561 pages
English language
Published Nov. 2, 2021
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? …
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.
A very enjoyable bit of sci-fi, with likeable and yet alien aliens.
Wow. Tchaikovsy spun up another great one! I love his conception of FTL (unspace), with its creeping horror and existential dread. I do have the impression this comes after other books, which of course, I didn't realize. I will say that it stood well in its own though.
He uses many tropes but writes them well enough that the book is still awesome. Deep space crew for hire meets the Angel of Punching People in the Face. One wrong job and they're enmeshed in the survival of life in the universe. It's a rollicking ride, though, and well worth the time.
Classic space opera.
This is a fun, weird space opera in a weird, alien-filled universe. This book explores how sentient life can experience the universe in a stange, grim world.
The book borders on goofy or chaotic at times, but it's sure fun. I'm going on to book 2.
Very zany universe almost to the point of being silly at times. A fun space opera adventure exploring the differences between forms of sentient life.
Looking forward to reading book 2
A great read. It's not big on the science but the plot and characters are fantastic. The action scenes are well handled. There are some times the pacing seems a bit slow and people just sit around waiting for the next event to occur, but besides that thoroughly enjoyed.
Brilliant SF, I re-read when the second book came out, probably will re-read both of them for the third.
Creative new alien species. I'm in love with crabs who rent out ad space on their communication devices. I also enjoyed the Essiel and their enslaved races. No reason why a planetary empire should be homogenous or even coordinated.
I skimmed some of the battles which seemed a bit long. I think I will probably read the next one.
What a fun universe that was built here. Genomic made woman protectors, bureaucratic machinations of worlds, bug collectives, symbiotes, things we can't even label right.. and un-space with those that can fly in between--and maybe more lurking beneath the surface.
I liked it. A few characters got on my nerves with their inability to properly show growth but overall it was a neat read that I'm looking forward to the next book. I kept having visions of Flash Gordon or Guardians of the Galaxy set designs in my head with some of these characters.
Clean, easy writing. Fun arcs. A real wide cast of characters. Nothing so deep it'll make your head hurt and a quality pacing that drives you forward.
I always hate it when I start a book and then discover it's part of a series ...
But it was a fun read, although it started out as a boring adventure/dungeon crawl story, the pace and depth picked up in the second half. I truly love Adrian's world building skills and he created some very intriguing things in this book. Only, no spiders ...
‘My children, let us not do that again. I, for one, am too old for shit even vaguely related to that.’
The first book by Adrian Tchaikovsky I’ve struggled with. As ever some great concepts and ideas. A space opera had really intrigued me as a platform for this innovative author.
Alas this particular book didn’t flow for me: I found the narrative and plot meandered, and bar Solace and Idris, many of the characters a bit flat. Hoping subsequent books in the series continues the better focus of the second half of the book.
DNF at 1/3rd, during a very boring extended fight scene. Far too many underdeveloped characters and elongated plotting.
It gets a star for the planet voting to join the autocratic alien empire, and for some interesting and well done opening scenes. But it didn't seem worth skimming to the end. So many authors have done so much better than this.
