Adrian Tchaikovsky#Shards of Earth

Adrian Czajkowski was born in Lincolnshire in Woodhall Spa in June 1972. He is of Polish descent.{{cite web | url=https://shadowsoftheapt.com/about-the-author | title=About the author : Shadows of the Apt }} He cites the natural world as an early influence, along with naturalists such as Gerald Durrell and David Attenborough, and he was fascinated by the Natural History Museum. "From there", he says in interview, "wanting to understand the behaviour – the minds – of the nonhuman started to take precedence."{{Cite web |last=Tabler |first=Beth |date=2021-03-07 |title=Interview - Adrian Tchaikovsky |url=https://beforewegoblog.com/interview-adrian-tchaikovsky/ |access-date=2024-08-20 |website=BEFOREWEGOBLOG |language=en-US}}

He studied zoology and psychology at the University of Reading although he eventually became disillusioned with the content of the course.{{Cite web |last=Tabler |first=Beth |date=2021-03-07 |title=Interview - Adrian Tchaikovsky |url=https://beforewegoblog.com/interview-adrian-tchaikovsky/ |access-date=2024-08-20 |website=BEFOREWEGOBLOG |language=en-US}} He then qualified as a legal executive. He was employed as a legal executive for the Commercial Dispute Department of Blacks, Solicitors, of Leeds{{cite web |url=https://www.lawblacks.com/Portals/43/pdf/WhosWho.pdf|title=Who's Who?|website=www.lawblacks.com|access-date=23 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210223739/http://www.lawblacks.com/Portals/43/pdf/WhosWho.pdf|archive-date=10 December 2015|url-status=dead}} until late 2018 when he became a full-time writer.

Tchaikovsky's first foray into writing was in 1996 when he submitted several stories for publication in Xenos magazine. In the early 2000, he won Xenos's annual competition with the short story The Roar of the Crowd, only for the magazine to fold pre-publication.{{Cite web |title=Clarkesworld Magazine - Science Fiction & Fantasy |url=https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/tchaikovsky_interview/ |access-date=2024-06-21 |website=Clarkesworld Magazine |language=en-US}}

In 2008, after Tchaikovsky had spent fifteen years trying to get published, his novel Empire in Black and Gold was finally published by Tor Books (UK){{spaced ndash}}an imprint of Pan Macmillan{{spaced ndash}}in the United Kingdom.{{Cite web |url=http://thefirstbook.wordpress.com/2008/11/10/adrian-tchaikovsky-empire-in-black-and-gold/ |title=Adrian Tchaikovsky interview |access-date=28 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091109233137/http://thefirstbook.wordpress.com/2008/11/10/adrian-tchaikovsky-empire-in-black-and-gold/ |archive-date=9 November 2009 |url-status=dead }} The series was later published in America by Pyr Books. Tchaikovsky expressed the desire that the Polish editions of his novels feature the original Polish spelling of his surname,{{cite web|url=http://theinsectman.livejournal.com/12934.html|title=The Long Good Lunch|date=30 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313160343/http://theinsectman.livejournal.com/12934.html|archive-date=13 March 2012|url-status=live|last=Tchaikovsky|first=Adrian|work=Empire Rising|quote=However, as the possibility of the Polish rights being sold seems extremely viable, there is an epilogue to this tale of Frankish ignorance, for in Poland, one would strongly assume, I may finally see my name in print in its unadulterated form.}} but these too used "Tchaikovsky".{{cite web|url=http://www.imperiumczerniizlota.pl/cykl.php|title=Imprerium Czerni i złota – Adrian Tchaikovsky|publisher=Rebis|language=pl|access-date=12 October 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101009011123/http://www.imperiumczerniizlota.pl/cykl.php| archive-date= 9 October 2010}}

On 23 January 2019, Tchaikovsky was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of the Arts by the University of Lincoln.{{cite web|url=https://thelincolnite.co.uk/2019/01/first-nursing-associates-graduate-among-1000-students-in-lincoln/|title=First nursing associates graduate among 1,000 students in Lincoln|publisher=The Lincolnite|access-date=23 January 2019|date=23 January 2019}}

