Empire in Black and Gold

Shadows of the Apt, Book 1

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky

Narrated by: Ben Allen

The days of peace are over.

Empire in Black and Gold is the first instalment in the critically-acclaimed epic fantasy series Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It is a world populated by kinden – species of human that have taken on the characteristics of animals, from spiders and ants to scorpions . . .

‘Brimming with imagination’ – SciFiNow

In the Lowlands, the city states have lived in peace for decades – hailed as bastions of civilization. Yet that peace is about to end. A distant empire has been conquering neighbours with highly trained soldiers and sophisticated combat techniques. And the city states are its desirable new prize.

As the empire's armies march ever closer, only the ageing Stenwold Maker – spymaster, artificer and statesman – foresees the threat. And so it falls upon his shoulders to open the eyes of the cities’ leaders. He sees that war will sweep through their lands, destroying everything in its path.

But to warn his people, he must stay alive.

Empire in Black and Gold is followed by the second book in the Shadows of the Apt series, Dragonfly Falling.

The entire series is narrated by Ben Allen (Alien Clay). Listeners love the series in audio:

‘Fantastic narration that really got you to imagine this amazing world’

‘You get consumed into the world and its characters’

‘The characters are distinct with masterful accents’

‘The narration and sound design is jaw-dropping’

‘Ben Allen's narration was frankly phenomenal all the way through’

Critic reviews

Brimming with imagination (SciFiNow)

The Shadows of the Apt series is simply one of the best epic fantasy series out there (LEC Book Reviews)

Super worldbuilding, great characters and extreme inventiveness (Fantasy Book Critic)

Epic fantasy at its best. Gripping, original and multi-layered storytelling from a writer bursting with lots of fascinating ideas (Walker of Worlds)

Full of sparking, speculative innovation (Stephen Baxter, author of the Xeelee Sequence, on The Doors of Eden)

Breathtaking scope and vision. Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of our finest writers (Gareth Powell, author of Embers of War, on Children of Ruin)

A joy from start to finish. Entertaining, smart, surprising and unexpectedly human (Patrick Ness, author of The Knife of Never Letting Go, on Children of Time)

first scifi spiders now this masterpiece

Well, I first discovered this author from Children of Time and thought to myself "well this is just because I am bored and I liked his writing, but it isn't really my thing"

This book is good enough to make you switch sides and like whatever gener this is (not 100% on that really). The world is rich, the characters are round and lifelike, and the story is compelling.

Stop reading this and aquire this book so that it gets popular enough for me to buy a t-shirt in reference to it.

Excellent story and reading.

This a great a gripping novel. More of a work of fantasy than Child of Time. Very much action non-stop.

Nice new world, odd pacing and distracting plot decisions

Not sure why he chose 17 years later for things to come to a head. It creates so many questions in my mind. Why not more scouting? Why didn’t he send an expedition, in a flyer with representatives from the councils? Why not maps of the expanding empire? If stenwald was recurring for his “team” how does he only have one class of students to choose from after 17 years!
There are also some very distraction scene/location changes that had me rewinding to check if I missed something.
Narrator did a great job.
I liked this “world”.

So Good!

immediately pulled me in. interesting character's and world. Fantasy at its finest Also, possibly one of the best narrators I've ever listened to. Now on to Book 2.

Refreshing and underrated epic fantasy. Excellent narration

I read and listen to tons of epic fantasy in the series is really underrated in the genre. It has A very unique World and ability system. This series can fill a variety of interests and keeps introducing new variables to keep you engaged.