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Guns of the Dawn
The first casualty of war is truth . . .
First, Denland's revolutionaries assassinated their king, launching a wave of bloodshed after generations of peace. Next they clashed with Lascanne, their royalist neighbour, pitching war-machines against warlocks in a fiercely fought conflict.
Genteel Emily Marshwic watched as the hostilities stole her family's young men. But then came the call for yet more Lascanne soldiers in a ravaged kingdom with none left to give. Emily must join the ranks of conscripted women and march toward the front lines.
With barely enough training to hold a musket, Emily braves the savage reality of warfare.
But she begins to doubt her country's cause, and those doubts become critical. For her choices will determine her own future and that of two nations locked in battle.
First, Denland's revolutionaries assassinated their king, launching a wave of bloodshed after generations of peace. Next they clashed with Lascanne, their royalist neighbour, pitching war-machines against warlocks in a fiercely fought conflict.
Genteel Emily Marshwic watched as the hostilities stole her family's young men. But then came the call for yet more Lascanne soldiers in a ravaged kingdom with none left to give. Emily must join the ranks of conscripted women and march toward the front lines.
With barely enough training to hold a musket, Emily braves the savage reality of warfare.
But she begins to doubt her country's cause, and those doubts become critical. For her choices will determine her own future and that of two nations locked in battle.
658 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2015
382 people are currently reading
13690 people want to read
About the author
Adrian Tchaikovsky
207 books16.5k followersADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY was born in Lincolnshire and studied zoology and psychology at Reading, before practising law in Leeds. He is a keen live role-player and occasional amateur actor and is trained in stage-fighting. His literary influences include Gene Wolfe, Mervyn Peake, China Miéville, Mary Gently, Steven Erikson, Naomi Novak, Scott Lynch and Alan Campbell.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 723 reviews
April 19, 2020
Guns of the Dawn, originally published in 2015, was my favorite fantasy of 2016 … and I read a lot of fantasy. But I'll admit to a huge soft spot for anything that reminds me of Jane Austen, though this book is a lot more hard-hitting than hers.
Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
The story begins in media res, as gentlewoman Emily Marchwic fights her first battle in muggy, oppressive swamplands, as a new conscript in the Lascanne army. There’s a brief, inconclusive battle with their enemies, the Denlanders, who are almost impossible to see in the impenetrable murk until they are upon her and her friend Elise. Emily, shocked to the core by her up-close contact with death and killing, flounders away with her unit when they retreat, leaving dead on both sides behind in the swamp.
From here we flash back three years, to when the war between the countries of Lascanne and Denland first began. Their long alliance fractured when the king of Denland and his family are killed in an uprising that becomes a revolution. With their royal family exterminated, the Denlanders form a parliamentary government, but then word passes around Lascanne that the Denlanders, now intent on remaking other countries in their republican image, are invading Lascanne. A protracted, bitter war begins, and the King of Lascanne begins drafting men from every household to join the army.
Emily Marshwic lives with her siblings Mary, Alice and Rodric, and Mary’s husband Tubal and their son, on the Marshwic country estate. Though they are minor gentry, the Marshwics have been living in reduced circumstances since their father committed suicide after a succession of business failures. First Tubal joins the army, sinking his savings into a lieutenant’s badge, and then Rodric, with patriotic fervor, joins as soon as he turns the minimum age of fifteen. By that time all able-bodied men are being drafted into the Lascan army, with a few exceptions like the Mayor-Governor of their town, the dour, clever Mr Northway, whose underhanded dealings contributed to the suicide of Emily’s father. Despite their years-long bitter feud with Northway, Emily visits him to beg him to spare her brother from the army. Her pleas are in vain, although Mr Northway begins paying Emily some rather unwelcome attention, along with supplying her household with more welcome supplies of food to stave off wartime shortages.
The war drags on, becoming increasingly desperate, and eventually the King’s messages proclaim that each household is now required to supply one woman for the army. Unlike other wellborn ladies of Lascanne, Emily feels it’s her duty to go, rather than appoint a servant in her place. So Emily joins the army, after one last fraught meeting with Mr Northway. A few weeks of rather ineffective boot camp, and Emily is sent off to the swamps of the Levant front, thrown into battle with other unprepared recruits, hit with the reality of how hellish being in the midst of war really is. Emily finds refuge in her friendships with a few of the other women and with the members of the “Survivor’s Club” in their camp, including her brother-in-law Tubal and Giles Scavian, an attractive young warlock she had once met at a party. Most unexpectedly, Emily finds some comfort in her correspondence with Mr Northway. Between his clear-eyed cynicism and refusal to lie to her, and Emily’s experiences on the battle front, Emily begins to question this war with Denland. The swamps of the Levant aren’t the only thing that’s murky. Truth becomes a valuable and increasingly rare commodity.
While Guns of the Dawn focuses mainly on Emily’s wartime experiences ― and make no mistake, this is frequently grim and gritty reading ― it also deals with politics, friendship, family relationships, and romance. Adrian Tchaikovsky has created several well-rounded characters. People often surprise you in this novel, revealing unforeseen depths to their personalities as we get to know them better, and as their experiences change their views and priorities. Emily Marshwic has some similarities to Jane Austen’s Elizabeth Bennet, and Tchaikovsky has commented in an interview that Emily’s “bureaucratic nemesis Mr Northway is very much a Mr Collins homage.” Perhaps my memory of Pride and Prejudice fails me, or Tchaikovsky is thinking on a far more subtle level than I am, but the cold, corrupt and ambitious Northway is so much more intelligent and self-aware than Mr Collins that I find it difficult to see substantial similarities between them. Most surprising to me was that Northway unexpectedly becomes a sympathetic person, despite his many character failings. His attraction to Emily compels him to make adjustments to his life:
The publisher describes Guns of the Dawn as a “pseudo-Napoleonic historical fantasy adventure,” but that only scratches the surface. This novel is set in a fantasy world roughly equivalent to 18th century Europe, in the early industrial age, but the quasi-British society has more of a Regency-era atmosphere, while the political aspects echo bits of the American and English civil wars. The battlefield scenes and military elements call to mind variously the Napolean wars, the French Revolution, the Vietnam war, World War I and World War II. Using this grab-bag of European military and social history, and adding to it a touch of magic, vivid imagination and insightful writing, Adrian Tchaikovsky has assembled an engrossing, enchanting novel. This is one stand-alone novel that makes me deeply hope for a sequel.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review. Thank you!
Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
The story begins in media res, as gentlewoman Emily Marchwic fights her first battle in muggy, oppressive swamplands, as a new conscript in the Lascanne army. There’s a brief, inconclusive battle with their enemies, the Denlanders, who are almost impossible to see in the impenetrable murk until they are upon her and her friend Elise. Emily, shocked to the core by her up-close contact with death and killing, flounders away with her unit when they retreat, leaving dead on both sides behind in the swamp.
From here we flash back three years, to when the war between the countries of Lascanne and Denland first began. Their long alliance fractured when the king of Denland and his family are killed in an uprising that becomes a revolution. With their royal family exterminated, the Denlanders form a parliamentary government, but then word passes around Lascanne that the Denlanders, now intent on remaking other countries in their republican image, are invading Lascanne. A protracted, bitter war begins, and the King of Lascanne begins drafting men from every household to join the army.
Emily Marshwic lives with her siblings Mary, Alice and Rodric, and Mary’s husband Tubal and their son, on the Marshwic country estate. Though they are minor gentry, the Marshwics have been living in reduced circumstances since their father committed suicide after a succession of business failures. First Tubal joins the army, sinking his savings into a lieutenant’s badge, and then Rodric, with patriotic fervor, joins as soon as he turns the minimum age of fifteen. By that time all able-bodied men are being drafted into the Lascan army, with a few exceptions like the Mayor-Governor of their town, the dour, clever Mr Northway, whose underhanded dealings contributed to the suicide of Emily’s father. Despite their years-long bitter feud with Northway, Emily visits him to beg him to spare her brother from the army. Her pleas are in vain, although Mr Northway begins paying Emily some rather unwelcome attention, along with supplying her household with more welcome supplies of food to stave off wartime shortages.
The war drags on, becoming increasingly desperate, and eventually the King’s messages proclaim that each household is now required to supply one woman for the army. Unlike other wellborn ladies of Lascanne, Emily feels it’s her duty to go, rather than appoint a servant in her place. So Emily joins the army, after one last fraught meeting with Mr Northway. A few weeks of rather ineffective boot camp, and Emily is sent off to the swamps of the Levant front, thrown into battle with other unprepared recruits, hit with the reality of how hellish being in the midst of war really is. Emily finds refuge in her friendships with a few of the other women and with the members of the “Survivor’s Club” in their camp, including her brother-in-law Tubal and Giles Scavian, an attractive young warlock she had once met at a party. Most unexpectedly, Emily finds some comfort in her correspondence with Mr Northway. Between his clear-eyed cynicism and refusal to lie to her, and Emily’s experiences on the battle front, Emily begins to question this war with Denland. The swamps of the Levant aren’t the only thing that’s murky. Truth becomes a valuable and increasingly rare commodity.
While Guns of the Dawn focuses mainly on Emily’s wartime experiences ― and make no mistake, this is frequently grim and gritty reading ― it also deals with politics, friendship, family relationships, and romance. Adrian Tchaikovsky has created several well-rounded characters. People often surprise you in this novel, revealing unforeseen depths to their personalities as we get to know them better, and as their experiences change their views and priorities. Emily Marshwic has some similarities to Jane Austen’s Elizabeth Bennet, and Tchaikovsky has commented in an interview that Emily’s “bureaucratic nemesis Mr Northway is very much a Mr Collins homage.” Perhaps my memory of Pride and Prejudice fails me, or Tchaikovsky is thinking on a far more subtle level than I am, but the cold, corrupt and ambitious Northway is so much more intelligent and self-aware than Mr Collins that I find it difficult to see substantial similarities between them. Most surprising to me was that Northway unexpectedly becomes a sympathetic person, despite his many character failings. His attraction to Emily compels him to make adjustments to his life:
'But do not cast so much blame my way, Miss Marshwic, for I do what I can. What would you do if all you could accomplish were little evils to ward off worse?'There’s a limited amount of magic in the world of Guns of the Dawn, which doesn’t touch most people in their day-to-day lives. Muskets and swords are their primary weapons in battle, but the soldiers are aided by warlocks who are magically gifted with powerful flame-throwing abilities ― highly useful in war! ― that they received from the touch of the king of Lascanne. There are also a few glimpses of non-human races, particularly the small native indigenes who live in the Levant swamps, understood and appreciated by only a very few humans.
'You have not scrupled at little evils previously, I think,' she said, but her tone was not as harsh as before.
'But those were for my own good,' he told her, and a ghost of his smile returned. 'Now I am soiling my soul for others, and it does not sit half so well with me.'
'You are candid, Mr Northway.'
'I have always spoken the truth with you, Miss Marshwic,' he said. 'Possibly because I so enjoy your expressions of outrage.'
The publisher describes Guns of the Dawn as a “pseudo-Napoleonic historical fantasy adventure,” but that only scratches the surface. This novel is set in a fantasy world roughly equivalent to 18th century Europe, in the early industrial age, but the quasi-British society has more of a Regency-era atmosphere, while the political aspects echo bits of the American and English civil wars. The battlefield scenes and military elements call to mind variously the Napolean wars, the French Revolution, the Vietnam war, World War I and World War II. Using this grab-bag of European military and social history, and adding to it a touch of magic, vivid imagination and insightful writing, Adrian Tchaikovsky has assembled an engrossing, enchanting novel. This is one stand-alone novel that makes me deeply hope for a sequel.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review. Thank you!
