This
review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained
therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to
copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions.
Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, Librarything & Tumblr by
Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Scarab Path
Title: The Scarab Path
Series:
Shadows of the Apt #5
Author:
Adrian Tchaikovsky
Rating:
4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre:
Fantasy
Pages:
721
Format:
Digital Edition
|
Synopsis: |
The Lowlands are not at war but Stenwold knows that won't last. In an effort to help Che get over the death of her lover Acheaos and to fulfill his mission of finding new allies, Cheerwell is sent as an ambassador to the near mythical city of Khanaphes, where a small Collegium delegation has been studying their history. When Che finds out that the whole city is supposedly Inapt, she jumps at the chance, figuring she can find a way to fix her own Inaptness.
Thalric,
now Regent and forced lover of Seda the Wasp Empress, finds himself
the target of high level assassination attempts. He is also being
drawn deeper and deeper into the Empress's bloody magical rituals and
it is destroying his soul. The Empire is trying to co-opt the natural
enemies of Knanaphes and Thalric jumps at the chance to get away from
the Empress and figures he'll be safe from assassins as well. Thalric
is given the ambassadorship and he believes he is trying to find
allies in Khanaphes, not knowing that the Rekef are working with the
Many of Nem, scorpion kinden, to destroy Khanaphes.
Totho
the halfbreed, after rebelling from the Empire and running off with
Drephos, has started his own Arms Dealer company called the Iron
Glove. He is in Khanaphes to expand his market but everything takes a
back seat when he finds out Che AND Thalric are in the city. He ends
up fighting for the city and eventually realizes that Che will just
never be his.
Everyone
meets up in Khanaphes and nothing goes according to anybody's plans.
The beetles are not Inapt, the Collegium delegation from before is
either dead or mad, Thalric is still being hunted and no one can
believe that the Scorpion horde attack will be any different from all
the previous times.
Che
and Thalric hook up for mutual survival, awake the Masters of
Khanaphes [the Slug kinden, the original masters of magic], save
Khanaphes, find out that Che is being haunted by Tisamon's ghost and
then they both go chasing after said ghost when it is freed from its
ties to Che and begins to hunt for its daughter Tynisia.
|
My Thoughts:
|
Every time I go
into this Shadows of the Apt re-read, I wonder if the book
will be as good as I remember from my previous read. So far, every
book has been as good, if not better, than the original read. This
was one of the better times.
My only complaint
was Che. She can be a real Debby Downer and at times is just frozen
with self-doubt, recriminations and fear. It is awkward to read about
and rather embarrasing actually. But she's not that way ALL the time
and most of the time I liked reading about her. But that is the only
reason I knocked a halfstar off, other than that, this would have
been a 5star read.
Tchaikovsky can
write! I know I say that in these reviews, but I just sat back half
way through this book and thought about it. He has talent and it's
obvious he's worked hard as well. The combination of hardwork,
practice and talent make for a fantastic book, or series in this
case. It isn't just that he can follow the rules of grammar, etc, but
he knows how to use his words outside of the written rules. It is
kind of like watching a true martial artist. They can take any
formalized move in their art and turn it into a thing of beauty just
by executing it.
I liked the story
this time around, a lot. It is really interesting how the Apt races
want to not only turn their backs on magic but pretend it never
existed. With Che being Inapt now, she must learn to do away with
that attitude. It separates her from so many people, because they
don't believe it and she can't explain it. The Battle for Khanaphes
was awesome! The Khanaphir were just not ready for modern warfare and
it was only thanks to Totho and his Iron Glove associates that the
city even stood a chance. But even that wasn't enough and it was only
through the magic of the Slug Kinden that Khanaphes survived. But
even then, they aren't a very nice Kinden, very much an old Master
Race of Inapt magicians. But no worries, they just go back to sleep,
like the sluggards they are.
Finally, I enjoyed
how Tisamon has gone from a hero, albeit, a somewhat broken one, to a
ghost who will do anything and use anyone to further its aims. I know
he plays more of a part in later books, but right now, I can't really
remember how and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all works out.
Completely
recommended, but definitely part of a series. Start at the beginning
and enjoy!
★★★★ ½
No comments:
Post a Comment