#elder race

[randombookquotes]

elder race- adrian tchaikovsky

[azure-sorceress]

Every few months I have to read Adrian Tchaikovsky because he is an author who constantly puts out speculative fiction in which one of the main themes is always empathy (or lack thereof and how that fucks everyone).

Yes, I know he's not the only one writing this, but he is the only one releasing like three books a year so I never go without them.

[rhetoricandlogic]

REVIEW: Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky

I know Adrian Tchaikovsky best from works like Children of Time, Children of Ruin and Dogs of War where he uses other creatures, often affected by humanity’s meddling to talk about very relatable human issues, often dealing with the issue of communicating across species boundaries. Elder Race deals with similar core themes, but all of the protagonists are human. Sort of.

Lynesse Fourth Daughter is an impetuous spare heir in a devolved human society that is at a roughly high medieval state of development (or rather, regression) who seeks the assistance of Nyrgoth, the Elder sorcerer (Elder Race, get it?) to aid against a demon that is afflicting nearby lands. The problem is that Nyrgoth isn’t really a sorcerer but a low level anthropologist who’s notionally supposed to be tracking the development of a colony on behalf of the successors to the more developed human civilisation that originally set them there.

Yes, this is very much nailing the ‘any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic’ trope right on the head, but it does it very well.

Things are complicated by the facts of exactly why Nyrgoth is alone in his tower and has a reputation for coming to these people’s aid in former generations and the story really turns on the difficult relationship between Lynesse and Nyrgoth and their vastly different outlooks on the world.

Elder Race is not a long book, definitely in novella territory but it packs a lot of big ideas and sharp characterisation into the low word count. Tchaikovsky uses the contrast between the core characters as a way to show how people can be very different but also ultimately very much alike.

You have Lynesse being impetuous and determined while Nyr is restrained, overly cerebral and battles depression. Lynesse sees Nyr’s capabilities as magical while he’s all too aware of his limitations and the science at play. At the same time, for wildly different reasons both fear that they are failures and want to prove themselves, to find connection to a kindred spirit or find meaning in their lives.

The difficulties of communication are fun as well, as Nyr’s imperfect translations of Lynesse’s lingual drift leads to him trying to explain science to her but the meanings sound like magical terms, so he ends up saying “I’m not a sorcerer, I’m a magician” and similar to great mutual frustration.

Throw in the way that Nyr often misreads things like how clothing styles are supposed to work or the nuances of local power structures or manners and theres a neat comment on how being a more advanced, supposedly Elder Race and having a near omnipotent viewpoint isn’t as great when you lack context.

Ultimately, the demonic antagonist ends up being almost beyond Nyrgoth’s science anyway, which implies that there’s more going on in this universe than he’d previously been aware of and maybe they have made contact with a genuinely Elder Race and not just a coloniser with some cool toys. The shared existential dread of a genuine Outside Context Moment is a nice subversion of the tone of the story up to that point.

I also detected a fun pun where Lynesse refers to the adversary as a demon, yet how it works seems to be analogous to what a daemon in computer terminology does, except operating on a biological level.

All in all Elder Race is a really fun novella, displaying Tchaikovsky’s trademark sharp prose and big ideas conveyed in interesting ways. It feels like a nice thought experiment that worked out into a compelling story and I’d recommend this to existing Tchaikovsky fans, plus anyone who likes Iain M. Banks, Ann Leckie or Gareth L. Powell.

[tigerlyla-of-metinna]

NPC Wednesday: Hidden Elves of Toussaint

The elves are hiding in plain sight among the human citizens of the Duchy. Try chatting with them and they will insist that they are just ordinary (human) bystanders.

Shots given to me by JellyBearby (IG) and my PS retouches.

[lilareviewsbooks]

More Short SFF Books!

Guys! Thank you so much for the love on my post on short SFF books! It was a lot for a tiny little blog like me lmao, and it made me feel very appreciated - thank you, again! 

I thought that because of all that love, this deserved a second edition. So, since short SFF is definitely my specialty, and I won't stop reading these novellas any time soon, here's some other SFF short books I think might be worth your time!

Also, check out part one of this list if you’d like some more books in this vein :)

The Monk and Robot Duology, starting with A Psalm For The Wild-Built, by Becky Chambers

152 to 160 pages

duology (so far!! I'm hoping and praying, Ms. Chambers!)

queer rep of all kinds, but our protagonist is non-binary! 

If you know me, then it's a surprise this didn't make it into the first edition of this list. I love Monk and Robot! They're My Favorite Books, so rest assured that they come very highly recommended!

