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Dragonfly Falling (2009)

by Adrian Tchaikovsky(Favorite Author)

3.87 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0230704158 (ISBN13: 9780230704152)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Tor Books

series

Shadows of the Apt

review 1: Do you talk to your books? Certainly I am not the only one. Do you catch yourself warning the person in the suspense novel not to enter that darkened room? I often find myself chiding characters in books when they do silly things and cheering their triumphs. I know they cannot hear me and their fate is already sealed within the ensuing chapters, but when I am caught up in their story, I wish to commiserate with them as a friend.Dragonfly falling, the second of the Shadows of the Apt series had many moments wherein I found myself talking to the characters. I cheered, I despaired, I told one character to stop being an idiot . . . of course, he didn't listen. For me, one sure sign that I am enjoying a book is how well it engages me. When it gets me talking to the characters, ... morethen I know I am well and truly hooked.The stories of each of our characters were advanced, gaining more depth, filling in some of the spaces left over from the first book. Some stories came to an end, which is to be expected in a book in which the war between the empire and the lowlands is fully engaged. The author does a good job painting epic battles while not losing his focus on the people involved and the individual parts they are playing. There is very little let up with the action, going from one breathless scene to the next, with just enough quieter interludes. I so very thoroughly enjoyed this book. Highly recommended for those who like epic fantasy that moves at a frenetic pace and is solidly character driven.
review 2: This is a Fantasy series that is worth reading.But...It has its problems. First, in book two, I can see that the author has several other books for something that should be a trilogy.Second, and by far the biggest problem I have encountered, is that there are too many central characters whose heads we are continuously getting in. Thus to tell what happen in a day, we have to see it from 7 or 8 viewpoints spread across an entire continent. Keeping this down to three on the side of good, would have made the story manageable and sped up the pace.And that is the third problem because of so many viewpoints, the pace is like a tango. Slow Slow, Quick Quick Slow. It is infuriating.And ruins what otherwise would have been much better.Aside from those, and they are not quibbles but major problems of crafting (I kept putting down the first 300 pages of this 450 page book and then forcing myself to read more) the concept is new and fresh. That the races of humanity, instead of Caucasian, or Asian, are Ant and Beetle, and Mantis and Wasp, with characteristics of the bugs.Still, in a matter of crafting, we don't know how they can be human, and then they can be different for half-breeds have big consequences one moment, and then everyone is just human and can work easily together the next. That issue could be revisited and clarified better.I shall go on, but with each book needing to be forced to get started, I may never reread these. less

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