Dragonfly Falling

Shadows of the Apt, Book 2

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky

Narrated by: Ben Allen

Every hero must be tested . . .

Dragonfly Falling is the second book in the critically acclaimed epic fantasy series Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning Children of Time.

The Wasp Empire’s armies are on the move – and the city of Tark will be first to feel their might. Salma and Totho prepare for battle, alongside their Ant-kinden brethren. And within Tark’s walls, they’ll face a force greater than any Lowlander has ever seen. Stenwold Maker predicted this threat, and the Empire's secret service now deems him too dangerous to live. So he’s to be eliminated, and his beloved city of Collegium destroyed. For if this centre of learning is lost, it will crush Lowland resistance.

As the Empire's troops continue their relentless advance, their young Emperor pursues another, even darker goal. And his success would trigger a reign of blood lasting a thousand years.

Dragonfly Falling is followed by the third book in the Shadows of the Apt series, Blood of the Mantis.

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

The Shadows of the Apt series is The Shadows of the Apt series is simply one of the best epic fantasy series out there

Super worldbuilding, great characters and extreme inventiveness

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

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)

FIVE STARS not One!!

For some reason review page won't let me fix this. I put in FIVE STARS but it changed it to 1 star when review was unloaded

Very entertaining.

Kept my attention very good write. Good job kudos to the author, best of luck.

I'm completely speechless.

This has to be the best fictional war story in existence. If I had known this book would be THIS good I would have gotten through the first book quite a bit faster. I'm totally lost for words.

I love the characters of this world, the very realistic people who make realistic choices.

I loved this. It took a bit for me to adjust my expectations - to broaden them to encompass the sheer scope of this world at the brink of war. But I did, and it didn’t disappoint at any step. The performance was amazing, again, and listening was pure pleasure, all the time. I love Tchaikovsky’s work, and combined with the great performance, this was a wonderful listen.

so good!

love this series. so glad I downloaded this book. I'll be downloading the next book in the series as soon as possible.