Fantastic sequel, I really love how the story expanded from the first book. Can't wait to see what happens hereafter.

Good sequel to Shards of Earth, and is clearly building up to something big for book 2. Enjoyed getting to know the characters more, just in some places a little slower than book 1. Good installment to what's shaping up to be a good sci-fi trilogy.

I have a love/hate with second novels in a trilogy; often I feel keen to get to the final book and often where all the action is. I wasn't disappointed however in this instance and to be honest I'm rarely disappointed with any of Adrian Tchaikovsky's novels. This was an thrilling and engaging book and I'm keen (as ever) to read the final instalment.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

When I was writing up the 2022 Sci-Fi Book Releases Masterlist, I stumbled across Eyes of the Void on Netgalley and immediately hit “Request” despite saying to myself I wasn’t requesting anymore books until I’d gone through the awkwardly long list of books I hadn’t yet reviewed. When Pan Mac accepted the request, I dropped everything else and started reading because I loved Shards of Earth and couldn’t wait to see what awaited our rag-tag bunch in the next book. Then, I stopped blogging… so never posted the review!

Eyes of the Void is told in multiple POVs from pretty much every important character. Each member of the Vulture God crew plus some others, such as a human spy. Every character held their own for their own chapters with strong voice and exciting information to add to the overall story; none of the chapters felt unnecessary or superfluous.

The Wider Universe
The Final Architecture has become one of those series for me where I want to absorb as much information about the world as possible, so whilst this story felt slightly different to Shards of Earth as there was more room for exploring the wider universe and introducing more of the world, I was totally here for it. One additional aspect is the Naeromathi (hopefully I copied that down correctly!) a fascinating species that seems to have dealt with the Architects before. In classic Tchaikovsky style, they’re about as alien as you could get. You could never accuse Tchaikovsky of creating aliens that are just humans with some added scales or limbs. They’re always so much more than that. Much stranger. Much more interesting. Much more alien.

The Naeromathi are just one of the additional plot threads introduced in Eyes of the Void. There’s also plenty of political in-fighting in the Hugh, warmongering between everyone and everyone else (like the Parthenon and Hugh or the Hegemony and possibly everyone else). The tension of the political world of The Final Architecture rests on a knife-edge throughout Eyes of the Void and I enjoyed every word of it.

And with everything else going on, don’t forget the Architects are out to reform planets with billions of people living there. No big deal. Eyes of the Void has a lot going on, I won’t lie. It’s the sort of book you want to sit and enjoy in peace and quiet to ensure you can catch everything that’s going on and keep up with everything in the moment.

Impressive Fight Scenes
You definitely want to be focusing on the fight scenes too. Whether it’s battles between a Partheni who takes no bullshit versus a bunch of xenophobes or a solar-system wide battle of everyone vs Architects, it is sure to not let you down. Tchaikovsky balances the quick pace of a hard-won battle against awesome descriptions of someone’s shoulder having a hole punched through it by a particularly nasty weapon well. Speaking of holes in shoulders… I wouldn’t recommend this if you’re squeamish at all. Whether it’s humans, human-adjacent or strange-as-aliens, everyone bleeds, everyone dies… everyone can get torn into four pieces. Don’t say you weren’t warned!

Epic Crew
Finally, I’m going to mention the crew of the Vulture God; Idris, Solace, Olli, Kris, Kittering. Sometimes, The Final Architecture feels like the story of Idris. He’s so important to everything that’s going on, and frankly, the crew do spend more time either protecting or rescuing him than pretty much everything else. But each character holds their own and has a place and a story of their own to tell. I sat for a while trying to decide who my favourite character is, and honestly, I couldn’t pick one. I love Solace, the badass Partheni who won’t back down from a fight. Kris, the lawyer, with a violent history who isn’t afraid to talk down a fight but also whip out her blade at a moment’s notice. Maybe Olli, the tech specialist who walks around in a damn metal scorpion and has one hell of a mouth on her. Kittering, the hiver who, most of the time, probably just wants some peace and quiet, but has plenty of intelligence buried beneath the fear. Honestly, that whole crew are epic.

I could keep going, but this is already approaching too many words!

Anytime I start Tchaikovsky's book I know I'll be lost in it. Eyes of the Void is the second instalment of the Final Architecture series.

We're back with Architects, war and everything is going just wrong. Trying to save the world might not be the same as trying to understand why the annihilation happens.

