Shards of Earth

The Final Architecture, Book 1

De: Adrian Tchaikovsky

Narrado por: Sophie Aldred

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

From the author of Children of Time, winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award, Shards of Earth is the first high-octane, far-future space adventure in Adrian Tchaikovsky's Final Architecture trilogy.

The series is read by Sophie Aldred (Doctor Who)

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.

‘Enthralling, epic, immersive and hugely intelligent’ – Stephen Baxter, author of the Xeelee Sequence

‘One of the most interesting and accomplished writers in speculative fiction’ – Christopher Paolini, author of Fractal Noise

Praise for Adrian Tchaikovsky:

‘He writes incredibly enjoyable sci-fi, full of life and ideas’ – Patrick Ness

‘Thoughtful, sweeping space adventure’ – SFX

‘Brilliant science fiction’ – James McAvoy

©2021 Adrian Tchaikovsky (P)2021 Macmillan Publishers International Ltd

Reseñas de la Crítica

If Homer had written space opera . . . Enthralling, epic, immersive and hugely intelligent. This might be Tchaikovsky's best so far, and that's saying something (Stephen Baxter, author of the Xeelee Sequence)

Adrian Tchaikovsky: king of the spiders, master worldbuilder, and asker of intriguing questions. His books are packed with thought-provoking ideas (as well as lots of spiders; did I mention the spiders?). One of the most interesting and accomplished writers in speculative fiction (Christopher Paolini, author of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and Fractal Noise)

He writes incredibly enjoyable sci-fi, full of life and ideas (Patrick Ness, author of The Knife of Never Letting Go and A Monster Calls)

A modern classic of the genre. Imaginative, kinetic, and wire tense. Highly recommended (Gareth L. Powell, author of Embers of War and Descendant Machine)

Adrian Tchaikovsky turns the HP Lovecraft dial to 11 as the Vulture God and its mismatched crew (Idris, a Hannilambra alien, a Partheni warrior princess, a lawyer . . .) drop into unspace and (obligatory caps lock here) CONFRONT FORCES BEYOND REALITY

Tchaikovsky has consolidated his position as the finest purveyor of high-quality space opera around . . . [Shards of Earth] is deft and clever, expansive and readable, all informed by Tchaikovsky’s superbly baroque imaginative fecundity

The narrator's style does not suit the book

The story is relatively good. Not particularly novel.
The narration does it no favours. This is not a failing on the narrator's part, Sophie is quite competent in her own right. This is a production failure. It's like watching prima ballerinas performing in an MMA ring; a bit cringy.

A compelling introduction to a new galaxy

The author does a job of introducing and building a new complex, future Milky Way. There are several alien species and an intriguing political web. The science is plausible enough but still a fantasy.
I will read the next book because I struggled with the narration. The "acting" didn't match my interpretation of the characters. However, the voice was very pleasing.

started a bit slow

took me a while to get into the story, but after a few chapters I started to really like it.

Okay

I have mixed feelings about this novel. The ending leaves most things unfinished but did cement character interplay. It was big on action but this supposed science fiction novel was really light on science. I won’t carry on reading this series but this one was just okay.

Great space opera and the narration is fine.

If you like a good, adventurous space opera this book will suit you.
Someone else really disliked the narrator, but it’s fine.

Good solid interesting story.

Not going to change your life, but an engaging tale that appealed to my Peter F Hamilton / Alastair Reynolds sensibilities. There seems to be a lot of hate for the narration, I found it totally fine. enjoyed the story and the performance.

It was exquisitely performed

I liked the characters, the contemplative style of writing and how the plot tied in nicely towards the end.

fine space opera

I enjoyed this title as the initial offering into a wider world. much like a tourist on a fast moving tour bus it was sometimes hard for me to keep all of the alien races and factions straight. however, I just held on for the ride and didn't bother trying to grasp all of the details so that I could just enjoy the scenery. I enjoyed this as much as the Children of Time and series and will definitely finish the rest of the titles.

Great start to a sci-fi trilogy.

I found this totally compelling writing, and listening.

I think Sophie Aldred does a brilliant job the the characters, particularly Oli and the Hivers.

Looking forward to the next two

Great adventure

Tchaikovsky doing it again. Love his stuff. A long adventure with a lot of players