Empire in Black and Gold

Begin an epic, page-turning fantasy of war and empire

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)

solid approachable relateable

not fantastic, in that I recall no moments of shocking brilliance or insight... but 25 hours of good relatable human interest in immersive understandable fantasy with not a single one dimensional character in sight, and a fleet of related books means an author telling a tale that can take me on an epic journey like few others in the world.

Incredible, must read

This was a great book. I loved getting into the universe and can't wait to continue it.

Great Story, lots of Characters

I couldn't put it down until I was through book 10. It is a strong start to a great series.

Wondrous world building

This was a stunning entry into a world I can’t wait to explore, with characters I came to feel fiercely loyal about and a villain of sorts who has the potential to have an interesting arc. I came to this via Tchaikovsky’s sci-fi, delighted to find him just as adept at fantasy. The performance of the novel was amazing, each character voiced with insight and skill. I highly recommend this book and I can’t wait to listen to the next one!

I’ve never liked wasps

Loved this book, it was a bit slow going at first, but only for the first 1/4 or so, so hang in there. Seeing as this is a 10 book series, a lot of plot bricks needed to be laid, and Tchaikovsky did a good job of entertaining the reader while laying those bricks. The overall concept is also very unique, I love how Tchaikovsky incorporated his love of biology (especially entomology) into this series, as he does in most, if not all, of his books. At first, I found the concept to be somewhat bizarre, but Tchaikovsky parallels insect and human behavior so well that the connection becomes impossible to ignore.

Ben Allen is also a fantastic narrator! When I sampled the book I was worried that he might be a bit bland, but this is far from the case. His accents are fantastic and I think they fit each of the kindens perfectly