A Time for Grief

Tales of the Apt #2

by Adrian Tchaikovsky

A new collection of stories that shed fresh light on the dangerous and complex world of the insect-kinden, including three that are previously unpublished. The Tales of the Apt series provides a different perspective on the fantastic realm first encountered in the author’s best-selling Shadows of the Apt series, gathering together short stories from disparate places and supplementing them with a wealth of new tales written especially for these books. A must read for any fan of the Shadows of the Apt books, where epic fantasy meets steampunk, science, and so much more.

Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Loyalties
3. Bones
4. Queen of the Night
5. Fallen Heroes
6. The Price of Salt
7. The Naturalist
8. The Last Ironclad
9. Alicaea’s Children
10. A Time for Grief
11. The Peacemongers

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Epic Fantasy, Fiction, Anthologies, Science Fiction, Steampunk

312 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 24, 2017

About the author

ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY was born in Lincolnshire and studied zoology and psychology at Reading, before practising law in Leeds. He is a keen live role-player and occasional amateur actor and is trained in stage-fighting. His literary influences include Gene Wolfe, Mervyn Peake, China Miéville, Mary Gently, Steven Erikson, Naomi Novak, Scott Lynch and Alan Campbell.

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The short stores in this collection act as a perfect companion piece to the greater Shadows of the Apt series. Unlike the first collection, Spoils of War, A Time For Grief contains much more genre diversity; there's noir, gladiatorial pit fighting, horror, murder in the halls of academia, and of course war - albeit on a much smaller scale than the series proper.

The first story 'Loyalties' is a great return to this deep fictional world. Balkus is one of the lesser known in the broader fantasy series so it was good to see his character get plenty of page-time. 'Bones', the second short story provides a behind the curtain peak at what came before the kinden via an ill fated archaeological dig.

The third story, 'Queen of the Night', a theatrical short was disappointing and not what I was looking for in this collection. A bump in an otherwise smooth road. 'Fallen Heroes' features a gang turf war and the fighting arena of Helleron told from the unique perspective of fly kinden was great. Tisamon, one of my favorite characters is a champion in this story and his role is fitting of the characters lore.

Probably the best story in the collection , 'The Price of Salt' is a mix of horror and western in which a band of bounty hunters are tricked into defending a remote community from the horrors of the zombie-like locusts, kinden affected by the turning of the full moon. It's a bloody tale with edge-of-the-seat suspense complimented by some great characters, some of which appear in 'The Peacemongers' story later in the collection.

The diverse nature of storytelling continues with 'The Naturalist' which brings murder to the halls of academia all for the cover up of a kinden conspiracy nearly unearthed as fact; spider and scorpion, cur from the same cloth or is it simply a curious case?

'The Last Ironclad' is the collections' ode to gladiatorial pit fits with the last living Sentinel (heavy armor infantry) having to rekindle his thirst for war to pay a crippling debt. As much about action and warfare as it is peace and character.

I didn’t really like the Noir/detective story in ‘Alicaea’s Children’ but loved the return to Princep Salma in ‘A Time for Grief’ - it was great to see some familiar characters from the series proper. While ' The Peacmongers' rounds out the collection by taking the reader back to the Commonweal and the 12 Year War.

My rating: 4/5 stars, I really enjoyed the richness of these stories to compliment the series proper. Such an intriguing lore. Note - this collection will appeal more to readers familiar with the Shadows of the Apt series more-so than new readers.

[David Firmage · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, entertaining collection adding some more layers to the world of the apt. Not quite the same standard as "Spoils of War".

[Tanabrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Altra raccolta di racconti legati alla serie principale, questa volta successivi alla famigerata guerra dei Dodici Anni.

Vediamo principalmente la tremenda Helleron, città Dickensiana che ingoia uomini e li stritola nei propri ingranaggi meccanici cibandosene per continuare a funzionare, e le trame ordite dai Ragni per mantenere il proprio status quo ed evitare che si scoprano determinate verità del passato.
Ma ci sono anche perle come il dietro le quinte della città di rifugiati creata dai superstiti dell'esercito di Selma, che avevamo visto già funzionante in Sea Watch, o avventure del nostro gruppo di briganti nel Commonwealth.

Mi dispiace solo che fosse stato segnalato come da leggere dopo Sea Watch, e in questo modo con l'ultima storia ho beccato uno spoiler non voluto.a vabbè poco male.

Ora immagino sarà il momento di tornare alla serie principale e continuare la storia!

