Alexandru's Reviews > Empire in Black and Gold

Empire of Black and Gold is the debut novel of the now well know Adrian Tchaikovsky. It's the start of a 10 novel series set in a steampunk world where different nations of people have powers and features of insects.

There's beetle kinden, fly kinden, moth kinden and so on. The great enemy is the Empire of the wasps that is expanding and invading the city states of the Lowlands.

There is a lot of potential, the world is very unique wirh the combination of technology and the insect powers. The book does feel like an author's first because it starts off really well with a battle but then it dies off and the middle is a bit boring. There's a few young characters that are annoying and uninteresting but some of the older characters more then make up for it.

This book feels like a diamond in the rough, a lot could be improved but all the ingredients are there. Looking forward to try the next book in the series.

My ebook also included a few bonus short stories:

Fallen Heroes
Spoils of War
Dreams of Avaris
Ironclads