March 13, 2017
I killed my first man today
Yes, the cover is what pulled me in but the blurb sounded good so I went for it. The beginning started out good and then it switched to telling the story of how it all began. I thought it was a little bland during those parts.
Emily and her family are upstanding citizens in their town. Their father owned a printing shop until he (lets just say, died.) They have a large home and Emily lives there with her sisters, Alice & Mary, Mary's husband, Tubal and their baby Francis and Emily's brother Rodric. There are also servents, etc.
And then. . . . Denland launches a war on Lascanne and Tubal and Rodric get drafted to go fight. No one wants this of course but they keep saying they will win if they just get more men on the field.
And then . . . . they wanted women on the field so instead of sending one of the servants like some other people have done, Emily goes herself.
. . . and I breathe it like the air, now. The smell of the guns is become to me like water to a fish: a thing I take for granted. At first it was simply something that I did not notice any more. Now it is a part of my life I cannot live without. There is power in pulling a trigger: power over the world, in that split moment of sound and fury.
Emily has been trained with other women. She has watched her friends die and come too close to death herself. But, she fights on and on and on.
Maybe it was just me, but there are some warlocks in the book and I'm not sure why they didn't just blow everyone up. I might have missed something though.
One of my favorite characters was Mallen, he was just too cool and he saved Emily many times over.
I thought this was a really good book that drags you <-- literally, through swamps and fighting and a revelation that is too shocking for Emily to believe. To me the revelation wasn't all that surprising knowing how the world works. It was just sad at all the needless deaths and things.
Overall, it was a really good book and I loved Emily's bravery. ❤
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
October 26, 2017
Imagine Elizabeth Bennet who goes to war with a musket in her hand. The Austenesque milieu (and dry wit) meshed with the gloomy heroism of Napoleonic wars will give you Guns of the Dawn.
Words of adequate praise escape me when I’m trying to write a review of what has, without a shred of doubt, been one of the best reads this year. But before I start, two things that will immediately let you know whether this beautiful and smart book is for you.
Firstly, it is a fantasy-lite; surely you will find some magic and an odd warlock here and there, but don’t expect the usual fantasy repertoire with magical creatures and fantastic occurrences defying laws of the mundane world. There is only the sheerest veneer of the supernatural to this extent that you might have a feeling that you are reading a historical novel (even a romance) not a fantasy one.
Secondly, it is a slow-burn; surely when it burns it does so brightly that you will end up with your very soul scorched, but in order to get there, you will need to endure a gradual buildup of plot and character development. Of course, there are war scenes, and battles that kept me on the verge of sanity, and plot twists. However, even I was impatient for the story to pick up, and the book became unputdownable only around chapter 22. While the novel opens with a battle scene, then we retrace what has happened before in a nearly three-year period and only then move forward. For those readers accustomed to action-led adventures full of cliffhangers and forking twists, this might prove to be an insurmountable obstacle.
As for the reasons why the Guns of the Dawn surpasses many other books, the writing style comes to the fore (always a huge plus because a badly written good story is a two-star at most for me). Tchaikovsky’s prose is fluid, succinct when needed, touching on poetry when necessary. It paints scenery and conjures people so alive, with each scene so poignant as only a little masterpiece miniature can be.
Read these descriptions: “His composure cracked just for a second, and something hungry and hopeful looked out at her. She thought it made him grotesque, but then she thought it made him human” even those laced with dry sarcasm (and I loved it!) “His pose was trying for the heroic, but managing more the look of the constipated.” In general, I love the elegance of Tchaikovsky’s dialogues, something that was so natural for the people of the period. It seems to me that our contemporary conversations are so crude as if our own civilisation was on the verge of returning to animal grunts. And then I read something like the Guns of the Dawn (or The Aeronaut's Windlass or even The Lies of Locke Lamora) and I am inwardly gushing and preening with pleasure.
‘So you can be bought,’ he murmured, as he led her out onto the floor. ‘But with good deeds. What a costly currency’
Emily Marshwic, the main character, is my new favourite female protagonist in fantasy (next to Hermione, Mustang and Eowyn). Yes, she is that good. I'm usually wary of a man writing as a woman because most of them create main female protagonists that are essentially, pardon my French, males with tits. Emily is credible and I connected with her easily, from the very beginning when she lives the life of an impoverished, provincial gentry, to her first steps as a female on the frontline, to somebody who carries the war within her even after the battles have been fought. She is principled and sensible and unbending but at the same time, she grows out of the corset of a sheltered young woman existing merely within the constraints of a polite society. She is a fighter, at her best when things are far from easy, the war remakes her, and she is not what she thought herself to be when she is tested becoming, instead, something she cannot control - an idea of a hero for people around her.
“Don’t rely on me. I only got the rank because of family. I’m no real officer. But she couldn’t tell them that. They were relying on her. She was Lascanne, to them. She was all they had right now of the colonel, and the King.”
In all this, even though Emily's actions are considered heroic, she is not growing into a Mary Sue: "All I ever did was what I had to do. Or what someone had to do, and I was closest."
In many respects it is not the narrated story that is captivating (the war breaks out, and as the situation deteriorates, there is the shortage of males and so women are drafted into the army) but how is the tale of the main protagonist told against the backdrop of her own personal history, the stories of people around her , the political and societal intrigues. I loved the fact that despite I saw many of the things that happened coming, up until the last pages of the book I was unsure where was the author taking us. Also, you will not find clear-cut villains in this novel; characters you believe to be monsters turn out to be determined cowards, the magnanimous and benevolent demi-gods turn out to be selfish little men, while an avaricious official in drab outfit might have a hidden potential of a selfless hero.
The standard elements are reworked with sheer brilliance, even a love triangle is not annoying! Those who know my traumatic experience with Powder Mages know that I am a bit apprehensive about flintlock fantasy. It is not that the Guns of a Dawn redefined my sentiments to this sub-genre, but would definitely welcome a sequel or a companion novel. This one was too good to be a standalone.
Worthless trivia:
Fun fact no 1: Don’t judge the book by the cover and don’t judge the author by the surname. And yet somehow I thought Tchaikovsky is Russian and so I expected something like a female Doctor Zhivago or Sister Karamazov than a Pride and Prejudice during wartime. And then as I marvelled at how this Russian guy managed to capture the Austenesque way of portraying the world, I learned he’s been born in Lincolnshire…
Fun fact no 2. I love Emily Marshwic but for me she is and will remain Emily Marshvitz. Because.
Words of adequate praise escape me when I’m trying to write a review of what has, without a shred of doubt, been one of the best reads this year. But before I start, two things that will immediately let you know whether this beautiful and smart book is for you.
Firstly, it is a fantasy-lite; surely you will find some magic and an odd warlock here and there, but don’t expect the usual fantasy repertoire with magical creatures and fantastic occurrences defying laws of the mundane world. There is only the sheerest veneer of the supernatural to this extent that you might have a feeling that you are reading a historical novel (even a romance) not a fantasy one.
Secondly, it is a slow-burn; surely when it burns it does so brightly that you will end up with your very soul scorched, but in order to get there, you will need to endure a gradual buildup of plot and character development. Of course, there are war scenes, and battles that kept me on the verge of sanity, and plot twists. However, even I was impatient for the story to pick up, and the book became unputdownable only around chapter 22. While the novel opens with a battle scene, then we retrace what has happened before in a nearly three-year period and only then move forward. For those readers accustomed to action-led adventures full of cliffhangers and forking twists, this might prove to be an insurmountable obstacle.
As for the reasons why the Guns of the Dawn surpasses many other books, the writing style comes to the fore (always a huge plus because a badly written good story is a two-star at most for me). Tchaikovsky’s prose is fluid, succinct when needed, touching on poetry when necessary. It paints scenery and conjures people so alive, with each scene so poignant as only a little masterpiece miniature can be.
Read these descriptions: “His composure cracked just for a second, and something hungry and hopeful looked out at her. She thought it made him grotesque, but then she thought it made him human” even those laced with dry sarcasm (and I loved it!) “His pose was trying for the heroic, but managing more the look of the constipated.” In general, I love the elegance of Tchaikovsky’s dialogues, something that was so natural for the people of the period. It seems to me that our contemporary conversations are so crude as if our own civilisation was on the verge of returning to animal grunts. And then I read something like the Guns of the Dawn (or The Aeronaut's Windlass or even The Lies of Locke Lamora) and I am inwardly gushing and preening with pleasure.
‘So you can be bought,’ he murmured, as he led her out onto the floor. ‘But with good deeds. What a costly currency’
Emily Marshwic, the main character, is my new favourite female protagonist in fantasy (next to Hermione, Mustang and Eowyn). Yes, she is that good. I'm usually wary of a man writing as a woman because most of them create main female protagonists that are essentially, pardon my French, males with tits. Emily is credible and I connected with her easily, from the very beginning when she lives the life of an impoverished, provincial gentry, to her first steps as a female on the frontline, to somebody who carries the war within her even after the battles have been fought. She is principled and sensible and unbending but at the same time, she grows out of the corset of a sheltered young woman existing merely within the constraints of a polite society. She is a fighter, at her best when things are far from easy, the war remakes her, and she is not what she thought herself to be when she is tested becoming, instead, something she cannot control - an idea of a hero for people around her.
“Don’t rely on me. I only got the rank because of family. I’m no real officer. But she couldn’t tell them that. They were relying on her. She was Lascanne, to them. She was all they had right now of the colonel, and the King.”
In all this, even though Emily's actions are considered heroic, she is not growing into a Mary Sue: "All I ever did was what I had to do. Or what someone had to do, and I was closest."
In many respects it is not the narrated story that is captivating (the war breaks out, and as the situation deteriorates, there is the shortage of males and so women are drafted into the army) but how is the tale of the main protagonist told against the backdrop of her own personal history, the stories of people around her , the political and societal intrigues. I loved the fact that despite I saw many of the things that happened coming, up until the last pages of the book I was unsure where was the author taking us. Also, you will not find clear-cut villains in this novel; characters you believe to be monsters turn out to be determined cowards, the magnanimous and benevolent demi-gods turn out to be selfish little men, while an avaricious official in drab outfit might have a hidden potential of a selfless hero.
The standard elements are reworked with sheer brilliance, even a love triangle is not annoying! Those who know my traumatic experience with Powder Mages know that I am a bit apprehensive about flintlock fantasy. It is not that the Guns of a Dawn redefined my sentiments to this sub-genre, but would definitely welcome a sequel or a companion novel. This one was too good to be a standalone.
Worthless trivia:
Fun fact no 1: Don’t judge the book by the cover and don’t judge the author by the surname. And yet somehow I thought Tchaikovsky is Russian and so I expected something like a female Doctor Zhivago or Sister Karamazov than a Pride and Prejudice during wartime. And then as I marvelled at how this Russian guy managed to capture the Austenesque way of portraying the world, I learned he’s been born in Lincolnshire…
Fun fact no 2. I love Emily Marshwic but for me she is and will remain Emily Marshvitz. Because.
March 10, 2017
4/5
Buddy read with this champ.
