinion, I must admit I struggled with this one at first although it did improve. So why did I struggle? While I applaud that the author has not gone for a simplistic, straight-line ‘good versus evil’ plot, this means there are many “parties” to establish. I definitely felt this affected the pacing at the beginning and could have been edited to be shorter. To be fair, the pace and the story did pick about 40% into the book.
Also, I guess one of the hazards of reading and watching SF for a long time is you inevitably notice similarities to older works. Space Opera in particular has many film, game and book iterations, and certainly at the start of SHARDS OF EARTH, I was reminded of some of these. For instance, the Architects could be read as a Star Wars Death Star, some of the aliens recalled the game trilogy, Mass Effect or TV’s Star Gate, particularly with the Hivers (his AI/hive species) which resemble the Geth or Replicators respectively. As the story progresses, and the need for worldbuilding and set-up lessens, the novel progresses to something more individual and interesting. Towards the end of the book, I was really enjoying the story and think Book 2 has the potential to be an intriguing and unique tale.
While this review may sound negative, SHARDS OF EARTH is still an entertaining read with much to like and I expect it to be popular, especially among fans of epic-scale space operas such as The Expanse or Gareth Powell’s Embers of War series.

I received an ARC of Shards of Earth as part of a book tour for The Write Reads. Thank you to The Write Reads and the publisher Tor for my review copy. This in no way affects my opinion.

Shards of Earth is the first space opera that I have read in a very long time, and it did not disappoint and makes me even want to dive further into the genre. It is also the first book by Adrian Tchaikovsky that I have ever read, and I will certainly be diving into his backlist because Shards of Earth was just incredible.

For me, the characters were the stand out element of the book; I loved them all. I loved the complexity behind them and how their complexity impacted the decisions they made. I also liked how they didn't change their opinions on each other easily, they were forced to work for it, and even then, it wasn't a full gone conclusion. My favourite character was Kris, and I was really intrigued as to what led her to be with the crew of the Vulture God; and while Adrian Tchaikovsky went into some detail, there are still bits of information to be learned.

The plot within Shards of Earth is very complex, and it takes a while to understand what is occurring and who is at war with each other. But when you get your head around it, it becomes very easy to digest. It is also told in such a way that you are reminded of what has just occurred, even if it has only happened a couple of pages ago. I appreciated this as if I didn't understand the first time I did the second time.

The worldbuilding with Shards of Earth is incredible. There is so much detail put into the different alien races, but it never becomes too much that you can't understand what is happening or what someone looks like. All of the questions that I had were answered, but it never felt info-dumpy which I really appreciated as Shards of Earth is quite dense even without that.

If I had to find a minor issue, and this would be me really nitpicking, I didn't like the ending as much as I thought I would. I found that it was quite tame compared to the events of the rest of the book. I understand that not every book has to go out on a cliffhanger, but I would have just liked a little bit of something more. But I can see why this has been done to set up the next book in the series.

I highly urge that you pick up Shards of Earth if you love Science Fiction or Epic Fantasy. It has everything that you could want and more. I will definitely be looking at Adrian Tchaikovsky's backlist and waiting with anticipation for the next book in the series.

I've only read one Tchaikovsky book and that one was the novella, One Day This Will All Be Yours. This was a solid introduction to his characterization techniques and his fantastic worldbuilding.

Shards of Earth backed up my thoughts on Tchaikovsky in many ways... and combined with my love of space operas, I think this will be a well-liked book.

The novel did take a little while to get going for me. I had to restart once because of the info-dump at the beginning. I felt like it could have been spread out a bit.

But afterwards the action gets going and I was ready to escape into his remarkable future world.

