9th installment and the series is nearly finished. This ends on a bit of an abrupt stop, so it's worth having the next ready. Otherwise much like all the others - and if you haven't been enjoying them this far, why are you still reading them!

The Wasp armies are having their 2nd and 3rd attempts at the lowland cities, and the defenders of both Sarn and Collegium are down to the last desperate tricks. Meanwhile Che and the Empress are both hunting for the same source of power deep within the Mantid woods. The Bad Old Days of Lore are not so lost and forgotten as might be thought. They both have a few comrades with them too, and are more evenly matched than might be expected - which given that the power is defended by an eon of experience if not brute strength makes things quite difficult.

Lots of characters, but not too many new ones now, a few more get killed off, but the feeling of the end game is near. ( )

An excellent book but not quite up to the intensity of Air War.

Mildly Spoilery


Also I loathe cliffhanger endings ( )

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: War Master's Gate
Series: Shadows of the Apt #9
Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 737
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

The 8th Imperial Army marches on Sarn, the last surviving Ant City. With the help of knowledge from previous encounters, the military leaders of Sarn have a ghost of a chance of surviving.

Collegium is facing the 2nd Imperial Army, “The Gears”. Having fought off the Gears twice before, the citizens are certain they can do so again. After the decimation of the Imperial Air Force in the previous book, Collegium now rules the air and that might be their chance to survive.

General Tynan,general of the Gears, now allied with the Spiders, must overcome Collegium and gain access to its library, which holds texts that Empress Seda has commanded him to take. But without an airforce, with “allies” known for betrayal and facing technology from the brains of Collegium.

Seda has found a wellspring of power, the tomb of Argastos. Argastos was a moth sorceror-warrior from the Age of the Inapt, the War Leader of the Host of all the Inapt. They all came together to fight against the Worm kinden but were unable to truly defeat them. So their sorcerors all came together and sealed the Worm away. They also sealed away Argastos and his war-horde, as “guardians” of the Seal.

Che is chasing down Seda to prevent her from getting her hands on this power of Argastos. In the world of the Apt, a sorceror-Empress would be something the world wouldn't know how to deal with. Che must prevent Seda from becoming all powerful.

In the end, Che and Seda both gain Argasto's power but in the struggle break the Seal of the Worm, a kinden that want to to make every kinden into their own kind. The Gears capture Collegium and all those who resisted are either killed or in hiding. Sarn drives off the 8th Army but the Empire and the Spiders have a falling out that prohibits any further advances by the Imperial forces.

My Thoughts:

Hmmm, where to begin? Well, knowing that there is only 1 more book after this one, unlike last time, I could appreciate this particular story arc a bit more. I wasn't constantly thinking about “what was next” but could focus on the here and now.

The other thing was that I had forgotten it took this long in the series for Collegium to finally be conquered. For some reason I thought it happened earlier in the series, even though I'm reading this series all over again. Just goes to show why I need to re-read things!

The end of the Felylal, the mantis kinden taking shelter in Collegium, that was heart breaking. What is left of a whole nation, men, women, children, grands, all throwing themselves against the Gears and dying. It really hit me hard this time around and honestly, I'm not even sure I noticed it last time. Kids. I actually put off writing this review for quite a few days just to deal with that.

On a “magic” note, Che and Seda's journey was just as interesting, if not more so than the fight between the armies and cities. Last time I kind of just skimmed it. This time, I considered it to be the main part of the book. We see how much Che has changed through the eyes of those who are now in her entourage. Instead of being dragged around, or sent off, or somewhere on someone else's behest, she is here because of her own will. Seda on the other hand is shown to be more afraid than ever, even while having more power than almost any other woman in the history of the world.

This is the kind of series that is complex enough that new things will emerge upon every re-read. I bumped it up a full star from last time because I enjoyed it even more than last time and have no doubt that when I get around to re-reading this series yet again that I'll enjoy it just as much then.

★★★★★ ( )

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com by express permission of this reviewer   Synopsis Empress Seda and Cheerwell Maker, sisters and enemies in magic, both are trying to gain a magical prize from the Bad Old Days of the inapt. At the same time Collegium is once again threatened by the Wasp Empire, as is the last remaining Ant City of Sarn. And through, under, around and over it all is a vague menace from the Past, waiting to burst through to light of day and rule the world yet again.   My Thoughts Where the previous book, The Air War, was primarily about armies and tech, this book returned to the magical roots of the series Seda is consolidating her power, Cheerwell is still trying to figure out what her newfound powers mean and the battles for the Wasp Empire's supremacy go on.   At over 700 pages [that does include an appendix of names and a short story that fills in a specific part of the story but isn't necessary for it], I never felt like this book dragged.   There was a good balance of magic, tech fighting, politicing both internal and external. It also seemed that Tchaikovsky did a much better job in this book of keeping the scope of his story a little more focused on characters we already knew about. While we are introduced to new characters, they are mainly supporting characters to the main cast.   And you know what? Collegium finally gets conquered. Maybe that will knock some of the arrogance out of the residents, unless it kills them of course.   And the Worm. A "new to us" kinden that was so bad that thousands of years ago the whole Inapt world united to defeat this fearsome foe. And they weren't truly defeated, simply locked away. So guess what happens here? Seda, in her arrogance, accidentally unlocks them. Oh boy, that can't be good! The book ends with the disappearances of whole villages, all the people simply vanished.   In the notes, Tchaikovsky does note that the series is wrapping up. I'm glad to be honest. I want some resolution. Even if he continues the story in another series, I need an end to this. I am guessing/hoping 3 more books? We'll see.   Rating: 4 of 5 Stars Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky " ( )

Unputdownable! I've long been a fan of the Shadows of the Apt series, and War Master's Gate, the ninth book in this amazing series, only makes me like it even more. The plot, the writing, the twists and turns, the characters - everything is spellbinding. On one hand, the war for the lowlands, with Collegium, Sarn and all the rest coming together to fight the wasp armies, is glorious in all its gory glory. And on the other hand, the struggle of Cheerwell and Empress Seda to control an ancient power in the Mantis forest of Nethyon. Both amazingly well written, and kudos to Adrian Tchaikovsky for the way the series is shaping up. The cliffhanger ending is really good too, though I hated the cliffhanger part of it. Nevertheless, the book totally deserved its five star rating. A must read. Can't wait for the next and final installment of the series. ( )