A Time for Grief
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that shed fresh light on the dangerous and complex world of the insect-kinden, including three that are previously unpublished.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.
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Adrian Tchaikovsky
In the realm of speculative fiction, where the boundaries between science and imagination blur, Adrian Tchaikovsky writes with the precision of a biologist and the curiosity of a philosopher. Known for weaving evolutionary theory into alien worlds and giving sentience to the most unexpected of creatures, he crafts stories that challenge not just what it means to be human—but what it means to be alive.
Tchaikovsky’s breakout novel, Children of Time, didn’t just introduce readers to a distant planet populated by hyper-intelligent spiders—it redefined what readers expect from space opera. Bold, cerebral, and emotionally resonant, the book went on to win the Arthur C. Clarke Award, with its sequel Children of Ruin deepening the saga’s exploration of consciousness, cooperation, and survival. In 2023, the Children of Time series earned the Hugo Award for Best Series, a fitting recognition for stories that dare to look evolution in the eye and ask: what if?
Tales of the Apt
Tales of the Apt consists of four books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
Main series Shadows of the Apt