This novel made me feel things that I usually reserve for Harry Potter and One Piece. For someone who’s not big on having crewmates and stuff in real life, loyalty tugs my heartstrings. I would need to borrow Kit’s translator to convey my feelings. If I were to rank the new novels I read so far this year, I would place Shards of Earth at the top spot. It has everything I look for in a novel: world-building, fleshed-out identifiable characters, the pacing of the story, and best of all, space travel. I could probably create a review that would focus on the archetypes and tropes present in the sci-fi novel but I will just wait for the next novel to be released.
Here's my full review:

https://viterybascouniversity.com/2021/06/03/adrian-tchaikovskys-shards-of-earth-completely-blew-me-away-thewritereads-ultimateblogtour/

Title - Shards of Earth

Author - Adrian Tchaikovsky

Genre - Space Opera

My first encounter with a Space Opera was last year when I had picked up 'To Sleep in a Sea of Stars' by Christopher Paolini last year which got me quite intrigued into this genre. I had been meaning to pick up Tchaikovsky's Children of Time for a while now but look at the turn of events and here I'm picking up his Shards of Earth and taking time off to review the same. With the intense lockdown being put in place all across the country, this journey through outer space was very well needed and here is my take on the same.

Before putting down the review, I thank the author and the team of The Write Reads for giving me this opportunity by providing me with a copy of e-arc of this book.

Plot:

Idris is an intermediary who was created way before certain laws were put into place and is a kind of an obscure experiment by humans. The humans were under attack by a creature called as Architects who suddenly vanishes one day after its encounter with one of the intermediaries. 45 years since then, humanity has evolved and Idris is now a fugitive picking up missions across the galaxies along with his crew. Solace, a Partheneon warrior re-enters Idris’s life and the surprises just do not end there. As Idris’ crew one day find a ship damaged that could be the work of the architect, the times are being tested for Idris once again along with the entire human race.

My Take on the Book:

If you have read Paolini’s and Tchaikovsky’s novels in a span of a few months, the comparisons are pretty much inevitable. The plot in the bigger picture seems pretty much similar to an alien race attacking the human race and the hero needs to save the day, there are a lot of reasons why Tchaikovsky’s novel stands out here. The novel starts with an obscure beginning that shows no heads or tails on what the book is about if you haven’t read the synopsis. As the book progresses, the plot slowly starts developing and one gets to know more about the characters as we go ahead.

Another instance in a space opera I feel is the world building and developing various races across the galaxy. Tchaikovsky does that pretty well in my opinion where he brings out the everyday creatures we usually see and develops them into an alien race which are easy to imagine here. The theory of unspace is pretty unsetting though and it did take me some time to get my head around it but the author did justice on explaining the horrors that one may or may not go to feel in such a scenario (imagining the main character cannot sleep in the situation for 45 years)
For a book this mammoth, it does take time to get used to the language and the plot but when one gets comfortable, it is quite an easy read. Pick it up if you are in love with the sci-fi genre and need an adventure of a lifetime that would transgress boundaries across galaxies.

My Rating - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5 out of 5 stars)

Adrian Tchaikovsky has really moved up the ladder for me in the pantheon of great space opera writers. In fact, only the legendary Iain M. Banks ranks above him in my hall of fame of SO authors. But if he keeps writing books like Children of Time, Children of Ruin, and now SHARDS OF EARTH, Banks may be in some serious jeopardy of losing his #1 position. It's also important to mention that Tchaikovsky is an immensely accomplished fantasy author as well.

The thing that I especially love about Adrian Tchaikovsky's books is he always injects a compelling mystery as the focal point of his stories. So not only do you get the mind-blowing science and futuristic technology, but there's also an incredibly intriguing story that keeps you turning the pages to get to the heart of the central mystery. Oh and he never disappoints when it comes to providing one heck of a stunning surprise or two along the way.

SHARDS OF EARTH involves a number of different players that contribute to the depth and beautiful complexity of the overall story. You have humans who have been scattered after a decades old attack on Earth. You also have bio-engineered super humans designed to communicate telepathically with the enigmatic enemy, The Architects, who seemingly appear and disappear without warning. Not to mention other factions like nativists and the even more radical Betrayed, who believe only pure humans are superior and anyone else should be treated with the utmost suspicion and disdain. So there's a lot going on here!

