-
Seasonal Offer:
This title is part of our Seasonal Offers promotion.
The Scarab Path (Shadows of the Apt 5)
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Special Offers and Product Promotions
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
The fifth novel in the thrilling Shadows of the Apt series - following on from Empire in Black and Gold, Dragonfly Falling, Blood of the Mantis and Salute the Dark.
Book Description
The war with the Wasp Empire has ended in a bitter stalemate, and Collegium has nothing to show for it but wounded veterans. Cheerwell Maker finds herself crippled in ways no doctor can mend, haunted by ghosts of the past that she cannot appease, seeking for meaning in a city that no longer seems like home. The Empress Seda is regaining control over those imperial cities who refused to bow the knee to her, but she draws her power from something more sinister than mere armies and war machines. Only her consort, the former spymaster Thalric, knows the truth, and now the assassins are coming and he finds his life and his loyalties under threat yet again. Out past the desert of the Nem the ancient city of Khanaphes awaits them both, with a terrible secret entombed beneath its stones...
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I deliberated long and hard before buying this one as many of my favourite charactors were killed in the last episode, the war we have been following had ground to a stalemate and, well I didn't really enjoy it that much as it was too frenetic.
This was much better. It was paced very well, had an intiguing story line and starred Thalric who is by far the most interesting of Tchaikvsky's surviving charactors.
This story is much more like the early Apt books and has a lot of imgredients that series followers will be very familiar with, a seige, a tortured Thalric being pulled apart by mixed loyalties, the rekef up to their eyelids in evil and a couple of new kinden.
It is for the most part the 'Thalric and Che show' with a nice cameo from Totho who emerges from the shadows a bit with this episode. Also a couple of new charactors, one maybe even man enough to fill Tisamons boots!
We start with Che who is haunted by what she believes to be the spirit of Acheos and Thalric who is far from enjoying his wedded status to the new Wasp empress. Both find themselves despatched to a faraway city who though peopled by beetles have failed to make any technological advancements and just at a time when the Scorpion desert hordes decide it's time to wipe the place off the map.
What follows is the best part of 700 pages of warfare, soul searching, sexual tension and Rekef double dealing. Also with a nice Egyptian flavour and a bit of an Eastern mystery!
If I had to to be hyper critical I'd say it was very similar to a couple of the earlier works in that it relied heavily on a seige and perhaps it just meandered a bit in the middle section but this was a highly enjoyable return to form. It has rekindled my enthusiasm for this highly original series and the last 200 pages were totally gripping and I devoured them in a single sitting!
This was much better. It was paced very well, had an intiguing story line and starred Thalric who is by far the most interesting of Tchaikvsky's surviving charactors.
This story is much more like the early Apt books and has a lot of imgredients that series followers will be very familiar with, a seige, a tortured Thalric being pulled apart by mixed loyalties, the rekef up to their eyelids in evil and a couple of new kinden.
It is for the most part the 'Thalric and Che show' with a nice cameo from Totho who emerges from the shadows a bit with this episode. Also a couple of new charactors, one maybe even man enough to fill Tisamons boots!
We start with Che who is haunted by what she believes to be the spirit of Acheos and Thalric who is far from enjoying his wedded status to the new Wasp empress. Both find themselves despatched to a faraway city who though peopled by beetles have failed to make any technological advancements and just at a time when the Scorpion desert hordes decide it's time to wipe the place off the map.
What follows is the best part of 700 pages of warfare, soul searching, sexual tension and Rekef double dealing. Also with a nice Egyptian flavour and a bit of an Eastern mystery!
If I had to to be hyper critical I'd say it was very similar to a couple of the earlier works in that it relied heavily on a seige and perhaps it just meandered a bit in the middle section but this was a highly enjoyable return to form. It has rekindled my enthusiasm for this highly original series and the last 200 pages were totally gripping and I devoured them in a single sitting!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Fan's of this series by Adrian, of which I'm one, were shocked with the last title as the author demonstrated his ability to play for keeps and to be honest, it wasn't pretty. So with past events still firmly in mind I picked up this title with tongs and oven mitts (hey I was taking no chances) and began reading in earnest.
What unfurls is an offering that is similar to the earlier books and with the freshness of new characters to play with, Adrian really did give me an offering that I couldn't put down. For such a prolific author I'm surprised that not only the quality but also the twists and turns are maintained with each new offering. For such a relatively new author, Adrian is showing a masters hand with his prose, he's got great twists and above all else an almost sickening talent with characters that make you care to read about their fates. A serious talent and one that deserves more recognition that he currently gets.
What unfurls is an offering that is similar to the earlier books and with the freshness of new characters to play with, Adrian really did give me an offering that I couldn't put down. For such a prolific author I'm surprised that not only the quality but also the twists and turns are maintained with each new offering. For such a relatively new author, Adrian is showing a masters hand with his prose, he's got great twists and above all else an almost sickening talent with characters that make you care to read about their fates. A serious talent and one that deserves more recognition that he currently gets.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
My girlfriend bought me 'empire in black and gold' because she thought it looked like the sort of book I would read. It took me a while to really get into the story however by the end of the first book I was hooked. With every book I read from the series I started to fall in love with the story. I have just finished reading 'The scarab path' and have to say 'WOW'. This has been the best one so far, I really got the 'just one more chapter before bed' feeling. The whole mystery of the masters had me wanting to speed through the book just to find out what happened, and even wanting to do that I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. I would recommend this series to anyone and everyone! Can't wait to get book 6!
Sorry if that isn't very helpful, this is my first review ever! :P
Sorry if that isn't very helpful, this is my first review ever! :P
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Like
This is an excellent series of novels worth considering for any fantasy/sf fan. Think the Kindle editions are too expensive, which is why I have not yet purchased any of the new... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Mr. Gordon Smith
dissapointment
Must say in all the first five books this was the first time i was dissapointed. I was very well entertained throughout book 1-4 and then at the end he kills of alot of characters. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Casper Balling Gad
First rate continuation
After the different strands of story in book 4 The Scarab Path just stuck to one story line and was better for it. Read more
Published 12 months ago by DARREN "Big Nose" WALKER
4.5 stars - a great read
Don't read any further if you've not read the other books in the series (Empire in Black and Gold (Shadows of the Apt), Dragonfly Falling (Shadows of the Apt), Blood of the Mantis... Read more
Published 14 months ago by simon211175
Women in Fantasy
I only review if something really takes my eye. This time it's on behalf of my wife who used to say "There are no real women in fantasy".
Finally I can prove her wrong. Read more
Finally I can prove her wrong. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Andy Fitzherbert
Wow! Fantastic!
Wow! I closed this book a minute ago, having spent all of a rainy day turning page after page, avid to see what happened next. And I was not disappointed. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Keen Reader
The strongest single installment yet
This series gets stronger with every installment. While this episode lacks the culmination of plots that made "salute the dark" such a thrill I'd have to say that this one contains... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Neil J. Pearson
An interesting sidestory
Several characters from the previous books reunite in this story. Unlike previous books the parallell stories of each character stay closely related and intertwined. Read more
Published 19 months ago by T. Knutsson
Couldn't put it down
Shadows of the Apt is proving to be a real page turner of a series and I'm spending every spare moment on it. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Calhoon
Gripping and epic fantasy
The Scarab Path is the fifth in the Shadows of the Apt series and is the first book in a new chapter of the story. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Steve (Walker of Worlds)
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
