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Adrian Tchaikovsky

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Children of Time Hardcover – June 1, 2015

by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Author)

4.5 44,610 ratings

Book 1 of 3: Children of Time

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Who will inherit this new earth? The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors they discover the greatest treasure of the past age—a world terraformed and prepared for human life. But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has born disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind's worst nightmare. Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?

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About the Author

Adrian Tchaikovsky studied psychology and zoology. He subsequently ended up in law and has worked as a legal executive. He is the author of the Shadows of the Apt series, which includes Blood of the Mantis, Dragonfly Falling, Salute the Dark,and The Scarab Path.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tor; Main Market Ed. edition (June 1, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 608 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1447273281
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1447273288
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.03 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.02 x 1.85 x 9.21 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,806,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #23,365 in Space Operas

Customer Reviews:
4.5 44,610 ratings

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Adrian Tchaikovsky

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Adrian Tchaikovsky was born in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire before heading off to Reading to study psychology and zoology. For reasons unclear even to himself he subsequently ended up in law and has worked as a legal executive in both Reading and Leeds, where he now lives. Married, he is a keen live role-player and occasional amateur actor, has trained in stage-fighting, and keeps no exotic or dangerous pets of any kind, possibly excepting his son. Catch up with Adrian at www.shadowsoftheapt.com for further information about both himself and the insect-kinden, together with bonus material including short stories and artwork. Author Website: http://shadowsoftheapt.com/

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Customers find the book an enjoyable and well-written read with vivid science fiction content. They describe the plot as interesting and thought-provoking, with a unique narrative structure that facilitates co-evolution of the plot. Readers appreciate the author's imagination and visionary ideas. The writing quality is clear and thoughtful, with rich descriptions and intelligence. Character development is also appreciated, with well-developed characters and meaningful personalities.

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Readability Sci-fi content Plot Creativity Writing quality Character development Pacing Length

1,272 customers mention "Readability"1,233 positive39 negative

Customers enjoy the book's readability. They find the story engaging with good characterization and interesting concepts. The pace is fast, the narration is interesting, and the plot is well-crafted. Some readers enjoyed the spider storyline more than the human one.

"...Children of Time" is a masterpiece that does more than entertain; it enlightens, asking poignant questions about evolution, coexistence, and the..." Read more

"I found the book to be really well written, with a great storyline and well-developed characters...." Read more

"...The writing is clear and thoughtful. The last third is especially intense." Read more

"...This is where the novel really shines. Tchaikovsky does a wonderfully entertaining job of projecting out what higher consciousness would be like for..." Read more

1,084 customers mention "Sci-fi content"1,070 positive14 negative

Customers find the book's science fiction engaging and vivid. They appreciate the believable universe and world-building, as well as the plausible interpolation of hard science into the future. The story combines elements of deep time, a dying Earth, space travel, and alien contact. It is intelligent and suspenseful, with an evocative and well-imagined world.

"...Children of Time" is a masterpiece that does more than entertain; it enlightens, asking poignant questions about evolution, coexistence, and the..." Read more

"...The story of the nanovirus-infected spiders is brilliant, evocative, and stunningly well-imagined. I will come back to that...." Read more

"...are presented using a good amount of exposition, leading to rich, vivid sci-fi that never bores. I found myself unable to put the book down...." Read more

"...and biological details of the spiders’ world are clever and fascinating, based on real world biology. The writing is clear and thoughtful...." Read more

578 customers mention "Plot"454 positive124 negative

Customers find the plot interesting and engaging. They appreciate the unique narrative structure that allows for co-evolution of the plot. The story is well-researched and well-written, with a thrilling finale. Overall, readers describe it as a good novel worth reading.

