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Empire in Black and Gold
- Shadows of the Apt, Book 1
- Narrated by: Ben Allen
- Length: 23 hrs and 4 mins
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Empire in Black and Gold
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Summary
Empire in Black and Gold is the first instalment in the critically-acclaimed fantasy series Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning Children of Time.
The days of peace are over....
The Lowlands’ 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.
Only the ageing Stenwold Maker – spymaster, artificer and statesman – foresees the threat, as the empires’ armies march ever closer. 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.
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What listeners say about Empire in Black and Gold
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Zoe Lewis
- 08-03-21
Narration gold
I read and loved these books ages ago and wanted to revisit via audio book. Not all books translate well into audio but I can honestly say this could have been written for the audio market. The story is wonderful, setting you up for a journey into a new world that quickly becomes navigable. The characters are distinct with masterful accents that make it so much easier to bond with them. The narration is perfectly paced. I couldn't be happier with this purchase and am excited to get started on the whole series.
30 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Gavin D
- 15-08-21
A very apt time to read this...
This excellent book is about a cruel misogynistic empire in the east that is step by step taking over and enslaving the western lands, while the powers that be turn a blind eye to the suffering and pretend it'll all be OK, it couldn't possibly happen in their lands.
In the week that I've spent listening to this book (mid August 2021) the Taliban have conquered Afghanistan one city at a time, enslaving or slaughtering the defeated, and just today have entered the capital. Their President has fled, American forces are frantically airlifting civilians off rooftops, as enemy fire rains down on the main airfield.
Luckily that sort of thing won't spread to our safe western lands....
23 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Cate
- 12-01-21
great story with fantastic narration
I read this series years ago and am so pleased to see it out on audible. Ben Allen does a great job of distinguishing the different characters and maintaining their voices throughout.
I love the ingenuity of this series and find that I really ended up caring about the characters and what happens to them.
13 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- John O.
- 10-11-21
production issues
the only issue is the first word of a sentence is usually cut in half and it happens far, far too often
8 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Daniel jobling
- 05-05-21
engaging
loved it the story is very engaging and the narrator does a fantastic job of making each character individual to his or herself
7 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- AllOneWord
- 06-08-21
its rare that I give all stars but...
this is what fantasy is meant to be! its the start to an epic series, it has characters that I can care about, an intriguing setting, it has espionage and great battles... The story and setting are just amazing and this book really made me want to read the rest of the series right away - (they are even better) overall - read it
6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- O. Blackwood
- 30-09-21
Excellent Performance and Narrative
Engaging narrative with a richly built world, intriguing mythology and reasonably realistic characters. Occasional hairpin turns and oddities of plot to make events proceed on track, but quite a consistent story.
Performance of good quality with rapid accent shift to delineate characters and good emphasis and intonation, no glaring errors.
Very enjoyable.
4 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 30-07-21
Boredom guaranteed
the narrator can turn even the best book into a monotone dredge. i cannot recommend this. sadly.
4 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- A. AKANNI
- 26-03-22
A thrilling start to an epic series
This was my second go at this series and I'm glad I returned. The story of an empire rising to take over and conquer complacent rivals is an old one. The twist to give all the factions aspects of insect behaviour seems a hard one to get your head around at first, but makes everyone distinct and interesting to follow.
The narrator was superb and really made individual voices stand out and lifted the story and left you wanting to hear from him more... luckily I've got another nine books to share with him.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rachel
- 28-11-21
Nine books after this one - hurray
I am now listening to the ninth book of this ten-book series. What an incredible world, fully rounded characters, different geographies, different kinds of humans with various insect characteristics and skills. I have enjoyed some of the books more than others but never less than enjoyed each one. If you like original fantasy with complex characters, intricate plots, political intrigue and conflict, all narrated with a wonderful array of voices - bringing the whole long story to life - you will love this series. The wasp people are fascistic and invasive, the ants are telepathic, the beetles are great at engineering and quite idealistic, the spiders are clever and not to be trusted, the flies are quick and chatty and love to fly. There are many other tribes and creatures to discover and you are in for one hell of a treat!
