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Please let us know if you’ve finished reading Dragonfly Falling by Adrian Tchaikovsky, book 2 in the Shadows of the Apt series. What did you think? Likes? Dislikes? Favorite scene or character?

Spoilers OK here!

I finished this a little early because I was anxious to continue the story. I really enjoyed book 2. I thought Tchaikovsky does a great job explaining more about the different kinden and what they each are able to do.
I also thought he does a good job filling in more about various characters so we understand their motivations, frustrations, and internal conflicts.
My favorite parts were the portrayals of Totho, Arianna, and Felise Mienn. In these characters it felt to me Tchaikovsky continues exploring characters who are conflicted. They all believe somethings but must act in contrast to those feelings. It's such a complex theme and he does it well!
The downside to me was some of the battle scenes were overly long.
But I'm excited to read book 3.

I agree, Natalie, there were a lot of battle scenes. But I think the pace really picked up near the end.

Each kinden is coming into clearer view. Each has their art, or their strengths, but each also has weaknesses. The Ant races are formidable soldiers, for example, able to communicate and cooperate instantly, yet tribal and set in their ways. The Beetles -- oh, the beetles are wonderful. The defense of the Collegium was just brilliant! Not soldiers at heart, but through their ingenuity able to defend their home one invention at a time.

But we have to contrast the reactions of the inventors to the result of their inventions. The Master with the sandblaster, appalled by the result. The Master with the submersible, who attacked the ship in the harbor while knowing the risk. And Totho, who is drawn to invent and improve weapons of war, while still trying to distance himself from their outcome.

Interesting observation about the inventors, Chris. I like that Tchaikovsky puts in insight into characters' feelings and reactions as well as sets up parallels.

9.5/10
A lot happens in this second book of the Shadows of the Apt series: the author sheds more insight into the strengths and failings of the various kinden, includes plenty of intrigue and action, and introduces challenges that are both personal to individual characters and broader to groups of allies and even cities. I think however, there are layers to several kinden that have yet to be peeled away and revealed.

Several characters end up sorely tested and grievously wounded, yet none have died. While I don’t like to see characters killed off needlessly, neither do I think they should survive when they realistically shouldn’t.

Several of the main characters appear to be outliers of their kinden, loners, outsiders, even outcasts. I find that commonality among them intriguing, but I hope the author doesn’t overuse it.

You bring up a couple very strong points I hadn't considered Kathi. It will be interesting how Tchaikovsky handles characters surviving (or not) as well as outsiders or outcasts.

Something else I noticed reading this book that was different than my experience with book 1, and it also has to do this the whole kinden idea. In the first book, I mentally imagined or pictured most of the characters as very human looking, with a few distinguishing features or traits. In this book, for some reason, I saw the characters as more insect-like, their kinden traits more pronounced or visible. In some cases, almost like insects with faces. I seemed to be losing mental sight of their shared humanity.

I finally got around to this one and finished it yesterday. I'm loving it and I agree with Kathi that it seems there are more layers yet to be peeled away. That's the joy of a long series! I'm still loving the worldbuilding and getting to know more about the various kinden. I was especially interested in the scenes where non-Ant individuals were trying to integrate with large groups of Ants, Tchaikovsky really thought through the implications of what it would be like if everyone in the whole society were mind-linked together.

My heart broke for Totho. What an impossible situation he found himself in!

I did find that I lost track often of which battle I was reading about. This may be because I was so busy last week that I sometimes went more than a day before picking the book up again, so it wasn't as fresh in my mind, but I was having trouble distinguishing between all of these different battle scenes that were occuring at the same time.

Slowly getting caught up.

I'll be honest. I am having a lot of problems excusing or forgiving Totho and I don't know if I ever will be able to. Even seeing the results of what his weapon can do directly, he's still frantically trying to separate himself from the results of his actions. I mean does he really think giving the plans to Che makes up for anything he's done? He is on a very dark path and at this point I do not believe he is going to survive it. Honestly, I don't know if I want him to survive it. I am disgusted with him.

