Elder Race

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky

Narrated by: John Lee

In Adrian Tchaikovsky's Elder Race, a junior anthropologist on a distant planet must help the locals he has sworn to study to save a planet from an unbeatable foe.

Lynesse is the lowly Fourth Daughter of the queen, and always getting in the way.

But a demon is terrorizing the land, and now she's an adult (albeit barely) with responsibilities (she tells herself). Although she still gets in the way, she understands that the only way to save her people is to invoke the pact between her family and the Elder sorcerer who has inhabited the local tower for as long as her people have lived here (though none in living memory has approached it).

But Elder Nyr isn't a sorcerer, and he is forbidden to help, and his knowledge of science tells him the threat cannot possibly be a demon . . .

©2021 Adrian Czajkowski (P)2023 Tantor

What an adventure!

This was such a fun listen, I would be very interested in a series expanding on the world Tchaikovsky created.

Brilliantly Short

Lovely short story of magic and technology, love and longing, demons and loss. I really enjoyed it

Fun listen

A sci-fi twist on fantasy tropes. Maybe a little harder to start, but once it gets going it’s great.

I genuinely care about each character

Elegant and moving. Easily the author’s best novel. Incredible voice talent. Can’t recommend it enough!

Pretty solid little novella with an interesting take on Magic

If you are interested in “hard magic” or even just the discussion thereof, as it relates to fantasy, this ostensibly, science-fiction, short novel might be an interesting read for you.

Interesting Concept

An anthropologist finds himself stranded in a non technological civilization. I enjoyed this book. I found the narration difficult to hear at times as the narrator has a tendency to end his sentences quietly. However I found the plot and characters interesting. Dealing with mental illness, the value of different personality types, and the way technology can seem like magic to non advanced people are some of the themes explored.

A story about a fun relationship,

Starts off a bit plodding seeming like a dense fantasy universe, but it ends up being rather charming.

Amazing narration for this tale!

There are some of Tchaikovsky’s I don’t like because of the tone, but the nature of this story and this narrator just works with Tchaikovsky’s style. This story was short, sweet, and fun.

Good listen

Adrian Tchaikovsky is always worth listening to. This was short but satisfying-a Novella rather than a novel.

The perspective switch gave this trope a unique and interesting feel that felt fresh.

It’s been a long time since I’ve listened to an audio book in one sitting. The story was straight forward in a broad sense yet the blending of sci fi and fantasy felt wholly original.