New Story: Cities of Silver : Shadows of the Apt

New Story: Cities of Silver

This is going to be the last short for a while, as I'm on the very cusp of starting on Book 9, which so far going under the working title of "I haven't the faintest idea what the title will be" or, given that my publishers have a fondness for punchy titles, "I haven't the faintest idea what the title will be of doom".

Cities of Silver is the first outing for Doctor Ludweg Phinagler (1) who will hopefully return for a few more adventures later. He promises to be a useful vehicle to explore some corners of the kinden's world that the main plot won't have the change to seriously examine (indeed if anyone has anywhere in particular they would like the good doctor to go, by all means pipe up.)

It's also worth saying that I am obviously lying through my teeth about "short". This one ballooned into something more like a novella than a short story. The Doctor does tend to go on.

Finally, this story stands as an artifact within the kinden's world. It is a book (2) printed and sold in Collegium, and cheaply at that, in the general category of "awful books", originally stories to inspire awe, but more lately simply sensationalist unlikely stories. Hence the actual truth of anything that our narrator Fosse sets down should be treated with a pinch of mineral salts.

Nonetheless, the story can be found here. Enjoy.

(1) Anyone who has been obsessively reading this blog since Way Back™ may remember the distant genesis and inspiration here.

(2) or at least an English translation of one, I suppose.

Posted by Adrian Tchaikovsky on July 6th, 2011

Posted in Blog, Home, Stories

Tags: beetles, flies, Stories

18 Comments

18 comments to “New Story: Cities of Silver”

Moon Kim, July 7th, 2011 at 9:24 am:

Absolutely brilliant story, I was engrossed all the way. It seems collegiums' strongest enemies are themselves sometimes. When you have more time, please continue making these "short" stories.

Hmm I think it would be interesting for the good Doctor to visit somewhere rich in history and with science. Chasme or the Exalsee seems to be an option. Area is probably full of relics and the Iron Glove.
Fantasy Round-Up: July 7, 2011 « The Tattered Scroll, July 7th, 2011 at 8:09 pm:

[…] can win a copy of the upcoming new Terry Brooks novel here (via Orbit UK) ‑Adrian Tchaikovsky has posted another short story set in the world of the kinden. He mentions it is more like a novella than a […]
Jake Leeman, July 11th, 2011 at 4:25 pm:

New fan here! Love the series, but I am having trouble tracking where it's actually at. Is there a conclusive list of published titles (perhaps even a UK column and a US column) anywhere?

I am reading The Scarab Path right now, and am not sure if I will be caught up or not after this. Up to now, I have only purchased the ones with the beautiful Jon Sullivan covers (US?).

Keep up the great work! As I've told my friends, this whole insect concept is the coolest implementation of a silly-sounding idea that I have ever read! 🙂
Wojciech, July 11th, 2011 at 4:54 pm:

I just had a chance to read this one. It's nice. It has this mysterious and adventurous tint of Indiana Jones films and tv series. As for the travels of the good Doctor and his Fly-kinden companion, well… it would be nice to have some more stories in the Spider lands, as well as in Seyn or the mysterious Y'Yen.
Adrian Tchaikovsky, July 11th, 2011 at 6:13 pm:

Reply @ Jake: I have seriously got to sort out that FAQ sometimes. OK, here goes my best understanding of what's published where:
Empire in Black and Gold: UK, US, Poland, Germany (2 volumes), Czech Republic, Bulgaria — Russia anticipated. I have an idea that Slokavia has also purchased the rights, but not 100%
Dragonfly Falling: UK, US, Poland, Germany (2 volume)
Blood of the Mantis: UK, US, Poland, Germany
Salute the Dark: UK, US, Poland
The Scarab Path: UK, US
The Sea Watch: just UK for now.

