Hey everyone! It’s been a while, but I’m so happy to start things up again with my stop on the Ultimate Blog Tour for Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky!
Thank you so much to Dave @The_WriteReads for including me and also to the author and publisher for generously providing me with an eARC copy of this book.
Title: Shards of Earth
Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: May 27, 2021
The war is over. Its heroes forgotten. Until one chance discovery . . .
Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade his mind in the war. And one of humanity’s heroes now scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers.
Eighty years ago, Earth was destroyed by an alien enemy. Many escaped, but millions more died. So mankind created enhanced humans such as Idris – who could communicate mind-to-mind with our aggressors. Then these ‘Architects’ simply disappeared and Idris and his kind became obsolete.
Now, Idris and his crew have something strange, abandoned in space. It’s clearly the work of the Architects – but are they really returning? And if so, why? Hunted by gangsters, cults and governments, Idris and his crew race across the galaxy as they search for answers. For they now possess something of incalculable value, and many would kill to obtain it.
There’s nothing worse than realizing I’ve been stuck in a big old reading slump, and it takes something really special to kick me back into gear.
Enter, Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky: the hero in my hour of literary need!
This was the first book I’ve read by this author, but I already had pretty high expectations based on some of the incredible reviews I’d already found for this book and for his other series. And wow, Shards of Earth does not disappoint!
From the first page, we are thrown into the middle of a hopeless last stand between the last of humanity, their galactic allies, and the cosmic horror that is The Architects – a race of aliens feared across the universe thanks to their penchant for carving planets into strange, twisted sculptures and obliterating all life in the process. Including Earth.
And it only gets better from there!
Shards of Earth is a masterpiece in storytelling and world building. Adrian Tchaikovsky creates living, breathing cultures with intricate histories between species, planets, wars and factions and weaves them into a complex plot of powers fighting for survival and supremacy. Everyone has a stake in the ongoing power struggles and it’s absolutely fascinating to experience this level of grand adventure and complex history as the story unfolds.
The plot was absolutely fantastic, and grabbed me right from the start. It was perhaps a little hard to follow in the beginning as the reader is tossed into the thick of it without so much as a field guide to this post-earth universe. But it worked perfectly to throw me deep into the story and the details never felt like they were weighing the story down. It’s also incredibly well paced for such a long book! At 592 pages, it could have easily been a task to get through, but I just devoured the entire thing in only a few days. The stakes and the tension throughout was absolutely breathtaking, and had me hanging on every single word.
I also really enjoyed the characters. The crew of the Vulture God were essentially a rag-tag group of misfits thrown out into space on a piece of junk ship and I absolutely love that. They formed such a tightly knit group despite being from such different cultures, and even different species, that I couldn’t help but root for them every step of the way. Solace and Idris in particular were absolutely my favourites. I think there could have been a bit more development done for some of the other characters, but as this is the first book in a series that could be on the horizon. The Architects as well were both mysterious and terrifying – the very definition of a nigh unstoppable force, and I’m so curious to find out more about them as the series continues.
Overall, while Shards of Earth is not a particularly easy or quick read, it is incredibly fun and exciting with just the right amount of wonder to make this one of my favourite reads to date. I would highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It’s a fantastic space opera with high stakes and a likeable cast to root for – and it got me out of a month long reading slump – what’s not to love?
Find this book on Amazon and Goodreads!
About the Author
Adrian Tchaikovsky is the author of the acclaimed Shadows of the Apt fantasy series, from the first volume, Empire In Black and Gold in 2008 to the final book, Seal of the Worm, in 2014, with a new series and a standalone science fiction novel scheduled for 2015. He has been nominated for the David Gemmell Legend Award and a British Fantasy Society Award. In civilian life he is a lawyer, gamer and amateur entomologist.
Shards of Earth is the first thrilling instalment in the Final Architecture trilogy – by the Arthur C. Clarke award-winning novelist Adrian Tchaikovsky.
Have you read this book? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Here Be Dragons Reviews 
Fantastic review!
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Thank you so much! 😊
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