Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Product Details
Web ID: 16835590A Book Of Everything
In the beginning there was a crew aboard a research vessel, and that was interesting enough as there was immediate conflict and character exposition. Then the story completely shifts focus to a spider, her hunt followed in fascinating detail. Among the best qualities in sci-fi particularly is imaginatuve detail, not only thinking up new ideas but also working through their smallest implications. Philosophers debate whether there is something that it is like to be a bat; in this case, once we grant that there is something it is like to be a spider, we can let the author guide us through that experience, not just in the broad strokes but the many minutiae too that fill out any imagined world, give it a certain reality. Well, ignore all of that because now we're on an ark ship in deep space, and then we're covering the development of culture and religion with a god who can communicate to the masses, on to evolutionary arms races, back to troubled humanity, different stories across time and many generations seemingly broaching every possible theme. I would have happily read any of the ten different books contained herein. Somehow it still feels like one consistent novel rather than a jagged mess, a neat puzzle rather than a shattered pot badly glued together. I thought I had the book roughly figured out despite the many twists and turns until I realized at the end that it was still not what I thought, for there was one last twist in the end to bring it all together like the last twist in a complex knot that was until then only a partially bound jumble, revealing the final shape. I am having difficulty expressing the nature of the last/meta theme without spoiling. I can say that it is ultimately introspective, thoughtful, philosophical, not existing only for the twists and action that are present at times - it all serves a purpose. Clarity of purpose, I think, is what brought such an ambitious, multi-faceted novel together where it could have splintered into incoherence. I liked, or if that is not always appropriate, at least appreciated the existence of most of the characters. Each perspective is engaging, even when we lose characters frequently due to the nature of the story. Each new character has sufficient space to grow on the reader so that we root for them, or root for them to fail. We also learn about the ever-evolving (literally and figuratively) world through them, so we meet the world anew as we meet each character, like the first part of a book but a lot of first parts, taking place in the same universe like Sanderson novels. I have never read anything like this and I loved it. Well-researched, thoughtful, philosophical. I even gained some respect for spiders out of it. After finishing it I had to immediately buy a physical copy and make my dad read it. I rounded up for five stars because no book is going to be exactly perfect according to me because authors are not me and do not write for me specifically and exclusively. That said, Children Of Time holds up against any book in my collection. Easily among the best I've ever read, even if I can't quite give it the very top spot.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
He thinks of everything!
Instead of plot twists, this relies on impressively infolded detail. We can guess the basic arc of the story almost from page 1, but we are surprised at every turn by how thoroughly and perceptively Tchaikovsky has worked out all the implications of the premise. I liked it that he assigns to a certain oft-praised collective-style genus an ultimately debased development, while giving the nod to individuality. Episodes involving fighting among one group were tedious, but they were essential to the plot and the idea, and were handled well. On the whole, this book is a stunner.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Sci-fi fun. Couldn't put it down.
Post apocalypse, sentient spiders, bug computers, AI immortality gone wrong, Colonizing plants! Dude, but this.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
MUST READ!
An amazing read! Just finished the second one and currently waiting for the third. I promise you will not regret reading this
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Intelligent Spiders!!!
A civil war is waging on Earth, and as we are trying to terraform a new planet we develop a virus to super speed evolution. But the civil war follows us to our new planet causing problems. We made sure the virus would only effect primates of the mammals but we didn't think about it effecting insects and arachnids. Now Portia is a highly intelligent and scientific spider. I loved the mix of science and fantasy. This book is a while ride all the way to the end. The 2nd book is just as good but about how the virus effects the ocean life.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
I couldn't put it down
I almost talked myself out of buying it because it is so bulky, but the chapter lengths make it easy to read in small doses (if you want to - I didn't). I immediately bought the second in the series after finishing this one.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com