Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

This is a Buddy Read for The Scarab Path by Adrian Tchaikovsky starting on June 16, 2025.


happy Reading!

Thank you!

Arc 1:
1. Empire in Black and Gold (Jun 14) [link]
2. Dragonfly Falling (Aug 4) [link]
3. Blood of the Mantis (Jan 16) [link]
4. Salute the Dark (Mar 16) [link]

Arc 2:
5. The Scarab Path (June 16)
6. The Sea Watch (Jul 16) [link]
7. Heirs of the Blade (Aug 16) [link]

Arc 3:
8. The Air War (Sept 16) [link]
9. War Master's Gate (Oct 16) [link}
10. [book:Seal of the Worm|20491017] (Nov 16) [link]

Tales of the Apt--seeing most folks recommending reading these in publication order, after finishing the series, even though some stories take place during. If interested, we could continue:
1. Spoils of War TBD
2. A Time for Grief TBD
3. For Love of Distant Shores TBD
4. The Scent of Tears TBD

Availability?

Started... Finally reading a new to me book...

Khanaphres is very Egyptian...

I've been binging this all morning... enjoying the ride, but not saying much...

(view spoiler)[Cheerwell & Thadric feel like the real throughline of the series, moreso than any other characters/pairings...

I thought Thadric would spend this book back in the Wasp Empire, but he quickly ended up back in the field and in Che's sphere...

Totho has been an interesting foil...

And all the stuff with Cheerwell losing her aptness, and how that parallels Empress Seda...

Deciphering the hieroglyphics of Khanaphres feels like one of those hidden images you see as a kid... stare and squint and the truth is revealed...

I can't believe I waited years to get back to this, after reading books 1-4 the first time...

I'm so bad at making time for Fantasy... back then, I was trying to wait for Olivia, who went AWOL with medical stuff, I think?...

ANYWAY... (hide spoiler)]

Home stretch now, final 3 hours...

THE LAND FISH... makes me think of Manmer :D

LOL Love your images, @Iain.

This is my next eyebook... probably be here by Friday. Currently at 200/588 on Oathbound.

Through Part 1 and similar thoughts on Khanaphres, Egyptian vibes... though "Scarab Path" does hint it... (view spoiler)[Interesting with Che becoming Inapt after her moth boyfriend's death...

Also enjoying the super touchy Vekken folks. It'll be interesting to see if they bend. But how quickly Collegium seems to be forgetting that they almost lost the war... is disconcerting.

Really curious to see how this whole far-away city ties in to anything... Also really hoping we'll get some other POVs besides Che & Stenwold, check in with more old crew, but kinda ok with just these if that's the way it's gotta be.

Also sort of forgot who died in the last one... Tisamon, in the box... Archaeos... did Totho survive? Salma died, I think... (hide spoiler)]

Tisamon, moth boy, and the Emperor were the main ones I think... (view spoiler)[ Totho left his tinker mentor and started his own arms business I think... Tisamon daughter is out and about...

I lose track a bit too honestly... Is Salma the one that went off with the dragonflies?... (hide spoiler)]

Ah, yeah, didn't event consider the Emperor--(view spoiler)[we all knew he was going to die.

Salma is the Dragonfly Prince who was friends with Che & Tynisa and Totho... Tynisa had unrequited love toward him, but he only had eyes for the butterfly... He started leading a ragtag guerilla army made up of runaway slaves & auxilliaries... He died in some battle... and then the butterfly used her magic to like, wipe the army out or something? (hide spoiler)]

Also found this nice page on Tchaikovsky's blog--a nice portrait of most of the major characters (through the whole series), and his favorite scenes in each book.
https://shadowsoftheapt.com/blog/1225

There we go... I knew he was something like that...

Through Part 2 Yay! (view spoiler)[Thalric! Buddy! Good to see you! Probably my favorite character by now, with all his conflicted loyalties... through his eyes Seda is quite scary... I really don't want to know what she makes him drink, what she does to him at night that he gets two days to recover... Can't help but root for her too, though... I like that the Empire isn't clear black-and-white evil... very Roman... Except for the sexism. Well, Romans were somewhat sexist too--but not nearly as much as the Wasps, who keep their women sequestered...

I don't remember Owhatsit, the dude who he commiserates with. but I like their rapport. And I'm excited to see Thalric's storyline intersect with Che again! (hide spoiler)]

First page of next chapter--oo, (view spoiler)[Vekken POV! (hide spoiler)]

Through Chapter 16--I think this scene is the one that Tchaikovsky said was his favorite, on the blog--(view spoiler)[Che & Thalric drinking and reminiscing... finding that they have more in common with each other than with the respective groups they're supposedly leading...

Thalric's theorizing on why Che is here--or why Stenwold would have sent her--parallels the Vekkens, and is kinda comical... also parallels what he knows of Che and what the Rekef would figure about her: they'd think she's some mastermind, and Thalric knows she's just kind and fumbling, doing her best...

Meanwhile, Che's Apt/Inapt imbalance... reminds me of when Che first cracked that door open... I kind of feel like she has to swing this far over, to lose her Aptness, in order to truly become something unique that straddles both worlds...

I also read that when Tchaikovsky wrote this series, he was thinking about the tech/magic divide, and how he didn't want to make it seem that one was better than the other--they are only as useful or good/evil as the people wielding them... (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 21 great quote from Che: (view spoiler)["I am changing hands so often, they should put customs duty on me." Hah! I kind of like that she's captured & rescued so often even she sees it as a meme.