[Alina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read, just like the first collection of stories. Possibly even better, because it takes the reader all over the map, from the Nem desert, to north of the Commonweal (there be dragons, or else mad, swarming locusts), to Helleron, to Collegium and even the patched up memorial settlement to dear, beloved Salma. Every story was a treat, with so many favorites of mine making an appearance (Tisamon, Balkus, Varmen, Dal Arche&his crew). All of it supposedly in a time of peace, but there is nothing more relative than peace in this fantasy world.

I confess myself intrigued by the things the Spiders are working so hard to suppress (like the biological closeness between spiders-arachnids and scorpions, purely because of the insult such an association would be for the Spider kinden) and murder to keep their secrets. But here is where I also encountered a problem and this review is my only means of expressing my utter disappointment. I read the story Bones and it opened up the doorway to Adrian Tchaikovsky's trilogy "Echoes of the Fall". The premise of that trilogy was plenty intriguing, there is a strong connection between it and Shadows of the Apt, I was more than ready to dig in and expand my Tchaikovsky reading. But then, I just couldn't make it past the first 200 pages of The Tiger and the Wolf. Not even all the spoilers I could get my hands on (for the entire trilogy) managed to motivate me, there was simply nothing in those books to keep me hate!reading just for the sake of the author and my love of Shadows of the Apt. So be advised, any interest in the primitive world of shape-shifting tribals is utterly obliterated by bad writing, no plot to speak of (at least for the first volume), the most uninspiring characters ever and sketchy worldbuilding. I choose to believe Echoes of the Fall is just a failed experiment that I have completely deleted from my shelves. It feels as though Adrian Tchaikovsky has blunted every one of his authorial skills and dumbed down his writing to fit the level of Bronze Age primitiveness and I just couldn't stand it. Frankly, I'm still stunned and saddened that the brilliant mind who created Shadows of the Apt and all these marvelous short stories with characters that shine even in a brief page-span could then create and publish such an unpalatable thing as Echoes of the Fall.

But on we go, there are more short stories to keep me connected with the Kinden and if some of them touch upon that other series, at least I have some minimal information about it from spoilers.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tchaikovsky's second volume of short stories set in the world of his "Shadows of the Apt" series was an entertaining read. I don't think there was a bad story in the collection and it managed to cover quite a variety of stories, including a story that was effectively a Western, a noir detective story and a survival horror featuring the Kinden equivalent of Werewolves. Although they were consistently good, I think I'd say "The Price of Salt" was perhaps the only really memorable story, and possibly the first collection, "The Spoils of War" might have been slightly better.

[Andy Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Return to the Shadows of the Apt

A fantastic collection of short stories to accompany the Shadows of the Apt series. Some reprints, some new, all worthy of a place in the SotA history.

Tchaikovsky's Kinden are, in my opinion, some of the best character creations in Fantasy Fiction.

[Sina Tavousi Masrour · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5.
Shadows of the Apt will forever be some of the best fantasy world-building ever done.

[Pranav Prabhu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid set of stories, it was cool getting some insight into the post-series/post-war politics and see some of the lesser known Kinden cultures.

[Leijten · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the last book of the Apt world that I hadn't read, so here's to hoping more Tales of the Apt or something will be published.

[Pat King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good short stories

[Christa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Time for Grief is a collection of short stories taking a look, for the most part, during "peace time" at what some of his previous characters deal with rather than in the midst of their various wars. But in times of peace does anyone touched by war ever have a peaceful life, much less war veterans? What work do you find when all you know is being a soldier? What do some resort to just to try to diminish the memories of acts of the past? Must you always look over your shoulder for those seeking revenge? Can you just enjoy a night at the theatre? Can you ever go home again or can you make "home" wherever you hang your hat?

Each tale held my rapt attention from start to finish leaving me wanting the story to go on! Even if you've never read one of Adrian Tchaikovsky's books you'll find this a fascinating, engrossing read. With Tchaikovsky's unique kinden characters , humans with aspects related to the insect world, and his talent for enthralling story telling you won't be disappointed!