"...The narrative effortlessly shifts between these two worlds, building towards a climax that is both inevitable and utterly surprising. "..." Read more

"...This is another reason that Tchaikovsky was wise to set up the story so that the spider chapters are interspersed among the Gilgamesh chapters...." Read more

"...I found myself unable to put the book down. It was captivating from the very first page with its introduction of the unlikely character of Dr...." Read more

"...The descriptions are excellent, and the ending is somewhat surprising, although the obvious was missed in favour of – well, you will have to read it..." Read more

483 customers mention "Creativity"475 positive8 negative

Customers appreciate the book's imaginative and original ideas. They find the narrative profound and innovative, taking readers on a journey that is amazing. The bold and visionary idea is well-thought-out, depicted in an almost visionary way, with creative picturesque possibilities and unimaginable mindsets. Readers love the concept and development of characters.

"...world, Adrian Tchaikovsky presents a narrative that is as profound as it is innovative, taking readers on a journey that spans millennia, exploring..." Read more

"...The story of the spiders, however, is downright scintillating. If it were not so alien, it might have made a brilliant book in its own right...." Read more

"...The cultural and biological details of the spiders’ world are clever and fascinating, based on real world biology...." Read more

"Short review: a bold and original idea that deserves praise but ultimately drags on longer than it needs to and becomes hampered by its own story..." Read more

363 customers mention "Writing quality"300 positive63 negative

Customers find the writing quality engaging and original. They appreciate the concise style that allows their minds to wander. The author's vocabulary is worth noting, and the book is rich with description and intelligence. They describe it as an enjoyable, easy read that keeps them hooked until the end.

"...care and imagination, making their society as real and as relatable as any human culture...." Read more

"I found the book to be really well written, with a great storyline and well-developed characters...." Read more

"...The writing is clear and thoughtful. The last third is especially intense." Read more

"...Tchaikovsky has a keen mind, and he writes well. The characters seem so real, and it never gets boring...." Read more

261 customers mention "Character development"211 positive50 negative

Customers enjoy the book's character development. They find the human characters outstanding, with no flawed protagonist or dull female characters. The species evolve throughout the book, with new characters introduced in each chapter. The author has been thoughtful in giving the characters meaningful personalities, idioms, and a social structure.

"...book to be really well written, with a great storyline and well-developed characters...." Read more

"...Tchaikovsky has a keen mind, and he writes well. The characters seem so real, and it never gets boring...." Read more

"...However, the science does fall quite flat sometime. The characters are formed to be suitable for the plot...." Read more

"...names for the spiders across generations, making it easier to understand their characters, eg Portia, Fabian, Violet, etc. show up each generation...." Read more

240 customers mention "Pacing"107 positive133 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the pacing of the book. Some find it engaging with a slow tempo crescendo that leads to a dizzying array of plot elements. Others feel the middle chapters drag and the book doesn't capture their interest.

"...story, and the concept of the title is thus: there is no handy faster-than-light travel, no wormholes, no magic gates, just good old fashioned..." Read more

"...The book is extremely well-paced, with reasonably short chapters alternating between two narratives that are obviously racing toward each other...." Read more

"...It dragged a little in the middle chapters, but came together nicely in the end. I highly recommend it." Read more

"...a good amount of exposition, leading to rich, vivid sci-fi that never bores. I found myself unable to put the book down...." Read more

120 customers mention "Length"74 positive46 negative

Customers have different views on the book's length. Some find it engaging with short chapters alternating between two narratives that keep their attention. Others feel the main body is too long and unnecessarily drawn out.

"...The book is extremely well-paced, with reasonably short chapters alternating between two narratives that are obviously racing toward each other...." Read more

"...The book is long and complex, but not highly technical...." Read more

"...This first book in the series is a chunky 600 pages, and the action of the story covers thousands of years of future history...." Read more

"...Tchaikovsky has crafted a scale of epic proportions, a yarn that encompasses a tale of human history and future, culminating in the hope of a truly..." Read more

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Kindle Customer
The new standard for reading
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2024
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"Children of Time" is not just a novel; it's a grand tapestry that weaves together the essence of evolution, intelligence, and survival across the cosmos. In this masterpiece of the new world, Adrian Tchaikovsky presents a narrative that is as profound as it is innovative, taking readers on a journey that spans millennia, exploring the development of civilization in the most unexpected of forms.

