War Master's Gate cover art

War Master's Gate

Shadows of the Apt, Book 9

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About this listen

A city makes its last stand . . .


War Master’s Gate is the ninth book in the critically acclaimed epic fantasy series Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

The Empire’s mighty imperial armies are marching on Collegium once more. They’ve learnt from past failures and this time their Empress will brook no weakness. Stenwold Maker’s aviators still dominate the skies, but their rule will soon be over. For the Empire has developed a terrifying aerial weapon to level the battlefield.

Yet victory may be decided elsewhere. In an ancient forest, where Mantis clans pursue their own civil war, Empress Seda is seeking a lost power from the old world. Cheerwell Maker knows she must stop her rival at any cost, but their conflict could awaken something far deadlier. Something that would make even their clash of nations pale into insignificance.

War Master’s Gate is followed by the tenth and final book in the Shadows of the Apt series, Seal of the Worm.

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 Science Fiction War Adventure

Critic reviews

Brimming with imagination
The Shadows of the Apt series is simply one of the best epic fantasy series out there
Super world-building, 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 L. 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
Absolutely brilliant . I previously thought that The Air War was the strongest in the series but this is its equal. The other books had more than a dash of humour in them but there’s not much room for that here as the storyline is grim, grim, grim. Grisly but gripping. And as I always say, brilliant narration and sound design which many other books could learn from.

Easily the darkest of the series.

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Great story to build up to the last book in the series. Looking forward to finishing it of off. Onwards to the seal of the worm. Narration as always top tier performance

Great story

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Loved this book! As always massive props go to the narrator who is a weapons master grade expert of his craft! This story just goes from peak to peak and I cant wait to drive in to the finale, so I won’t……(pressing play on seal of the worm..)

Another fine instalment….on to the finale!

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Excellent narration, as always. The story is enthralling, and pretty bleak. A great set up for what I hope will be a thrilling conclusion in the final book.

Great continuation

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An absolute barnstormer of a book, Ben Allen brings Tchaikovsky's words to life! I cannot begin to recommend this book and this series enough!

a brutal and brilliant listen

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