The book really kicks into high gear when a salvage vessel stumbles across something unthinkable floating in Unspace. The discovery causes old fears and questions to arise that maybe the long dormant Architects have once again returned. The ramifications of this possibility could be cataclysmic for what is left of humanity and their allies. But for what reason and purpose have they come back, if indeed they have? This is where SHARDS OF EARTH goes from good to an absolutely breathtaking level and it had me utterly spellbound.

These are the coolest stories in my opinion, especially when it comes to SF. I always find myself sucked into a book that engages me right off the bat with mysterious artifacts or some sort of alien species that eludes discovery but leaves subtle clues as to their origin. It's why I love Jack McDevitt's books and others that explore similar themes. Tchaikovsky has created a superb one here with The Architects, and the nuggets that he feeds you slowly builds the tension for what is to come, both in this book, and future ones to follow.

In addition to The Architects story angle, there is also a fascinating one dealing with political and social clashes with regard to the various factions that I mentioned at the beginning of the review. Much of it stems from what happened to humans after The Architects attacked and how prejudices have gradually developed as a result. It's a keen nod (whether it be intentional or not) to how radicalism can also creep in and poison our own society in today's world.

Just a quick warning, Tchaikovsky never spoon-feeds his readers. There are a ton of high-concept ideas, intricate technology, and moments of real hard science here as well. This isn't a light popcorn SF read by any stretch of the imagination. So concentration (especially in the opening chapters) is essential for getting the most out of this book. But if you do invest the time and attention required, I promise that you will be rewarded, as by the end I was astonished at how brilliantly everything came together and set things up for what should be an amazing sequel.

SHARDS OF EARTH is another outstanding space opera from a real master in Adrian Tchaikovsky. I'm dejected that I don't have the next book in my hands, but I take heart in knowing that the groundwork has been laid for what could be an unforgettable landmark SF series. I'm constantly amazed at how Tchaikovsky keeps churning out these mind-blowing epic stories in so short a time period. The first book in The Final Architects series is just the latest sparkling jewel from an author with a firm grasp on his craft. SF readers across the globe should gobble this one up with much delight.

Shards of earth was the book which took me by surprise because, I do enjoy reading stories based in space or anything to do with science fiction. But this book was very different in the way of storytelling so that was what got me. Because at the beginning of the book we meet the characters who are in between a war and then after we enter into the story.

The book has a lot of different characters and the author has given all the characters good stories and a fair share of parts in the stories in most of the books where there are a lot of characters. I tend to get confused and it puts off the story at times. But all the characters are written really well.Main characters are Solace and Idris who are introduced at the start of the book. Idris is a very important part of the book. The story is well crafted.

I enjoyed reading this book, so do read this book.

*Like always my reviews may have slight spoilers*

This was my first time jumping into the mind of Adrian Tchaikovsky, even though I've had his Fantasy books on my shelves for sometime (I should really get to those), and I have to say I was not let down.

A century before the Earth is destroyed, humanity finally makes contact with aliens, we learn there are other intelligent life forms. We learn about unspace and how to travel it, and over time start to establish colonies on other planets. We establish relationships, and conflicts.

Shards of Earth takes places multiple generations after the destruction of the Earth and other colonized planets at the hands of the Architects, an alien godlike moon sized entity who not only destroys the planet but reshapes them into works of art, beautiful in design whilst killing all life that remains.

There are humans, Intermediaries, who are tweaked with and designed to stop these Architects. There is success with Idris, he stopped them the last time, and they left. Ending the war, becoming a hero. But now it looks like they could be coming back. And Idris wants to know why. And he wants to stop them.

The density at the start of this book made getting into it slower than I thought it would be, but with that being said it didn't take away from my overall enjoyment just slowed me down a little and once we got past say the first 20is% smooth sailing. I liked the politics. How after all that has happened to multiple worlds we still all have tensions and war is still something that could happen. It amazed me to see the cult like religious group, even after all these years away from Earthly religions there is still something that people will follow. Does it surprise me when we encountered the Nativists? No there will always been sets of humanity that think they are better than others. After all that has happened, humans and other intelligent life still go back to how they were, not heading advice and doing things for their own gain.