This one follows Sibling Dex, a disciple of Allae, the god of small comforts, as they decide to change the course of their professional life and become a travelling tea monk. Along the way, they meet Mosscap, a very friendly robot, with one question - "what do humans need?" There's just one problem: robots have been living in the wild for generations, and they haven't interacted with humans since they gained consciousness. Can Sibling Dex handle this responsibility?

I hardly have the words to describe this one. This is a sci-fi, I guess, but it feels like a fantasy -- it's just so atmospheric and draws you into this utopian and equitable world full of nature and community. Monk and Robot really emphasizes the best parts of life, the best parts of humanity. It will warm your heart because you will see your life in it - in all it's smallness and its gorgeousness. It's perfect if you want something that's short, sweet, and with a conflict that doesn't span the whole entire world, but is focused instead on two people - or, I guess, on one person and a robot. 

Mandatory reading for everyone! Get your hands on a copy, you won't regret it!

Our Lady of Endless Worlds Duology, starting with Sisters of the Vast Black, by Lina Rather

176 to 192 pages

duology

sapphic rep

We're staying on theme here, with another religious-y pick. I give you: Sisters of the Vast Black! This one is about nuns! In space!

Some time into the future, the Catholic Church is alive and well. The sisters of the Order of Saint Rita live on their (get this) living ship, a gigantic animal they use to navigate between space stations and planets. I think this one is worth it just for that concept, I fell in love with it!

This book follows the Sisters as they receive a distress call from a colony, and find out that the Church's means might be more nefarious than they seem. But, mostly, it's about the sisters themselves, as they grapple with their faith, the ever-changing universe and the questionable morality of the Church. 

I loved this one! Not only are the characters very compelling, the setting is just so cool. This concept of the living space ship is so fucking neat, and the duology gets down to the nitty-gritty of it. Not to mention, the idea of religion, and contemporary religion in particular, surviving mostly unchanged into the future is so interesting! I don't know if it's me being nerdy, but I just found the concept here so, so compelling, I couldn't resist bringing these books home with me!

The Seventh Perfection, by Daniel Polansky

176 pages

standalone

I don't remember it being queer, but I could be wrong??

I guess this is also kind of religious in a way lmao. The Seventh Perfection follows Manet as she searches for someone for the God-King, who runs the kingdom she lives in, using her perfect dominion over the seven perfections to help her.

The unique thing about this book, though, is how the story is told. Instead of following Manet's perspective as she goes through her city, interviewing people, we only see one side of her dialogue. As Manet speaks to a shopkeeper, for example, we are only treated to his answers. In this manner, its up to the reader to put some pieces together.

Although it is nothing too complicated, - especially for veterans of books such as The Locked Tomb or fantasy behemoths like A Song of Ice and Fire, with their crazy amount of characters - the structure is pretty unique. Like Esme N pointed out in her Good Reads review of this one, it kind of reads as if you're a POV character in a videogame, going NPC to NPC. I'd say this one is for the anyone who likes different approaches to stories in SFF, and enjoys being a little bit confused!

Elder Race, by Adrian Tchaikovsky 

201 pages

standalone

no queer rep that I remember, either

Elder Race is an interesting one, as well. This one is definitely for fans of books with almost anthropological approaches to culture, such as The Left Hand of Darkness and A Memory Called Empire. Elder Nyr is a scientist, sent to another planet in order to explore it, who lives in his space ship. Except that, for the locals, that space ship is a giant tower, and Nyr is its mysterious sorceror of legend. Now, Lynesse comes to search for him so that he can help her deal with the threat of demon.

The result of the interaction between Lynesse and Nyr, and the fact that each of them have POV chapters, means that this reads as almost two separate books. One of them is a sci-fi, and that's Nyr's perspective, who is from a society with very high-end technology, and sees all problems as matters of science. Meanwhile, Lynesse sees everything as magical, so hers reads almost like a fantasy. It makes for such an interesting experience!

I think about this book constantly, and have been wanting to reread it for ages. I quite liked this particular approach, not to mention the concept! Plus, I love books that go deep into culture like this one. And, of course, it's from prolific and famous author Adrian Tchaikovsky, who wrote the Children of Time series, and although I haven't read the rest of his work, I've heard this is a good starting off point in case you want to get into his other books.

Princess Floralinda And The Forty-Flight Tower, by Tasmyn Muir

146 pages

standalone

non-binary rep

I'm always singing Ms. Muir praise, and that's for a reason! This one follows Princess Floralinda, who is locked up in a (guess!) forty-flight tower by an evil witch. She has placed one monster at every floor, and no prince has managed to get through the first one, let alone trudge up the stairs to rescue Floralinda.

