Adrian Tchaikovsky
Story
Adrian Taikovsky
compiled
Martin Šust
The English author of fiction, real name Adrian Czajkowski, was born on June 14, 1972 in the village of Woodhall Spa located in Lincolnshire. He studied zoology and psychology at the University of Reading to make from reasons unclear even to him subsequently became a bailiff serving in currently in Leeds, where he also lives with his wife and son. In his spare time, he enjoys playing RPG games and amateur theater. He changed his name for copyright purposes in fear of mispronunciation.
After fifteen years of futile attempts to publish, it has justifiably attracted the attention of readers with an extensive ten-volume series Shadows of Scientists: Empire in Black and Gold (2008, Czech Empire Black and Gold, Zoner Press, 2010), Dragonfly Falling (2009, Czech Pán Vážky, Zoner Press, 2012 ), Blood of the Mantis (2009, česky Krev Kudlanky, Zoner Press, 2014), Salute the Dark (2010), The Scarab Path (2010), The Sea Watch (2011), Heirs of the Blade (2011), The Air War (2012), War Master's Gate (2013) and Seal of the Worm (2014), a readable and purely adventurous fantasy, which is distinguished from the flood of competing series by setting in steampunk scenery and above all an original element in the form of various insect properties. individual human nations. It is no wonder, then, that the greatest danger is posed by the expansive militant wasps, whose expanding empire engulfs the surrounding more peaceful countries. He has published numerous short stories from the same background, published to date, in the short story collections Spoils of War (2016) and Time for Grief (2017). Unfortunately, due to low sales, the Czech edition of the series stopped at the third volume, the negligent editorial work of the introductory volume of the series and the too long intervals in the publication of individual parts were probably to blame.
The author's second more comprehensive work is the fantasy trilogy Echoes of the Fall, consisting of the novels The Tiger and the Wolf (2016), The Bear and the Serpent (2017) and The Hyena and the Hawk (2018). Her heroine is the daughter of the chief of the Wolf clan, who the coming war intends to conquer the whole north. But the mother of young Maniya is the Queen of the Tigers, the age-old enemies of the Wolf clan. In an effort to maintain the forbidden ability to change into the form of both the Wolf and the Tiger girls becoming outcasts and at the same time important figurine in father's political machinations. However, all clan frictions overshadow the impending arrival of an ancient and irreconcilable enemy. The second part of the trilogy won the Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel of 2017.
As soon as Tchaikovsky closed his second fantasy series, he began writing a new one. The opening part of the series After the War: Redemption's Blade (2018) takes place ten years after the devastating return of the cruel demigod, who in at the head of an army of monsters and ruthless warriors, he ravaged and plundered many cities and entire kingdoms. Luckily, a handful of heroes stopped him, with the help of only a few traitors ranks of enemy soldiers. After the war, however, the country is still full of mutual animosity and mistrust, which the survivors will overcome only with extreme difficulties and the road to the desired calm will probably be long.
Although most of the author's work consists of book series, Tchaikovsky has also published several separate novels. The extensive fantasy Guns of the Dawn (2015) is a light but quite distinctive story set in a pseudo-Napoleonic environment, in which the two until recently in peace empires will get into a war after the king of one of them is overthrown and killed by revolutionaries. The protracted and senselessly bloody conflict will eventually claim so many casualties that even women are eventually called into battle. In the novel Children of Time (2015, Triton 2018), Tchaikovsky surprised with his inclination towards science fiction, which earned him the respected Arthur C. Clark Award. The remnants of humanity are leaving the dying Earth here and following in the footsteps of their ancestors to find a terraformed and a planet perfectly adapted to new life, which promises a new paradise. As they soon find out, a new home is far from waiting for them open arms.
In the fantasy Spiderlight (2016), the age-old struggle between the forces of light and darkness is to come to an end after the fulfillment of a prophecy, according to which a group of outcasts led by the high priestess of the temple, whose priests stand in fight against evil from time immemorial. The self-published novel Ironclads (2017, in Czech Ocelová šlechta, Planeta9, 2019) follows a unit of soldiers sent behind enemy lines with the task of finding a missing member of a powerful family, which he had as one of "Descendants" protect an invincible combat suit. The hero The novel Dogs of War (2018) is a genetically engineered Bioform, part of a murderous pack of fighting dogs. They listen to their master's word and do not hesitate for him to kill enemies in any number. The author summarized the shorter work outside the cycle Shadows of the Knowing in the collection Feast and Famine (2013), which currently concludes the current list of his bibliography.
Although Adrian Tchaikovsky is a prolific author of an almost purely entertaining fiction, in which there is usually no shortage of action scenes, he tries to come up with interesting and innovative elements that make his work worth noting.