From the Bookshelf of Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy…

Children of Time (Children of Time, #1)

Adrian Tchaikovsky

Start date: May 21, 2018

Finish date: June 19, 2018

Discussion: Book Discussions

Discussion leader: Erin

Why we're reading this: Group Contemporary Novel discussion May 2018
[close] Group Contemporary Novel discussion May 2018

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 250 topics — 8,801 comments total

Book Discussions

"Cyteen" by C.J. Cherryh
By deleted member · 48 posts · 103 views

last updated May 24, 2025 11:25PM

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
By deleted member · 46 posts · 150 views

last updated Mar 28, 2025 02:28PM

showing 10 of 27 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Sep 22, 2016 Scott Firestone rated it it was amazing

Read this a second time in preparation for Children of Ruin, which comes out in a couple of weeks.
This second reading solidified my feeling that I don't care nearly as much about the humans as...the others. I hope the sequel makes me care about them again. Regardless, it's still a terrific book. A classic.

[original review]
Well this was surprising...
I've been aware of Tchaikovsky for a few years. He has a 10-book fantasy series called Shadows of the Apt, where people in his world have character Read this a second time in preparation for Children of Ruin, which comes out in a couple of weeks.
This second reading solidified my feeling that I don't care nearly as much about the humans as...the others. I hope the sequel makes me care about them again. Regardless, it's still a terrific book. A classic.

[original review]
Well this was surprising...
I've been aware of Tchaikovsky for a few years. He has a 10-book fantasy series called Shadows of the Apt, where people in his world have characteristics of bugs. I have the first few books, but every time I tried reading the first book, I gave up because it wasn't holding my attention. So my expectations weren't high--especially since not every author can cross genres between science fiction and fantasy. But it won an Arthur C. Clarke award, so I took a chance...

Earth is on the brink of destruction, so in a last-ditch effort to save humanity, they launch ark ships into space. One ark ship is nearing a planet that had been terraformed long ago. The original plan for the planet was to send down primates and then infect them with a nanovirus that would Uplift them. But the primates didn't make it, so the nanovirus made do with what it had. And it's awesome.

I won't spoil it, but let's just say that Tchaikovsky's research into bugs for his fantasy series doesn't go to waste...

The book is told from alternating viewpoints of the Uplifted species on the planet, and the ark ship whose inhabitants are occasionally woken up for various reasons. The book takes place over many, many generations, and it constantly feels fresh. While it's 600 pages long, it doesn't feel like there's any filler. Everything moves the plot forward, and it's mostly action or important pieces that set up action later.

While there was a little bit of hand-waving pseudo-science at the end, I liked where he landed things. I thought I knew how he would end it, and I was okay with it. But what he actually did was even better.

Writer Peter F. Hamilton described Children of Time as "smart," and that's really a perfect description. It's one of the best books I've read this year. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Aug 31, 2021 Nuno Ribeiro rated it it was amazing

Shelves: scifi, favoritos, ebooks

Opinião brevemente

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 20, 2022 Elena Alvarez Dosil rated it really liked it

A failed experiment is the seed of Children of Time. Dr. Avrana Kern releases a virus on a terraformed planet with the goal of accelerating the evolution of a group of monkeys sent from Earth. Still, the monkeys will never make it to the planet. The virus shows a clear affinity for spiders, making them evolve and create their own society. Several hundred years later, the last humans from a dead Earth arrive in the system on a colony ship, decided to inhabit the green planet, but Avrana Kern will A failed experiment is the seed of Children of Time. Dr. Avrana Kern releases a virus on a terraformed planet with the goal of accelerating the evolution of a group of monkeys sent from Earth. Still, the monkeys will never make it to the planet. The virus shows a clear affinity for spiders, making them evolve and create their own society. Several hundred years later, the last humans from a dead Earth arrive in the system on a colony ship, decided to inhabit the green planet, but Avrana Kern will not allow anyone to interfere with her experiment.

There's a lot of good stuff in this book. The premises are mind-boggling and intriguing, and the world-building is very ambitious. This is definitely a book about diversity and sameness, and the recognition of both species as sentient and at the same level just makes it all worth it. I found the concept so alluring, that my intention was picking up the next book in the series after finishing this one, but for the life of me, I can't do it right now. This was an interesting and very dense read, unlike anything I read lately, but still, I need to take a break. I am definitely more in love with this book's idea than with its execution.

The not so good stuff: I definitely missed some more character development. There were plenty of interesting things going but I couldn't relate to any of the characters, nothing sparked any emotions. There are two main characters on the human side and several kinds of "recurrent" characters on the spiders' side. When I say recurrent, I don't mean exactly that, but the same names are reused for key spiders over the years. I know their society is completely different than ours, but the choice of reusing the same names didn't help with the feeling that the characters were underdeveloped. The humans do have unique names, but character development was also lacking. I wanted to feel moved by Lain and Holsten's story but the depth just wasn't there.

The plot has a couple of Deux ex Machina twists, including the end. Somehow I expected a bit more from the whole story. It's well written, and the subject is fascinating, but the execution could have been so much better. I'm curious about where the story is going after this book, but I need a break. This wouldn't happen if I could relate to at least one character, but the truth is I don't miss any of them.

Mel Hudson's narration felt flat, monotonous, and rushed, which was why it took me some time to get into the story. Holstein and Lain's voices sounded exactly the same, and without evident pauses between their discourses, which made following dialogs difficult.

This book made me somehow think about The Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward, but while I was able to connect to Forward's characters, it just didn't happen with Tchaikovsky's. It's still worth a read just because it's an interesting concept. ...more

Like · see review

May 30, 2019 Podussy rated it it was ok

I must say I liked the beginning and end of the book. The problem is that there was an overkill of scientific detail that just became too much. Regardless the ending was good enough to make me want to see what happens in book 2

Like · see review