From the Bookshelf of Beyond Reality…

Children of Time (Children of Time, #1)

Adrian Tchaikovsky

Start date: April 1, 2025

Finish date: April 30, 2025

Discussion: Previous BotM--DISCUSSIONS

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Mockingbird (6/25): Finished Reading (Spoilers OK)
By Kathi , Moderator & Book Lover · 8 posts · 13 views

last updated Jun 28, 2025 02:11PM

Mockingbird (6/25): Roll Call *No Spoilers*
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What Members Thought

Jan 19, 2019 mina rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Real rating: 6/5.

[Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD]

I hate spiders. So I approached this book with unease. But somehow, after a few chapters reading about the intelligent Portia, Bianca, and (later) Fabian, I would always choose them over humanity in Gilgamesh ark ship, whose passengers were the last of human race trying to find somewhere to live. I really want the spiders to win, I really want their planet stays green and "natural", a nice place to inhabit for the spiders, the stomatopods, yeah, even fo Real rating: 6/5.

[Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD]

I hate spiders. So I approached this book with unease. But somehow, after a few chapters reading about the intelligent Portia, Bianca, and (later) Fabian, I would always choose them over humanity in Gilgamesh ark ship, whose passengers were the last of human race trying to find somewhere to live. I really want the spiders to win, I really want their planet stays green and "natural", a nice place to inhabit for the spiders, the stomatopods, yeah, even for the ants (another animals I am afraid of; and the dread just multiplied after reading this book). Even if it means humans will become extinct. That's how good the book is written.

The book tells about what would happen if we do an experiment on a whole planet, sending nanovirus to speed up the evolutionary change in the genetic codes and ingrained instincts of a certain occupant living in the planet, which initially should be monkeys. Why monkeys? Because the humans from the future (because this book is about the future) apparently thought that monkeys need to be more intelligent than their (then) current state, but still lesser creatures than humans, so that monkeys will be able to weather whatever difficulties exist on the planet and makes the planet habitable for humanity, and later humans can inhabit the planet with monkeys as their assistants. But things happened: the ship transporting the monkeys and nanovirus was destroyed along with all the occupants (save one Doctor Avrada Kern), but not the nanovirus, which survived the fall and infected every living things on the planet. Nanovirus can trigger greater changes in some living beings over the others, depends on their evolutionary potential. Spiders apparently have high potential.
After almost two thousands years have passed, another arkship was passing by the planet, bringing humans (mostly in suspension chambers) who had to leave the ruined Earth to find some other potential planet to live on. So here the dilemma began.

Looking at the story from different perspective, the spiders in this book could be human race, starting from early state of hunter and gatherer individuals/families, evolving very quickly to more established communities who have technology to reach for the stars. The evolution might be triggered by some higher being up in the sky, who might listen or not listen to us. The human race might be bracing for an encounter with aliens from space who threaten to take over the planet. And human race might fail miserably, because of our penchant to destroy others and ourselves. Maybe we, humans, can learn from the spiders.

This book is bursting with (alien) biological and psychological science, technology, as well as philosophy. It is original, elegant, chilling (I had to put the book down and took a walk to compose myself when I got to the part where the spiders jump to the ship), thought-provoking, mind-opening, and satisfying.

Hail Spiders! ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Nov 15, 2019 Steve rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, apocalypse-soon, gender

There are no aliens that her people ever met or heard from. Or, if there were, their signals were overlooked, passed by: alien in a way that meant no human could see them and recognize them as evidence of life from elsewhere.
So observes Avrana Kern about the life-spreading experiment that forms one of the two main threads of most unusual Children of Time
You might say, this may have been the author's dilemma as well. We have so many stories about humanity's encounter with aliens and, after many d ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 16, 2022 Tom Britz rated it it was amazing

Children of Time is quite an amazing read. Though not perfect it has that underlying feeling of hope that most good literature becomes better for.
The Earth is dying, helped along by the usual suspects, mankind. The solution is to send ships out to find another world where they can begin again. Also, they have the technologies to terraform any planet that holds potential and the suspended animation chambers to enable them to live long enough to reap the reward. However, man being man, there is a ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Sep 02, 2021 Natalie rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

Children of Time follows two groups throughout the novel: a group of humans who have abandoned earth in search of a better planet with Holsten being the main character, and a group of giant spiders who inhabit a green planet that the humans want to settle on.
The planet that the group of humans aboard the Gilgamesh find was designed by Doctor Kern. An AI, which they at first mistake for the Doctor herself, repeats to the humans to stay away from the planet. Doctor Kern doesn't want her experiment ...more

1 like · Like · see review