Okay, so I'm going to start this review by saying this book is a hidden treasure. Seriously, if you haven't read it I suggest you do, if that gorgeous cover isn't enough to get you to purchase this book then you deserve a punch in the face. The book is set in a fantasy world in the late 19th century, if your a hardcore fantasy fan and only like EPIC fantasy or grimdark this book will not be for you, it is a low fantasy with only a tiny bit of magic. We follow our main character Emily Marshwic who I absolutely adored. It is a first person POV, which I normally don't enjoy but I feel it suited this story. Chapter one was extremely exciting and I thought I was reading a fast paced book, however chapter two goes back a few years to before the war and I realized I was reading a slow burn fantasy. The first quarter is quite boring but the rest of the novel is absolutely amazing. The story itself is basically about a war, the people of Lascanne were promised it would be a quick fight but it has dragged on for years and the towns have been left devastated by all men young and old being sent to the war, after a few years of the war going on they run out of men for the front line and start recruiting women, our MC Emily who has never even held a gun before is sent to the front line. This is where shit gets real and I swear I couldn't breath the whole time Emily was fighting in the war, it was so devastatingly sad and realistic I think the author did a fantastic job of showing his readers how the war does change people, because Emily is no longer a precious peach or a gentlewoman she is now a killing machine who can handle a gun better then most men. I can't say much more about the plot because everything will be considered a spoiler but I will say it is definitely worth reading, it is breath taking & absolutely beautiful.
If your looking for a more detailed review please check out tadiana night owl review.
Recommended to all Jane Austen fans as the writing is very similar and everyone who loves a good fiction book about war.
Buddy read with this champ.
Okay, so I'm going to start this review by saying this book is a hidden treasure. Seriously, if you haven't read it I suggest you do, if that gorgeous cover isn't enough to get you to purchase this book then you deserve a punch in the face. The book is set in a fantasy world in the late 19th century, if your a hardcore fantasy fan and only like EPIC fantasy or grimdark this book will not be for you, it is a low fantasy with only a tiny bit of magic. We follow our main character Emily Marshwic who I absolutely adored. It is a first person POV, which I normally don't enjoy but I feel it suited this story. Chapter one was extremely exciting and I thought I was reading a fast paced book, however chapter two goes back a few years to before the war and I realized I was reading a slow burn fantasy. The first quarter is quite boring but the rest of the novel is absolutely amazing. The story itself is basically about a war, the people of Lascanne were promised it would be a quick fight but it has dragged on for years and the towns have been left devastated by all men young and old being sent to the war, after a few years of the war going on they run out of men for the front line and start recruiting women, our MC Emily who has never even held a gun before is sent to the front line. This is where shit gets real and I swear I couldn't breath the whole time Emily was fighting in the war, it was so devastatingly sad and realistic I think the author did a fantastic job of showing his readers how the war does change people, because Emily is no longer a precious peach or a gentlewoman she is now a killing machine who can handle a gun better then most men. I can't say much more about the plot because everything will be considered a spoiler but I will say it is definitely worth reading, it is breath taking & absolutely beautiful.
If your looking for a more detailed review please check out tadiana night owl review.
Recommended to all Jane Austen fans as the writing is very similar and everyone who loves a good fiction book about war.
July 31, 2018
Honestly, I am shocked how much I enjoyed this. I have never read a book which is focused as much on warfare and death, tragedy and sorrow, and come away from it with a smile and a love of the book. This is the first one I can say I've read, cried over, and enjoyed throughout.
I will note, I audiobooked this, and Emma Newman is the narrator (one of my all-time favourite authors and narrators) and also that this was my first Tchaikovsky book (I am glad he has a long back catalogue now as I intend to get to many more!).
So, what is different when it comes to this book over others? There are fantasy elements, of course, but at the core of the story this is much more about grit and takes a lot of influence from the real, life-like conditions of wartime. I certainly feel that this is the first fiction book I have ever read on war that made me feel as though I was there, as though there really were things to worry about, high stakes, and terror on all fronts. I wouldn't say reading about a war is fun exactly, but to feel like you're immersed in something which I have no experience of, that was pure quality writing, and I loved it.
We follow a young woman in this book who is called Emily. She's a noble young lady, with two sisters who live with her, and as we pick up the book we see the beginnings of the war time are stirring.
Emily has a love of her home town, the people there and the way that her life is. She's someone who is happy to protest when she sees things that are unfair, and she will fight a cause until it is won. Her loyalty to Crown and land are strong, and she loves her family and country fiercely.
As time goes on and the war rages nearer there comes a time when women are drafted into it. They must take up their fallen menfolk's weapons and hold the front so as not to let the invaders take over their homes. Emily is the one who volunteers from her household, and from there we follow her struggle to adjust to a place so wrought with fighting and horror that it should never have existed.
The setting of the book is predominantly over the marshlands where the front is being held. We see Emily and her comrades battle through adverse conditions and swamps in order to make progress against the enemy and just try to hold out. There is little faith that all of them will survive, and less that they can truly repel the enemy, but there are other creatures lurking in the swamps too, and they have their own motivations.
The magic of this world comes largely from the Warlocks who are anointed by the King and given a magical fire that they can use to repel their enemies. Although normally I would say magic is my favourite part, I think in this book it is probably one of the lesser sections, and it stays mostly in the background letting the characters stand in the foreground.
Emily's character and motivations were what I loved most about this. She is quick to learn and adapt, yet she is also vulnerable and sensitive to the needs of others and her own tragedies. War is not good for anyone, and following Emily's journey we learn nothing more than that. Emily certainly kept me hooked in a way that other soldier characters haven't previously. Her dominant nature, and commanding presence as the story went on left me with a fiery liking of her, and willingness for her to succeed.
On the whole, I would thoroughly recommend this. It's set in a slightly older time period where the industrial revolution is just to begin (alternative world though) and so it's pistols and muskets, swords and more in the war. The nobility is still very much present and well regarded, and there is a King on the throne too.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I would thoroughly recommend it, even if you don't typically read wartime stories like me. I certainly couldn't have anticipated liking this as much as I did, but it cut through emotionally, and kept me intrigued throughout. It's also a very solid standalone story that works very well as a whole. 5*s from me.
I will note, I audiobooked this, and Emma Newman is the narrator (one of my all-time favourite authors and narrators) and also that this was my first Tchaikovsky book (I am glad he has a long back catalogue now as I intend to get to many more!).
So, what is different when it comes to this book over others? There are fantasy elements, of course, but at the core of the story this is much more about grit and takes a lot of influence from the real, life-like conditions of wartime. I certainly feel that this is the first fiction book I have ever read on war that made me feel as though I was there, as though there really were things to worry about, high stakes, and terror on all fronts. I wouldn't say reading about a war is fun exactly, but to feel like you're immersed in something which I have no experience of, that was pure quality writing, and I loved it.
We follow a young woman in this book who is called Emily. She's a noble young lady, with two sisters who live with her, and as we pick up the book we see the beginnings of the war time are stirring.
Emily has a love of her home town, the people there and the way that her life is. She's someone who is happy to protest when she sees things that are unfair, and she will fight a cause until it is won. Her loyalty to Crown and land are strong, and she loves her family and country fiercely.
As time goes on and the war rages nearer there comes a time when women are drafted into it. They must take up their fallen menfolk's weapons and hold the front so as not to let the invaders take over their homes. Emily is the one who volunteers from her household, and from there we follow her struggle to adjust to a place so wrought with fighting and horror that it should never have existed.
The setting of the book is predominantly over the marshlands where the front is being held. We see Emily and her comrades battle through adverse conditions and swamps in order to make progress against the enemy and just try to hold out. There is little faith that all of them will survive, and less that they can truly repel the enemy, but there are other creatures lurking in the swamps too, and they have their own motivations.
The magic of this world comes largely from the Warlocks who are anointed by the King and given a magical fire that they can use to repel their enemies. Although normally I would say magic is my favourite part, I think in this book it is probably one of the lesser sections, and it stays mostly in the background letting the characters stand in the foreground.
Emily's character and motivations were what I loved most about this. She is quick to learn and adapt, yet she is also vulnerable and sensitive to the needs of others and her own tragedies. War is not good for anyone, and following Emily's journey we learn nothing more than that. Emily certainly kept me hooked in a way that other soldier characters haven't previously. Her dominant nature, and commanding presence as the story went on left me with a fiery liking of her, and willingness for her to succeed.
On the whole, I would thoroughly recommend this. It's set in a slightly older time period where the industrial revolution is just to begin (alternative world though) and so it's pistols and muskets, swords and more in the war. The nobility is still very much present and well regarded, and there is a King on the throne too.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I would thoroughly recommend it, even if you don't typically read wartime stories like me. I certainly couldn't have anticipated liking this as much as I did, but it cut through emotionally, and kept me intrigued throughout. It's also a very solid standalone story that works very well as a whole. 5*s from me.
December 28, 2024
Still 5 stars after a re-read on audio. Strangely, I enjoyed reading this one physically over audio, but that doesn't change the fact that this is a stellar book.
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Insanely good historical fantasy. It's Sharpe meets Austen meets Downton.
Full review: https://youtu.be/wEXBvneZhK0
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Insanely good historical fantasy. It's Sharpe meets Austen meets Downton.
Full review: https://youtu.be/wEXBvneZhK0
November 20, 2017
Actual Rating: 3.5 Stars
Lascanne is a country at war.
The neighboring country of Denland has assassinated their own king. With a parliament in power, the battle for the land of Lascanne has ravaged both countries & their resources. So much so that a draft conscripting women sends gentlewoman Emily Marshwic directly to the front lines to fight for Lascanne's last hope of maintaining its sovereignty.
This novel is a mash-up of Military Fantasy & Classic Romance. But don't let the mention of romance scare you. Tchaikovsky chose a rather graceful design for how his characters interact romantically & at no point did I feel as though elements of romance detracted from the story. It's subtle, but effectively present.
Fans of Classics in the age of Charles Dickens & Jane Austen will find feelings of nostalgia in Adrian Tchaikovsky's characters. Smartly & believably crafted, two of the main characters read much like distant cousins of Elizabeth Bennet & Mr. Darcy.
My favorite aspect of this novel is, by far, the elegant style of writing. Tchaikovsky does an excellent job portraying both the niceties of noble living in the 1800's & the misery of waging a bloody war. The contrast of the two made for an enjoyable balance between description & action.
I gave this book a 3.5 stars because I would've preferred for the Fantasy element to be a bit more present. Really the only fantastical element of this story is that the King of Lascanne is able to christen warlocks into his service by invoking the power of blood magic. Otherwise, this book leans more toward Military Fiction than Military Fantasy.
I also tend to like my stories a bit more complex in nature. You will find no elaborate discussions of political strategy, no outmaneuvering the opponent with a shocking twist of events. The main conflict in Guns of the Dawn is very straightforward, and after a certain point it becomes obvious how the rest of the plot will play out. Because of this, I sort of fell out of engagement with the story as it came to a close.
Still, this is a fun book! I would recommend it for those looking for an easier read with well-formed characters, entertaining action sequences, and an English charm.
Lascanne is a country at war.
The neighboring country of Denland has assassinated their own king. With a parliament in power, the battle for the land of Lascanne has ravaged both countries & their resources. So much so that a draft conscripting women sends gentlewoman Emily Marshwic directly to the front lines to fight for Lascanne's last hope of maintaining its sovereignty.
