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Guns of the Dawn cover art

Guns of the Dawn

Written by: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Narrated by: Emma Newman
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Publisher's Summary

Short-listed for the 2016 British Fantasy Society Award for Best Novel.

Guns of the Dawn is a pacey, gripping fantasy of war and magic from Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky.

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 towards 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.

©2017 Adrian Tchaikovsky (P)2017 Macmillan Digital Audio

What listeners say about Guns of the Dawn

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Fantastic!!!

Excellent writing, characters, and story. I strongly recommend this book. It's kind of like a cross between Pride and Prejudice and the Shadow Throne series, which may sound odd, but it works beautifully.

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Amazing!

Wow. I cried a few times. That makes a good book I'd say. Great job.

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    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent female lead but a bit too much swamp

I picked this up because I absolutely loved "Children of Time" but this is a very, very different genre of book. Still beautifully written, and with a great heroine; even though many male authors just can't write female protagonists, Tchaikovsky writes Emily Marshwic very believably and I never found myself dismayed by some jarring description or characterization that an actual woman would never write.

I listened to this on audible and the narrator was truly excellent as well, conveying subtleties of rank with different accents in such a skilled way that it wasn't at all obvious and look me a long time to notice. Listen to Emily's accent vs Brocky's or her brother-in-law -- very cleverly chosen.

I think this was a 4 star instead of 5 star read for me just because it isn't entirely a genre I enjoy - it's sort of a cross between a 1800s fiction of manners and a military fantasy. While it's not set on our Earth and there are warlocks and magic in the world, neither of these spend long in the spotlight and most of the story is just about a variety of interesting characters embroiled in a miserable war in a swamp. And while I enjoy the occasional military fantasy, I felt that maybe it was a little TOO long on swamp warfare and I'd have enjoyed learning a little bit more about the warlocks or other aspects of the world. Still, the author writes skillfully and I was captivated until the end.

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