2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 14-12-20
A hidden gem in Epic Fantasy
More reviews at undertheradarsffbooks.com
Welcome to the Lowlands and what I can only describe as the most underrated epic fantasy series of out time! Yes, you heard me correctly and I do not use these words lightly. Adrian Tchaikovsky is known mostly through his sci-fi novels but he wrote a ten book epic fantasy series starting with Empire in Black and Gold in 2008. This ten book epic fantasy series is the hidden gem of the epic fantasy genre and I would like to thank Tor UK for rereleasing the entire series including its first release on audible. The audible edition is performed by the very talented Ben Allen and he does a smashing job. Every single characters voice was performed brilliantly and I mentioned to Ben that one scene in a haunted forest was done so well that he literally game me the chills! Ok, that’s enough about me gushing about this story.
The Lowlands is a world and civilization unlike any other you have read in the fantasy genre and I can guarantee that! There are several different races of humans in this world with each race being referred to as a different Kinden. A Kinden is a race of human that based on the aspects of different insects!. I know this may sound strange but let me explain how it works. The world consists of several different types of Kinden: beetles, ants, dragonfly, mantis, spider, moth, wasp etc… Each Kinden contains their own skills or magic abilities. Beetle-Kinden tend to be short with round build and they are very smart with the ability to build machines. Ant-Kinden are short but very strong soldiers to go to war and they can communicate in each others minds without talking. Mantis-Kinden are elite soldiers similar to a samurai and very prideful. Finally Wasp-Kinden are magic users who can fly, but not very strong as a group. All of these Kinden and so much more inhabit this world and Adrian Tchaikovsky has taken my breath away with his imagination and creative genius!
There is so much that happens in just this one book that I believe it could have been split up into a trilogy. This is a dream come true for me as I read these books almost decade ago and it deserves a much wider audience and fanbase. Lets get into the synopsis: The city states of the Lowlands have lived in peace for decades, bastions of civilization, prosperity and sophistication, protected by treaties, trade and a belief in the reasonable nature of their neighbors. But meanwhile, in far-off corners, the Wasp Empire has been devouring city after city with its highly trained armies, its machines, its killing Art…And now its hunger for conquest and war has become insatiable. Only the ageing Stenwold Maker, spymaster, artificer and statesman, can see that the long days of peace are over. It falls upon his shoulders to open the eyes of his people, before a black-and-gold tide sweeps down over the Lowlands and burns away everything in its path. But first he must stop himself becoming the Empire’s latest victim.
We follow several characters on this journey and each one is better than the next. First we follow Cheerwell Maker: Stenwold’s niece and student at the collegium. Beetle-Kinden curious about the world and its inhabitants until the war is brought to her front door. Next we follow Tynisa: Stenwolds student and ward. Spider-Kinden who finds that she has no interest in the learning and knowledge of building machines but instead wishes to take up the way of the sword. Then we have Tisamon: Mantis-Kinden and a fierce warrior. Guilted by the betrayal of his once friend, he had lived in isolation for the past 17 years until Stenwold calls for help and the war with the wasps begin. Finally there is Achaeos: Moth-Kinden on a secret mission until it goes horrible wrong, He is a seer in training and his scenes involving his powers were the one of my favorite parts of the story.
Each Kinden has its own history and predigests towards the others. Beetles, Ants, and Flies were slaves, cowed by the powerful sorceries of their masters that they couldn’t even comprehend. The Lowlands were ruled by the Moth-Kinden, with the assistance of the Mantis-Kinden. This relationship is summed up in the commonly used phrase Masters of the Grey, Servants of the Green. This was until the revolution happened and the slaves rose up with the might force of the machines to overtake their masters and magic is now practiced in certain areas.
Now that we got that out of the way, lets get into the writing. If you have read any of Adrian Tchaikovsky other novels, you already know how much of a wizard his with words. Beautifully and methodically written with suspense and tension lurking around every corner. It had been almost a decade since I first read this and I was still shocked and how much I didn’t remember and I left with a huge smile on my face ready to dive into book 2. This book does have some very dark moments including a torture scene, a brutal murder, and the very brief glimpse of a rape scene (nothing graphic or descriptive), in case these types of scenes are hard to read for some readers.
I consider this series a must read for any lover of epic fantasy and those readers who are looking for something completely different in the SFF community. It is a crime that this series is such an unknown to the vast majority of fantasy readers and I will take it upon myself to correct this injustice. This is in my top 5 greatest epic fantasy series ever written and I hope you will see this work for the grand epic it truly is.
Thank you Ben Allen for your wonderful contribution to this series and keep the good work!
Adrian, I can’t begin to express my gratitude for creating this masterpiece and I hope many will appreciate this work and all its glory! It has changed the way I want stories to be told forever and I have you to thank!