This novel is a mash-up of Military Fantasy & Classic Romance. But don't let the mention of romance scare you. Tchaikovsky chose a rather graceful design for how his characters interact romantically & at no point did I feel as though elements of romance detracted from the story. It's subtle, but effectively present.
Fans of Classics in the age of Charles Dickens & Jane Austen will find feelings of nostalgia in Adrian Tchaikovsky's characters. Smartly & believably crafted, two of the main characters read much like distant cousins of Elizabeth Bennet & Mr. Darcy.
My favorite aspect of this novel is, by far, the elegant style of writing. Tchaikovsky does an excellent job portraying both the niceties of noble living in the 1800's & the misery of waging a bloody war. The contrast of the two made for an enjoyable balance between description & action.
I gave this book a 3.5 stars because I would've preferred for the Fantasy element to be a bit more present. Really the only fantastical element of this story is that the King of Lascanne is able to christen warlocks into his service by invoking the power of blood magic. Otherwise, this book leans more toward Military Fiction than Military Fantasy.
I also tend to like my stories a bit more complex in nature. You will find no elaborate discussions of political strategy, no outmaneuvering the opponent with a shocking twist of events. The main conflict in Guns of the Dawn is very straightforward, and after a certain point it becomes obvious how the rest of the plot will play out. Because of this, I sort of fell out of engagement with the story as it came to a close.
Still, this is a fun book! I would recommend it for those looking for an easier read with well-formed characters, entertaining action sequences, and an English charm.
October 22, 2017
What a phenomenally entertaining and well written story. I think this series favorably compares best to Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham. Both are just amazingly smooth story writers who build their world and characters through subtlety and amazing prose. This is my first book by AT it will not be my last.
If you're an action junky you're probably going to complain that the start is slow. AT builds the characters like Abraham and Sullivan first so you've fallen for them. Then puts them in complicated situation where there's no clear cut solution and even better in most cases there's no clear cut answers. It's complicated like life is.
When the battles do hit they likewise are multifaceted back and forth affairs with no clear cut winner but lots of clear cut losers. His descriptive storytelling puts you right in the center and the fear of the characters is palpable.
Outside, the sky was a deepening blue, resolving itself to black in the east. There were no sunsets in the Levant. The sun swept behind the monolithic cliffs to light that other war that was being fought up there, in the canyons and the valleys and the great open wastes of the plateaus. The nights were sudden here, in the Levant, and the sunrises drawn-out and bloody.
Such a well crafted paragraph that sets the scene so perfectly and elegantly. His writing doesn't feel like a typical fantasy author. For this book it had the feel of reading a classic from a generation gone by like All quiet on the Western Front or even a straight literary piece by be a Hawthorne or somebody else of that era.
If you're an action junky you're probably going to complain that the start is slow. AT builds the characters like Abraham and Sullivan first so you've fallen for them. Then puts them in complicated situation where there's no clear cut solution and even better in most cases there's no clear cut answers. It's complicated like life is.
When the battles do hit they likewise are multifaceted back and forth affairs with no clear cut winner but lots of clear cut losers. His descriptive storytelling puts you right in the center and the fear of the characters is palpable.
Outside, the sky was a deepening blue, resolving itself to black in the east. There were no sunsets in the Levant. The sun swept behind the monolithic cliffs to light that other war that was being fought up there, in the canyons and the valleys and the great open wastes of the plateaus. The nights were sudden here, in the Levant, and the sunrises drawn-out and bloody.
Such a well crafted paragraph that sets the scene so perfectly and elegantly. His writing doesn't feel like a typical fantasy author. For this book it had the feel of reading a classic from a generation gone by like All quiet on the Western Front or even a straight literary piece by be a Hawthorne or somebody else of that era.
September 7, 2018
I loved Children of Time so much but this book not so much. Now I just need to work out why. The writing was just as good and there was an interesting story there but somehow things just missed the mark for me.
It may be that I am not really interested in battles and fighting in general. Guns of the Dawn (and there's a clue there in the title) contains a lot of both. I actively disliked Emily, the main character, so that did not help either! For a supposedly sensible woman she was very easily swayed by almost any man who talked to her. I had to wait for over 650 pages before she did something truly worthwhile. What an ending! Worth going back and reading again. Twice. (just the ending I mean - not the whole book).
Anyway I am not deterred. I will continue reading the rest of this author's works.
It may be that I am not really interested in battles and fighting in general. Guns of the Dawn (and there's a clue there in the title) contains a lot of both. I actively disliked Emily, the main character, so that did not help either! For a supposedly sensible woman she was very easily swayed by almost any man who talked to her. I had to wait for over 650 pages before she did something truly worthwhile. What an ending! Worth going back and reading again. Twice. (just the ending I mean - not the whole book).
Anyway I am not deterred. I will continue reading the rest of this author's works.
December 13, 2024
Emily Marshwic is the heroine I’ve been waiting to read in a military fantasy novel. Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Guns of the Dawn is a book that my closest friends have been bothering me to read for quite a while, and when I finally cracked open the pages and fell headlong into the blood-soaked mud with a protagonist straight out of a Jane Austen era, I knew I was reading something special.
Far from the war torn misty swamps, we begin the tale with a genteel family holding down their estate while their country begins to rally troops, fighting back against the threat from a neighboring kingdom. Emily Marshwic and her sisters send the men in their family off to war, praying for a quick end to the conflict and their loved ones’ safe return. But as the months drag on, and there are no more men to send to fight… Emily herself must exchange her skirts for a uniform and a musket.
The story unfolds without unnecessary rush but kept me glued to the pages. Even with her determination and grit, the swampy hell of the frontlines is far beyond anything any soldier can be prepared for until they’ve seen it and lived it.
Standing proud at the front of a dynamic cast of characters, Emily charges through the pages of the story and pulls the reader along, breathless, until the very end. The story has its fair share of twists and turns, and the layers continue to unravel more and more of the war’s cold truth.
Tchaikovsky brilliantly succeeds in writing a female character who firmly deserves her place as the protagonist of a military fantasy, while still maintaining the nuances of her gender. She’s not simply a cardboard cutout character with a weapon. There were a couple of scenes in the story that felt a bit convenient and I was left wanting to see a bit more intentionality in them.
The side characters in this book are an absolute joy to a character-driven reader. If you like your secondary cast just as interesting and distinct as your protagonist, then this story will deliver in spades! Tchaikovsky can write a satisfying variety of relationships and personality styles, while still maintaining a layered plotline to support them.
Guns of the Dawn deserves the accolades it is often given. The nuances of Emily’s relationships, both with those around her and with herself, truly makes this story one of a kind in its subgenre, and one that I hope we will continue to see more of in the future.
Far from the war torn misty swamps, we begin the tale with a genteel family holding down their estate while their country begins to rally troops, fighting back against the threat from a neighboring kingdom. Emily Marshwic and her sisters send the men in their family off to war, praying for a quick end to the conflict and their loved ones’ safe return. But as the months drag on, and there are no more men to send to fight… Emily herself must exchange her skirts for a uniform and a musket.
The story unfolds without unnecessary rush but kept me glued to the pages. Even with her determination and grit, the swampy hell of the frontlines is far beyond anything any soldier can be prepared for until they’ve seen it and lived it.
Standing proud at the front of a dynamic cast of characters, Emily charges through the pages of the story and pulls the reader along, breathless, until the very end. The story has its fair share of twists and turns, and the layers continue to unravel more and more of the war’s cold truth.
Tchaikovsky brilliantly succeeds in writing a female character who firmly deserves her place as the protagonist of a military fantasy, while still maintaining the nuances of her gender. She’s not simply a cardboard cutout character with a weapon. There were a couple of scenes in the story that felt a bit convenient and I was left wanting to see a bit more intentionality in them.
The side characters in this book are an absolute joy to a character-driven reader. If you like your secondary cast just as interesting and distinct as your protagonist, then this story will deliver in spades! Tchaikovsky can write a satisfying variety of relationships and personality styles, while still maintaining a layered plotline to support them.
Guns of the Dawn deserves the accolades it is often given. The nuances of Emily’s relationships, both with those around her and with herself, truly makes this story one of a kind in its subgenre, and one that I hope we will continue to see more of in the future.
January 16, 2022
A solid 3.5 stars- I think my biggest gripe with this is that I would have loved it had it been about a third shorter. That said... it was a surprisingly readable flintlock fantasy that lives up to the pitch of "if Lizzy Bennett went to war." Think Napoleonic Wars where ye fantasie England's daughters are drafted, and our main character, Emily, finds herself in a war that isn't really about what she thought it was. I really liked the way the book ended, which made me like the story as a whole better. All that being said - this might be a candidate for a good place to dip your toes in with high fantasy as it is very readable and doesn't have a lot of complex magical systems to figure out!
CW: graphic scenes of warfare, SA
CW: graphic scenes of warfare, SA
April 24, 2017
I am baffled, I mean genuinely and deeply baffled, that this book was published two years ago. That a book this good, (and I want you to know I typed the word good with extreme fervour just now, you shouldn't read it as just good but as GOOD), a book this elegant and passionate and exciting and, ugh, just so damn good could have been published two years ago with a barely a whisper. I don't know who to feel worse for, this book for being criminally underread, or the people who've never heard of it.
But enough of this. I could scream 'it's good' in increasingly large letters, but that’s not going to make you want to read it. Instead I should talk about the prose. It strikes a perfect balance between straightforward, say what you mean kind of prose and elegant metaphors. Tchaikovsky has this really clever knack for writing the most beautiful metaphors without ever losing the intimate, conversational feel of his prose. He combines some oftentimes obliquely described imagery with a straightforward, say what you mean manner and somehow it just comes across as effortless and perfect. Here’s an early example that really struck me:
“Across hills invisible in the blackness, she saw the sparkle of Chalcaster – the lamps and torches of a scatter of early risers and late-nighters, nightwatchmen and thieves. In the unrelieved dark that surrounded it, she could have plucked it from its setting and worn it as a tiara.”
But maybe you don’t care about prose? Well that’s ok, can I interest you in an incredible plot? Two bordering nations, long time allies, are plunged into a sudden war that proves more drawn out than any anticipated. Draft after draft strips the nation bare until at last the King calls for a draft of women, one from each household. This is how noblewoman Emily ends up fighting a hideous, horrific campaign through an endless maze of swampland, hotter then hell and twice as awful. The book starts here, and them jumps back in time, which is a fantastic choice because you see Emily as a, and I don’t want to say weak because she was clearly never weaker, but perhaps as a more innocent and naïve woman and you have this knowledge in the back of your mind of where she ends up.
The book lingers over Emily’s homestead, with wide blue skies and sunlight abounding, and then it yanks you down into the mud and fetid air or the swamp, of the endless death and fruitless fighting after a while the earlier part of the book starts to feel like this whole other novel you once read, and the Emily who walked those pages a whole other character, and it feels like that for Emily too. It’s brilliantly effective. And I’m going to go into absolutely no detail on this, but the ending was fantastic. With no exaggeration one of my favourite endings of all time, just perfect.
This book has a good dash of romance. It even has one of those fabled believable and not annoying love triangles. There are two very different men in Emily’s life, and you can clearly see how she could come to care for them both and you can clearly not see which once she should and will end up with. There’s none of that bullshit you sometimes get where there’s clearly only one choice and the author expects you to play along that there’s ever any doubt, Emily’s decision feels genuinely difficult and I for one felt her pain. And the best thing is that the romance happens mostly… off page isn’t right. Between the lines, maybe? I meant to say that if romance isn’t your thing you could easily ignore most of it, but on the flipside if you love you some romance there’s so much to be unpacked.