I find it difficult to review the book without giving anything away, and also because it's such a perfect story. The characters are well-written, and this part has some philosophical-ish thoughts on life which I found fascinating.

I can't wait for the next and final book! Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of those authors who never disappoint and always brings incredible quality to every story.

The Joy of space opera is the scale and complexity of the universe we get to enter. The planets, the societies and the technologies of the future all smashing together for adventure and intrigue. I am delighted to say that Adrian Tchaikovsky’s second volume in his Final Architect’s trilogy the great Eyes of the Void delivers all of that plus a great plot, the return of a cast we got to love and continues a sweeping suitably huge storyline where the galaxy itself is on the line.

We met the crew of the salvage vessel the Vulture God just as the universe went to hell. The mysterious architects – moon sized entities that travel through space; can dissolve planets, spaceships and lifeforms into strange art floating in space – which includes the planet earth amongst their victims have finally returned. Only the last-ditch efforts of various people including the unique former Int (Intermediary) Idris; a volunteer for dangerous experiments that now allow him to sense Architects and also travel the strange warp-like dimension known as Unspace; plus a host of others managed to stop a disaster but for how much longer? Various factions and would be empires all vie for power while in the depths of space the Architects are preparing to do their master’s biddings once again.

If you enjoyed Shards of Earth as much as I did then the good news is that Eyes of the Void is equally as entertaining and delivers some damn fine space opera in the process. If the first volume was more of an almost quest for answers this time Tchaikovsky gives us a story exploring the tensions that exist in the galaxy that even the presence of the Architects isn’t going to stop. There is something depressingly familiar about people facing annihilation and sections of the galactic community too busy plotting increasing their own powerbases and refusing to work together. The novel shows this to devastating effect when the Vulture God Crew are summoned to a planet which contains a city built by the mysterious Originators - an ancient, vanished race whose objects seem to be the only thing that can stop an Architect (which is now no longer the case).

The planet everyone is on has an actual moon sized architect above it and the crew instead that’s not the immediate threat as instead everyone has to find how to navigate a way to survive between the mysterious religious cult empire known as the Hegemony (run by a species that resembles giant clams but are incredibly ruthless); the genetically enhanced Partheni, the nefarious human Coloniesand the arrogant but dangerous aristocratic Magdans whose wealth often influences human affairs plus the sentient technology race known as Hivers for good measure. The first half is a story of intrigue, danger, fights, escapes, and concludes with awe inspiring set of space battles that have real depth, scale and emotional impact. But they also underline we are not yet in a position as a collection of species to bring th fight to the Architects

The latter half o the novel then deals with he after math of these events. The Vulture God crew get separated; face dangers and importantly most for Idris finally start to get some answers about Unspace, what is it who may live in it and its wider connections to the Architects. This moves us into secret technology, the mystical and the strange and allows for moments of horror and again a glorious amount of set pieces all allowing the various great characters we have met a moment to shine…and create havoc.

I really like the Vulture God crew and again they all come back (those who survived last time!) to do good, make a profit or just seek a quiet life. Idris is again a central character not as lost as he was in the first novel but still someone seeking to run from his past as an Int but this has intriguingly now led him to become a trainer of new Ints for the Partheni. Notably he is more confident taking a stand in particular that he will not train those who have not volunteered for the Int process. As the story also develops Idris finds that he too really wants to know what Unspace is and actually finds this sis something he will put ahead of his crew and even his own potential survival. His path looks like it will have ever more danger in the future.

In addition, we have the return of the glorious Ollie now Captain of the Vulture God. A continually grumpy technical genius who also does not the universe get in the way of her just because she is physically disabled (again her giant attack chair known as the Scorpion makes many devastating appearances!). I also liked again the dual nature of the lawyer Kris who not only knows how to make the law do what she wants she knows when to pull out her sword for the true cut and thrust of legal and this time even academic debate. Fans of the first novel should also be aware that the solider Solace and spy Havaer (representing both Partheni and Colony interests) find themselves continually wrapped again into the crew’s adventures and ever closer to taking a side their bosses will not be impressed with. Indeed, the theme of this novel is all about co-operation being a necessity to survival. One intriguing storyline is for some people there will always be those making it only about their own survival and power to rule others

I am very pleased to say Eyes of the Void is a rollercoaster taking us into swirling hoops of adventure, plunging us into danger and giving us a new direction to move into. Great characters, fascinating civilizations and still an intriguing mystery as to what is causing all of this destruction all around. The impression I get is a huge galactic war is coming! I very much look forward to the next book! Strongly recommended!

