Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • The Scarab Path

  • Shadows of the Apt, Book 5
  • By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
  • Narrated by: Ben Allen
  • Length: 26 hrs and 36 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (179 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The Scarab Path cover art

The Scarab Path

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Narrated by: Ben Allen
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Empire in Black and Gold cover art
Spoils of War cover art
Children of Time cover art
The Tiger and the Wolf cover art
Guns of the Dawn cover art
Ogres cover art
Engines of Chaos cover art
A Demon in Silver: Book One of War of the Archons cover art
Red Rising (Part 2 of 2) (Dramatized Adaptation) cover art
The Weavers of Saramyr cover art
The Worldship Humility cover art
The Will of the Many cover art
Cold from the North cover art
Shadebound cover art
Witchsign cover art
Brotherhood of the Scythe cover art

Summary

The Scarab Path is the fifth book in the critically acclaimed epic-fantasy series Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Ancient powers are waking....

The war with the Wasp Empire has ended in a bitter stalemate, and Collegium has nothing to show for it but wounded veterans. Cheerwell Maker finds herself broken in ways no doctor can mend, haunted by ghosts of the past. Meanwhile, the powerful Wasp Empress is regaining control over those imperial cities that refused to bow to her. But she draws her power from something more sinister than armies and war machines. 

Only her consort, the former spymaster Thalric, knows the truth. As assassins seek to end him, he finds his life and his loyalties under threat once again. And in an ancient city beyond the desert, a terrible secret stirs beneath its stones.

The Scarab Path is followed by the sixth book in the Shadows of the Apt series, The Sea Watch.

©2020 Adrian Tchaikovsky (P)2020 Macmillan Publishers International Limited

What listeners say about The Scarab Path

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    133
  • 4 Stars
    44
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    149
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    124
  • 4 Stars
    32
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Solid book in the series!

A great addition to the series and highly recommended. Great story and great storytelling. The familiar characters in a new location with plenty of interesting world building.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thrilling adventure

I loved the twists and turns of the main characters, not knowing whether they would live or die.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A solid piece of the series

Pretty decent although as the preceding books were such a hard act to follow I didn’t enjoy it quite as much but it is still an impressive piece of work. Looking forward to the next one in the series.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

a great sequel

another great addition to the series. narration was great, the story has really started to evolve and I can't wait for the next one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great start to the second part of the apt series

Ben Allen as usual smashes it out the park with his narration.

As for the story. I never liked cheerwell the first 4 books, but I have grown to like her now after having a book mostly on her perspective.

Looking forward to the next one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

My favourite in the series so far!

I’ve enjoyed this book so much. As the protagonist unwraps layers of a new, mysterious city, so too are deeper layers of the characters we love revealed. Superb redemption arches and twisting romances. Epic battle scenes with wondrous new characters. This book had it all.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Smashed it yet again

Loved the battles which have now become a signature of this author, tofo reminds me of a dreadnought from warhammer in his armer…next book down loaded and ready for me for jump straight back in! The narrator is banging…

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A little side trip, but probably profound.

Needless to say, Ben Allen is superb again. New accents required in this one. How does he do the female voices?

The story is set after a major resetting of things, and this, at first appears to be a side trip for some of our characters.

Two things are happening at once though. And I suspect this book has big implications in the series.

As usual, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Both the author and the reader are amazing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Slow start, but speeds up

This is the slowest start so far to the series. It gathers pace and I feel like this book is setting us up for something much bigger later in the series but it almost feels like a standalone story. that said there is character development here that will have an impact later on, I'm sure

It's the first in the series which is focused on one region rather than to various parts of the world. Maybe that's making it a different read. Don't get me wrong, I still want to read the rest. This series is definitely not a chore.

Ben Allen is still delivering great narration. You get to the point where you know who is speaking without being told, every character is unique.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Continues to surprise and develop characters

The narration in this series is excellent, the voices of various characters have a regional twang which reflects their origin in the book. This adds a depth to the narration which I have not heard anywhere else. The pacing of this book is perhaps a little slower than some of the others in the series but other than that it continues to hit all the right notes, well rounded characters, interesting themes and slow unpacking of the mysteries within this universe. 100% recommend to anyone that enjoys high fantasy but with some real depth and not filled with the same old tropes you find elsewhere.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!