Also there’s a lot of gun and fighting and what have you. Desperate odds and field promotions and last stands and I loved it. Moral greyness and ethical dilemmas and characters who are rarely all good or all bad. I don’t want to go into too much detail on all of this, because the joy is in discovering it for yourself.
Just, come on guys, just give this book a chance. It’s so very good. Especially if you enjoyed Django Wexler’s Shadow Campaigns series, I feel pretty confident in saying a Venn diagram of those books and this one’s fans would have only the teensiest sliver of circle representing people who didn’t enjoy both.
Guns of the Dawn. Excellent heroine. Excellent plot. Much war! So good.
But enough of this. I could scream 'it's good' in increasingly large letters, but that’s not going to make you want to read it. Instead I should talk about the prose. It strikes a perfect balance between straightforward, say what you mean kind of prose and elegant metaphors. Tchaikovsky has this really clever knack for writing the most beautiful metaphors without ever losing the intimate, conversational feel of his prose. He combines some oftentimes obliquely described imagery with a straightforward, say what you mean manner and somehow it just comes across as effortless and perfect. Here’s an early example that really struck me:
“Across hills invisible in the blackness, she saw the sparkle of Chalcaster – the lamps and torches of a scatter of early risers and late-nighters, nightwatchmen and thieves. In the unrelieved dark that surrounded it, she could have plucked it from its setting and worn it as a tiara.”
But maybe you don’t care about prose? Well that’s ok, can I interest you in an incredible plot? Two bordering nations, long time allies, are plunged into a sudden war that proves more drawn out than any anticipated. Draft after draft strips the nation bare until at last the King calls for a draft of women, one from each household. This is how noblewoman Emily ends up fighting a hideous, horrific campaign through an endless maze of swampland, hotter then hell and twice as awful. The book starts here, and them jumps back in time, which is a fantastic choice because you see Emily as a, and I don’t want to say weak because she was clearly never weaker, but perhaps as a more innocent and naïve woman and you have this knowledge in the back of your mind of where she ends up.
The book lingers over Emily’s homestead, with wide blue skies and sunlight abounding, and then it yanks you down into the mud and fetid air or the swamp, of the endless death and fruitless fighting after a while the earlier part of the book starts to feel like this whole other novel you once read, and the Emily who walked those pages a whole other character, and it feels like that for Emily too. It’s brilliantly effective. And I’m going to go into absolutely no detail on this, but the ending was fantastic. With no exaggeration one of my favourite endings of all time, just perfect.
This book has a good dash of romance. It even has one of those fabled believable and not annoying love triangles. There are two very different men in Emily’s life, and you can clearly see how she could come to care for them both and you can clearly not see which once she should and will end up with. There’s none of that bullshit you sometimes get where there’s clearly only one choice and the author expects you to play along that there’s ever any doubt, Emily’s decision feels genuinely difficult and I for one felt her pain. And the best thing is that the romance happens mostly… off page isn’t right. Between the lines, maybe? I meant to say that if romance isn’t your thing you could easily ignore most of it, but on the flipside if you love you some romance there’s so much to be unpacked.
Also there’s a lot of gun and fighting and what have you. Desperate odds and field promotions and last stands and I loved it. Moral greyness and ethical dilemmas and characters who are rarely all good or all bad. I don’t want to go into too much detail on all of this, because the joy is in discovering it for yourself.
Just, come on guys, just give this book a chance. It’s so very good. Especially if you enjoyed Django Wexler’s Shadow Campaigns series, I feel pretty confident in saying a Venn diagram of those books and this one’s fans would have only the teensiest sliver of circle representing people who didn’t enjoy both.
Guns of the Dawn. Excellent heroine. Excellent plot. Much war! So good.
March 11, 2024
4.5 ⭐️
This was a really phenomenal standalone and I can’t believe I left it on my TBR for more than two years! Emily Marshwic is a truly impactful and memorable character, and I am going to be thinking about her journey for a long time.
This was a really phenomenal standalone and I can’t believe I left it on my TBR for more than two years! Emily Marshwic is a truly impactful and memorable character, and I am going to be thinking about her journey for a long time.
August 7, 2021
This book has a lot going for it. It’s a ton of fun, with expert pacing that takes the reader on an immersive adventure. It’s fantasy, but with very little magic and more of a focus on the realities of war and politics, which is perfect for me since unless an author uses magic in an unusually awesome way, I enjoy fantasy more for getting to play in an invented world than for actual fantastical elements. This one also feels in many ways like a modern soldier’s-eye-view war story, in a genre that still all too often takes a romantic or leader’s-eye-view approach. Instead it shows all the confusion and absurdity, the mundane aspects of soldiering, the moments of realization that the soldiers on opposing sides have more in common with each other than almost anyone else, the overly sanguine commanders who recklessly get their troops killed, the grand plans that never survive contact with the enemy, the terrible waste of life.
All that was interesting and refreshing to see in a fantasy setting, and Tchaikovsky balances the awfulness of war with giving the protagonist adventures, which makes for an exciting read. And the look at how war can break down social barriers, and the criticism of monarchy in a genre typically in love with it, are also enjoyable. That said, characters are clearly not the author’s strongest suit, and aspects of the setting and background are ridiculous in a way that doesn’t work well with the sense of realism he is attempting to portray.
The novel follows a single protagonist, Emily Marshwic, a young woman of the landed gentry who is drafted when her country runs short on men. After one of those silly in medias res beginnings (which I guess gives readers a taste of what the story will eventually be like but also has no context and spoils what’s going to happen for the following 200 pages), it rewinds to show her home life and how her country got into this situation—at least, according to wartime propaganda. We wind up seeing the whole panorama of effects of war: the increasing privations at home, Emily’s training and war experiences, and even the messy personal and political aftermath, which is rare in fantasy. It’s all well-paced and engaging and I had to pace myself to not finish too quickly! The half or more of the book dealing with the war is especially enjoyable, and at times while reading that section it was nearly a 5 star read for me. And it was exciting to see the plot go in realistic directions that fantasy rarely takes.
That said, Tchaikovsky is trying to do a part-war story, part-fantasy of manners, and the fantasy of manners portion is less successful, suffering from flat characterization. Emily’s sisters are cardboard, and as for Emily herself . . . is “protagonist” a personality? It didn’t bother me in the war sections because in a war story, the individual personality of the callow young soldier through whose eyes we see events isn’t necessarily important. And her fears and the changes she experiences and the way she rises to the challenge are well-drawn. But none of the characters are actually complex or interesting as people. I did enjoy the bond among Emily and her brothers-in-arms of the Survivors’ Club, which was the best relationship work in the book. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have meaningful bonds with any of the other women (she was perhaps getting there with the one who died in Chapter 1 and is rarely remembered later), and both prongs of her love triangle are so oddly flat that it’s hard to care about either one. The ending’s emphasis on resolving the love triangle brings it down, seeming to sweep more important issues under the rug.
There’s a lot that works well in the war story: the claustrophobic setting of the swamps is vivid and ideal for bringing the war down to a human scale; the weapons and tactics feel mostly realistic ; seeing the technological change that occurs during the war is a fun element rarely present in fantasy.
That said, there’s also a lot that makes no damn sense. The two belligerents share a border and a common language and apparently a common ethnicity and are traditional allies, and the presence of trains and newspapers suggests travel and a form of mass media, and yet somehow they have no cross-border connections whatsoever. Only one character has actually known someone from the other country, and that character is an eccentric swamp denizen. At one point there are plans to torture a captured soldier to learn about the personalities of the leaders on the other side—that’s what informants are for, how is it possible that no one has any?
Meanwhile, and more ridiculously, they know so little of each other that all of two days in an enemy camp gives Emily unparalleled “insight into the Denland national character,” i.e. the fact that every single man in the entire country has the exact same personality. And a simplistic and unlikely one , thereby allowing her to accurately predict their actions in every circumstance. This is a plot point. A plot point repeated more than once. And yet somehow, despite that common language and border and the fact that all Denlanders are apparently exactly alike, Denland stereotypes aren’t a household joke all over Lascanne already, and instead Emily is the first person to discover what they’re like? Lascanne, meanwhile, fortunately hosts a normal human range of temperaments and abilities, but despite the fact that its culture is obviously modeled on England’s, Tchaikovsky weirdly insists that their “national character” is that of fearless warriors who never surrender and respond with violence to factual statements of their country’s misfortunes, which just does not mesh with the otherwise standard portrayal of class-conscious Brits. Hate to break it to you, dude, but the Brits knew how to surrender just as well as anyone else. I doubt a modern state could last as long as this one supposedly has without knowing how to cut its losses.
Those bits bothered me most, though plenty of other holes can be poked. It’s not realistic that these countries, clearly based off 18th/19th century European ones, would fight each other to annihilation like this; they’d run out of money before they ran out of men, come to a peace agreement in which bits of land were traded back and forth, and then be at it again in another 10 or 20 years. This society also goes awfully quickly from women having no public role, to their being not only drafted but thrown into front-line combat and even promoted above men. I can accept these improbabilities because they make for a good story, but I wasn’t entirely convinced.
So, a difficult book to rate, in that I had a ton of fun with it but looking back, it definitely has its problems. And this isn’t some silly fantasy book but one with serious themes about the costs and effects of war. And in many places, it works; I wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading it. But if the author had shown a bit more ability to make full-fledged, complex human beings of his characters, and a bit more attention to the setup, this would have been absolutely brilliant, and as is, well, 3.5 stars.
All that was interesting and refreshing to see in a fantasy setting, and Tchaikovsky balances the awfulness of war with giving the protagonist adventures, which makes for an exciting read. And the look at how war can break down social barriers, and the criticism of monarchy in a genre typically in love with it, are also enjoyable. That said, characters are clearly not the author’s strongest suit, and aspects of the setting and background are ridiculous in a way that doesn’t work well with the sense of realism he is attempting to portray.
The novel follows a single protagonist, Emily Marshwic, a young woman of the landed gentry who is drafted when her country runs short on men. After one of those silly in medias res beginnings (which I guess gives readers a taste of what the story will eventually be like but also has no context and spoils what’s going to happen for the following 200 pages), it rewinds to show her home life and how her country got into this situation—at least, according to wartime propaganda. We wind up seeing the whole panorama of effects of war: the increasing privations at home, Emily’s training and war experiences, and even the messy personal and political aftermath, which is rare in fantasy. It’s all well-paced and engaging and I had to pace myself to not finish too quickly! The half or more of the book dealing with the war is especially enjoyable, and at times while reading that section it was nearly a 5 star read for me. And it was exciting to see the plot go in realistic directions that fantasy rarely takes.
That said, Tchaikovsky is trying to do a part-war story, part-fantasy of manners, and the fantasy of manners portion is less successful, suffering from flat characterization. Emily’s sisters are cardboard, and as for Emily herself . . . is “protagonist” a personality? It didn’t bother me in the war sections because in a war story, the individual personality of the callow young soldier through whose eyes we see events isn’t necessarily important. And her fears and the changes she experiences and the way she rises to the challenge are well-drawn. But none of the characters are actually complex or interesting as people. I did enjoy the bond among Emily and her brothers-in-arms of the Survivors’ Club, which was the best relationship work in the book. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have meaningful bonds with any of the other women (she was perhaps getting there with the one who died in Chapter 1 and is rarely remembered later), and both prongs of her love triangle are so oddly flat that it’s hard to care about either one. The ending’s emphasis on resolving the love triangle brings it down, seeming to sweep more important issues under the rug.