English is not my native language so, please, excuse any errors that may have escaped my proofreading.

I received this as an advance reader copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions my own.

I am always slightly scared when I pick a second book in a series because on one hand I read a lot and on the other my memory is NOT that great. I tend to forget things very quickly or mix them up to cover the blanks in my brain. So I am always a bit afraid that I will dip my toes into a second book and feel completely out of depth. SO far, that has not happened with any of Adrian’s novels. That tells you how well drafted the whole trilogy is and how smooth the transition between books feels without loosing any complexities or main mysteries in the plot.

The fact that he does not make you wait for the big reveal is another part of his narrative that I enjoy. It is done in a way that you discover big pieces of information along the main story and they seem to arrive just a the right time. It is not too far fetched, that you feel you interest dwindling, nor too soon, that you feel spoon fed and lose interest in what is going to happen. I found myself gasping at times not seeing certain things coming and absolutely adoring the execution. Yes, I am being very vague but I am trying hard not to spoil anything for anyone. And that is hard.

It just works so well as a second book: you get to know more about the characters, everyone is getting more and more concerned about where the story is going, but at the same time, they seem incapable of doing anything against it, and you can see that the ending is going to be absolutely nerve wrecking.

The only con that I can see to this series is that if you are looking for a light read, this may not be it. It is heavy on the characters and the races, but also on the science and it is a very characteristic space opera style. You will have several plot, many types of civilisations and dubious loyalties. It is a book that you have to pay its due attention because if you don’t and you diagonally read a couple of pages, everything may have changed so drastically that you could be totally lost and uninterested.

I cannot even begin to describe how much I am looking forward to the last book to finally begin to see how all of this is going to develop toward an end. Not only I am looking forward to know how it ends, but how do we get to that end, and the fact that I care so much about that, its proof of how good a story this is.

Adrian Tchaikovsky has become one of my favourite authors in recent years, and Shards of Earth was enjoyable. There was so much to love, even though I struggled with the scale of things. Space is unbelievably massive, and we're tiny. I'm sure I'm not the only person that struggles with scale when it comes to these things.

Humanity is in turmoil, fearing extinction, as the moon-sized Architects have returned. Some believe alliances with other species can save them. Others insist humanity must fight alone. They all know that no one has the firepower or technology to ensure victory.

Idris's role as an Intermediary (Int) - altered to navigate deep space - make him one of humanity's only weapons. It also helps that he's faced down an Architect before. He's therefore forced back into action where he has to find something to stop the Architects' advance. To do so, he must return to the nightmare of unspace, where his mind was broken and remade. There, he'll make a discovery about the Architects that will change everything that humanity thinks about them.

If the idea of the Architects blew your mind in Shards of Earth, then prepare to have the remaining pieces shattered.

The Architects are going to be the stars of this series. It wouldn't be a Tchaikovsky sci-fi book if an alien species wasn't an important player. Whilst they're not a character you follow, they are most certainly the series' focal point. If you're wondering how their existence could possibly drive the story forward any further than the first book, then you're in for a pleasant surprise with the ending.

Idris is once again the book's main character, but his character has taken a bit of a change. Instead of being unwilling to participate in the war, he's become an active agent. He makes his own decisions and finds new ways of using his Int powers. It's a nice change in the character development that might be a bit polarising to some readers who loved him in the first book. But this isn't a guy that'll sit back and take it forever, and knowing that he's possibly the only person who can make a difference, it seems like a logical step in his character development. I fully expect him to change further in the third book, given the events of Eyes of the Void.

Other characters seem to take more of a back seat in this instalment. It might just be my way of thinking, but Idris's story is what propels the story forward. The relationship between Olli and Solace progresses as they work together throughout. They're not the best pairing and have conflicting opinions on a lot of things. They're coming together as a working team, though.

Solace is a vat-grown Parthenon soldier, designed with an ideal in mind. Olli, captain of the Vulture God, is disabled and uses a device called the Scorpian to move around. Solace seems to see beyond Olli's disability and shows respect for how Olli adapts to her environment. Olli sees the Parthenon soldiers as individuals who had no more choice in how they were born than Olli did. Two very different characters in every sense, which leads to some interesting dialogue and thoughts when they're interacting.