At the heart of this epic tale is the concept of terraforming a new world, where a planet intended for human habitation instead becomes the cradle for a new form of intelligence. The author skillfully juxtaposes the destinies of humans, struggling to find a new home after the desolation of Earth, with that of a rapidly evolving species of spiders uplifted by the remnants of human technology. This setup provides a rich ground for exploring themes of intelligence, culture, and the very nature of civilization itself.

What makes "Children of Time" a masterpiece is not just its ambitious scope but how Tchaikovsky manages to infuse deep scientific concepts with a sense of wonder and empathy. The evolution of the spider civilization is detailed with such meticulous care and imagination, making their society as real and as relatable as any human culture. The author challenges our anthropocentric views, inviting us to consider what intelligence and culture might look like in a form vastly different from our own.

The human characters, with their flaws, hopes, and fears, provide a stark contrast to the spider society, offering a reflection on humanity's own struggles with cooperation, ambition, and the search for meaning. The narrative effortlessly shifts between these two worlds, building towards a climax that is both inevitable and utterly surprising.

"Children of Time" is a masterpiece that does more than entertain; it enlightens, asking poignant questions about evolution, coexistence, and the future of intelligence. Tchaikovsky's writing is a beacon for the new world of science fiction, showing how space operas can explore the depths of both the universe and the human condition. This novel is a triumph of imagination, a celebration of life's endless forms and potentials, making it a must-read for anyone who looks to the stars and wonders what might be.

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Peter Wall
Brilliant, Unputdownable, and Well-Constructed, if Ultimately Disappointing—Read it!
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2019
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About 15 years ago, after being disappointed by the ending of the Wachowskis' Matrix movies, it occurred to me that it would have been much more satisfying to learn that The Machines were not "machines" at all, but instead the engineered descendants of elite humans, whose will and consciousness they still embodied. That story could have been a powerful fable of the ways that people abuse and entrap each other into diseased social relations, and how true peace would have entailed a reunification of a species separated so long ago. Instead it was just a muddled and one-sided story of revolution against—what? Oppressive "systems" personified?

So, after getting past the first few ham-handed pages of Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time, and the bodily antics of the weirdly juvenile, unbelievably flat, and deeply unlikable Avrana Kern—who plays better as a garbled piece of software than as a physical person—I was excited for the possibilities implied by the setup. "Did Tchaikovsky have the same response to the Matrix movies that I did, but more productively?" I wondered.

The book is extremely well-paced, with reasonably short chapters alternating between two narratives that are obviously racing toward each other. I mention the shortness of the chapters because, for me, there was hardly a likable character in the book, and the short chapters, alternating between such different stories, compensated for that. Of the spiders, the eccentric Bianca was probably the one I came closest to really liking. Among the humans, Holsten Mason, the "classicist," is about as likable as any of them got. But even he seems pretty drab, and not really believable as a classist, but seeming more as I suppose a scientist or an engineer might imagine a classicist.

And that, unfortunately, is too often a weakness in this genre; It is difficult to find well-written students of the humanities in science fiction. There are excellent exceptions, and I might be painting with too broad a brush. But while writers and readers of science fiction like to hold out the genre as a way to explore the implications of science and technology, it seems to me far better as a vehicle to explore the implications for human persons not just of possible technologies and possible scientific facts, but of the cultural and economic structures for knowing and authority, and for the creation of meaning and morality, as those things are shaped by scientific and technological mindsets and practices.