There’s a lot that works well in the war story: the claustrophobic setting of the swamps is vivid and ideal for bringing the war down to a human scale; the weapons and tactics feel mostly realistic ; seeing the technological change that occurs during the war is a fun element rarely present in fantasy.
That said, there’s also a lot that makes no damn sense. The two belligerents share a border and a common language and apparently a common ethnicity and are traditional allies, and the presence of trains and newspapers suggests travel and a form of mass media, and yet somehow they have no cross-border connections whatsoever. Only one character has actually known someone from the other country, and that character is an eccentric swamp denizen. At one point there are plans to torture a captured soldier to learn about the personalities of the leaders on the other side—that’s what informants are for, how is it possible that no one has any?
Meanwhile, and more ridiculously, they know so little of each other that all of two days in an enemy camp gives Emily unparalleled “insight into the Denland national character,” i.e. the fact that every single man in the entire country has the exact same personality. And a simplistic and unlikely one , thereby allowing her to accurately predict their actions in every circumstance. This is a plot point. A plot point repeated more than once. And yet somehow, despite that common language and border and the fact that all Denlanders are apparently exactly alike, Denland stereotypes aren’t a household joke all over Lascanne already, and instead Emily is the first person to discover what they’re like? Lascanne, meanwhile, fortunately hosts a normal human range of temperaments and abilities, but despite the fact that its culture is obviously modeled on England’s, Tchaikovsky weirdly insists that their “national character” is that of fearless warriors who never surrender and respond with violence to factual statements of their country’s misfortunes, which just does not mesh with the otherwise standard portrayal of class-conscious Brits. Hate to break it to you, dude, but the Brits knew how to surrender just as well as anyone else. I doubt a modern state could last as long as this one supposedly has without knowing how to cut its losses.
Those bits bothered me most, though plenty of other holes can be poked. It’s not realistic that these countries, clearly based off 18th/19th century European ones, would fight each other to annihilation like this; they’d run out of money before they ran out of men, come to a peace agreement in which bits of land were traded back and forth, and then be at it again in another 10 or 20 years. This society also goes awfully quickly from women having no public role, to their being not only drafted but thrown into front-line combat and even promoted above men. I can accept these improbabilities because they make for a good story, but I wasn’t entirely convinced.
So, a difficult book to rate, in that I had a ton of fun with it but looking back, it definitely has its problems. And this isn’t some silly fantasy book but one with serious themes about the costs and effects of war. And in many places, it works; I wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading it. But if the author had shown a bit more ability to make full-fledged, complex human beings of his characters, and a bit more attention to the setup, this would have been absolutely brilliant, and as is, well, 3.5 stars.
September 20, 2024
Where Lizzie Bennet goes to war.
When Denland’s revolutionaries killed their king and attacked his neighbor Lascanne, men were called to war. First, it was Emily’s brother in law, Tubal. Then, when he turned fifteen, it was her little brother. But the war needed more bodies and, suddenly, it was Emily herself marching to hell.
I read this 650-page book in 24 hours. I can’t remember the last time a fantasy book absorbed me the way Guns of the Dawn did. I had to run (literally) to get to work in time because I refused to close the book without knowing the ending. It’s far from perfect-I have so many criticisms, you’ll wonder if I even liked it-, but it was the best ride and I highly highly recommend it.
Guns of the Dawn is a standalone fantasy book following one point of view, Emily, who will remind you a lot of Lizzie Bennet at the beginning. The book starts with a chapter of her in the middle of a battle, and goes back in time to tell us how she ended up there. Every chapter started with snippets of letters she wrote while she was in war, which I LOVED.
The writing style was beautiful. This was my first book by Adrian Tchaikovsky and he knows how to make you feel along with the characters and become addicted to the story. He also knows how to write women. I really appreciated that he chose a woman to narrate a war set in the 19th century. He didn’t use the excuse most authors do, about not even being able to add female POVs because ‘they don’t go to war’. It always angers me because dragons also don’t exist and authors don’t hesitate to include them every single time. On top of that, Tchaikovsky wrote it in a way that was even realistic for the time period, sending first men and then women as their last chance.
That being said, I thought it was a bit too easy how women were treated inside the military. It was mentioned that they couldn’t give them the highest ranks because men wouldn’t take them seriously but, to be honest, I felt we could have gotten more examples of them suffering discrimination due to their sex. This book is set in the 19th century, I was really doubting men were going to be so agreeable about having women commanding them during battles.
The magic doesn’t have a big role despite being ever-present in the story. There are wizards, but their power is never explained in depth, and some creatures that live in the mountain Lascanne and Denland are using as a battlefield.
You also have a bit of romance that I LOVED until I realized I wasn’t reading about Darcy and Lizzie and everything went downhill. This love interest is portrayed as a villain. Emily (h) and her family blame him for their father’s suicide and he’s supposed to have done really bad things. However, he kind of redeems himself and tries to help Emily and her family because he supposedly loves her. They had a few interesting dialogues that reminded me of Lizzie and Darcy, but I needed a bit more to really understand why he was so obsessed with her. I was sure we were going to understand everything once we heard his ‘side’ of the story, as it happens with Darcy, but that conversation never existed. So I guess he was a villain after all and only got better because he fell in love with the main character.
But that villain wasn’t the only love interest, there was also the dashing wizard who keeps Emily company while they are in the battlefield. I understood why Emily liked him: they were both living the nightmares of the war and sharing that burden helped them feel less alone. While I imagine him as this super hot wizard that could save her from everything, I still liked the other love interest more. ‘Darcy’ was her intellectual match, even if most of their meetings were told and not shown. She felt he always understood her and he became the only person she trusted. I value that more. Plus, I loved that he didn’t go to war, so we finally had a heroine writing letters in the middle of the battlefield while the hero worried at home.
What I didn’t love was that I was waiting for her to make her decision, hopefully with the love interest I liked, but it didn’t really happen. I felt a bit let down about the ending, especially since the author made an effort to include the romance, I think he should have written a bit more to make it satisfying.
As for the other characters, I LOVED the Survivors’ Club. I adored how much all the members helped each other and all the different dynamics they had. The relationship built between Emily and her brother-in-law, Tubal, was very special too. They added the characterization and the comic relief I needed from the terrible action scenes. That’s another thing I loved about this book: war wasn’t something glorious. It reminded me of how Joe Abercrombie writes war, without shying away from the horrors of it.
The last criticism I have is that I found the blurb was a bit misleading because it talks about Emily being conflicted about her emotions and having to take a choice that ‘will determine not just her own future-but that of two nations locked in battle’. It made me think the war was only going to be half of the book, then something would happen that would make Emily wonder about the conflict. But she doesn’t really take a decision until the last one-hundred pages. On top of that, I saw that final decision coming as soon as we arrived on the scene. I also think there was too much of a difference between how Lascanne thought of Denland and how Denland treated Lascanne. I found them a bit too good to be true, but maybe it’s because I don’t have faith in humanity anymore.
I’d highly recommend this book to readers who love characters. It’s really easy to get through despite being an adult fantasy book. The magic is very simple and you are only following one point of view. Even if you usually stick with young adult, you can really enjoy this one as long as you are ready to read about war. The way it’s written is very compelling and I loved following Emily, even if she sometimes drove me crazy. She always ended up taking the right decision and she had really high morals. Her character arc was so well done. I’d recommend it if you liked Lizzie, even if Emily was her own character and the war changed her a lot.
As you can imagine from the length of this review, Guns of the Dawn made me feel a lot of things. I’m someone who appreciates having a good time over reading something that’s ‘perfect’, that’s why this is one of my favorite reads of the year. So I invite you to ignore my critics and try this one if it sounds like something you may enjoy, because I think it deserves a lot more hype.
*Rating: 4.5/5
August 31, 2019
I absolutely loved this book. I found the warfare so well described, the friends Emily makes, so heart warming. I did worry once Emily had been enlisted that my interest would wane but it increased instead. I slowed down my reading so that I could enjoy every page. I love that we were kept on tenterhooks until the very last page. Emily Marschwick was a wonderful, intelligent, brave and determined woman. Fabulous stuff. As soon as I finished this, I added it to my favourites shelf which I have not added to for a long time. This is not because I have not read ‘favourite’ worthy books, but I just hadn’t got round to it. Well this book was favourite enough to make it to the list straight away! Recommended.
March 10, 2017
Buddy read with my Chum Sarah who's choice it was to read this book. It was our first time reading any Tchaikovsky and was pleasantly surprised at his writing skills. He weaves a great world building/ character development skill that has you immersed in the story and feeling a lot of the tension and horror of battle.
After reading the first chapter I was looking forward to settling down with the book. But that chapter was a teaser. Chapter two takes you back a year and leads you toward our hero Emily going off to war. From chapter two through six, I was thinking that I had picked a dud. It was a throw back to Jane Austin style (not that I have read any of hers), lots of well to do women, complaining about the lack of fun with men at war, what to wear at the ball and general gossiping. By Chapter ten, I was hooked. At this stage, not on the story, but on the Emily character and her nemesis Mr Northway. Absolutely lovely character interaction.
By the time Emily goes off to war I was looking forward to reading this every day. I am not going to say much about the war part, except that it shows how horrible war is, how much it changes a person, regardless of their position and will tell you that you will completely love the world building in the swamps.
The end worked for me. It has been ages, I think, since I have read a stand alone, it was nice for a change to have the whole story in one book.
So yes I recommend this story. Very well written with three or four good solidly written characters.
After reading the first chapter I was looking forward to settling down with the book. But that chapter was a teaser. Chapter two takes you back a year and leads you toward our hero Emily going off to war. From chapter two through six, I was thinking that I had picked a dud. It was a throw back to Jane Austin style (not that I have read any of hers), lots of well to do women, complaining about the lack of fun with men at war, what to wear at the ball and general gossiping. By Chapter ten, I was hooked. At this stage, not on the story, but on the Emily character and her nemesis Mr Northway. Absolutely lovely character interaction.
By the time Emily goes off to war I was looking forward to reading this every day. I am not going to say much about the war part, except that it shows how horrible war is, how much it changes a person, regardless of their position and will tell you that you will completely love the world building in the swamps.
The end worked for me. It has been ages, I think, since I have read a stand alone, it was nice for a change to have the whole story in one book.
So yes I recommend this story. Very well written with three or four good solidly written characters.
February 18, 2025
Re-read and I absolutely loved this novel even more. I was able to ’see’ it in greater details the development of the characters, or indeed the futility and consequences of war.
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Imagine a character from Jane Austen, yes, Elizabeth Bennett, and put her in a ‘Regency' war. I really don’t know how Tchaikovsky does it but he succeeds in writing totally different styles of stories, and I loved this one, binge reading 650 odd pages over 2 days, totally immersed, and quite a bit obsessed.
We follow Emily Marshwic as she deals with a country at war, first with all the men sent to the combat, while trying to keep a semblance of normalcy for her sisters. Then, the King requests one woman per household and Emily nominates herself. As she brutally adapts to being a soldier, we witness the horrors of war, Tchaikovsky depicting them in such vivid strokes that you literally feel them, showing how both sides suffer and are victims of this madness.
