Preparing to re-publish another SFX review - of the third volume in Adrian Tchaikovsky's fun, and increasingly interesting, 'Shadows of the Apt' fantasy saga - I realised that I forgot to put up my review of the second instalment. (May have had something to do with the fact that I wrote the review three days before handing in my doctoral thesis; was a touch distracted, perhaps.)
So, here it is: Dragonfly Falling.
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Middle book syndrome. (Or, increasingly in epic fantasy, middle three-books syndrome.) We all know it: since the story neither begins nor ends here, many authors seem disinclined to let anything begin or end here – giving us, instead, lots of middle and little forward motion.
Dragonfly Falling resumes the tale of an industrialising world whose human races share physical and mental characteristics with insects: Bees fly, Mantids are ferocious fighters with inbuilt claws, Ants have hive minds. Happily, it avoids many of the typical middle book pitfalls. Tchaikovsky introduces new characters, opening up fresh perspectives and threads in his plot, just as the Wasp Empire is opening up new fronts in its war with, well, everybody. The world is thereby broadened and deepened, to its benefit: the contrasting cultures of Ant cities Sarn and Tark add welcome nuance to the core idea of inherited traits, as do the increasing numbers of halfbreeds and free spirits we meet. Biology, perhaps, is not destiny, and the character development is excellent.
The pace and tone show less variety. There are a lot of balls in the air, plot-wise, but most amount to the same thing: war. With the invasion of the Lowlands in full swing, not a chapter goes by without people fighting, preparing to fight, or talking about fighting. Between the siege of Collegium, “city-state of tinkerers and philosophers” and home to Book One’s protagonists, and the refreshing frequency with which people switch sides, there is a lot going on; but too much that is too similar to hold the reader’s interest throughout.
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There are also a number of new kinden introduced in this second volume, including Fire Ants and a creepy Mosquito (who is, entirely appropriately, a sort of vampire). Thankfully, the Slugs are apparently no longer with us...
Review number 3 will be up tomorrow!
~~Nic