Cheers!
53 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tkinsey3
- 11-12-20
Super Original and Very Underrated
I've been waiting YEARS for Shadows of the Apt to be recorded as an audiobook, and I'm so glad the day is finally here. This is a series that rivals all of the big Epic Fantasy blockbusters out there (Sanderson, Jordan, GRRM, etc). The setting is incredibly original but easy to understand, the characters are all well drawn and easy to root for, and the story is paced beautifully - I couldn't stop listening!
I had not previously listened to Ben Allen narrate anything, but he does a great job - lots of different accents that go a long way in helping me keep track of which characters are talking. I will definitely listen to the rest of this series, and look for other audiobooks from Ben Allen as well!
Easy 5 Stars, and I already purchased Book 2!
32 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Timothy
- 26-03-21
first scifi spiders now this masterpiece
Well, I first discovered this author from Children of Time and thought to myself "well this is just because I am bored and I liked his writing, but it isn't really my thing"
This book is good enough to make you switch sides and like whatever gener this is (not 100% on that really). The world is rich, the characters are round and lifelike, and the story is compelling.
Stop reading this and aquire this book so that it gets popular enough for me to buy a t-shirt in reference to it.
20 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Sailfish
- 27-02-21
An interesting genetic mix of humans and insects
Adrian Tchaikovsky creates a fantasy of medieval environs where magic is on the wane while the industrial revolution is waxing. Additionally, the humans are broken into races that are more like different species than sub-species, each taking on characteristics of the insects they are classified under. The backdrop of the story is one insect-human clan is forming an empire, destined to achieve world domination by conquering other city-states through subterfuge, guile, betrayal and martial prowess.The author frames the conquering empire as a mixture between Roman and Third Reich might and philosophy.
While this began interestingly, what in the midst of a battle and shrouded in rage over betrayal, it soon moved from the battle-frenzy excitement to a more slow-paced "cloak and dagger" narrative with ample amounts of backstory filler. Much of it was worthwhile and more fully establishing the primary characters, a lot of it was uneventful and slowing the pace.
Also, what's with creating steampunk-ish multi-legged automobiles rather than ones with, I don't know?, wheels?!
Ben Allen's performance was quite good, especially in correctly capturing distinct male and female tenors.
8 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- mark a case
- 23-12-20
Refreshing
This stands out in what seems to be a world of young-adult quality writing. You can look forward to a very unique world, great characters, and believable villains. Quite a few twists I didn't expect that brought value to the story. I hope the same quality of writing can be extended for the duration of the series. The next book is an immediate buy for me. To be clear, this is 'adult' quality writing only in that it doesn't insult your intelligence just listening to it.
6 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Daniel Scott
- 06-05-21
So Boring, So confusing
I LOVED "Children of Time" and the sequel. I cannot believe this was written by the same author. I stuck with it for 7 hours before I gave up. I really regret reading that far. I really hope there will be another installment in the "Children of Time" series. I would advise people to skip this one.
5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Suspect
- 13-12-20
Master Storyteller
Tchaikovsky is a master storyteller and wordsmith. Ben Allen’s narration is superb. Black and Gold is on par with the very best of the best of science fiction/fantasy novels.
5 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Cow
- 13-05-21
Interesting book, incredibly dull narrator
I wasn't even able to finish this book despite the rather compelling story. The narrator was so incredibly monotone that you can't tell the difference between the narration of a thrilling action scene or describing stationary food on a table. Over and over I would realize I hadn't been paying attention because the narrator failed to pull me into the story. I hope this narrator can learn occasionally use some inflection in the future to narrate a story, not just read it.
4 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- J. Cuddy
- 19-11-21
I was excited by this author, until now . . .
Previous listening to Adrian Tchaikovsky motivated me to listen to most of this, hoping Tchaikovsky would surprise us with something that makes this more than the soap-opera with creepy critters that it is. My time was never rewarded with anything that was cognitively and emotionally engaging enough to rate more than a "meh . . . ."
2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- s norris
- 26-07-21
Great first book
I read the books nearly a decade ago and was delighted to see it on audible on my search for my next series. narration starts a bit flat but overall is excellent . the story doesn't overwhelm the reader and the insect heritage is easily relatable as a race option. the story itself is layered and woven so enjoyably. it's been fun reexpiriencing the first novel, off to buy the second thanx Adrian ,happy listening guys.
2 people found this helpful