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Heirs of the Blade

Shadows of the Apt, Book 7

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Heirs of the Blade

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Narrated by: Ben Allen
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About this listen

 The greatest foe is the enemy within . . .


Heirs of the Blade is the seventh book in the critically acclaimed epic fantasy series Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Tynisa is on the run, but she cannot escape the demons of her own mind. Amidst the fragmenting provinces of the Dragonfly Commonweal, her past will at last catch up with her. Her father's ghost is hunting her down.

At the same time, the Wasp Empire seeks to conquer the city of Khanaphes, the fallen jewel of the ancient world. Whilst Empress Seda's soldiers seek only conquest and prestige, she sees herself as the heir to all the old powers of history, and has her eyes on a far greater prize.

Heirs of the Blade is followed by the eighth book in the Shadows of the Apt series, The Air War.

The entire series is narrated by Ben Allen (Alien Clay). Listeners love the series in audio:

‘Fantastic narration that really got you to imagine this amazing world’

‘You get consumed into the world and its characters’

‘The characters are distinct with masterful accents’

‘The narration and sound design is jaw-dropping’

‘Ben Allen's narration was frankly phenomenal all the way through’

 Action & Adventure Animals Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Haunted

Critic reviews

Brimming with imagination
The Shadows of the Apt series is simply one of the best epic fantasy series out there
Super worldbuilding, great characters and extreme inventiveness
Epic fantasy at its best. Gripping, original and multi-layered storytelling from a writer bursting with lots of fascinating ideas
Full of sparking, speculative innovation (Stephen Baxter, author of the Xeelee Sequence, on The Doors of Eden)
Breathtaking scope and vision. Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of our finest writers (Gareth Powell, author of Embers of War, on Children of Ruin)
A joy from start to finish. Entertaining, smart, surprising and unexpectedly human (Patrick Ness, author of The Knife of Never Letting Go, on Children of Time)
All stars
Most relevant
7 big books and the characters are still developing in surprising ways. The authors never repeats himself. Although the epic scale battles can get a little ‘hammer n tongs’ tiresome with each successive one, there is always a delicious twist and hook to keep our own interest.
The narrator is perfect.

A POWERFUL Imaginary World

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I felt bored after reading the seawatch book previously. I wasn't a big fan of the story going underwater and such.

Heir Of The Blade was a better improvement following the story on land again and into the vast state of the Commonwheel. Was good listing to Ben as usual, a masterclass performance as per.

Looking forward to the next one with the ending of this book. Looks like things are starting to heat up again between the empire and the lowlands again.

Better than the previous

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Another enjoyable instalment of a fantastic series. Feel like it’s laying the groundwork for what’s to come in the home stretch of the series.. Special mention to the narrator as without his talents this series would not have felt so immersive. 6 stars.

Good story, building to the finish..

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I hesitated as to whether or not I could write this review. I have praised this author‘s work many times and this series as well. Each novel improves on the last it’s getting tiring to say that, but it’s true. This was one of the few times an audiobook had me literally on the edge of my seat in excitement, for what was happening and that’s amazing.

Edge of your seat stuff

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I was hoping to only need to write the headline as this is a comment that could be written for all of these books and Ben Allen. I can't get enough. It is just a pity I can only get 1 book a month!

great story brilliantly read

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