I REALLY enjoyed Shards of Earth, after my mind was able to click with density and the witting style I was hooked. The concept intrigued me, I kept on thinking okay is this going to go this route or this route, and I was wrong with all of my guesses and theories. I was kept on my toes and on the edge of my seat the whole book.

Adrian Tchaikovsky did a great job of setting the atmosphere. I could imagine the events as they took place. I was there on the planet Berlenhof, with the adapting nature among the ruins of the Originators. Some of my favorite parts are when traveling the throughways and unspace. The feeling and idea of the presence. Honestly I would have actually liked more of those scenes, it was horrific and I had chills. The story played out like a tv show in my mind. This is a story that deserves a visual medium as well. It also could be that for the most part my main science fiction experiences have been mainly television or cinema, I'm working on that.

The cast of characters, especially those that make up the crew of the Vulture God will make you smile, the relationships with each other is a perfect found family. There's bickering but they have your back. The scenes with them are my some of my favorites through out the story. As to a favorite character, it's hard to pick but Idris is among the top of the list.


The ending surprised me, like I said previously I assumed so many other outcomes.

This is a book that I know I will read again, so that says something.

I can not wait for book 2.

But in the mean time, I will content myself with reading Adrian Tchaikovsky's backlist.

I would like to thank TheWriteReads, UkTor and BlackCrowPR for the opportunity to take part in this book tour.

Shards of Earth is pure science-fiction. From the first page, you’re flung into the midst of a raging space battle, with multiple species coming together to fight for survival. It’s gritty and tense, and the unique traits of the species makes this a cultural joy to read. It’s a long book, but the ever-increasing tension and way the plot unfolds means you won’t want to put it down.

The book is narrated by a number of characters. Their range of opinions and solutions makes this an entertaining jump between the pragmatic and military, to economical and emotional.

Offering oversight into all the characters is impossible – too many, and too in-depth. But I’ve got some highlights.

Idris’ talents make him a commodity to anyone and everyone. But he wants the quiet life: he’s had enough of adventure. I love the vulnerability to Idris – all he wants is to be left alone to deal with his scars. But when it comes to it, he’s got a core of steel and won’t accept defeat, no matter the cost.

Solace is a soldier, born and bred. Part of a genetic experiment, she’s built for war. But emotions are pesky things and carrying out her mission is harder expected when she finds herself part of a crew that, while may not accept her, give her a chance.

My favourite is Kris. As a disgraced lawyer, she can smooth talk her way out of anything and everything – handy when your client is always landing himself in trouble.

I loved all the characters; their traits and quirks, whether human or alien. Their passions and tempers and their refusal to back down when the odds stack against them.

Tchaikovsky’s writing is fantastic. From the first page, you’re in this chaotic universe far from anything recognisable. But you never feel lost, or need to take check of what’s going on. Impossible space jumps, undefeatable opponents, gangsters, politicians… it has it all, set in an intricately crafted world with too many civilisations to keep track of who’s on top.

The pacing is strong throughout, with tension building, cresting, then building to a new layer as each chapter unfolds. The threats get bigger, the death-count higher, and putting down the book is nigh-on impossible.

‘World building’ is an understated term to describe Shards of Earth. From the complexity of space travel to the different planets; it feels it could be out there, just waiting for us.

The threat is on a planet-destroying level. There’re intense problems kicking off. At no point, however, was this a heavy book. It has rhythm, but more importantly, it has humour. The dialogue made me laugh on multiple occasions and really brings the characters to life.

If you’re a science-fiction fan, I can’t recommend this enough. A review doesn’t do it justice, but everything about this is a resounding yes from me. This is only my second Tchaikovsky novel, but I will certainly be working through his back-list and on the lookout for what comes next.

First, I’d like to thank Black Crow PR and Tor for sending me the advanced review copy, and for organising this awesome tour with awesome stops and prizes along the way. And, to Adrian, who wrote this amazing book I’m all too excited to talk about.

P.S. The cover is nothing short of awesome, when you have read enough of the book to find out what it exactly entails.

Shards of Earth is a fantastic blend of uniquely human moments, uniquely alien moments, and a whole lot of destruction patch-worked together in strings of character development that span decades and space-systems. It’s a vast pool of new, alien ideas, of horror, of loss and small triumph. I loved this book to bits.

