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minayana's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
irisjune's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
lotteoost's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
klara_o's review
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
aaronscott072's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
colin_h_atx's review
5.0
Space spiders. I do hate spiders but was able to power through because it’s such a fun read.
katyab's review against another edition
5.0
Bit funny to come back to this review, only to find the following:
"Okay okay okay. This was ASTONISHING.
SO GOOD.
That’s all my brain has right now. Proper review later.
(so f***ing good)"
I cannot recommend this book enough; it's brilliant. Children of Time is an engrossing, eons-spanning epic, dealing with both the magnitude of outer space and the relentless passing of time, and the microscopic progress of evolution.
Evolution is central to this book, and I was in awe of how many ways Adrian Tchaikovsky approached that theme. He makes it clear from the outset that evolution is not always straightforward. At the very start of the book, humanity goes from being a galactic superpower to a very unsophisticated and technologically stunted race that's struggling to survive, all in very little time. What I found most fascinating was that the human characters we follow through the book – descendants of that struggling race, trying to escape a dying earth – study and salvage pieces of the human race's former glory. We're used to seeing the space-conquerering version of humanity in so many science fiction books, but here they're treated like the ancient Greeks; if the Greeks had been miles more advanced and widespread across the galaxy than we currently are. Imagining that was exciting. Although I've not read loads of SF, I reckon that concept is quite unique.
Look, I'm already rambling too much. I want to just declare my love for those messy humans trying to travel lightyears to get to another planet, on what is basically the spaceship equivalent of an inflatable dinghy. And they try not to die out in the process, meaning humanity becomes a race that knows nothing but the inside of that spaceship, relying on knowledge passed down. Cults form, generations pass, languages and accents develop. I haven't even spoken about the humans that try (and kind of succeed) to become gods. There's just too much to cover.
Speaking of too much to cover – let me tell you a bit about those bloody brilliant spiders. Half of the chapters are dedicated to a terraforming project that goes awry, and as readers we are given an extraordinary insight into the consequences. This includes the development of an intelligent species of spider over hundreds of years. There's bio-punk technology, religion, warfare, ant-based-computing systems – and my favourite, spider gender politics. And turns the whole idea of bug-inspired alien bad guys on its head. Condensing all of that into a paragraph does not do justice to how excited and passionate I feel about it all.
This is the most thorough of recommendations I can muster. I loved this book.
(Except for arachnophobes, maybe. Who knows, it might act as some sort of weird exposure therapy...)
"Okay okay okay. This was ASTONISHING.
SO GOOD.
That’s all my brain has right now. Proper review later.
(so f***ing good)"
I cannot recommend this book enough; it's brilliant. Children of Time is an engrossing, eons-spanning epic, dealing with both the magnitude of outer space and the relentless passing of time, and the microscopic progress of evolution.
Evolution is central to this book, and I was in awe of how many ways Adrian Tchaikovsky approached that theme. He makes it clear from the outset that evolution is not always straightforward. At the very start of the book, humanity goes from being a galactic superpower to a very unsophisticated and technologically stunted race that's struggling to survive, all in very little time. What I found most fascinating was that the human characters we follow through the book – descendants of that struggling race, trying to escape a dying earth – study and salvage pieces of the human race's former glory. We're used to seeing the space-conquerering version of humanity in so many science fiction books, but here they're treated like the ancient Greeks; if the Greeks had been miles more advanced and widespread across the galaxy than we currently are. Imagining that was exciting. Although I've not read loads of SF, I reckon that concept is quite unique.
Look, I'm already rambling too much. I want to just declare my love for those messy humans trying to travel lightyears to get to another planet, on what is basically the spaceship equivalent of an inflatable dinghy. And they try not to die out in the process, meaning humanity becomes a race that knows nothing but the inside of that spaceship, relying on knowledge passed down. Cults form, generations pass, languages and accents develop. I haven't even spoken about the humans that try (and kind of succeed) to become gods. There's just too much to cover.
Speaking of too much to cover – let me tell you a bit about those bloody brilliant spiders. Half of the chapters are dedicated to a terraforming project that goes awry, and as readers we are given an extraordinary insight into the consequences. This includes the development of an intelligent species of spider over hundreds of years. There's bio-punk technology, religion, warfare, ant-based-computing systems – and my favourite, spider gender politics. And turns the whole idea of bug-inspired alien bad guys on its head. Condensing all of that into a paragraph does not do justice to how excited and passionate I feel about it all.
This is the most thorough of recommendations I can muster. I loved this book.
(Except for arachnophobes, maybe. Who knows, it might act as some sort of weird exposure therapy...)
miss_majuu's review against another edition
4.0
This was really interesting but also really dense, long and complex.
There are things I loved, like the ending/twist, the science and some creepy scenes.
There are also things i didn't love, like the majority of the human storyline, the huge amount of time passing in the story and the social commentary on gender and matriarchy/patriarchy fell flat - for me.
But nonetheless this was absolutely fascinating about 90% of the time.
There are things I loved, like the ending/twist, the science and some creepy scenes.
There are also things i didn't love, like the majority of the human storyline, the huge amount of time passing in the story and the social commentary on gender and matriarchy/patriarchy fell flat - for me.
But nonetheless this was absolutely fascinating about 90% of the time.