And then there's Havaer, who has a slightly bigger role than he did in Eyes of the Void. He's following the Vulture God and discovers a data packet that contains information on Humanity's ultimate plan for survival. It's a discovery that shakes Havaer to his core, making him question his loyalties. I expect he'll play an even more prominent role in the overall story in the next book because of this.

Eyes in the Void is a brilliant follow-up to The Shards of Earth. It seemed more fast-paced and tense. I also loved learning a bit more about the Architects. I still struggle with the scale of what's happening just because Space is enormous, and some of what's talked about are just massive. I enjoyed it slightly more than the first and cannot wait for the final part. I'm fully expecting it to blow my mind!

Rating: 4/5

Eyes of the Void is the second book in the Final Architecture space opera trilogy and is the follow-up to Shards of Earth.
All books should come with the synopsis of what happened previously and who is who just in case it's been a while since you've read the prequel. Thankfully Eyes of the Void does this and I thank Mr. Tchaikovsky on my knees because I'd forgotten so much of this story that I needed the reminder.
There are multiple POVs which can be slightly confusing as we switch from one to another but, again, the author has at least labelled each chapter so we know whose voice we are hearing in our head.
Once again my favourite part of Adrian Tchaikovsky's books is his descriptions. Whether it be planets, brawls, battles, atmosphere or just setting the scene, his immerse and eloquent prose manages to capture each emotion and firmly plants you in the story.
The characters, as well, are vibrant, lifelike and leap off the page. I can actually imagine sitting down and having a conversation with them.
Thankfully there was a lot less political manoeuvring in this section which made it easier to focus on the action and wow was there action.
Highly thrilling and emotive and I am looking forward to the third part of this epic trilogy.

Tchiakovsky is so prolific that there is a temptation to review the work ethic over the work. And I now take it as read that there is a level of quality in his work that will underpin the execution of the idea he has come up with. All that said, The Final Architecture trilogy does seem to have as one of its underpinning ideas "can I build a better space opera" - not least when his lead character in the first novel was a cloned warrior space nun - which is a concept that feels loosely at the heart of much British sci-fi culture for the last thirty years. When I read Seeds Of Earth I was interested in quite how many stock scenarios he was playing with, from the unknowable destructive force from eons past to the ramshackle crew of a freebooter ship. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with mashing up maybe second hand concepts with good writing and characterisation - and I enjoyed it immensely.

The problem with Eyes Of The Void, and its not a big problem, is second book syndrome. And whilst the quality is maintained, there is a real sense that we lurch from the setup, to potentially a finale, whilst only picking up a few new bits of information along the way. Idris is a much more central viewpoint character here, the handwaivey psychic that allows this space opera it stabs at interstellar travel, and he is a very introspective and dour character (as befits someone tortured into usefulness). In many ways its almost as if Tchaikovsky is writing withing the genre borders of what it is to be the middle book of a trilogy. So its never not entertaining, and there are some big conceptual swings, but it is a waystation, not a destination.

This story is a action packed voyage through space and time where you encounter many characters, alien species, warriors, ships, planets, & technology. There is much context and at times I got a bit bogged down with it but I enjoyed the descriptive interactions of the robots and aliens in the context of the story.
My thanks to the publishers, author and NetGalley for this arc in return for a honest review.

The problem with amazing sci-fi books, space operas, is that writing a coherent review is impossible for me.
This was amazing in all its complexity but writing down my thoughts? Nah, I can't do that! But I will try!
This have a lot of changing POV and the plot got exponentially bigger in this one with potential to be even bigger in the next book. I was amazed by how, for such a long book, this never got boring. Everything was important and interesting and then the ending arrived too fast!!

¡Más Tchaikovsky en vena! No es un secreto si digo que el autor británico es uno de mis escritores favoritos estos últimos años y que he disfrutado de casi la totalidad de obras que he tenido la oportunidad de leer. No han sido pocas y, encima, alguna se me ha quedado colgada y tengo que recuperar en mi lista de lectura.

Eyes of the Void es la segunda parte de la saga que arranco con Shards of Earth (publicada en castellano como Huérfanos de la Tierra por Alamut este 2022) y que le ha permitido ganar el premio a mejor obra británica de ciencia ficción del pasado año. Esta nueva entrega da lo que Tchaikovsky suele ofrecer a sus lectores cuando la primera ha gustado: más cantidad de prácticamente todo lo que funcionaba en la primera parte.