The plot, in short summary, sees the threat of the Architects gone, disappeared with the best efforts of Parthenon and the Colonies; the great human polyspora is free to continue, while the hounds of war skulk in the background. Idris Telemmier is an Intermediary, a psychic who touched the mind of the Architect and fended them off, and Myrmidon Solace a vat-bred warrior-angel whose people helped make it so. But now the war is behind them, the Colonies and the Parthenon’s relationship is so broken they’re close to war, and Idris and his crew on the Vulture God are called to a job to recover mysterious wreckage that could throw peace out the window. It’s a plot that takes you – literally – through jumps across vast space, through Throughways and the vast Unspace, where the void looks back at you. Where something lurks. From jump to jump, there’s action, intriguing aliens, battle scenes, and loss enough to pull a few tears at every turn. It’s a book that doesn’t relent and tugs you through its pages at an alarming rate. There was no low point in this one, for me. It was wondrous and riveting from the very start. And while the explosive ending peters out into something well-rounded, it does nothing to take you from hanging on that cliff.

Here, the ‘alien aliens’ are a treat; they’re a creative smorgasbord of new and intriguing ideas which relate to and are themed heavily around our very own earthborn zoology. I’d heard Tchaikovsky drew ideas from our animal kingdom before but had never seen it in action. As regrettably, I’ve only read a novella of his, and now this – though this book has moved him to an auto-buy status. I digress. By alien aliens I mean not the humanoid type that we see a lot in sci-fi, but the weird, strange, and definitely not human that we see here. For instance, the Castigar, who are very much like giant leeches that have forms dependent on their purpose, and an array of weapons attached to their heads? Or the Essiel, a race of clam-like aliens who rule over the Hegemony as gods, a coalition of alien species surrendered to them under the promise they can fend off Architect attacks, should they return. It gave depth to the book, and a sense that every new character we met was an incredible story of their own, spanning worlds, space travels and a separate history that you’re desperate to learn more about.

Accelerators, psychic waves, and new tech galore. Engines that claw and grab onto space, suits that do the same and pilots that can draw the curtain of real space back to reveal Unspace, a back channel that allows quickly travel through a dark void, but also speaks of horrors and strange consciousness that breath down your neck; there was no shortage of original ideas in this book. The way even the ships moved through space was explained was believable enough, yet completely new and just adds to the layers of intrigue.

Last, but not least of all, Shards of Earth had characters that you just can’t help but care about. Idris, the Intermediary, a psychic that navigates Unspace, that’s able to tap into the minds of the enemy, hasn’t slept for fifty-years, nor has he aged; the entire process of him being awake in the void while his crew slept, for fear they might go insane, was … touching. It resonated with me and dealt with elements of loneliness, of fear and depression, or not being able to sleep for fear. Unspace was an exercise in what it means to look after your own mind, and how without others around you, you could be lost in the void forever. I don’t know if that was the intention, but it certainly went to depths I didn’t expect there and was very clever and thoughtful with them. You have Solace, who has a strong heart, but also a strong sense of duty. She’s part of a race who’s vilified and rejected for the way they were born, for what they are, despite all the help they gave in the past. Or Olli, who found just living a hardship, but created a frame around her for which she can be free, but still can’t escape the anger within. And Kit, who culture makes him entirely, entirely alien from the rest of his crew, but who somehow finds a way to bridge that gap, a way to be loved for the crab-like alien that he is. I think just in the characters alone, this book is phenomenal.

Overall, if you like brand-new ideas, A LOT of action, and tears in equal amounts, then you should read Shards of Earth RIGHT NOW.

A fantastic nonstop adrenaline ride. The first book of the The Final Architect trilogy, this book was a fantastic read full of action. There is so much lore and world to explore from different worlds to different species and entities of creatures in this vast galaxy of ours. New civilizations are popping up after Earth’s untimely diminish, blooming like a flower, the handiwork of the Architect, a moon sized entity capable and known for reconstructing planets. But the behemoth of a creature suddenly vanished one day and it leaves two whole generations who’ve never even met the entity outside of stories. In the present day, Idris and the rest of the Vulture God crew are only trying to make ends meet doing what spacers do in space. They come across plenty of trouble along the way and it’s a ride each time.