With impeccable sense of humor, which is a trademark of Ms. Muir's fiction, we follow Floralinda's plight as she waits for someone to come rescue her - and then eventually notices no-one might be coming, after all. Her character development is astounding, and it's so satisfying to follow her. It's also just so impressive that so much can be packed into so little pages when it comes to her arc. 

And I forgot to mention - there's a fun fairy character who will help Floralinda on her way! I think it's worth reading just for that!

[ratsreading]

The whole of Elder Race (Adrian Tchaikovsky) is basically this premise. It's so good. So so good.

Fucked up how humanity discovered electricity and radiation and made machines and learned to make airplanes and cured diseases and our takeaway isnt that "Some Magic Is Real And Here's Why", but that magic is fake this is big boy science and it's totally not magical

[yourgothdolly]

Make me Shout🖤

[randombookquotes]

elder race- adrian tchaikovsky

[dustywave]

i would like to humbly suggest “elder race” as a great introduction to his work, especially for those who would rather not start out with a brick-sized novel. “elder race” is a very quick read compared to his other books and serves as a good example of his writing style and the themes that usually come up in his work. unfortunately it’s also impossible to summarize the story without spoiling it, and the blurb on the back cover makes it sound kinda boring. you just gotta give the first two chapters a shot and see if you’re into it

Do you have a recommendation for where to start with Adrian Tchaikovsky? Been wanting to give his books a try!

Depends what you like! This is turning into a weird ramble/list I keep editing and shifting so sorry if it makes 0 sense.

Harder space-y sci-fi

My intro was Children of Time, which is a gorgeous hard sci-fi book about sapient spiders on a terraforming project gone wrong. 2 sequels that go further into what counts as a person and what sapience looks like in a totally alien world.

Shards of Earth is probably his most classic sci-fi series - big aliens have been tearing up planets, humanity is a diaspora, scrungly space psychic for some reason ends up having to deal with it.

Cage of Souls is probably my favourite - academic sent to a prison in the wilderness, in the "Last Days of Humanity" (but actually what we call humanity is very nebulous and what counts as Last Days is very subjective, there's rat people).

Alien Clay - revolutionaries sent to a planet where everything wants to Become You. Absolute Banger, but I can't describe much without spoiling it or really diluting it.

Revolutions - trilogy of novellas in 1 volume, about different oppressive societies and what it takes to overturn them, and to sustain a new system in their place.

More grounded sci-fi

Doors of Eden - diverging timelines creating a multiverse where different species got a chance at dominance. Spacefaring trilobites. Earth-spanning Ediacaran mats. Neanderthal men in black. Slaps real hard. Great lesbians. Amazing trans woman.

Dog of War/Bear Head/third one coming out soon aaaaa - humanity creates an anthropomorphic slave race, and it's from the perspective of a dogman programmed and trained and genetically predisposed to being a Good Dog (i.e. doing war crimes on orders) and the journey of him and his pals breaking free and what it means to be independent when you've known nothing else. Lots of absolution of responsibility vs taking control of yourself. Another one that's so subtly complex I can't go into more without doing it a disservice.

Fantasy

his first series Shadows of the Apt, which I believe was based on a TTRPG, is about a bunch of insect-based cultures (he likes crawlies) and some quest-happening between them. A bit steampunk, a bit magical, not necessarily his best work at the start, but very formative for his style and ideas. And really good worldbuilding that you can feel the passion leaking out of.

The Tiger and The Wolf - bronze age shapeshifters, maybe a destiny or maybe the MC just happens to be in the middle of a bunch of shit. Really good.

City of Last Chances - a little bit China Mieville tbh, weird city where magic is strange and everywhere, under the foot of an empire fuelled by killing gods and replacing them with their own brand of orthodoxy. 2nd one I haven't read yet and I think a 3rd one soon.

I've definitely forgotten loads because he is a Machine who doesn't ever stop writing, solely to bankrupt me and make me keep rearranging the T section of my bookcases.

He also has a load of short stories, and a bunch of them are very genre-hopping. He absolutely churns them out so I'm amazed they're so consistently good. Unlike a bunch of other sci fi authors in the UK he also includes gender and racial diversity in a super thoughtful and profound way, and is constantly supporting smaller and minority authors. Most of his books' themes are about the power of community, resistance against oppressive regimes, and the strengthening of any society by variation within and around it (some of the lines in Alien Clay about the oppression of a nonbinary scientist specifically made me bawl). And person doesn't just mean human.

Also, he cultivates an amazing variety of narrative voices between and within his books, so if you don't like one please please please don't give up there and try one of the other different ones.

tl;dr: if you prefer sci fi start with Children of Time, if you prefer fantasy start with the Tiger and the Wolf.

