Yet another winner from Adrian Tchaikovsky, maybe the most consistent sci-fi writer today. This book works whether you've read the other two or not; they all stand alone really well.

Damn you, Tchaikovsky, you got me reading another long and inventive series with serious philosophical implications when I ought to be writing reviews! Bee Speaker is the third book in the Bioform series, taking place hundreds of years later than Bear Head. While Earth has succumbed to various climate and politics induced collapses and nearly nothing remains of the Old, Mars pulled togther, with the help of Bees, and has prospered to the point that a signal pleading for help is answered with a rescue mission. The astronauts land in the middle of a complex political situation between a monastary of Bees acolytes, a Bioform factory, and a throwback group of knight-idealizing bunkermen.
There are too many thoughts to get into, including a lot of spoilers, so I'll just recommend you read it. On the other hand, the contrast between two spiritual heirs of Rex - Deacon and Wells - is fascinating, and has me saying "good dog" to every canine I pass.

Adrian Tchaikovsky never misses. Expansive worldbuilding, thematic resonance throughout the entire book, and unforgettable characters are just some of the things you'll find in BEE SPEAKER.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

4.25/5 I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Being a big fan of the other two Bioform books (Dogs of War, Bear Head) I was excited to hear that Tchaikovsky was releasing a new entry in this series. These are pretty much standalone books and have pretty conclusive endings at the end of each entry. I was satisfied with the ending of Dogs of War and didn't feel like I *needed* another book but Bear Head was one of my biggest surprises, I thought it was hilarious and just a really fun time.

This book has more of a serious tone again and we get a mixture of Bioform, human, and a few other factions and races of characters that are thrown into conflict and testing the bounds of this broken world they find themselves in.

I think the characters are all pretty well written, especially the Bioforms which are the strong point of the series, exploring animal hybrids and their internal monologues never ceases to be interesting.

The world building is pretty good in this one and builds off the previous two books, I did think some of the elements at the end needed a gentler and more gradual introduction, it felt like we got quite a lot right at the end and new conflicts sprung up only to be resolved fairly quickly. I was also hoping to see some Shadows of the Apt connections, maybe that's misguided but I could have seen that feasibly happening.

Overall, happy I read this. I'm not sure it *needed* to be written and was sort of hoping for some bigger more definitive conclusions but this was a fun story in a well built world. I'd read another one in this world but also I'm fine if it ends here, but I do think if there is another book in the series I kind of want a bigger concept that can really shake things up.

This was more of a plot focused book, I do think the ideas in Dogs of War and Bear Head were a bit more interesting and novel but the world and interaction of the factions here was the strong point.

Bee Speaker is the third in Tchaikovsky's Dogs of War series but it definitely stands on its own. I have not read the first two books but had no trouble diving right into Bee Speaker, which starts with a message from the fallen Earth asking for help from its successors on Mars. A small Martian team heads "home" to help, setting off a series of potentially disastrous incidents. Totally enjoyable read and some fun world-building with a slightly rushed denouement.

Bee Speaker by Adrian Tchaikovsky a good book, I found the writing style in this one harder to process that his other books but I think that was more on me than on the book.