[Blind_guardian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another collection of great short stories by one of my favorite modern writers, covering the entire timeline of his Shadows of the Apt epic. Maybe my favorite story is "Peacemongers", which takes place after the series has completed and the Wasp Empire has many changes to deal with. The Sentinel's tale is very badass as well. I'm glad he hasn't abandoned the world of the Apt, maybe eventually some new threat will arise and we'll get a sequel series. Not sure how he could manage to top the Worm, but Tchaikovsky has ways of surprising me.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because the Shadows of the Apt world is so fascinating to me, I decided to pick up some of the short stories. The second volume of short stories has some great writing and interesting insight into the nature of the various kinden. The stories seem to be an examination of human nature under stressful and depressing situations. The stories include:
Loyalties: Balkus serves Giselle, a wealthy Spider kinden who has come to a village to buy slaves. In an act of kindness, she buys Balkus a slave. Balkus is so confused by this conundrum, he kills his own slave, possibly to spare him.
Bones: A beetle kinden, Fordyce Gracer accompanies his mistress, Hastella and they discover the remains of a slaughter. They discover the remains of strange monsters, which Hastella wants to seal away so they aren't so disturbing to her.
Queen of the Night: A group of performers is trying to cobble together a musical. A mysterious moth-kinden, Orillaea sings skillfully and beautifully and joins them to perform. One of the group tries to take her out, and she mysteriously disappears.
Fallen Heroes: A young beetle, Bello, worries because his poor parents can't afford to pay the rising rent. He hires Tisamon to fight in a spectacle so he can win money. The poor try to escape the oppression from the rich.
The Price of Salt: A group of various kinden have a villain's head, in a bag, preserved with salt. They are journeying to claim a ransom. A young woman steals the head and hides it so they will fight for her village. They succeed and the woman returns the head, which has been partly devoured by beetles.
The Naturalist: Kaelia is witness to Professor Dinsawl's obsession with dissecting bugs to study them. He is so engrossed that he is oblivious to the living world around him.
The Last Ironclad: Varmen, a former high ranking military man for the Wasps has valuable and intricate armor. It is stolen, so to get it back, though he lost his military position, he is forced to fight in an arena. He is able to rally his fellow Wasps, who have lost face, to fight against the others and they succeed. But it is a hollow victory.
Alicaea's Children: Brandon Halfways is sent to find Temasena, the wife of a high ranking Wasp in Helleron. He discovers, from a strange foreteller, she is hiding away at her lover's place. Temasena then makes an appearance at a theater to tells tales of how corrupt and twisted the Wasps are. Her husband comes to get her, in misery at the embarrassment.
A Time for Grief: Another story including Balkus. This tale is mostly about how difficult it is to find places for the people of the Commonweal after the destruction of the Wasp war. Princep Salma has become a place for those with no where else to go.
The Peacemongers: A story featuring a few characters seeing the Lowlands trying to recover from the war, with each side remembering things differently. The Wasps had felt superior but hadn't won.
Many of the stories have a melancholy tone. The characters are often the lower class or struggling workers. They are on the peripheral, seeing what they lack or how they suffer. The stories are nicely crafted but the collection left me feeling a bit depressed. One nice feature is at the end of each story, Tchiakovsky has a short note as to his inspiration or intentions. It definitely adds more to the kinden world, but doesn't contain any vital information that contributes to the Shadows of the Apt.

[Jimmit Shah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shadows of the Apt is a painful series to read. Sure, there are moments where you rejoice but those are rare. What stays with you are the more poignant scenes such as the death of Salme Dien, the fight by Grief in Chains, Tisamon's struggles etc. No other series creates such an impact and underlines the fact that there are no winners in a war - just a side which lost the least.

The second installment of Tales of the Apt brings out the tales of the truce years. Each one of these is stories is worth reading multiple times but a few are worth a special mention. In 'Fallen Heroes' a fly-kinden struggles to make rent in Helleron and as gangs capture territories, it's either pay extra or move. There's a very haunting line in the story "As if it wasn't hard enough, in this city. As if just living didn't take up all the strength we have". Helleron is really a hellish city and coming from a third world country, I can see that line and those scenes playing out in some of the cities in my country too. Before the intervention of a hero, the fly kinden envisions a horrifying future - one in which living conditions become increasingly squalid and living space increasingly smaller till there is no human dignity left. All the epic struggles between the city states and the Wasp kingdom are lost in the misery of a single factory worker.

'Queen of the Night' as a story was pretty predictable in its unfolding but the build up to the main scene and the scene itself was very powerful. Narration of the events leading up to the main play and the backstage crew interactions were very interesting and real. 'The Last Ironclad' changed a lot of prejudices I had about the Wasp kinden. I never thought that I would ever sympathize with a Wasp soldier, especially for his participation in 'Malkan's Folly'. In the 'The Last Ironclad' however, I was rooting for the Wasps to win. Empires have evil designs but the soldier in the front-line is just trying to save his own skin...for a few coins a day.

The current state of Adrian Tchaikovsky's masterfully created world is captured in the lines from 'Alicaea’s Children' -
"Somewhere in the shadows is a thin girl in a borrowed robe. Somewhere in the night is the terrifying, comforting presence that is Alicaea. Somewhere, the magic is still real."