Which sets me on the path to unfolding the biggest disappointment of the book. But let me first qualify that the magnitude of the disappointment is directly proportional to the strength of Tchaikovsky's efforts—if I found the mountaintop lacking, it was only because he managed to scale the mountain. He clearly recognizes that science and technology only make sense when they are embedded in cultures, and has labored to create two distinct and contrasting cultures. The story of the nanovirus-infected spiders is brilliant, evocative, and stunningly well-imagined. I will come back to that.

The story of the people on the generation ship Gilgamesh is a little less inspired, but solid. I would have liked to see a more penetrating examination of how exactly a "crew" hierarchy would be maintained (or make any sense at all) in such extreme circumstances. There are bits and pieces in the background of ideas about cult-like devotion, but those are tied to somewhat flat and less-than-credible foreground figures, like Vrie Guyen, who seems to be designed solely for the author to push him around mechanically and drive the plot forward (which makes his ultimate fate a little too on-the-nose, even if delightfully horrifying as a set piece). And the cult of Isa Lain just seems to appear out of nowhere, without much depth or explanation, for no persuasive reason except that it needs to be there.

In other words, the parts of the book set on the Gilgamesh are standard fare for the genre, and not especially dazzling.

The story of the spiders, however, is downright scintillating. If it were not so alien, it might have made a brilliant book in its own right. But it probably would have been difficult to hold readers' attention. This is another reason that Tchaikovsky was wise to set up the story so that the spider chapters are interspersed among the Gilgamesh chapters. Unlikeable though the human characters may be, their more recognizable antics are a helpful respite from the alienness of the spiders, and that allows Tchaikovsky to serve up this far more creative side of the story in manageable doses. I loved it.

But for all their wonderful, web-like intelligence, and the communitarian ethic apparently instilled by the nanovirus (that somehow failed spectacularly to overcome rank sexism), all of which is vividly and persuasively imagined, the "religious" angle of their society is little more than a caricature. For all the sectarianism that happens mostly in the background (the way the cults happen mostly in the background on the Gilgamesh), I find it hard to believe that none of the spiders, in all their intricate wisdom, would have challenged the literalness of "God." Where were the spider mystics, in another words? Where the ones recognizing that, if ant colonies can be transformed into living machines, with the ability, even, to capture consciousness, and if there is such continuity in being that a "message" from beyond their world is even possible, that there must be some greater unity of existence? A "ground of being," perhaps?

Maybe that is too much to ask. Maybe it would have made the book a thousand pages long, instead of just six hundred. But I think it would have been more satisfying. And it could have enabled a much more interesting version of the conflict that plays out in the final chapters of the book—more interesting, at least, than the one driven by a silly, shunted-in conversation about the Prisoner's Dilemma. A clash of civilizations precipitated by a logic game? Really? Despite having set up so much great potential for these weird, religious cultures?

Just as I enjoyed but was disappointed by the Matrix movies, which could have been a piercing fable of class warfare and authentic humanity, I enjoyed but was disappointed by Children of Time, which could have been a far more interesting science fiction meditation on the "two greatest commandments"—love God, love your neighbor—and that old question, "And who is my neighbor?"

Children of Time comes tantalizingly close to being that kind of a book, that uses the imaginative freedom of science fiction to press into the heart of what it means to be human in a complex, community at odds, or at least potentially at odds, with other complex communities. But it never quite crosses that line. Even so, it is brilliant, unputdownable, and definitely something that you should read.

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Radu Gruian
Grabs your attention and doesn't let go until the end
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2024
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I found the book to be really well written, with a great storyline and well-developed characters. The worlds and situations are presented using a good amount of exposition, leading to rich, vivid sci-fi that never bores. I found myself unable to put the book down. It was captivating from the very first page with its introduction of the unlikely character of Dr. Avrana Kern all the way to the beautiful and unexpected conclusion at the end of the book. The story reminded me a bit of the first part of Stephenson's "Seveneves", and the style of writing is at times just as detailed. But of course, this plot is ultimately different as it portrays the inevitable collision course of two fundamentally different civilizations. I enjoyed the story, and will be reading the other two books in the series!

