The Air War

Shadows of the Apt, Book 8

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky

Narrated by: Ben Allen

An empress demands her birthright . . .

The Air War is the eighth book in the critically acclaimed epic fantasy series Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

All is in turmoil as the world moves towards war. In Solarno, spies eye one another and ready their knives – while the people of Myna watch troops gather at its borders. Emotions run high as old fears reawaken. And in Collegium students argue politics, too late to turn the tide.

At the heart of the Empire, new pilots complete their secretive training, generals are recalled to service and armies are readied to march. Their Empress, heir to two worlds, intends to claim her birthright. For nothing – either within the Empire or beyond it – will stand in her way.

The Air War is followed by the ninth book in the Shadows of the Apt series, War Master’s Gate.

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 world-building, 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 L. 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)

Wow. I just can't get enough of this series.

it's worth it, every book is worth it. I don't know how the author pulled this off with 10 books and apparently this isn't even his best selling series? so if this is one of the best I've read, what are his other books like? I shall have to find out

love this series!!!

keep em coming Tchaikovsky these books are brilliant! plot and character are so well done.

Everything Adrian Tchaikovsky writes is brilliant

He claims that these earlier works could have been better if he'd written them today, and maybe that's true, but only in the way that any great author gets better with time. A league above most, and as good as a Brandon Sanderson series.

Fantastic

Superb, engrossing, beautiful coherent, cohesive, and the whole series has not been a disappointment. I hope book 10 is just as good..

Fantastic

Other books in the series I have nothing bad to say certainly it was a fantastic read, and for me personally being a helicopter pilot with a long career I could certainly identify a lot with some of the characters I recommend this series wholeheartedly.