Blood of the Mantis (Shadows of the Apt 3), by Adrian Tchaikovsky

[rachelmanija]

You have not read air battles until you've read them when there are some characters who can fly with their own wings and shoot force blasts from their hands, fight with swords, fire guns and/or throw knives and are doing this in mid-air along with allies and enemies who may or may not be able to fly on their own but are in clockwork airplanes, clockwork helicopters, and dirigibles, AND this epic battle is going on atop a lake filled with giant aquatic insects who periodically lunge out of the water to try to snatch the aerial combatants from the air.

I feel like anyone who either liked Pacific Rim or thinks dogfighting would be just that much cooler if you also had to deal with flying people attacking you with swords from above while you dodge sea monsters from below would enjoy this series.



So lots of important stuff is happening but I have to say that my main takeaways were ASSASSIN ASSASSIN BUGS and DIVING BELL SPIDER PEOPLE!!!!

I loved Taki and the aviator society. And I cheered when the Bee People revolted and their hostage princess got away.

I am reluctantly shipping Felise and Tisamon because I am such a sucker for ships based on "She tried to kill me... It was so great to finally be really challenged by an equal!" However I expect it will consist entirely of mutual fighting admiration, maybe some fighting side by side, and then one or both dying honorably rather than what non-Mantids call "a romance." I am totally fine with that.

In less happy news, Drephos appears to have invented poison gas. This is not going anywhere good.

Comments

[luzula]

The Nausicaa manga has air battles like that, too! Except there it's a giant fast-growing fungus reaching up from below to snatch you. The giant insects and air-ships are there though.

[rachelmanija]

Man, I've been meaning to read that for literally years now.

[luzula]

Oh, you should! It is awesome.

[larryhammer]

A lot of Chinese fantasy, especially those heavily influenced by wuxia, have those kind of air battles, too. Though the vehicles are rarely clockwork, but rather magic powered.

[yhlee]

Oh man, this sounds so cool. Are the air battles going to parse at all if you can't visualize? For example, I think Jack Campbell's Black Jack Geary military sf series has heavily visual space battles, BUT he is really good at "commenting" them with the emotional significance &c. of the tactics so I can still follow them without having the movie in my head.

(I have to admit that complicated fight choreography is one area where I really prefer TV or movies or anime to text or manga/comics.)

[rachelmanija]

Yes and no. He gets pretty detailed with the visuals, but I think does a good job of emotional narrating.

[yhlee]

Gotcha, thanks!

[mount_oregano]

This keeps sounding better and better.