Adding to this, the battle scenes are exhausting and not in a good way. I am not a fan of action and they drag on way too long for my tastes. I just get so mind numbingly bored and getting through them is a slog. Add in the large cast of characters, I am finding myself not caring about any but maybe a few.

On a plus side, I really appreciated the view of normal people being tossed into violence and war. They do not and should not become instant seasoned warriors. Master Graden's suicide was a heart breaking example. Unlike Totho, he very directly saw the results of his actions and was utterly horrified by it.

I am still very much enjoying Thalric's portion of the story. While I was pretty sure he was going to separate from the Empire, its being done in a way that I did not anticipate.

Honestly, I'm getting a little burned out. I don't know if I am in the mental state for a huge epic fantasy series. I love this author's work, but its very obvious that this is his early stuff and he has since greatly improved.

Taking a break for Exhalation and to finish How to Sell a Haunted House. Maybe after I'll be able to get back in.

Random wrote: "Slowly getting caught up.

I'll be honest. I am having a lot of problems excusing or forgiving Totho and I don't know if I ever will be able to. Even seeing the results of what his weapon can do di..."

I do find the large cast of characters and spread out geography to be a bit overwhelming at times. I also find that reading a variety of other things between books helps break up that feeling so I’m ready to dive in again when it’s time for the next book.

Kathi wrote: "Random wrote: "I do find the large cast of characters and spread out geography to be a bit overwhelming."

My problem is I'm not going through these very fast. All the battle scenes just make me pause and let my mind wander off to different subjects than the book. Literally anything other than more tedious battle scenes.

Kathi and Random, you both mention the large cast of characters, which is a topic I have really thought about. It's easy to say I like multiple POVs and a large number or characters or I don't, but I think it depends greatly on how it is handled.
A skilled author, in my opinion, uses a large cast to
-open up the story world because we have a wider view
-allow us to see characters more fully (how they view themselves and how others view them)
-keep the narrative interesting and move the story along
However, an author needs to be careful of
-rehashing the same event
-introducing characters who do not have a unique voice and perspective
-diminishing the depth of the main characters (with too many voices)
-slowing the story with too much head hopping.
I think keeping track of more characters is a skill that grows with more reading experience. The more I read stories with many characters, the easier and more enjoyable the experience has become.
Sometimes I feel Tchaikovsky does juggle many characters well and occasionally spreads the perspectives too thin.
Everyone, of course, is welcome to their own opinion. But I feel Tchaikovsky for the most part is fleshing out a wonderfully complex story. I do keep notes but I'm enjoying the characters and world.

The issue with characters that I mentioned is that many of them don't have their own unique voices. This is especially bad when it comes to the Fly and Ant kindins. They all continue to just keep blurring into one another and I end up having to depend on context to help me figure out who is who and why I should even care.

As I said, l really enjoy Tchaikovsky's work (especially the Children of Time series). This one is just very obviously an earlier work. His skills have obviously grown a lot since this was written.

As far as skill that grows with reading, I've been reading large series with lots of characters 40+ years. I have the skills and the experience.

Please forgive me for coming off judgmental. I was not questioning your experience or opinions about this series Random. I was commenting in a general sense.
In various contexts, I’ve heard people say they don’t like multiple POVs but I think there are several factors which contribute to a person’s opinion.
I appreciate conversations in this club because many of them come from a thoughtful place!

Natalie wrote: "I do keep notes but I'm enjoying the characters and world.��

I don’t want to keep notes about the characters but maybe I will need to start. I do like it when the author provides a cast of characters list (as long as it’s not spoilery).

I, too, have been reading series for decades. I will admit it’s a bit more of a problem for me as I age and, to be honest, post-chemotherapy treatments.

I think the most trouble I had with a large cast of characters was with Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson.

I haven't tackled Malazan yet but I think it really depends on the author. I find it helpful when:
-characters are in different locations
-characters have very different names
But we can't always get what we wish for!!