The novel “Shards of Earth” by Adrian Tchaikovsky was published for the first time in 2021. It’s the first book in The Final Architecture series.
After one of the mysterious alien entities known as the Architects destroyed the Earth, humans scattered among the stars but that wasn’t enough. To try to fight aliens who seem invincible, they created the Intermediaries, people with special abilities who can create a mental contact with the Architects who attack human planets and make them withdraw.
Idris saved Berlenhof, one of the most important planets for humanity but he just wants to live in peace and work as part of the crew of a starship guiding it through what is called unspace. An abandoned starship shows signs of the return of the Architects but to make sure the crew must deal with human factions that appear to be on the verge of war.
Adrian Tchaikovsky wastes no time at the beginning of “Shards of Earth” throwing the reader into the middle of a battle to defend the planet Berlenhof from an Architect. These alien entities capable of reshaping a planet are a mystery despite being notorious among other species because it seems impossible to communicate with them. Despite that, the Intermediaries somehow manage to establish a mental contact with them that pushes them to give up attacking a planet.
In that future, humanity is scattered among the stars but remained the same in many ways, including its flaws. In a situation where the most powerful human factions seem ready to wage war on each other, the possible return of the Architects after decades of peace can change many things.
Solace is a sort of future Amazon who fought at Berlenhof together with her sisters. She gets awakened after decades of stasis to be sent on a mission that is officially diplomatic and actually is supposed to ensure Idris’s services in preparation for a new attack by an Architect.
It takes the reader a while to get into the fictional universe created by Adrian Tchaikovsky and the need for Solace to get updated about many events involving humans and aliens is a way to include useful details in the story. There’s no infodump but information that is provided slowly, even using the relationships between characters. The hostility towards Solace shows the complexity of relationships between humans. Idris is far from the only misfit of his crew and the crew members’ stories show many sides of humanity and more.
In my opinion, it’s definitely worth the effort to get into the story. “Shards of Earth” begins a space opera series at a very fast pace with a lot of action that at the same time offers a vision of future humanity and includes aliens very different from humans from all points of view. Adrian Tchaikovsky already showed in his other works his skill in telling stories that include species that are intriguing for the way they are developed and he confirms it in this novel.
“Shards of Earth” has its own ending but leaves various parts of the general plot open to developments that will come in the sequels, also thanks to an important revelation concerning the Architects. Adrian Tchaikovsky created a top-notch space opera I found excellent concerning both plot and characters. For these reasons, I recommend reading it.
