The days of peace are over . . .
The city states of the Lowlands have lived in peace and prosperity for decades: bastions of civilization and sophistication. That peace is about to end.
In far-off corners, an ancient Empire has been conquering city after city with its highly trained armies and sophisticated warmaking . . . And now it’s set its sights on a new prize.
Only the ageing Stenwold Maker, spymaster, artificer and statesman, can see the threat. It falls upon his shoulders to open the eyes of his people – as soon a tide will sweep down over the Lowlands and burn away everything in its path.
But first he must stop himself from becoming the Empire’s latest victim.
Summary: Empire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky is the first novel in the ten part Shadows of the Apt series, and Tchaikovsky’s debut. While I found the prose a little lacking, the book does the hard work of introducing a rich and varied setting, as well as setting up a plot that only expands from here.
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