Also, WTF Totho?? Still acting without thinking and trying to be Che's hero... If I was going to ship someone I'd probably ship Che & Thalric though, they're more interesting. (hide spoiler)]

Timelord Iain wrote: "THE LAND FISH... makes me think of Manmer :D"

Just hit this chapter! LOL

So weird/wild... also ship Che/Thalric... not sure how viable it is, longterm, fingers crossed tho :D

I saw a reddit post of someone excited for book 10... and hoping the ship would be real...

Oh Totho... Chapter 24 (view spoiler)["Collegium women [are...] sentimental to a fault. [...] they read too much."

Any sentiment I ever had for you, you just lost there. Go die in a fire. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 24 again (view spoiler)[Ammon's dance makes me think of the peacocking mating rituals of birds and other creatures... lots of bugs do it too, I believe...

Ah, found it! I was thinking of this video, specifically--the peacock spider:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3Hlw...
I bet I first found that when reading the other Tchaikovsky series, lol. (hide spoiler)]

Not the same really, but I thought of Pacific Islander traditions... (gotta remove the sword tho)... it's definitely a group effort, at least

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_E3y...

I have vague memories of similar styles of dangerous weapon spinning skills, but nothing i can immediately dig up...

I still have to finish the fourth book but I will start this one this week too

Timelord Iain wrote: "Not the same really, but I thought of Pacific Islander traditions... (gotta remove the sword tho)... it's definitely a group effort, at least

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_E3y...

I have va..."

Awww, that's a great video. That makes me think of our own Alaska Native dances up here, on the other end of the globe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKHNF...
I think this is a whaling dance... and the guy in the middle's making his own modern twist on it..

There's a lot of East Asian martial arts expos with weapons... but rarely as a form of cultural dance... Found this video... but it's way too ballet... thinking of it in the scene makes me laugh though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmpVx...

Paula wrote: "I still have to finish the fourth book but I will start this one this week too"

This one moves a LOT faster...

Through Part 4 (view spoiler)[I'm really surprised Thalric never stopped to think that the assassinations could be Rekef inspired. Like, seriously? They were my #1 since his first chapter. From the General's POV, he's the only other male in a place to challenge him for influence on the Empress...

The Ministers decisions--to block all tech--I thought it might be similar and opposite to what Che was experiencing... they're trying everything they can to halt and reverse the descent (in their view) into Apt-ness... When they become Apt, they are losing so much of their culture--writing, art--not only the Masters... It's a shame though, that the non-Apt magic is again being shown mostly in negative form--as slave masters...

I feel worst for little Petri though... Che has too much on her mind to help her... (hide spoiler)]

Finished last night! Favorite book, hands-down, so far... probably first 5 star read. And it's all thanks to (view spoiler)[Che and Thalric being tossed together for almost the whole book...

I was not expecting them to actually kiss at the end, or even for Che to return Thalric's budding feelings! After setting this up so slowly for five books I'd've thought the realization-to-actualization phase of the relationship to also last, oh, another five books. But nope! Jumping right in! So... what tragedies will be up next for them?

I really like how Che handled the confrontation with Totho... I keep trying to put my finger on why she (and I) prefer Thalric, when I really liked Totho for Che in the first book... Part of it has to do with what Che said, about them all growing into different people... but also I feel like his obsession with Che has kept Totho from growing up, while Thalric, for all the horrible things he's done, owns and accepts them, either apologizes for them or holds he would do it again.... Even while both Thalric and Totho are in the process of figuring out their moral compasses, I feel like Thalric has been looking inwards the whole time, trying to figure out who he is, while Totho keeps looking outwards for excuses. Maybe now he'll be able to move on, move up.

I also really enjoyed the continued clash of technology and magic--but I feel like so far magic has been a Deus ex Machina at the end... and I'd like to see more small magics, like what Che did to get them out of the maze. But I'm also thinking--all of their kinden-"Art" are really a type of magic... they just don't think of it that way because it's so everyday to them... I wonder if that will be explored? Apt v. Art, instead of Apt v. Inapt.

But WTF? The Masters were "immortal slug-kinden"????

I'm wondering if the next book will actually get to Tynisa though--the eighth book is "Heirs to the Blade" with a spider logo, and he next one looks like maybe we'll actually get to explore that underwater group??? Or an underwater group... Octopuses! (hide spoiler)]

Ha! Nirkatze, you finish and I start. But I am very intrigued with Che's arc now

Part 1 was a bit slow, but it picked up a lot from Part 2. Fortunately Part 1 is pretty short.

Hey Paula, I know you just started, but how do y'all feel about scheduling for the rest of the series? Will 1/month work? Just the next two in the arc through August? All through the end to November? Skip spooky/cozy and go to January?

I am up for scheduling all through the end to november

I be Iain'd be down for that too--I'll go ahead and request.

I be Iain ;)

LOL missed a t there, I did. I'm taking your response as a yes though.

Requests made!

Yay, thanks! Done with part one and two and excited to continue. (view spoiler)[ I agree with you, it's very interesting seeing Che become Inapt and I am always excited to see Thaldric. He really is the best one in the series (hide spoiler)]

Yessssss!!!! And I love them getting thrown together too!

links updated!

Finished and I agree with Nirkatze, my fave at the moment too. I'll also try to watch the YouTube videos but I'll try it on the computer (on the phone the link doesn't work) (view spoiler)[ I also shipped Che and Thaldric. And that surprised me since at first I was rolling my eyes because most of the romance is with a woman being way younger than the man. I also thought it would take longer, now I hope they won't be killed.

Yeah, Totho is always using Che as his moral compass.

I know! Who would have thought the slugs were the most powerful (hide spoiler)]

After the first few books, I was pretty pleasantly surprised that Tchaikovsky did a good romance. Or maybe I should say "one I enjoy" rather than good...

Same, I was surprised too