Adrian Tchaikovsky Coming to the US!

Pyr-o-mania: Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shadows of the Apt Coming to the US

Pyr has picked up the Shadows of the Apt series for US release. The series is written by Adrian Tchaikovsky, who is just one of the many UK authors who I have read good things about but don't have books available in the US yet. It's not that difficult to get around this with the internet and whatnot but I try to support the US publishers and bolster the US sales where I can.I would hate if an author sold extremely well in England due to American readers cannibalizing the sales and then flopped when the books finally made it across the pond since the most interested people already bought them internationally.

Here's a blurb from the first book to give you an idea what the series is about:

Seventeen years ago Stenwold witnessed the Wasp Empire storming the city of Myna in a brutal war of conquest. Since then he has preached vainly against this threat in his home city of Collegium, but now the Empire is on the march, with its spies and its armies everywhere, and the Lowlands lie directly in its path. All the while, Stenwold has been training youthful agents to fight the Wasp advance, and the latest recruits include his niece, Che, and his mysterious ward, Tynisa. When his home is violently attacked, he is forced to send them ahead of him and, hotly pursued, they fly by airship to Helleron, the first city in line for the latest Wasp invasion. Stenwold and Che are Beetle-kinden, one of many human races that take their powers and inspiration each from a totem insect, but he also has allies of many breeds: Mantis, Spider, Ant, with their own particular skills. Foremost is the deadly Mantis-kinden warrior, Tisamon, but other very unlikely allies also join the cause. As things go from bad to worse amid escalating dangers, Stenwold learns that the Wasps intend to use the newly completed railroad between Helleron and Collegium to launch a lightning strike into the heart of the Lowlands. Then he gathers all of his agents to force a final showdown in the engine yard...

Pyr is also publishing them with brand new covers by Jon Sullivan who did the 2nd and 3rd covers in the UK. Hopefully, he will maintain (or exceed) that level of quality.


Pyr will be releasing these books in quick succession, hitting shelves in March/April/May 2010. The quick release schedule is one of my favorite things about Pyr. (Besides the quality, that is)

Congrats to Adrian and check these out if you like insect steampunk fantasy. Who doesn't?