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

A Time of Grief is another companion novel to the Tales of the Apt Series by Adrian Tchaikovsky - which helps to build a bigger picture. This series is an epic sci-fi fantasy, with steampunk vibes, and political intrigue. It is set in a richly imagined world that feels both alien and yet still eerily familiar. Spanning more than ten books, this series is a testament to Mr. Tchaikovsky’s creativity and ability to weave complex tales with deeply human themes.
The world of Shadows of the Apt is populated by "Kinden", a human-like race (inspired by insects), each with unique traits and abilities. From the militaristic Ant-Kinden to the cunning Spider-Kinden, the diversity of these cultures is awesome. The tension between the "Apt" (technologically inclined) and "Inapt" (magically attuned) adds another layer of depth to the story, reflecting the broader themes of societal/cultural evolution. Mr. Tchaikovsky uses these differences to explore issues of identity, prejudice, and the clash between tradition and progress, making the series as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.
The story itself is a sprawling epic, filled with large-scale battles, espionage, and personal struggles. Adrian Tchaikovsky excels at blending the grand with the intimate, ensuring that even amidst the chaos of war, the characters’ personal journey/s remain at the heart of the narrative. The protagonists are flawed, relatable, and yet grow and develop in meaningful ways over the course of the series, making the victories and losses all the more impactful.
One of the series’ standout features is its steampunk aesthetic/vibe. The contrast between the ancient magic and industrial technology created a unique and immersive setting.
Original. Thought-provoking. Epic.
Happy Reading…

[Jeanette Greaves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another set of short stories from the 'Shadows of the Apt' universe. These stories are side journeys from the main story told in volumes 1 - 10 of Shadows of the Apt, and the last one is a spoiler for anyone who hasn't read books 9 and 10. I raced through the entire book within 24 hours, because each story was so good I just wanted to get my teeth into the next one. The potential of Tchaikovsky's worldbuilding is clear as he delves into the backstories of places and people to play with different literary forms. Tisamon plays The Man With No Name, a Collegiate am dram company conjours the ghost of Pathis past, a land of gentle Grasshopper kinden goes locust loco when the moon rises, in a zombie / werewolf tale featuring our favourite brigand, Dal Arche and his Merry Men. My favourite was the title story, taking us on a visit to Salme Dien's Butterfly lover, Grief. Princep Salma, the city of equality and idealism, founded in Salma's memory, comes under attack from organised crime / government who see it as a fast route to riches and glory ... and who can stop them?

[Seán Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of very enjoyable stories that take place across different corners of the kinden’s world. Nice to encounter some old friends along the way, including some fan favourites.

It didn’t quite hit the highs of ‘Spoils of War’ for me, but considering how incredible I found that book to be (very high highs indeed!) matching it would have been extremely difficult.

Essential reading for any fans of the main series.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fantastic dive into the world of the Shadows of the Apt. I'd read some of the stories on Adrian's website previously, but they and the additions continue to enrich and deepen the ten volume series. I especially love the story set in a Collegium theatre, and the tales of abandoned wasps are startlingly sad. I'm delighted that Newcon Press are bringing these out.

[Uriah Mach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have not been a great fan of short stories until Spoils of War, and this book has only made me more and more interested.

The Tales of the Apt have done a magnificent job of filling in gaps and picking up red slippers left around the whole of the Shadows of the Apt series. I continue to enjoy these short stories.

[Nighteye · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first stories, all apart til the last one named Peacemonglers, is set from book 5 to book 8. Than the last it set after book 10 giving is a sneak peak into the Commonwealth and the caracters meet in Heirs of the blade. It was a intresting collection, good, but especially the ending story was really fashinating and beautiful in its way.

[Kathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.5/10
This collection of short stories is a companion to Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Shadows of the Apt series. These tales take place throughout the time period from book 4 through book 10 of the novel series, adding insights and more depth to some of the characters, places, and events of the novels.the title story, A Time for Grief, was my favorite, but they were all good.

[Just_ann_now · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the worldbuilding and the characters, but wow, a soldier's life in "peacetime" is tough, isn't it? 2/3 of these were quite depressing, but the other 1/3 were quite entertaining and almost hopeful.

[John D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb teller of tales

Long live Adrian Tchaikovsky. If he lives long I'll have the pleasure of reading him the rest of my life. This is a fantastic collection and shows his ability to make rich even short stories. Never simple solutions. Never heroes without great flaws.

[Justin Salér · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many great stories, each fleshing out the world of the Apt!

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super second collection of short stories with a different angle, they don't get much better than this.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent collection of short stories set in the Shadows of the Apt world. Must read for fans of that series (and everyone should love that series, one of my all time favorites)