A modo de muy breve (y, seguramente, injusto) resumen, estamos en un universo donde existen unos seres llamados los Arquitectos que son capaces de acabar con todo un planeta de apenas un plumazo. Aunque ha habido varias décadas de paz, los Arquitectos han vuelto y las armas que quienes habitan este universo utilizaron para derrotarlos tienen que volver a la palestra. Entre ellas, Idris, un humano mejorado genéticamente para ser capaz de combatirlos y derrotarlos.
Sin embargo, la historia de Shards of Earth incluía mucho mas que esto. Política, descubrimientos arqueológicos, persecuciones a gran escala, cruentas batallas en el espacio y conflictos a todos los niveles que hacia de su lectura un total divertimento. Eyes of the Void es, de la misma manera, una novela con la que pasar páginas, en algún tramo quizá demasiadas. Esta segunda entrega tiene bastante más acción entendida en el sentido más adrenalínico, dejando algo de lado la parte mas política, aunque esta sigue muy presente en cuanto a cómo los descubrimientos que tienen lugar afectan a las distintas facciones presentes.

Hay dos aspectos clave de la primera novela sobre los que Tchaikovsky entra mas en detalle en este segundo volumen. Por un lado, en lo correspondiente al espacio vacío (Unspace) a través de donde las naves de este universo pueden navegar a velocidades de la luz. Es de ahí de donde los Arquitectos parecen surgir y en su interior seguramente se encuentren claves sobre su origen. Por otro, las ruinas que dejaron atrás los Originators, esos seres antiguos de los que no queda ni rastro pero que aparentemente tuvieron que enfrentarse a los Arquitectos en algún momento. Estas ruinas serán importantes a la hora de ir desenredando la madeja de teorías alrededor del origen de estos monstruosos seres devoradores de planetas.

Como era previsible tratándose de un segundo libro de trilogía, prácticamente todo lo importante queda para un tercer libro que vera la luz el próximo 2023 y con el título provisional de Lords of Uncreation. Por otro lado, y a pesar del esfuerzo de incluir al inicio del libro un breve repaso a todo lo acontecido anteriormente, he tardado bastante en entrar en la lectura de la novela dado el gran numero de razas, seres, naves y facciones en juego. Algo que ha hecho que el primer tercio de lectura se he hiciera algo cuesta arriba hasta volver a entrar en el juego.

Eyes of the Void es un volumen que hace de puente en una trilogía con un punto de partida tan interesante como lo está siendo su lectura. Acción a raudales, múltiples puntos de vista, conflictos de escala inimaginable y unos enemigos de los que seguimos teniendo tantas incógnitas como certezas. Space opera pura y dura que aúna el sabor clásico con las tendencias mas modernas.

If you have come across Eyes of the Void without having first had the pleasure of reading Shards of Earth, my firm advice is to put this one back on the shelf and head for the first book. This is a fast-paced, epic adventure where events are unspooling in various locations and features other main characters alongside hapless Idris. Even with the helpful Story So Far and list of Key Characters at the beginning, along with the excellent Timeline of Events at the end – I still think you’d flounder a tad. Apart from anything else, it would be a real shame to miss out on a chunk of this intriguing, layered examination of what it means to be alien.

As a young man, Idris volunteered to become an Intermediary in the face of the planet-wrecking Architects – and was key to stopping them during the terrible battle for survival. Now they are back and this time around, the protection given by mysterious artefacts left behind by Originators no longer work. And when Idris manages to make a connection to the Architect rampaging through the system – he discovers that it isn’t destroying the worlds on some whim, it is being ordered to do so. Which means that unlike the last time, his own pleas go unregarded.

As the situation falls away into a desperate scramble for survival, the precarious peace between the major factions splinters. I loved this particular aspect of the book, which absolutely rings true. I enjoy epic space opera when done well – but it’s difficult to pull off. Inevitably, characters can’t be written with the depth of protagonists featured in smaller settings. So writers have to know and understand all their main characters profoundly well to be able to convey that complexity with a shorter word count – and understandably, that doesn’t always happen. Not so with Tchaikovsky. His writing in this story effortlessly expands in breadth and heft to encompass the big questions hovering behind the adrenaline-fuelled action – exactly what defines difference? Is it the engineered human whose brain now functions so differently? Or is it the vat-grown women warriors designed to protect Earth, whose culture now seems so threatening? Surely, it must be the Architects with their terrifying ability to rework planets… asteroids… space station… into twisted, lifeless caricatures of what they once were? And the mysterious Originators, who appear to have designed the passages through unspace, allowing FTL travel – they are the ultimate aliens, aren’t they? He also examines the nature of family and identity. As worlds fall and humanity faces extinction, how do we ultimately define ourselves when facing our own ending?