He lives in Leeds with his wife and son.{{cite web |title=Pan Macmillan author page |url=http://www.panmacmillan.com/author/adriantchaikovsky |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113015405/http://www.panmacmillan.com/author/adriantchaikovsky |archive-date=13 January 2012 |access-date=2 April 2012}}{{cite book |last=Tchaikovsky |first=Adrian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FUzKQgAACAAJ |title=The Scarab Path |publisher=Tor Books |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-330-51145-2}}{{cite web |last=Wright |first=Jonathan |date=September 2009 |title=Meet a Brit author in the vanguard of the new heroic fantasy… |url=http://shadowsoftheapt.com/about-the-author |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100308015730/http://shadowsoftheapt.com/about-the-author |archive-date=8 March 2010 |access-date=15 March 2010 |work=SFX Magazine}}

Tchaikovsky revealed the basis of Shadows of the Apt in an online essay entitled "Entering the Shadows" at Upcoming4.me.{{cite web|url=http://upcoming4.me/news/book-news/story-behind-shadows-of-the-apt-by-adrian-tchaikovsky-entering-the-shadows|title=Story behind Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky – Entering the Shadows|publisher=Upcoming4.me|access-date=8 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006072125/http://upcoming4.me/news/book-news/story-behind-shadows-of-the-apt-by-adrian-tchaikovsky-entering-the-shadows|archive-date=6 October 2014|url-status=dead}}

Whilst studying at the University of Reading, he managed a role-playing game named Bugworld. The game concerned the story of the insect-people of the Lowlands threatened by the encroaching Wasp Empire. From this original scenario, the entire series of books grew.{{Cite web |date=2014-10-06 |title=Story behind Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky - Entering the Shadows - Upcoming4.me |url=http://upcoming4.me/news/book-news/story-behind-shadows-of-the-apt-by-adrian-tchaikovsky-entering-the-shadows |access-date=2024-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006072125/http://upcoming4.me/news/book-news/story-behind-shadows-of-the-apt-by-adrian-tchaikovsky-entering-the-shadows |archive-date=6 October 2014 }}

Tchaikovsky still uses role-playing games to help develop his stories, but now also uses live action role-playing, which assists in describing the numerous action and battle sequences in his books. He is currently involved with the LARP game Empire.{{cite web|url=https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire;jsessionid=1och1cqczani54j0o1yxm1yzj?0|title=Profound Decisions – Empire|website=www.profounddecisions.co.uk|access-date=23 January 2019}}

Tchaikovsky has regularly expressed his intention regarding the Shadows of the Apt series not to make science better than magic,See Magic in fiction or vice versa: "This is another key element, really: the magic/tech divide is a concept that turns up here and there in fantasy, but usually one side is good (mostly magic) and the other (dirty polluting tech) is bad. With the world of the kinden, they’re basically both as bad as the people who use them, whether it’s blood sacrifice in a Mantis-kinden grove or the Wasp Empire’s city-levelling weaponry."{{cite web|url=https://www.londoncalling.com/features/interview-with-adrian-tchaikovsky-author-of-shadow-of-the-apt-series|title=Interview with Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Shadow of the Apt series|website=www.londoncalling.com|access-date=23 January 2019|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124041547/https://www.londoncalling.com/features/interview-with-adrian-tchaikovsky-author-of-shadow-of-the-apt-series|archive-date=2019-01-24}}

Themes in Tchaikovsky's books include: "the frailties of human bureaucracy and the difficulty we have in seeing beyond the human perspective,"{{Cite web |last=Brooks |first=Robin |date=2024-06-06 |title='Service Model' by Adrian Tchaikovsky: A Book Review |url=https://geekdad.com/2024/06/service-model-by-adrian-tchaikovsky-a-book-review/ |access-date=2024-06-09 |website=GeekDad |language=en-US}} and "the terrible things we do to each other and the dogged resistance offered by the victim-participants in the vile mills of misery that are totalizing governments and wars of aggression."{{Cite web |date=2024-03-15 |title=Russell Letson Reviews House of Open Wounds by Adrian Tchaikovsky |url=https://locusmag.com/2024/03/russell-letson-reviews-house-of-open-wounds-by-adrian-tchaikovsky/ |access-date=2024-06-09 |website=Locus Online |language=en-US}} Critics have commented positively on his "definitive" depiction of alien civilizations{{Cite news |last=Hamilton |first=Peter F. |date=2020-06-24 |title=Top 10 books about remaking the future |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jun/24/top-10-books-about-remaking-the-future-peter-f-hamilton |access-date=2024-06-09 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} and his treatment of "huge themes about belief, artificial intelligence, legacy, discovery, alienness and much more."{{Cite magazine |last=Insider |first=WIRED |title=29 of the Best Science Fiction Books Everyone Should Read |url=https://www.wired.com/story/best-sci-fi-books/ |access-date=2024-06-09 |magazine=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}} In an interview with Jon Sutton for the British Psychological Society, Tchaikovsky says that "Human perception of time is one of the biggest limitations of being human," and that this shortcoming lies behind many current problems, such as climate change.{{Cite web |title='Human perception of time is one of the biggest limitations of being human' |url=https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/human-perception-time-one-biggest-limitations-being-human |access-date=2024-06-25 |website=BPS |language=en}}

