Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky || Twisty Space Opera With Killer Battle Scenes

Shards of Earth (The Final Architects Trilogy, #1)

The Arthur C. Clarke award-winning author of Children of Time brings us an extraordinary new space opera about humanity on the brink of extinction, and how one man's discovery will save or destroy us all.

The war is over. Its heroes forgotten. Until one chance discovery . . .

Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade his mind in the war. And one of humanity’s heroes now scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers.

Eighty years ago, Earth was destroyed by an alien enemy. Many escaped, but millions more died. So mankind created enhanced humans ­such as Idris - who could communicate mind-to-mind with our aggressors. Then these ‘Architects’ simply disappeared and Idris and his kind became obsolete.

Now, Idris and his crew have something strange, abandoned in space. It’s clearly the work of the Architects – but are they really returning? And if so, why? Hunted by gangsters, cults and governments, Idris and his crew race across the galaxy as they search for answers. For they now possess something of incalculable value, and many would kill to obtain it.

Content Tags:

Perfect for readers who want:

• Space opera with big stakes and many cosmic players.
• Fleshed out alien species and unique planets.
• A large, slow-moving mystery.
• Semi-horror vibes akin to a monster in the deep feel.
• A squad of characters that are fun to travel with and easy to love.

Many thanks to Tor and TheWriteReads for an eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Quotes are taken from an unfinished version and may differ from the final product.

I have a sort of love/hate relationship with sci-fi in general but especially space operas. I used to think I hated them, and I found that isn’t true. There are some I like and some I love. It’s just not a genre that suits my brain, because I tend to get confused and overwhelmed. Still, I’ve been giving the genre more chances and stepping out of my comfort zone, which is why I picked up Shards of Earth to start with. Plus, that blurb sounded too good to pass up.

Shards of Earth is a space opera with a masterfully built world filled with unique aliens, written beautiful, easy prose, and populated with a squad of characters that will force you to root for them.

I honestly think this is going to be a five-star book for anyone who loves science fiction and space operas. The only reason it’s four stars is because a problem with me, not the book. I’m broken. I have the hardest time getting into sci-fi, especially space operas. I’ve found several that I loved recently, so I’ve been giving them a chance again. But I tend to find them incredibly slow and hard to get into, as well as generally confusing to begin, and this book was no exception. Despite that, I still enjoyed Shards of Earth (I just didn’t love it), so that says a lot.

Shards of Earth introduces a galaxy like you’ve never seen, in a post-Earth space where humans are desperately trying to eke out an existence.

There’s something extra exciting about the threat of human extinction that grabs you and pulls you in, right? Even more so when Earth itself has been destroyed be this big, ancient, incomprehensible creature. This is a space that’s post-war with the Architects, which no one understands but everyone fears. It’s been just long enough for humans to re-establish their roots and fall into a false sense of security. Few are still alive from the first war and remember the threat, even though everyone still fears it, to some extent.

Humans aren’t quite what you’d expect them to be, either. The war and near extinction has changed them, as you might imagine. There are Nativists, who are anti-alien and pro-human. There are Partheni, which are genetically modified, vat-born humans created to be elites during the war. Scattered among random planets are all sorts of different human societies doing their best to eke out a living after the polyspora, where they were forced to flee their planet when the Architect arrived. As you might imagine, the drama this causes is just *chef’s kiss*

Tchaikovsky does a fabulous job of bringing alien races and worlds to life, and I was always excited to see what new species or planets might be lurking in the galaxy.

I struggle with sci-fi because it’s hard to keep all these alien races separate in my mind, and I have a hard time picturing things I read. This is definitely a me problem. With all that said, though, I had very little problem picturing these aliens and keeping them straight. Tchaikovsky does such a wonderful job creating these species and describing them that even I could follow along!

I just loved the different forms these aliens took. Some are humanoid, of course, but a lot of them aren’t, as you might expect. My favorite part is that Tchaikovsky highlights the language struggle. There’s translators, which aren’t always entirely accurate, and different social norms and customs that need to be observed. What I really appreciated, too, are the unique ticks and facets of each language and the way Tchaikovsky gives each character their own unique voice and way to talk.

The characters in this are so diverse and utterly easy to love and become invested in.