While these questions are raised, an epic story of tragedy and ruin, rescue and compassion pulled me in and held me throughout. Though, due to my own fragile health and shaky wellbeing, I needed to take several breaks from the intensity and immensity of the story which is in no way a reflection on the writing. Highly recommended for fans of well-written epic space operas. While I obtained an arc of Eyes of the Void from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
9/10

Many sci-fi fans speak of the Golden Age of Science Fiction as something that has long since passed. Whether it’s the 1930’s, ‘40s or ‘50s, the days of Asimovs, Heinleins, “Doc” Smiths, Bradburys and more are a forlorn memory… right? From my perspective, the answer is “Hell no!” The last decade or two has seen a stunning resurgence of sci-fi and space opera that recaptures the magic of far-flung galaxies, grand ideas, scientific marvels, strange aliens and more, but at the same time delivering fast-paced, engaging narratives and characters who are actually relatable. One author who stands at the forefront of this modern movement is Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Tchaikovsky showed his natural talent for the genre with the 2015 novel Children of Time. Since then, he has honed his craft with every release (and he releases a lot of books with unbelievable frequency), and his new series The Final Architecture, starting with last year’s Shards of Earth, is space opera at its very best.

Shards established a fascinating universe, with humans and aliens melding together on a galactic chessboard rife with political strife, racism, indoctrination and in-fighting. Plus, it presents one of the coolest foes I have seen in science fiction in a long time: the Architects. This race of moon-sized, crystalline beings literally makes art out of planets, reshaping them at the molecular level to create twisted, abstract planet-level sculptures (decimating millions of lives in the process). It’s such an awesome idea—but more on the Architects in a bit.

Beyond a fabulous foe, the world of The Final Architecture is simply stunning, and so richly detailed with various alien races and factions, humans that have branched off from one another and are at odds in their ideals, religious beliefs and more. Then there are the physics of the world. With FTL travel, for example, it comes in the form of a straightforward, wormhole-type highway system called throughways, which are safe crossing through the strange depths known as unspace. Even better, this interconnected, galactic web of throughways is directly tied into the lore of the universe, having been leftover by a mysterious, ancient race dubbed the “Originators.”

Everything in this world and its history feels purposeful and interwoven. Tchaikovsky did an excellent job establishing everything in Shards of Earth, all the while ramping up the stakes for a broader conflict. Book two, Eyes of the Void, continues that escalation with astounding confidence. In Shards, the Architects returned after decades of absence to wreak havoc on populated worlds, everyone woken from their complacent slumbers and once again faced with an inexplicable threat. That book showed that Architects can be beat, but at great cost. These are truly monumental enemies, able to rip apart a planet in ways that science can’t even begin to explain. But what is more compelling is why they do what they do, and Eyes of the Void is centered around that quest to know why.

That’s where the amazing cast of characters comes in. In Shards, I loved how Tchaikovsky brought together a ragtag crew of unique individuals and smushed them together on a confined ship. (It reminds me a lot of Firefly, or the Mass Effect series.) On the shabby vessel called the Vulture God, there are different races represented, each crew member with distinct talents and personality. There’s also believable tension, emotion, friendship building and more, such that I got really invested in characters like Idris, Solace, Kris, Olli and so on. Despite the galactic scale of worldbuilding and politics on display here, this series is grounded in the best possible way by these characters.

They also serve as windows into the broader world, many having POV chapters that flesh out their history, all the while giving a glimpse into how they perceive things. It works well, because one character might be prejudiced toward a certain race (such as Olli’s aversion to the clam-like deities known as the Essiel), whereas another, like Idris, is an Intermediary who has the unique ability to navigate unspace—and he can also use that ability to enter into the minds of Architects and convince them to politely “fuck off” and not destroy a planet, please and thank you.

Tchaikovsky strikes a fine balance between engaging character development with massive stakes on a galactic level. And with the looming questions of where the Architects came from, why they do what they do, etc., the core cast is the key to unraveling the many mysteries this series has presented.

Eyes of the Void certainly answers some of the questions set up in Shards of Earth, but it also presents many more. What it does so brilliantly, especially as a second book in a trilogy, is to build upon and surpass the successes of its predecessor, all the while paving the way for the final book. This book is not perfect, mind you—there are a couple of action scenes which are written in a way that is sometimes confusing and hard to follow—but the world is dense and fascinating, the pace is quick but just right, the characters are full of charm and humor and intelligence and emotional depth, and there is just so much imagination candy with neat tech, weird aliens and more.