In the middle of all the violence, you, like Emily, come to value the little oases of respite where friendships, and the power of shared experiences, is everything. The author gives us a brilliant cast, complex and believable, one that can surprise you in their choices. One that is still in my mind.
Fascinating really.
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Imagine a character from Jane Austen, yes, Elizabeth Bennett, and put her in a ‘Regency' war. I really don’t know how Tchaikovsky does it but he succeeds in writing totally different styles of stories, and I loved this one, binge reading 650 odd pages over 2 days, totally immersed, and quite a bit obsessed.
We follow Emily Marshwic as she deals with a country at war, first with all the men sent to the combat, while trying to keep a semblance of normalcy for her sisters. Then, the King requests one woman per household and Emily nominates herself. As she brutally adapts to being a soldier, we witness the horrors of war, Tchaikovsky depicting them in such vivid strokes that you literally feel them, showing how both sides suffer and are victims of this madness.
In the middle of all the violence, you, like Emily, come to value the little oases of respite where friendships, and the power of shared experiences, is everything. The author gives us a brilliant cast, complex and believable, one that can surprise you in their choices. One that is still in my mind.
Fascinating really.
November 3, 2022
Some interesting paralels with the war in Ukraine. When the current mobilisation happened (in Russia) I couldn't help but think: are they going to draft women next? Let's hope it won't get that crazy.
This is historical fantasy about the woman drafted to military to fight for her king. Magic is low key: there are warlocks empowered by the king's blood to use the fire magic, but for the most part they are in the background. Story centers on the main character's growth, changes to her perseption when faced with grim reality of fighting in frontlines. She is quite strong minded and rather progresive thinking for her time - so the story could be seen as feminist as well.
Once again this book is entirely different to everything else I've read by Adrian Tchaikovsky. How could one man have so many voices?
This is historical fantasy about the woman drafted to military to fight for her king. Magic is low key: there are warlocks empowered by the king's blood to use the fire magic, but for the most part they are in the background. Story centers on the main character's growth, changes to her perseption when faced with grim reality of fighting in frontlines. She is quite strong minded and rather progresive thinking for her time - so the story could be seen as feminist as well.
Once again this book is entirely different to everything else I've read by Adrian Tchaikovsky. How could one man have so many voices?
June 7, 2023
A beautiful book. And a look at what war and affect has on people.
February 20, 2015
Okay, I stayed up until the small hours to finish this as I couldn't put it down. It is... just let me say that you need to buy this book immediately. I loved it so much I can't actually write a coherent review. It made me laugh, cry and think about giving up writing for fear I'd never be able to write anything as good as this. Magnificent.
September 25, 2020
Even though I'm a great Adrian Tchaikovsky fan, I nearly didn't pick up this book, because I'm not a great fan of Jane Austen, no fan of military novels, and no fan of flintlock fantasy. But then I saw that the audiobook is narrated by Emma Newman and I had to give it a try.
And what can I say? The book takes the perfect clichéd Jane Austen characters (three sisters, the heroine is the independent one, the little sister is the more shallow and pretty one, the older the motherly type) and puts them in a war that reads like an alternate history in the kind of Napoleonic wars. There is very little fantasy elements and the world reads just like ours with other names. - And it works!
For the first part I had to remind myself more than once that I actually was reading Tchaikovsky. The emulation of the prose and atmosphere of this era is absolutely awesome. A bit like "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" only better (sorry, I wasn't such a fan of that one). The Austenesque heroine Emily Marshwic has to enlist for a war that is going badly for her country and she braves the frontline duty with earnest commitment. In typical Tchaikovsky manner the characters are fleshed out even though they follow certain clichés of this kind of novels. The annoying love triangle is there as well and was especially in the last part of the book a bit trying for me (I don't like romances and certainly not of the triangle kind) - but, hell, it was so in character, in style ... most of the time I sat there thinking "How can he be so good? How can he immerse his style so totally?"
As the themes go this wasn't my kind of novel, but the execution was so brilliant, that I ended up not caring. I'm just awed. And Emma Newman's voice as audio narrator is absolutely perfect for our heroine. Her soft, wellspoken intonation was a pleasure par excellence.
I'm so glad I gave this book a chance despite my initial reservations.
To enjoy it for what it is, though, it is necessary that the readers set their mind to 'Jane Austen with Guns'.
And what can I say? The book takes the perfect clichéd Jane Austen characters (three sisters, the heroine is the independent one, the little sister is the more shallow and pretty one, the older the motherly type) and puts them in a war that reads like an alternate history in the kind of Napoleonic wars. There is very little fantasy elements and the world reads just like ours with other names. - And it works!
For the first part I had to remind myself more than once that I actually was reading Tchaikovsky. The emulation of the prose and atmosphere of this era is absolutely awesome. A bit like "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" only better (sorry, I wasn't such a fan of that one). The Austenesque heroine Emily Marshwic has to enlist for a war that is going badly for her country and she braves the frontline duty with earnest commitment. In typical Tchaikovsky manner the characters are fleshed out even though they follow certain clichés of this kind of novels. The annoying love triangle is there as well and was especially in the last part of the book a bit trying for me (I don't like romances and certainly not of the triangle kind) - but, hell, it was so in character, in style ... most of the time I sat there thinking "How can he be so good? How can he immerse his style so totally?"
As the themes go this wasn't my kind of novel, but the execution was so brilliant, that I ended up not caring. I'm just awed. And Emma Newman's voice as audio narrator is absolutely perfect for our heroine. Her soft, wellspoken intonation was a pleasure par excellence.
I'm so glad I gave this book a chance despite my initial reservations.
To enjoy it for what it is, though, it is necessary that the readers set their mind to 'Jane Austen with Guns'.
February 8, 2023
Do you like your fantasy with both wizards and guns? Do you like the underdog triumphing against impossible odds? Do you want to read about the horrors of war mitigated with a Lord of the Rings-esque focus on hope and friendship? Then this is the book for you.
Join the indomitable Emily Marshwic as she goes from plucky country gentlewoman to conscripted soldier. But make no mistake, our hero is no carboard cut-out action girl. Her perspective is deeply human and relatable as she tries to reconcile her old life with a new reality far from anything she has ever known in a long-drawn out war waged for reasons she does not fully understand. Notable features include excellent character development and tastefully sparse worldbuilding. Side helpings of political intrigue and romance round out this book that I could barely put down. – Anja P.
Join the indomitable Emily Marshwic as she goes from plucky country gentlewoman to conscripted soldier. But make no mistake, our hero is no carboard cut-out action girl. Her perspective is deeply human and relatable as she tries to reconcile her old life with a new reality far from anything she has ever known in a long-drawn out war waged for reasons she does not fully understand. Notable features include excellent character development and tastefully sparse worldbuilding. Side helpings of political intrigue and romance round out this book that I could barely put down. – Anja P.
April 19, 2023
This is an excellent standalone flintlock fantasy, with minimal emphasis on the fantastical and a heavy focus on characterization. Much of the book takes place in a military setting, but it does start out in way that feels like it would not be entirely out of place in a Jane Austen novel. Some may consider it to be somewhat of a slow-paced start, but I found it to be refreshingly different from what I was expecting, and I enjoyed the fact that Tchaikovsky took his time to introduce some of the characters here and to give both the characters and the setting some depth.
The main protagonist is Emily Marshwic, who is drafted early on in the book to go and fight in a war that has ravished her country and its population. Emily is a strong female who discovers that she has a propensity for the military, while at the same time being quite humble and caring. In other words, she is realistic and believable as a character. This really goes for all of the characters, none of whom we spend quite as much time with as Emily, but all of whom do enrich the story. There is even a bit of a romance plot line woven into the story which is fairly unconventional for a fantasy book, but not entirely unlike something that might be present in a Jane Austen novel (with a twist, of course). I would also say that I got some Vietnam vibes here, between the setting for the war, the tactics, and the guerilla-like warfare.
Guns of the Dawn is very different from everything else that I have read from Tchaikovsky up to this point, which has consisted strictly of science fiction. I would say that this proves to me that he is not only prolific in the sheer volume of quality work that he puts out, but also diverse in the genres and types of stories that he is able to effectively write. I will absolutely be continuing to explore more of his works.
The main protagonist is Emily Marshwic, who is drafted early on in the book to go and fight in a war that has ravished her country and its population. Emily is a strong female who discovers that she has a propensity for the military, while at the same time being quite humble and caring. In other words, she is realistic and believable as a character. This really goes for all of the characters, none of whom we spend quite as much time with as Emily, but all of whom do enrich the story. There is even a bit of a romance plot line woven into the story which is fairly unconventional for a fantasy book, but not entirely unlike something that might be present in a Jane Austen novel (with a twist, of course). I would also say that I got some Vietnam vibes here, between the setting for the war, the tactics, and the guerilla-like warfare.
Guns of the Dawn is very different from everything else that I have read from Tchaikovsky up to this point, which has consisted strictly of science fiction. I would say that this proves to me that he is not only prolific in the sheer volume of quality work that he puts out, but also diverse in the genres and types of stories that he is able to effectively write. I will absolutely be continuing to explore more of his works.
July 8, 2019
4.5 stars - I really enjoyed this one and would highly recommend.
One nitpick - you can tell this was written by a man - every woman that has read this book has probably wondered what the hell all those women did about getting their period - and in a swamp no less.
One nitpick - you can tell this was written by a man - every woman that has read this book has probably wondered what the hell all those women did about getting their period - and in a swamp no less.
March 28, 2022
4.5 Stars.
Another hit for Tchaikovsky! Blending a low fantasy setting with an Austenesque set of social mores, we follow the young Emily Marshwick, an upper class lady who is conscripted into the army. Through Emily's eyes Tchaikovsky is able to provide rich insight into a country in peril. Through her trials we understand the resilience of human spirit and the true price of war. As in Children of Time, Tchaikovsky's strength lies in how he depicts relationships (both between people and between people and the world at large), though the writing is also crisp and clear and the characters compelling. While it certainly won't appeal to all fantasy fans, I think those readers who enjoy historical fiction or the classics could find much to enjoy.
Another hit for Tchaikovsky! Blending a low fantasy setting with an Austenesque set of social mores, we follow the young Emily Marshwick, an upper class lady who is conscripted into the army. Through Emily's eyes Tchaikovsky is able to provide rich insight into a country in peril. Through her trials we understand the resilience of human spirit and the true price of war. As in Children of Time, Tchaikovsky's strength lies in how he depicts relationships (both between people and between people and the world at large), though the writing is also crisp and clear and the characters compelling. While it certainly won't appeal to all fantasy fans, I think those readers who enjoy historical fiction or the classics could find much to enjoy.
October 1, 2024
Never has a fantasy book so well conveyed the futility of war. Invoking images from World War One and Vietnam, Tchaikovsky uses real world conflicts to fuel the journey of Emily, a woman of leisure, called to war by the first women's draft. While I do have some gripes with the book, the overall atmosphere and character work was so unbelievably strong that I was tearing up at the final few pages. This is something that happens to me sometimes, not just when I'm emotionally connected, but also from a deep appreciation for the story being told. That is something that is rare, and as a result, it had to be a 4.5 star read!
November 29, 2021
I absolutely loved this book! Emily Marshwic's journey was riveting and heartbreaking. Going from a gentlewoman to becoming a soldier on the battlefield was an extreme makeover. From the losses, coping mechanisms and survival instincts that takes over when you must do things you never though yourself capable of, this was both a joy to read but also emotionally draining.
