Shards of war review
Some of the factions also has their own unique dialects, with the Colonials using Dutch honorifics and the Partheni using French in more formal contexts. The tensions between the various groups and the looming shadow of the Architect's devastation are felt throughout the world Tchaikovsky has built, such as the Spacers' reliance on quick fixes after decades of constantly jumping from colony to colony.
Each of the planets the crew visit has their own culture, from the highly oligarchical slave-based society of Magda to the crazy survivalists of the planet Jericho to the well-settled and civilised planet of Berlenhof, humanity's new cultural and administrative centre. The setting that Tchaikovsky builds is a really interesting one and is well thought out. Overall, they are all good characters, with each providing their own little insight into the world around them. Finally, there is Havaer Mundy, an agent for Mordant House, the secret police of the Council of Human Interests (or ‘Hugh'), whose chapters provide a rather interesting outsider perspective on the actions of the Vulture God's crew and all the politics surrounding them. Initially I was a little worried that this was going to result in a love triangle, but thankfully it was not the case. As another veteran of the Architect's destructive rampages, she feels a certain bond with him. They are later joined by Myrmidon Executor Solace, a member of the all-female order of genetically engineered super-soldiers known as the Parthenon, sent to try and persuade Idris to join them. She also may or may not have feelings for Idris. Alongside him is Kris, the Vulture God's resident lawyer, who carries a knife just in case she cannot use legal arguments to get herself out of trouble. He is an incredibly sad character, being haunted by his memories of the war, with people vying to either enslave him or employ him, and his augmentations leave him unable to age or sleep. Idris is an Intermediary someone whose mind and body were shaped specifically to try and communicate with the Architects. A lot of the plot revolves around Idris Telemmier, the pilot and navigator for the salvage ship Vulture God. The book is told from four different points of view. As he and his allies bounce from star system to star system, chased by alien crime syndicates, human secret police and rich slavers, he slowly begins to realise that the real war is only just getting started… But, when he and the crew of the salvage ship he calls home discover what appears to be recent Architect activity, suddenly he is thrust back into the spotlight.
Idris Telemmier, a man genetically engineered to try and communicate with the Architects, does not want to be remembered. And so, the memories of the war fades, heroes are forgotten, and humanity begins to fracture and fight among themselves.
Then, just when they had the human race on the run, the Architects vanished. Humanity is scattered, constantly fleeing as world after world falls to the architect's reshaping.
#Shards of war review series#
Summary: Tchaikovsky's opener to a new series shows us a world in the aftermath of a galactic-scale catastrophe, and how our protagonists work to survive in a world that has forgotten them.Įighty years ago, Earth was destroyed, warped into an unrecognisable shape by the moon-sized aliens known as the Architects.