Shards of Earth was a stellar novel, but Adrian Tchaikovsky took it up a notch with Eyes of the Void. He has me well-and-fully hooked with this space opera epic, and I am aching to submerge myself deeper and deeper into the unspace of The Final Architecture. This series will go down as some of the best modern sci-fi, period, and there is no doubt in my mind that he will knock it out of the park with next year’s Lords of Uncreation. We are living through the Golden Age of Sci-Fi, right now, and Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of its greatest champions.

“She wanted to tell him, Look, they’re clams. You’re kneeling before an altar that’s mostly all-you-can-worship seafood buffet. But, because she was a respectable businesswoman, she said none of it.” -
Uline Tarrant’s private thoughts on the Essiel, the ‘divine’ masters of the Hegemony, an alien empire.

My thanks to Pan Macmillan/Tor for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Eyes of the Void’ by Adrian Tchaikovsky in exchange for an honest review.

The above quote from the Prologue of ‘Eyes of the Void’ quickly reminded me of why I so love Tchaikovsky’s writing.

This is Book 2 of the Final Architecture Trilogy and follows ‘Shards of Earth’, which has recently won Best Novel in the 2022 British Science Fiction Awards.

This sweeping space opera continues the story of the salvage ship, Vulture God, and its crew following the events of ‘Shards of Earth’. I won’t say more about the plot in order to avoid spoilers for the first book.

Tchaikovsky opens ‘Eyes of the Void’ with a helpful ‘The Story So Far’ to serve as an introduction to the characters and events of the first book. However, as this is a trilogy with a continuous story I feel that the books are best read in order.

I am constantly amazed by Adrian Tchaikovsky’s creativity and Galaxy-building. Also, his characters are memorable and I love how even in the midst of the many dangerous situations they find themselves in there is always time to exchange quips and banter.

Following the main text Tchaikovsky provides various reference material including a glossary, lists of characters, ships, and worlds, and a comprehensive timeline.

Highly recommended.

I am very sorry Mr T, I so enjoyed reading Ogres that I jumped at the opportunity to read Eyes of the Void. Likely my mistake for not reading Shards of Earth first as I was totally lost by 10% of the way into the Void and have had to put it on the back-burner until I read volume 1. My 3 star rating reflects the denseness of the prose which I posit should still have been understandable without the need to read Shards of Earth first, even though all of the character nuances would not have been apparent.

Almost exactly a year ago, I read and reviewed Shards of Earth, the first book in the Final Architects series and have been eagerly awaiting its sequel since then. Adrian Tchaikovsky is the reason I started reading sci-fi so I am always keen for his works. Sadly, this time he didn’t quite meet my expectations and I didn’t find myself satisfied by this book like I was by the first one. In book one, as well as the brilliant characters and the various alien species that mingle with humanity, there is the exquisite mystery of the Architects, the giant beings that appear out of nowhere and reshape planets to their will. I loved the slow discovery of these vast creatures, and to find out at the end (spoilers) that they are being controlled by some other power was something I loved! More mystery! I had my theories, and it’s been something I’ve wondered about quite often over the course of the year. That, and thinking about the great presence that lives in the Void, which was another aspect I loved.

What I think happened with Eyes of the Void is that it was both too much of the same and too slow. The book opens with another planet being destroyed by the Architects, this one a Hegemony planet, run by clam-like aliens that have, up until this moment, been able to repel any attacks with ancient technology. The Architects have found a way around this, though, and news spreads throughout the universe that nowhere is safe. This leads to Idris and his crew being invited to Arc Pallator, another Hegemonic planet under siege by an Architect; because of how many of the Originator ruins they have, it has slowed the Architect so much that researchers are able to observe the creature as it interacts with the planet. This was very cool, and a perfect chance to learn more about the history of this universe as well as the different factions, both human and alien, and the tensions that run between them.

Idris, with his modified brain, is able to sense the Architect in a unique way, and I was looking forward to bigger revelations during the scenes on Arc Pallator, but it ended up mostly building the tension between the Nativist (those who believe all modified humans are race-traitors) and the Parthenon (genetically grown warrior women). And when Idris did learn something, he only ever hinted at things and then got distracted by the conflict around him. This keeps happening throughout the book, right until the very end when the climactic discovery ended up being a disappointment to me.