The gradual realization and change in Emily throughout the story were some of the best character development I’ve read for some time now.
The combination of Pride and Prejudice (Lizzie's and Darcy's relationship) and Downton Abbey (gentlewoman Emily Marshwic living in a manor house with servants) + World War I (the trenches has been swapped out with a swamp) was a very interesting blend, but for me this worked so perfectly.
I loved the relationship between Emily and Mr. Northway, they are a formidable pair, and it was done so subtly and as a compliment to the war plot that takes center stage. But it is the war and how it changes Emily that is the most interesting aspect of this book, and what this war has cost her, both mentally and in terms of friends and family. It’s also fun when the genders stereotypes are swapped, the woman is at war and the man is waiting at home.
It was also interesting to see the difference in mentality between the two fighting forces and all the propaganda that is used to justify the war. The story also managed to surprise me several times as well, which I was very happy about, especially the ending was for me very well done.
The fantastical element in this book is minimal, but it's so well utilized in the story and in the war. I liked the warlocks and how they are used, but I liked even more that Emily is just an ordinary woman who is drafted into this war and her love for her country and her king is so strong that she feels an obligation, though reluctant as it is, to join up.
If anything I just wrote sounds interesting, you should definitely give this a try.
The gradual realization and change in Emily throughout the story were some of the best character development I’ve read for some time now.
The combination of Pride and Prejudice (Lizzie's and Darcy's relationship) and Downton Abbey (gentlewoman Emily Marshwic living in a manor house with servants) + World War I (the trenches has been swapped out with a swamp) was a very interesting blend, but for me this worked so perfectly.
I loved the relationship between Emily and Mr. Northway, they are a formidable pair, and it was done so subtly and as a compliment to the war plot that takes center stage. But it is the war and how it changes Emily that is the most interesting aspect of this book, and what this war has cost her, both mentally and in terms of friends and family. It’s also fun when the genders stereotypes are swapped, the woman is at war and the man is waiting at home.
It was also interesting to see the difference in mentality between the two fighting forces and all the propaganda that is used to justify the war. The story also managed to surprise me several times as well, which I was very happy about, especially the ending was for me very well done.
The fantastical element in this book is minimal, but it's so well utilized in the story and in the war. I liked the warlocks and how they are used, but I liked even more that Emily is just an ordinary woman who is drafted into this war and her love for her country and her king is so strong that she feels an obligation, though reluctant as it is, to join up.
If anything I just wrote sounds interesting, you should definitely give this a try.
February 2, 2024
⭐4.75 stars
Calling all Austenites! 'Guns of the Dawn' is exactly what you would get “if Lizzy Bennett went to war”. It has a rather slow beginning with a gradual build to the action in the chapters to follow, but this doesn't negate the overall impact of the story.. at least it didn’t for me because the writing is just lovely. The political & societal intrigue paired with the smooth dialogue + the light fantasy elements made for a completely enjoyable reading experience. I didn’t even mind that the romance was a subplot… in fact, it was perfect that way.
“Across hills invisible in the blackness, she saw the sparkle of Chalcaster – the lamps and torches of a scatter of early risers and late-nighters, nightwatchmen and thieves. In the unrelieved dark that surrounded it, she could have plucked it from its setting and worn it as a tiara.”
If Tchaikovsky’s other work is written anything like this one, I can’t wait to read more from him.
(￣ー￣)ｂ
Calling all Austenites! 'Guns of the Dawn' is exactly what you would get “if Lizzy Bennett went to war”. It has a rather slow beginning with a gradual build to the action in the chapters to follow, but this doesn't negate the overall impact of the story.. at least it didn’t for me because the writing is just lovely. The political & societal intrigue paired with the smooth dialogue + the light fantasy elements made for a completely enjoyable reading experience. I didn’t even mind that the romance was a subplot… in fact, it was perfect that way.
“Across hills invisible in the blackness, she saw the sparkle of Chalcaster – the lamps and torches of a scatter of early risers and late-nighters, nightwatchmen and thieves. In the unrelieved dark that surrounded it, she could have plucked it from its setting and worn it as a tiara.”
If Tchaikovsky’s other work is written anything like this one, I can’t wait to read more from him.
(￣ー￣)ｂ
February 16, 2024
Guns of the Dawn - Adrian Tchaikovsky
تقوم الثورة في "دنلاند" البلد المجاور لـ "لاسكان" وتنفصم عروة التحالف الدائم بينهما، يقتل ثوار دنلاند ملكهم، وثم يعلنون الحرب على جيرانهم وملكهم، وتبدأ حرب شعواء تستمر لسنوات طويلة.
إيميلي مارشويك هي ابنة عائلة نبيلة ترى ما تفعله الحرب بشعبها ورجال عائلتها، وثم تضطر للانضمام للجيش لأن الحرب لا تسير لصالح الوطن ولا بدَّ من تجنيد النساء .
نرافق إيميلي في الحرب في الصفحات الأولى ونعود من هناك إلى الماضي لنرى كيف وصلت إلى هنا، إيميلي المسؤولة عن العائلة، ترى كيف يذهب زوج شقيقتها للحرب ثم ترى انضمام شقيقها الصغير ما أن بلغ الخامسة عشرة، ومحاولة النجاة اليومية وتدبير أمور العائلة في ظل الحرب، وعداء مع السيد نورثواي وهو سياسي طموح وماكر ولديه عداء مع آل مارشويك الذين يحملونه مسؤولية وفاة والدهم.
في الجبهة تعقد الصداقة مع عدة نساء وتنضم لنادٍ يدعى "نادي الناجين" بتشجيع من زوج شقيقتها، وحيث تسهر مع مجموعة مختارة من الأصدقاء، مع الوقت يبدأ التشكيك في الحرب وجدواها-لا أريد أن اضيف المزيد حتى لا أحرق شيئًا، لكن إيميلي تخوض الكثير من وحشية الحرب ومحاولة البحث عن حقيقة الحرب .
تركز الرواية على إيميلي وتجاربها في الحرب ولكن أيضًا تركز على السياسة والصداقة والحب والشجاعة المتفردة والعلاقات العائلية والمؤامرات السياسية وتعقيدات العلاقات الدولية وكلها تستكتشف بشكل متوازن وغير ممل ..
يصف الكثيرون الرواية بأنها "Pride and Prejudice|كبرياء وتحامل"
في الحرب. لكن لا أنفك أفكر بأنها تشبه مسلسل بولدارك أيضًا -ربما بسبب الحقبة التي استمد منها العالم، فترة حروب نايليون في أوروبا، بولداك والبطلة إبنة عائلة نبيلة بدلا من إبن عائلة نبيلة.
حاولت القراءة كثيرًا لأدريان تشايكوفسكي -قبل عامين اقتنيت أول جزئين من سلسلته الشهيرة "أطفال الزمن"، ولكن لم أبدأها حتى الآن لأني سمعت أن الروايات تشهد حضورًا كبيرًا للعناكب، وفي العام الماضي اقتنيت أحدث إصداراته - لا أعرف إن صدر له شيء بعدها، وهي رواية تدعى "مدينة الفرص الأخيرة" قرأت الفصول الأولى ولم أكملها بسبب قلة تركيزي تلك الأيام ولكن سأعود لها قريبًا، وسعيدة الآن لأني قرأت أخيرًا له وكانت هذه رواية مدهشة ومختلفة بلغتها وكتابتها وكأنك تقرأ رواية من الروايات الكلاسيكية .
الرواية رائعة وممتعة، أرجو أن تترجم للعربية، هي رواية فانتازيا، ولكن السحر قليل جدًا وبناء العالم بسيط كما ذكرت أعلاه هي أقرب لرواية تاريخية مع قليل من السحر، ترشيح لدور النشر التي تبحث عن روايات لترجمتها.
~
فجر يوم الجمعة - السادس من شعبان - 1445 ـ
تقوم الثورة في "دنلاند" البلد المجاور لـ "لاسكان" وتنفصم عروة التحالف الدائم بينهما، يقتل ثوار دنلاند ملكهم، وثم يعلنون الحرب على جيرانهم وملكهم، وتبدأ حرب شعواء تستمر لسنوات طويلة.
إيميلي مارشويك هي ابنة عائلة نبيلة ترى ما تفعله الحرب بشعبها ورجال عائلتها، وثم تضطر للانضمام للجيش لأن الحرب لا تسير لصالح الوطن ولا بدَّ من تجنيد النساء .
نرافق إيميلي في الحرب في الصفحات الأولى ونعود من هناك إلى الماضي لنرى كيف وصلت إلى هنا، إيميلي المسؤولة عن العائلة، ترى كيف يذهب زوج شقيقتها للحرب ثم ترى انضمام شقيقها الصغير ما أن بلغ الخامسة عشرة، ومحاولة النجاة اليومية وتدبير أمور العائلة في ظل الحرب، وعداء مع السيد نورثواي وهو سياسي طموح وماكر ولديه عداء مع آل مارشويك الذين يحملونه مسؤولية وفاة والدهم.
في الجبهة تعقد الصداقة مع عدة نساء وتنضم لنادٍ يدعى "نادي الناجين" بتشجيع من زوج شقيقتها، وحيث تسهر مع مجموعة مختارة من الأصدقاء، مع الوقت يبدأ التشكيك في الحرب وجدواها-لا أريد أن اضيف المزيد حتى لا أحرق شيئًا، لكن إيميلي تخوض الكثير من وحشية الحرب ومحاولة البحث عن حقيقة الحرب .
تركز الرواية على إيميلي وتجاربها في الحرب ولكن أيضًا تركز على السياسة والصداقة والحب والشجاعة المتفردة والعلاقات العائلية والمؤامرات السياسية وتعقيدات العلاقات الدولية وكلها تستكتشف بشكل متوازن وغير ممل ..
يصف الكثيرون الرواية بأنها "Pride and Prejudice|كبرياء وتحامل"
في الحرب. لكن لا أنفك أفكر بأنها تشبه مسلسل بولدارك أيضًا -ربما بسبب الحقبة التي استمد منها العالم، فترة حروب نايليون في أوروبا، بولداك والبطلة إبنة عائلة نبيلة بدلا من إبن عائلة نبيلة.
حاولت القراءة كثيرًا لأدريان تشايكوفسكي -قبل عامين اقتنيت أول جزئين من سلسلته الشهيرة "أطفال الزمن"، ولكن لم أبدأها حتى الآن لأني سمعت أن الروايات تشهد حضورًا كبيرًا للعناكب، وفي العام الماضي اقتنيت أحدث إصداراته - لا أعرف إن صدر له شيء بعدها، وهي رواية تدعى "مدينة الفرص الأخيرة" قرأت الفصول الأولى ولم أكملها بسبب قلة تركيزي تلك الأيام ولكن سأعود لها قريبًا، وسعيدة الآن لأني قرأت أخيرًا له وكانت هذه رواية مدهشة ومختلفة بلغتها وكتابتها وكأنك تقرأ رواية من الروايات الكلاسيكية .
الرواية رائعة وممتعة، أرجو أن تترجم للعربية، هي رواية فانتازيا، ولكن السحر قليل جدًا وبناء العالم بسيط كما ذكرت أعلاه هي أقرب لرواية تاريخية مع قليل من السحر، ترشيح لدور النشر التي تبحث عن روايات لترجمتها.
~
فجر يوم الجمعة - السادس من شعبان - 1445 ـ
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