Seal of the Worm cover art

Seal of the Worm

Shadows of the Apt, Book 10

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Seal of the Worm

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Narrated by: Ben Allen
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About this listen

An ancient enemy stirs once more . . .


Seal of the Worm is the tenth and final book in the critically acclaimed epic fantasy series Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

The Empire has vanquished its enemies at last, but at a terrible price. With her chief rival cast into the abyss, Empress Seda must face the truth of what she’s unleashed in her hunger for power. Now the Seal has been shattered, the ancient Worm stirs towards the light for the first time in a thousand years. Already it is striking at the surface, consuming everything in its voracious path. Unchecked, it will ravage the world.

As her victory seems hollow indeed, Seda knows that only the most extreme solution can lock the Worm in the dark once more. But if she’ll go to such horrific lengths to save them all from the Worm, who’ll save the world from her?

Start the epic journey with Empire in Black and Gold, the first book in the Shadows of the Apt series.

The entire series is narrated by Ben Allen (Alien Clay). Listeners love the series in audio:

‘Fantastic narration that really got you to imagine this amazing world’

‘You get consumed into the world and its characters’

‘The characters are distinct with masterful accents’

‘The narration and sound design is jaw-dropping’

‘Ben Allen's narration was frankly phenomenal all the way through’

Action & Adventure Animals Epic Fantasy Genre Fiction

Critic Reviews

Brimming with imagination
The Shadows of the Apt series is simply one of the best epic fantasy series out there
Super world-building, great characters and extreme inventiveness
Epic fantasy at its best. Gripping, original and multi-layered storytelling from a writer bursting with lots of fascinating ideas
Full of sparking, speculative innovation (Stephen Baxter, author of the Xeelee Sequence, on The Doors of Eden)
Breathtaking scope and vision. Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of our finest writers (Gareth L. Powell, author of Embers of War, on Children of Ruin)
A joy from start to finish. Entertaining, smart, surprising and unexpectedly human (Patrick Ness, author of The Knife of Never Letting Go, on Children of Time)
All stars
Most relevant
I was in tears by book end the best series I’ve ever listened to .
Adrian is my best author by far

This was the best world and character building I’ve ever listened to

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A gripping, emotionally and fitting end to the shadows of the apt. I can't wait to see Adrian's next works.

Truly a masterpiece.

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I have loved every book in this series, it's truly is a masterpiece, this book still stood out as particularly special and wrapped the story up in a unique and fitting way. it was unpredictable and original.

I am in awe of Tchaikovsky and amazed at the performance by Ben Allan.
somehow Allen is able to do 7-8 Accents in both male and female tones making it a really easy listen as you always know who is talking to whom.

thank you so much.

Now that I'm finished, I will miss this Series like a dear friend.

Unbelievably Good

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I fell in love with loveable characters, even the villains. A large world full of mystique and brimming with politics, lore, action and intrigue. Gripped and am in silent awe of Tchaikovsky's story telling. The performance of Ben Allen was excellent, able to capture characters with effortless transition between tone and accent. am already missing the series as I write this review. I wonder if more from this world will come.

Fell in love with this series

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What a great conclusion to the Shadow of the Apt series. As with the previous 9 books the story and the narrator are fantastic.
The only downside is that this is the last and final book. I'd wish for more stories from the world of the apt.

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