I will say that Eyes of the Void does a lot more to develop the alien species present in this series, and I did really enjoy that. It’s one of my favourite things about Tchaikovsky’s writing, and he seems to have an endless imagination for that sort of thing. And, to make up for the Architects’ mystery being kept vague, there was some cool conspiracy stuff going on that I enjoyed. I also liked that some of the side characters of book one filled out a lot more in this second book, especially Olli; I didn’t like her much in Shards of Earth but she really grew on me this time as she took on a bigger role within the group and in the action. Funnily enough, the two characters I loved in the first book – Idris and Solace – ended up getting on my nerves this time around!

I really wanted to love this book after waiting so long for it, but sadly it just didn’t stand out for me, perhaps through a combination of being the middle book, being overly hyped up in my mind, and the fact that I read it right after I finished Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey, which I am currently obsessed with. I will definitely still pick up the next instalment because I still need to know and Tchaikovsky always writes very well so even his less-enjoyable works are still good.

Idris got really really annoying in this one. Like in the first book I enjoyed the representation of the nasty side of anxiety and how difficult it is to communicate verbally sometimes - and the frustration that you get from it - Tchaikovsky did an amazing job at making you feel that sort of helpless frustration and irritation. But in this one I just felt Idris was just listening to his ego. Like his main character complex had completely gone to his dead.

Okay so now thats out of the way we can get onto the actually cool characters - like Ollie. Ollie deserves a whole series to herself. Like her character is very private but what we do see is so heartbreaking as well as just epic. The found family is strong with this series and I love it.

This is a really great sequel for Shards of Earth and definitely doesn’t suffer from second book syndrome. The story progressed really naturally and stakes were definitely raised. I now can’t wait for book 3 !

The Architects are back, redeveloping planets to their own intricate designs regardless of the lives lost in the process. One has appeared above Arc Pallator, a pilgrimage planet for Essiel worshipping humans with an Originator city site. While the Architect is held in limbo by the mysterious Originator tech still in the city, Idris and the crew of the Vulture God must explore this relationship, searching for something they can use in their own war against the Architechs. Idris’s research takes him further into unspace, where he alerts the colossal consciousness that stalks humans as they travel the thoroughfares to his presence, and now something worse than the Architechs is hunting him.
Following the Vulture God, Havaer Mundy, Hugh agent, discovers a data packet that contains information on Humanity’s ultimate plan for survival that shakes Havaer to his core, making him question his loyalties.
The second book in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s The Final Architecture series starts a little after the end of The Shards of Earth, with Idris working with the Parthenon to create their own Intermediaries. Idris is still an unwilling hero. He feels he’s done enough for the war effort, sacrificing his mental health for the cause. As the story progresses and different factions make greater demands on his abilities, Idris becomes more inverted. However, he meets people who force him to face the decisions he makes and the danger he puts himself into for his thirst for knowledge. By the end, Idris has changed from an unwilling participant in the war to an active agent, making his own decisions and finding new ways of using his Int powers. I love Idris’s character development, but it also scares me about what will happen to him in the next book.
I can’t talk about character development without mentioning the relationship between Olli and Solace. Olli is disabled and uses a device called the Scorpian to move around, while Solace is a vat-grown Parthenon soldier, designed with an ideal in mind. There is no room in the Parthenon for someone like Olli, but she is the most capable of all the Vulture God’s crew as she is captain, pilot, engineer and a one-woman army when the situation requires it. Solace and Olli butt heads throughout, but this lessens as the two women work together. Solace sees beyond Olli’s disability and respects how Olli adapts to her environment, while Olli sees the Parthenon soldiers as individuals who had no more choice in how they were born than Olli did. There is hope for them in the future.
Havaer has a bigger role in Eyes in the Void, following the Vulture God because he knows them and uncovering Hugh’s bug out plan for humanity when the Architechs reach them. We’ve seen the plan before in disaster stories, but I won’t say what; you’ll have to read it to find out. However, seen through Havaer’s eyes, it is shocking and painful to read. The book was enhanced by having more of Havaer, in my opinion. I enjoyed seeing how he worked in all situations, and it gave me more of an understanding of Hugh as an organisation.
Eyes in the Void is an outstanding follow up to The Shards of Earth. It was fast-paced and so tense that it left me breathless at times. I will be spending my own money on a physical copy, and that is the highest recommendation I can give for you to do the same!