If anyone knows a keen French publisher… 🙂
Moon Kim, July 13th, 2011 at 11:57 am:

Hmm Adrian, I'm pretty sure who have your books published in Asia as well. I got my Empire in Black ~ Salute the Dark in Kinokuniya in Singapore. I wasn't in Sg when the other was released but I'm going to guess they were sold as well.
Chris, July 19th, 2011 at 1:18 pm:

Adrian, which spell-checker do you not bother to use?
employuer, propecr, locat5ed, gazeteer, myseklf, tunicm … and that was just on the first three pages … worse than a Kindle edition 🙂
Adrian Tchaikovsky, July 19th, 2011 at 11:41 pm:

Hmm. I may have put up the pre-checked version accidentally. I'll go hunt down the proper one.
Nick, September 13th, 2011 at 9:42 pm:

Thanks Adrian — this was one of my most favourite of your short-Shadows stories.
Nick, September 13th, 2011 at 9:43 pm:

Damn — forgot to add: it felt to me very much like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Lost World'. And yes, that's a good thing.
Gabriel Brouillard, October 23rd, 2011 at 12:18 am:

Popping up twice in one day, I hope this isn't a bother. I would very much like to see a follow up of Phinagler's adventure's taking place in the Aleth or the Alim. Seeing a story about some jungle kinden (short or otherwise) would definitely tickle my creative bones. On the subject my creativity, I’ve started jotting down mental notes for a short story set in the Shadows of the Apt universe. I must ask you though, do you hold any reservations in regards to writers inventing their own Insect-kinden? If not, I would like to collaborate a little if you have the time. Please and thanks.
Gabriel Brouillard, October 23rd, 2011 at 1:09 am:

I’ve just noticed two errors in my message for which I apologize. Adventures is not meant to have an apostrophe in it and I also left out the "of" in the part which read “On the subject (of) my … ”. I’m normally very good at catching these. Not doing so leaves me feeling very inarticulate. Self-criticism aside, I’ve just started writing some background to my story which will be adjusted as needed. I also hope to hire out an online friend to provide some artwork for me and I am working under the title “The Violet Stranger”. I do hope this turns out well.
overwhelmed auxillian, November 1st, 2011 at 7:54 pm:

Adrian, i feel so overwhelmed by the amount of stories this website is turning out! i just started truly examining this website a few weeks ago, (i am currently awaiting the arival of book 6 in america)and i see all of the stories posted here, and i feel overwhelmed. so, to get to my obscure point, would you mind specifying whether these stories are important, or if they are just fun little ditties you (or fans) write for fun and amusement? this is a major concern of mine, and i would love to have this specified for me! thank you! i love your work!
Adrian Tchaikovsky, November 1st, 2011 at 8:08 pm:

Hmm, hard to say — originally the stories were purely supplemental but as per a recent post they have started feeding back into the books. However, the stories, at most, simply fill out background detail on the world that you don't need to know, and hopefully stand as entertainment in and of themselves. You don't have to read them to get the books. Also, I still have hopes for getting the stories collected and released in a more formal format.
an avid reader, May 8th, 2013 at 11:03 pm:

A random note: Fosse gives dimensions of the raft in yards. However, I recall it being mentioned elsewhere that the Collegiates use the metric system, even going so far as to use tendays instead of 7‑day weeks. Just an odd discrepancy. 🙂
Adrian Tchaikovsky, May 8th, 2013 at 11:38 pm:

I don't *think* I use the metric system for lengths at any point — it always feels like an immersion-breaker in a fantasy novel (whilst in SF I'd think it was de rigeur). All the kinden use the tenday as a convenient unit of time, but that's not necessarily "metric", just different.
Matt, March 15th, 2019 at 2:18 pm:

I've really enjoyed reading your books and short stories. If you're still looking for suggestions for Dr. Phinagler — nice name by the way — I would say Jarrender in the Spiderlands. If he is indeed interested in solving mysteries, this could be interesting.

Also, I was wondering if you have any news about new releases of short stories? I see you mentioned one being set after 'seal of the worm', and I'd like to read that.
Adrian Tchaikovsky, March 18th, 2019 at 8:09 pm:

There are currently four volumes of Shadows of the Apt stories out, under the series title "Tales of the Apt" — Cities of Silver and three other outings for Dr Phinagler are in the third volume, "For Love of Distant Shores".

Adrian

Shadows of the Apt