The main two are Idris and Solace. Idris is a Navigator, one of the originals, who helped stop the initial Architect invasion. He’s older than he should be, and the years have taken a toll on him. He’s gentle and squishy and deserves all the love and protection. Really, he just wants to be left to live his life, but when push comes to shove, he wants to help people. It makes him one admirable character among a sea of gray ones.

Solace is a Partheni, meaning she’s of a race of humans that were scientifically created and grown in a vat to be superior to normal humans. Their creator took the best traits of all races of humans and merged them to create the ultimate warrior. Being nearly genetically identical doesn’t, however, mean that all Partheni are the same, which is something the galaxy is still coming to grips with and largely misinformed about. And as Solace is finding out, sometimes being a good soldier means trusting your gut and being an individual rather than just part of a battalion.

Then there’s of course the crew of the Vulture God, which grows into this little squad of unforgettable characters. There’s Rollo, who’s the leader and adopted Father of all the crew. He takes their well-being personally and calls them his children. Make no mistake, he’s not a very timid type, as you might guess from the type of people he leads. Olli was born missing several limbs, which she makes up for by being a complete badass in controlling different rigs. Because she’s not weighed down by a “traditional” human body, which she’s missing most of, she can plug herself into these rigs and operate them like no one else. Then there’s the resident crab-like alien, Kittering, who is a tech guru and highly logical, but doesn’t always understand humans.

With so many races existing in space, it might be easy to imagine that there’s some racial narrative and prejudice and struggles, and Tchaikovsky doesn’t shy away from that.

I really liked this feature, because it added some depth and realism to the system. Even among humans, there are different factions and groups. Since the characters are all different races and come from different backgrounds, this comes up a lot. Especially as the plot progresses and they travel to different places and meet others. This is so well done that I’m not even sure really what I can say or should say, because part of it is just experiencing it. There’s a lot of personal tension between characters and races and beliefs, and it’s really interesting how these things overlap and come into play.

There’s a lot of tension and suspense in this plot, despite its slow start, with a sort of “monster in the deep” horror vibe that I thought was really well done.

Planets exist in real space, of course, but there’s also a version of space known as unspace. Most people lose their minds when exposed to unspace for too long. Those who don’t are known as Ints, and they navigate ships, since unspace is quicker to travel in. Unfortunately, a lot of them eventually lose their minds, too. Because there’s something in unspace. Whether it’s an actual being or just a feeling caused by traveling there, no one knows.

I loved the way this was done, with a sort of building dread. It’s subtle and not likely to scare the pants off you, but it’s enough to give a reader goosebumps thinking about what unknown things might be lurking in the dark. My type of scary!

This book is definitely a slow build, and I didn’t really get into it until after the 50% mark.

This is a problem that’s more me than the book, I think. I’m not a huge fan of sci-fi, partially for this reason. While I understand the need to build the world and all the races in it and the history of it, I’m not all that interested in any of those things. I prefer books with a solid plot that pulls you in right away and carries throughout, while adding all those things in along with the plot. That’s just more my style.

I would caution readers that if you’re not willing to commit to the slow build, this probably isn’t the book for you. I enjoyed the first half of the book, despite the slowness, but I never felt that need to just pick it up and read it straight through. Not until probably the last 25% of the book, anyway. So the payoff is definitely there. You just have to hang in there long enough, despite slow sections, to get there.

Favorite Quotes

This is the first Tchaikovsky book I ever read, but you can bet it won’t be the last. He’s got a writing style that’s just descriptive enough without being too descriptive, with characters that are fun and unique and easy to love. Needless to say, I ended up with waaaay too many quotes. This was a long book, though, and there were so many things to love about it. I decided to spread the love a little, though, so here are some more of my favorite quotes!

About Adrian Tchaikovsky

Adrian Tchaikovsky is the author of the acclaimed Shadows of the Apt fantasy series, from the first volume, Empire In Black and Gold in 2008 to the final book, Seal of the Worm, in 2014, with a new series and a standalone science fiction novel scheduled for 2015. He has been nominated for the David Gemmell Legend Award and a British Fantasy Society Award. In civilian life he is a lawyer, gamer and amateur entomologist.

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