Review and Blog Tour – Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky

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. 

Taking a break from my month long Fantasy celebration with Wyrd&Wonder to talk about this beautifully crafted Science Fiction giant as part of a huge WriteReads blog tour. The first instalment of a brand new series – The Final Architects – this was a brilliant read.

Shards of Earth is definitely on the weighty side but it doesn’t feel overly long when you reading it at all. Instead the story carries you along as we learn more and more about this universe and the people living in it. A Space Opera in all the good ways this book takes us between multiple worlds, meeting multiple species and ways of life. It’s hard to go into too much detail without giving things away as there is just so much plot happening.

I loved all of our main cast, they we all unique and vulnerable in their own ways but at the same time tough enough that you absolutely believed they could cope with everything that was thrown at them. Of all of them though it was Solace who found a special place in my heart. She was so strong in some respects (and admittedly genetically engineered to be that way) and yet she was also unsure of her place once out away from her Sisterhood and it was great watching her develop and find who she was in a more rounded way.

Idris was an intriguing character too – genetically altered so he can perceive space differently and travel through ‘unspace’ safely, he was created as a desperate attempt to stop the huge, intimidating, world destroying Architects. All the genetic interference he has undergone has left him physically fragile in a lot of ways but hugely in demand as we see by the way he is pursued by various factions throughout the story. I really liked Idris. The way he and Solace were drawn into each others orbits was interesting to watch and their relationship was interesting.

All in a great Science Fiction romp and I can’t wait for the next instalment of this story.

With thanks to Tor and Black Crow PR for a copy of the book and The Write Reads for inviting on the blog tour.

Shards of Earth is available 27 May 2021