Tchaikovsky has received the following literary awards and nominations:

Shadows of the Apt

• Main novels
• Empire in Black and Gold (2008), {{ISBN|978-0-230-73646-7}}
• Dragonfly Falling (2009), {{ISBN|978-0-230-70415-2}}
• Blood of the Mantis (2009), {{ISBN|978-0-230-70416-9}}
• Salute the Dark (2010), {{ISBN|978-0-330-51144-5}}
• The Scarab Path (2010), {{ISBN|978-0-330-51145-2}}
• The Sea Watch (2011), {{ISBN|978-0-330-51146-9}}
• Heirs of the Blade (2011), {{ISBN|978-0-230-75699-1}}
• The Air War (2012), {{ISBN|978-0-230-75700-4}}
• War Master's Gate (2013), {{ISBN|978-0-230-75701-1}}
• Seal of the Worm (2014), {{ISBN|978-0-230-77001-0}}

• Tales of the Apt (short story collections)
• Spoils of War (2016), {{ISBN|978-1-910935-21-7}}
• A Time for Grief (2017), {{ISBN|978-1-910935-46-0}}
• For Love of Distant Shores (2018), {{ISBN|978-1-910935-71-2}}
• The Scent of Tears (2018), {{ISBN|978-1-910935-93-4}}

Children of Time

• Children of Time (2015), {{ISBN|978-1-4472-7328-8}}
• Children of Ruin (2019), {{ISBN|978-1-5098-6585-7}}
• Children of Memory (2022), {{ISBN|978-1-5290-8717-8}}

Echoes of the Fall

• The Tiger and the Wolf (2016), {{ISBN|978-0-230-77006-5}}
• The Bear and the Serpent (2017), {{ISBN|978-1-5098-3022-0}}
• The Hyena and the Hawk (2018), {{ISBN|978-1-5098-3026-8}}

Bioforms

• Dogs of War (2017), {{ISBN|978-1-78669-388-4}}
• Bear Head (2021), {{ISBN|978-1-80024-154-1}}
• Bee Speaker (2025), {{ISBN|978-1-03590-145-6}}

The Tyrant Philosophers

• City of Last Chances (2022), {{ISBN|978-1-80110-842-3}}
• House of Open Wounds (2023), {{ISBN|978-1-0359-0138-8}}
• Days of Shattered Faith (2024), {{ISBN|978-1-0359-0152-4}}
• Lives of Bitter Rain (2025) (novella), {{ISBN|978-1-0359-1144-8}}

The Final Architecture

• Shards of Earth (2021), {{ISBN|978-1-5290-5188-9}}
• Eyes of the Void (2022), {{ISBN|978-1-5290-5193-3}}
• Lords of Uncreation (2023), {{ISBN|978-1-5290-5198-8}}

Standalone novels

• Guns of the Dawn (2015), {{ISBN|978-0-230-77003-4}}
• Spiderlight (2016), {{ISBN|978-0-7653-8836-0}}
• Cage of Souls (2019), {{ISBN|978-1-78854-724-6}}
• The Doors of Eden (2020), {{ISBN|978-1-5098-6588-8}}
• Alien Clay (2024), {{ISBN|978-0-316-57896-7}}
• Service Model (2024), {{ISBN|978-1-250-29028-1}}
• Shroud (2025), {{ISBN|9781035013791}}

After the War

• Redemption's Blade (2018), {{ISBN|978-1-78108-579-0}}, is the first book in a multi-author series. The series continued with two books by Justina Robson.