A fantastic read. Where the beginning starts a bit slow, the ending makes up for it BIG time because once you hit that middle mark, things start to happen and it all happens so fast you can’t even catch a breath!

This is a chunky boy at 592 pages so it did take me a lot longer to get through than I expected. As I’m still relatively new to sci-fi especially space operas so there were times when I was slightly confused.

One thing I really enjoyed was the group of characters we had aboard the Vulture God who became their own found family. The different species were so interesting to learn about but I couldn’t help but be more interested in Solace and the Parthenon, they are female warrior angels created to look like perfection. Each character had their own intrigue and quirks, they were really well fleshed out. Rollo the captain stood out for me as he treated his crew as his children which made me smile everytime I read his dialogue.

We had some seriously intense battle scenes with high stakes which increased my heart rate, I just couldn’t read it fast enough to make sure the crew were all safe and made it out alive which unfortunately wasn’t always the case.

Shards of Earth is the first book in The Final Architects Trilogy, I will definitely be continuing on now that I have my head around the setting and the species I will be able to fully immerse myself in the story.

First thing first: there's no thing like a bad Adrian Tchaikovsky book.
That said I could be raving about the great world building, the fascinating characters and the plot that kept turning pages.
I could go on as I loved everything in this book and I loved it.
It's one of those book that makes me love sci-fi and I can't wait for the next.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Tchaikovsky continues to show prowess in the science-fiction genre with this new piece. They are truly one of the most talented when it comes to their world-building skills, as well as their character development.
Shards of Earth is an exceptional entry into the space opera sub-genre that only suffers from a dense-- info-dump-y-- opening, which is easy excused due to genre standards.
At the end of the day it's pretty easy to say that, in general, if Tchaikovsky wrote it, you probably want to read it.

I have a sort of love/hate relationship with sci-fi in general but especially space operas. I used to think I hated them, and I found that isn’t true. There are some I like and some I love. It’s just not a genre that suits my brain, because I tend to get confused and overwhelmed. Still, I’ve been giving the genre more chances and stepping out of my comfort zone, which is why I picked up Shards of Earth to start with. Plus, that blurb sounded too good to pass up.

Shards of Earth is a space opera with a masterfully built world filled with unique aliens, written beautiful, easy prose, and populated with a squad of characters that will force you to root for them.

I honestly think this is going to be a five-star book for anyone who loves science fiction and space operas. The only reason it’s three stars is because a problem with me, not the book. I’m broken. I have the hardest time getting into sci-fi, especially space operas. I’ve found several that I loved recently, so I’ve been giving them a chance again. But I tend to find them incredibly slow and hard to get into, as well as generally confusing to begin, and this book was no exception. Despite that, I still enjoyed Shards of Earth (I just didn’t love it), so that says a lot.

My Thoughts:

- Shards of Earth introduces a galaxy like you’ve never seen, in a post-Earth space where humans are desperately trying to eke out an existence. There’s something extra exciting about the threat of human extinction that grabs you and pulls you in, right? Even more so when Earth itself has been destroyed be this big, ancient, incomprehensible creature. This is a space that’s post-war with the Architects, which no one understands but everyone fears. It’s been just long enough for humans to re-establish their roots and fall into a false sense of security. Few are still alive from the first war and remember the threat, even though everyone still fears it, to some extent. Humans aren’t quite what you’d expect them to be, either. The war and near extinction has changed them, as you might imagine. There are Nativists, who are anti-alien and pro-human. There are Partheni, which are genetically modified, vat-born humans created to be elites during the war. Scattered among random planets are all sorts of different human societies doing their best to eke out a living after the polyspora, where they were forced to flee their planet when the Architect arrived. As you might imagine, the drama this causes is just *chef’s kiss*

