Empire in Black and Gold (Shadows of the Apt Book 1)

Empire In Black And Gold Is The First Novel In Adrian Tchaikovsky's Critically Acclaimed Fantasy Series, The Shadows Of The Apt. 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. Empire In Black And Gold Is Followed By The Second Book In The Shadows Of The Apt Series, Dragonfly Falling. Empire in Black and Gold is the first instalment in the critically-acclaimed epic fantasy series Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky . The days of peace are over . . . The Lowlands' city states have lived in peace for decades, hailed as bastions of civilization. Yet that peace is about to end. A distant empire has been conquering neighbours with highly trained soldiers and sophisticated combat techniques. And the city states are its desirable new prize. Only the ageing Stenwold Maker – spymaster, artificer and statesman – foresees the threat, as the empires' armies march ever closer. So it falls upon his shoulders to open the eyes of the cities' leaders. He sees that war will sweep through their lands, destroying everything in its path. But to warn his people, he must stay alive. Empire in Black and Gold is followed by the second book in the Shadows of the Apt series, Dragonfly Falling. Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of the Arthur C. Clarke Award winner Children of Time, brings you an epic fantasy series of war and empire. In this first volume, an ancient empire sets its sights on conquering its allies, threatening decades of peace. But only one man sees war is coming.