Warhammer 40,000

• Day of Ascension (2022), is Tchaikovsky's first Warhammer 40,000 novel, and like his short story Raised in Darkness from Inferno! Volume 6 (2021), concerns the insidious Genestealer Cults.
• On the Shoulders of Giants (2022), is a part of the multi-author anthology On the Shoulders of Giants and Other Stories, {{ISBN|9781836090014}}

Expert Systems

• The Expert System's Brother (2018), {{ISBN|9781250197566}}
• The Expert System's Champion (2021), {{ISBN|978-1250766397}}

Terrible Worlds

• Revolutions
• Ironclads (2017), {{ISBN|978-1781085684}}
• Firewalkers (2020), {{ISBN|9781781088487}}
• Ogres (2022), {{ISBN|978-1786185280}}

• Destinations
• Walking to Aldebaran (2019), {{ISBN|9781781087060}}
• One Day All This Will Be Yours (2021), {{ISBN|978-1781088746}}
• And Put Away Childish Things (2023), {{ISBN|978-1786188793}}.

• Transformations
• Saturation Point (2024), {{ISBN|978-1837861743}}.
• The Hungry Gods (2025), {{ISBN|978-1837865512}}.

Standalone Novellas

• Made Things (2019), {{ISBN|9781250232991}}
• The House on the Old Cliff (Dyslexic Friendly Quick Read) (2021), {{ISBN|9781913603045}}
• Elder Race (2021), {{ISBN|978-1250768728}}

• "The Final Conjuration" in Two Hundred and Twenty-One Baker Streets: An Anthology of Holmesian Tales Across Time and Space (2014) {{ISBN|978-1781082225}}, a collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories.
• "Where the Brass Band Plays" in Urban Mythic 2 (2014), {{ISBN|978-0-9573489-9-8}}{{cite web|url=https://alchemypress.wordpress.com/alchemy-publications/2014-publications/urban-mythic-2/|title=Urban Mythic 2|date=12 August 2014|access-date=23 January 2019}}
• "Shadow Hunter" in Grimdark Magazine, issue #1{{Cite web|url=http://grimdarkmagazine.com/products/grimdark-magazine-1|title = Grimdark Magazine #1}}
• Human Resources (2025), is set in the world of Service Model, {{ISBN|9781250375933}}

• Feast and Famine (New Con Press, 2013), {{ISBN|978-1907069543}}. This collection contains the stories "Feast and Famine", "The Artificial Man", "The Roar of the Crowd", "Good Taste", "The Dissipation Club", "Rapture", "Care", "2144 and All That", "The God Shark" and "The Sun in the Morning".

• The Bloody Deluge (2014), {{ISBN|978-1849977647}}. Part of The Afterblight Chronicles by Abaddon Books.

• The Private Life of Elder Things (2016), ISBN 978-1911034025. Co-authored by Keris McDonald and Adam Gauntlett. A collection of new Lovecraftian fiction about confronting, discovering and living alongside the creatures of the Mythos.

• Terrible Worlds: Revolutions (2023), {{ISBN|978-1786188885}}. Collects three novellas: Ironclads, Firewalkers and Ogres.

;The Doors of Eden

• {{cite journal |author=West, Michelle |date=July–August 2020 |title=Musing on Books |journal=F&SF |volume=139 |issue=1&2 |pages=88‒94 |url=https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2020/msw2007.htm }}

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist|30em|refs=

{{cite encyclopedia |last=Clute |first=John |author-link=John Clute |date=13 June 2022 |title=Tchaikovsky, Adrian |url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/tchaikovsky_adrian |editor1-last=Clute |editor1-first=John |editor2-last=Langford |editor2-first=David |editor2-link=David Langford |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction |edition=4th}}

{{cite magazine |title=Adrian Tchaikovsky: From Star to Star |url=https://locusmag.com/2022/05/adrian-tchaikovsky-from-star-to-star/ |date=9 May 2022 |magazine=Locus |volume=88 |number=5}}

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{{Wikiquote}}

{{portal|break=yes|speculative fiction|biography}}

• {{Official website|http://www.adriantchaikovsky.com}}
• {{Official website|http://shadowsoftheapt.com|name=Official website (old)}}
• {{isfdb name |name=Adrian Tchaikovsky}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tchaikovsky, Adrian}}

Category:1972 births

Category:Alumni of the University of Reading

Category:English fantasy writers

Category:English male novelists

Category:English people of Polish descent

Category:English science fiction writers

Category:Hugo Award–winning writers

Category:Living people

Category:People from Woodhall Spa

Category:Sidewise Award winners

Category:Writers from Lincolnshire