- Tchaikovsky does a fabulous job of bringing alien races and worlds to life, and I was always excited to see what new species or planets might be lurking in the galaxy. I struggle with sci-fi because it’s hard to keep all these alien races separate in my mind, and I have a hard time picturing things I read. This is definitely a me problem. With all that said, though, I had very little problem picturing these aliens and keeping them straight. Tchaikovsky does such a wonderful job creating these species and describing them that even I could follow along! I just loved the different forms these aliens took. Some are humanoid, of course, but a lot of them aren’t, as you might expect. My favorite part is that Tchaikovsky highlights the language struggle. There’s translators, which aren’t always entirely accurate, and different social norms and customs that need to be observed. What I really appreciated, too, are the unique ticks and facets of each language and the way Tchaikovsky gives each character their own unique voice and way to talk.

- The characters in this are so diverse and utterly easy to love and become invested in. The main two are Idris and Solace. Idris is a Navigator, one of the originals, who helped stop the initial Architect invasion. He’s older than he should be, and the years have taken a toll on him. He’s gentle and squishy and deserves all the love and protection. Really, he just wants to be left to live his life, but when push comes to shove, he wants to help people. It makes him one admirable character among a sea of gray ones. Solace is a Partheni, meaning she’s of a race of humans that were scientifically created and grown in a vat to be superior to normal humans. Their creator took the best traits of all races of humans and merged them to create the ultimate warrior. Being nearly genetically identical doesn’t, however, mean that all Partheni are the same, which is something the galaxy is still coming to grips with and largely misinformed about. And as Solace is finding out, sometimes being a good soldier means trusting your gut and being an individual rather than just part of a battalion.

- With so many races existing in space, it might be easy to imagine that there’s some racial narrative and prejudice and struggles, and Tchaikovsky doesn’t shy away from that. I really liked this feature, because it added some depth and realism to the system. Even among humans, there are different factions and groups. Since the characters are all different races and come from different backgrounds, this comes up a lot. Especially as the plot progresses and they travel to different places and meet others. This is so well done that I’m not even sure really what I can say or should say, because part of it is just experiencing it. There’s a lot of personal tension between characters and races and beliefs, and it’s really interesting how these things overlap and come into play.

- There’s a lot of tension and suspense in this plot, despite its slow start, with a sort of “monster in the deep” horror vibe that I thought was really well done. Planets exist in real space, of course, but there’s also a version of space known as unspace. Most people lose their minds when exposed to unspace for too long. Those who don’t are known as Ints, and they navigate ships, since unspace is quicker to travel in. Unfortunately, a lot of them eventually lose their minds, too. Because there’s something in unspace. Whether it’s an actual being or just a feeling caused by traveling there, no one knows. I loved the way this was done, with a sort of building dread. It’s subtle and not likely to scare the pants off you, but it’s enough to give a reader goosebumps thinking about what unknown things might be lurking in the dark. My type of scary!

Sticking Points:

- This book is definitely a slow build, and I didn’t really get into it until after the 50% mark. This is a problem that’s more me than the book, I think. I’m not a huge fan of sci-fi, partially for this reason. While I understand the need to build the world and all the races in it and the history of it, I’m not all that interested in any of those things. I prefer books with a solid plot that pulls you in right away and carries throughout, while adding all those things in along with the plot. That’s just more my style. I would caution readers that if you’re not willing to commit to the slow build, this probably isn’t the book for you. I enjoyed the first half of the book, despite the slowness, but I never felt that need to just pick it up and read it straight through. Not until probably the last 25% of the book, anyway. So the payoff is definitely there. You just have to hang in there long enough, despite slow sections, to get there.

A massive thank you to the publisher and the Write Reads for this review copy, and allowing me on the blog tour!

I was so excited to receive an eARC of this book! I love all books to do with space, and this one was no exception.

I loved how there were multiple alien races, starship battles, and so much detail into this world!

It is astonishing how complex and intricate the author has made this world. I can understand why he is the go to author for this genre.

I love how the story tells us how humans left the Earth, and how they’ve been scattered across the universe.

This was full of action and intrigue, and I am looking forward to book two!