fiction.wikisort.org - Writer

Adrian Czajkowski (spelled as Adrian Tchaikovsky for his books) is a British fantasy and science fiction author. He is known best for his series Shadows of the Apt, and for his novel Children of Time.[1]

Adrian Czajkowski
Adrian Tchaikovsky
Born	(1972-06-04) 4 June 1972 (age 50) Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom
Occupation	Author and legal executive
Language	English
Nationality	British
Alma mater	University of Reading
Period	2008 – present
Genre	Fantasy and science fiction
Subject	Zoology and psychology
Notable works	Shadows of the Apt series Children of Time Dogs of War
Notable awards	Arthur C. Clarke Award (2016)
Website
www.adriantchaikovsky.com

Children of Time was awarded the 30th Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2016. Author James Lovegrove described it as "superior stuff, tackling big themes – gods, messiahs, artificial intelligence, alienness – with brio".[2]

Biography

Adrian Czajkowski was born in Lincolnshire in Woodhall Spa on 4 June 1972.[3] He is of Polish descent.[4] He studied zoology and psychology at the University of Reading. He then qualified as a legal executive.[5] He was employed as a legal executive for the Commercial Dispute Department of Blacks, Solicitors, of Leeds.[6] During late 2018 he became a full time writer.[5]

He lives in Leeds with his wife and son.[7][8][9]

In 2008, after Tchaikovsky had spent fifteen years trying to get published, his novel Empire in Black and Gold was published by Tor Books (UK) – an imprint of Pan Macmillan – in the United Kingdom.[10] The series was later published in America by Pyr Books. Tchaikovsky expressed desire that the Polish editions of his novels feature the original Polish spelling of his surname,[11] but these too used "Tchaikovsky".[12]

On 23 January 2019, Tchaikovsky was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of the Arts by the University of Lincoln.[13]

Career

Tchaikovsky revealed the story which is the basis of the Shadows of the Apt in an online essay entitled "Entering the Shadows" at Upcoming4.me.[14]

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.

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.[15]

Tchaikovsky has regularly expressed his intention regarding the Shadows of the Apt series not to make science better than magic,[16] 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."[17]

Awards and nominations

Tchaikovsky has received the following literary awards and nominations:

• 2016: Arthur C. Clarke Award for Children of Time (winner).[2]
• 2017: British Fantasy Award – Best Fantasy Novel for The Tiger and the Wolf (winner).[18]
• 2019: BSFA Award for Best Novel for Children of Ruin (winner).
• 2020: Sidewise Award for Alternate History - Long-form for The Doors of Eden (winner).
• 2020: Philip K. Dick Award for The Doors of Eden (nominee).
• 2021: BSFA Award for Best Novel for Shards of Earth (winner).[19]
• 2022: Hugo Award for Best Novella nomination for Elder Race.

Bibliography

Novels

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 in the Apt universe)

• Spoils of War (2016), ISBN 978-1910935217
• A Time for Grief (2017), ISBN 978-1910935217
• For Love of Distant Shores (2018), ISBN 978-1910935712
• The Scent of Tears (2018), ISBN 978-1910935712

Children of Time

• Children of Time (2015), ISBN 978-1447273288
• Children of Ruin (2019)
• Children of Memory (expected 24 November 2022)[20]

Echoes of the Fall

• The Tiger and the Wolf (2016), ISBN 9780230770065
• The Bear and the Serpent (2017), ISBN 9781509830220
• The Hyena and the Hawk (2018), ISBN 9781509830268

Bioforms

• Dogs of War (Head of Zeus, 2017), ISBN 9781786693884
• Bear Head (Head of Zeus, 2021), ISBN 978-1800241541

The Final Architecture

• Shards of Earth (Tor, 2021), ISBN 978-1529051889
• Eyes of the Void (Tor, 2022), ISBN 978-1529051933
• Lords of Uncreation (Tor, expected 2023), ISBN 978-1529051988

Standalone Novels

• Guns of the Dawn (2015), ISBN 9780230770034
• Spiderlight (Tor.com, 2016), ISBN 9780765388360
• Cage of Souls (Head of Zeus, 2019), ISBN 978-1788547246
• The Doors of Eden (2020), ISBN 978-1509865888.
• City of Last Chances (2022), ISBN 978-1801108423.

After the War series

Redemption's Blade (Solaris Books, 2018), ISBN 9781781085790, is the first book in a multi-author series. The series was continued with Salvation's Fire by Justina Robson and published on 4 September 2018.

Warhammer 40,000

Tchaikovsky's first Warhammer 40,000 novel Day of Ascension (2022), like his short story "Raised in Darkness" from Inferno! Volume 6 (2021), concerns the insidious Genestealer Cults.

Novellas

• Ironclads (Solaris Books, 2017), ISBN 978-1781085684
• The Expert System's Brother (Tor.com, 2018), ISBN 9781250197566
• Walking to Aldebaran (Solaris Books, 2019), ISBN 9781781087060
• Made Things (Tor.com, 2019), ISBN 9781250232991
• Firewalkers (Solaris Books, 2020), ISBN 9781781088487
• The Expert System's Champion (Tor.com, 2021), ISBN 978-1250766397
• One Day All This Will Be Yours (Solaris Books, 2021), ISBN 978-1781088746
• Elder Race (Tor.com, 2021), ISBN 978-1250768728
• Ogres (Solaris Books, 2022), ISBN 978-1786185280
• And Put Away Childish Things (Solaris Books, 2023), ISBN 978-1786188793.

Short stories

• "The Final Conjuration" in Two Hundred and Twenty-One Baker Streets: An Anthology of Holmesian Tales Across Time and Space (Abaddon Books, 2014) ISBN 978-1781082225, a collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories
• "Where the Brass Band Plays" in Urban Mythic 2 (Alchemy Press, 2014), ISBN 978-0-9573489-9-8[21]
• "Shadow Hunter" in Grimdark Magazine, issue #1[22]

Other Collections

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

Critical studies and reviews of Tchaikovsky's work

The Doors of Eden

• West, Michelle (July–August 2020). "Musing on Books". F&SF. 139 (1&2): 88‒94.

References

External links

• Adrian Tchaikovsky official website
• Adrian Tchaikovsky at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

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