[smokeskoomaworshipdaedra]

I do love that, at its core, the story of dagoth ur, indoril nerevar, and the tribunal is a story about 5 best friends who REALLY fucked up.

[nekrops-shaped]

consider reblogging to reach more people :3

[ggghoulish]

my maormer OC Nourin !! he’s a warrior/barbarian and I don’t have much in the way of story for him but he’s a super intense guy, very adherent to the idea of the laws of nature and survival of the fittest

[plutonium-sky]

I bring you a headcannon about those two giant mantas in sanctuary

drawn on @catofaurora 's magma

[pyre-of-pages]

Skyrim OC Intoduction: Elur Karstlaurel

(Please excuse the picture quality.)

Race: Bosmer

Gender: Female (Cis)

Age: 26 (upon first entering Skyrim)

Birth Date / Birthplace: 4th Era, Year 175 / Bravil, Cyrodiil

Main Skills: Destruction Magic, Archery, Enchanting

Secondary Skills: One-Handed (prefers daggers as a side weapon), Stealth, Alchemy

Appearance:

White hair.

Monochrome white eyes (no, she's not blind -- she's one of those Bosmer that have solid-colored eyes).

Tan skin w/ scattered body freckles/sun damage.

Deep facial scar (knife slash).

Clanmarking of Karstlaurel in the form of a blue facial tattoo.

Further Character Info:

Faction

The way I RP my characters is I give them one "main" faction that they identify with the most, regardless of whatever other guilds they may associate with over the course of the story.

Elur's Main Faction: College of Winterhold

Main Occupation: Arch-Mage of the College of Winterhold. Because most of the College's funds are spent keeping it alive, Elur makes her personal living by creating unique enchanted items she will then sell to store owners.

Clanmarking / Bosmer Headcanons

I headcanon that Valenwood / Green Pact Bosmer operate on a maternal clan family system. Clans follow the mother's line. Traditionally, members of a clan are marked with a unique facial tattoo so others can tell at a glance which family they come from. This helps to identify potential allies when traveling to different cities/provinces. However, the Aldmeri Dominion has gradually been snuffing out this "uncivilized" practice -- among many, many other aspects of traditional Bosmeri culture.

It's possible for Bosmer to have solid-colored eyes of any color (black, gold, green, brown, etc.). It's simply a phenotype the race has -- but it is more common among Green Pact Bosmer, so the Pact possibly has an impact on who carries that trait.

Backstory

Elur was born the year the Great War ended, in Bravil, to two former Green Pact Bosmer. Her parents never told her anything about their former lives in Valenwood, and that was for good reason. Eventually, Elur would learn that her parents were once Thalmor sympathizers -- soldiers recruited from Valenwood who were a part of the siege of Bravil during the Great War. Her mother, an archer. Her father, a battle mage. Both, maimed for life in the battle and left for dead in the city by the Aldmeri army -- because "Elven Supremacy" apparently means some elves are more supreme than others.

Elur grew up learning next to nothing about her race or her culture -- being raised in the slums of Bravil by two parents unfit to work in a city unwilling to give former Thalmor soldiers their trust. Unable to return home to Valenwood, her parents chose instead to raise Elur in the culture of Cyrodil in the hopes she would be more at home there than they were.

Months after being orphaned, Elur was left homeless after the Bravil drug riots. Thirteen years of drifting later, Elur decided to head to Skyrim -- recalling being told that she had ancient family ties to the province.

Ice-Blooded

On her father's side, Elur has ancient Falmer ancestry. According to him, little drops of Falmer blood still tend to pop up in their family line -- and both she and he himself had those traits: pale hair and eyes, alongside a natural talent to understand magic in-depth. He claimed that family members who showed Falmer traits were often called the "ice-bloods" among the clan.

Elur was forbidden by her mother from looking into learning magic while she was young, but once she entered Skyrim it wasn't long until Elur discovered her natural ability to understand the mechanics of magic.

Story

Elur's story will be posted in a series of short fics on Ao3. I'd rather not attempt one long, novel-length story and would rather focus on plot-relevant moments of her story in 1-4 chapter chunks. Easy reading for those who may want to skip around her story, I suppose, and easier writing for me.

The Ice-Blooded Dragon (Short Story Series) by Pyre_Of_Pages

[snowyxwitch]

I always play as a dark elf in Skyrim, so I started morrowind to get the dark elf lore. Tell me why dunmer are the most high drama ass bitches lmao. This shit is like reality show levels of drama between nerevar, the tribunal and dagoth ur.

[dragonknightofsummerset]

Took a picture with my phone, but this is cool