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Rodolfo
Satisfação total desde a compra até o recebimento!
Reviewed in Brazil on May 21, 2023
Verified Purchase
Ainda não li o livro por causa de outras leituras que estou fazendo no momento.

No entanto, deixo registrada a minha satisfação quanto à entrega (do pedido cuja chegada levou 10 dias) e com o estado do produto, que veio muito bem embalado e sem partes amassadas.

Espero que minha leitura e estudos com a língua inglesa possam ser beneficiados com essa história envolvente e cheia de aventuras! Recomendo a todos que estão interessados!

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Rodolfo

Satisfação total desde a compra até o recebimento!

Reviewed in Brazil on May 21, 2023
Ainda não li o livro por causa de outras leituras que estou fazendo no momento.

No entanto, deixo registrada a minha satisfação quanto à entrega (do pedido cuja chegada levou 10 dias) e com o estado do produto, que veio muito bem embalado e sem partes amassadas.

Espero que minha leitura e estudos com a língua inglesa possam ser beneficiados com essa história envolvente e cheia de aventuras! Recomendo a todos que estão interessados!

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Ardent
Lo mejor de lo mejor.
Reviewed in Mexico on January 4, 2025
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Increíble libro, lo tuve guardado mucho tiempo y cuando le di la oportunidad supe que esto era calidad.

Hablando desde lo técnico, un libro con muy bonita portada y las hojas tienen buen gramaje.

Aquí seguimos dos hilos de una historia que poco a poco llega a su clímax, encariñandonos con bastantes personajes no importa de que especie, involucrándonos en dilemas de toda índole.

Algo muy presente es la diferencia de perspectivas entre especies, ¿todos los caminos de la evolución llevan a los defectos de ser humano?

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Uday Girjapure
Evolution Redefined: A Journey Beyond Humanity
Reviewed in India on January 11, 2025
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Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time is more than just a science fiction novel—it’s a brilliant exploration of evolution, survival, and the very essence of intelligence. This Hugo Award-winning masterpiece weaves a gripping tale that challenges our understanding of humanity and the natural world.

Set against the backdrop of humanity’s desperate attempt to find a new home, the story brilliantly juxtaposes the remnants of human civilization with the rise of an extraordinary new species. Tchaikovsky’s deep understanding of science and his ability to craft a narrative filled with tension, philosophical depth, and emotional resonance make this book a standout. The themes of cooperation, legacy, and adaptability are handled with profound insight, offering readers not just an engaging story but also a new perspective on life itself.

Children of Time is a must-read for anyone who loves science fiction that pushes boundaries and provokes thought. It’s an epic tale of discovery and connection that will leave you pondering long after you’ve turned the last page. Highly recommended for those who seek stories that challenge both the mind and the heart.

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Reg
Great ickiness potential, but brilliantly delivered and compulsively readable
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 16, 2024
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Okay, a book full of intelligent giant spiders: queue here to leave the room at speed, screaming as you go.

But no, once you get over that (I tended to see them in my mind's eye as slightly blurry cuddly toys), this is a novel stuffed full of brilliant and mind-bending ideas, written with style and great intelligence. For instance, the long term relationship between spiders and ants is cunning and convincing, neatly dealing with the whole awkward opposable thumb issue.

Remarkably, the spiders quickly become sympathetic characters, despite the book covering a very considerable period of time with a constantly shifting cast of arachnids. The human characters are longer lasting, as they are intermittently awoken from long term sleep on a deep-space colonisation ship, and are arguably less well drawn, often being a plot device to show up the predictable stupidity of human beings.

I won't spoil the plot, but it's exciting, surprising and thoroughly entertaining. One of the best sci-fi novels I've read.

And I love that the rise of the spiders is essentially an accident caused by an issue with the delivery of an expected consignment of monkeys.

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Lillemor
Great
Reviewed in Sweden on September 25, 2023
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Fast shipping, book was in great condition.

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