The Sea Watch

Shadows of the Apt, Book 6

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky

Narrated by: Ben Allen

Danger lurks beneath dark waters . . .

The Sea Watch is the sixth book in the critically acclaimed epic fantasy series Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

A shadow is falling over Collegium. Despite the tenuous peace, Stenwold Maker knows that the Empire will return for his city. Even as he tries to prepare for the resurgence of the black and gold army, a hidden threat is working against his people. Ships that sail from Collegium's harbour are being attacked, sunk by pirates. Some just go missing . . .

Lulled by the spread of lies and false promises, Stenwold's allies are falling away. He faces betrayal on every side, and the Empire is just waiting for the first sign of weakness to strike. But they are not the only power that has its eyes on Collegium. And even with all their military strength and technology, they may not be powerful enough to stave off the forces massing in the darkness.

The Sea Watch is followed by the seventh book in the Shadows of the Apt series, Heirs of the Blade.

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 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)

The first one I struggled with

I’ll preface by saying that I love this series and everything Adrian Tchaikovsky has written. I struggled with this book though, perhaps because it is so narrowly focused on one basically self contained plot line, and not clearly in service of the meta plot. It’s the first time in the series so far that I found my mind wandering and struggled to get invested in the outcome, and the first which I think could be safely skipped with a quick read of the Wiki.

Going into the sea

Most of the still living regulars are gone from this book. Stengwold ends up spending too much time under the sea with new kinden (octopuses and crabs).

Solid book in a solid series

Solid book in a solid series. I plan on continuing on to the next one in there after.

Steampunk meets Seascape

Continuing in the tradition of Tchaikovsky's elaborate plot weavings, this story brings a new dimension to the struggles of Collegium. I was thrilled by how much the story follows Stenwald and by all the development his character sees in this particular story.
This is yet another artful rambling rollercoaster of an epic fantasy and I cant wait to read the next one!

Another Fabulous Performance.

Ben Allen does another fabulous job narrating; to my ears the ideal way to experience the Shadows of the Apt for the first time.

The story is exciting, dramatic, suspenseful. We get in-depth character development for some interesting characters that we've been held at a distance from so far.

Definitely a standout in the series.