Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Fascinating, fun, thrilling, full of pathos and empathy. Tchaikovsky is somehow able to make the alien familiar. A delightful journey full of memorable characters and meaningful moments both big and small. Can’t wait to read the rest of the series!
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I grabbed this book off the library shelf because of the intriguing title, and it skyrocketed into my select few Favorite Science Fiction of All Time!
An epic story told by a truly ambitious author: The story builds a whole near-plausible universe and spans 3,000 years (give or take a millennium). Not at all tedious, I devoured these delicious 600 pages and was immediately eager for the equally ambitious sequel.
Because of cryostasis, some characters spanned nearly the entire timeline, and all the related metaphysical and identity-crisis complications were well vetted. One "old man" was eventually out-aged by a younger love interest who spent more time "thawed out" than he.
Meanwhile, a virus-enhanced evolution created self-aware, tech-savvy spiders. Yep! Tchaikovsky is playful though, and I think it must have been an intellectual game for him. In the end, his styling was so effective that arachnophobic me actually rooted for the survival of the spiders over the human race!! For that reason alone, I would be in awe of this book.
It was also a smart play for the author to use standard naming (Portia, Bianca, and Fabian) for key players through so many generation of these spiders, as it suggested a continued relationship for the reader who otherwise might not connect with such short-lived and ever new-and-improved generations.
There's a lot happening in this book. It's an intriguing cognitive experiment to see how intelligent spiders would develop civilization differently than intelligent hominids did. You can trust the mind of Tchaikovsky who is both thorough and convincing. But I'll leave discovery to the reader, and I hope you will take the time to give this big book a chance.
In the end, nonviolence and sacrifice and empathy win an impossible struggle, and I am always a fan of that motif.
An epic story told by a truly ambitious author: The story builds a whole near-plausible universe and spans 3,000 years (give or take a millennium). Not at all tedious, I devoured these delicious 600 pages and was immediately eager for the equally ambitious sequel.
Because of cryostasis, some characters spanned nearly the entire timeline, and all the related metaphysical and identity-crisis complications were well vetted. One "old man" was eventually out-aged by a younger love interest who spent more time "thawed out" than he.
Meanwhile, a virus-enhanced evolution created self-aware, tech-savvy spiders. Yep! Tchaikovsky is playful though, and I think it must have been an intellectual game for him. In the end, his styling was so effective that arachnophobic me actually rooted for the survival of the spiders over the human race!! For that reason alone, I would be in awe of this book.
It was also a smart play for the author to use standard naming (Portia, Bianca, and Fabian) for key players through so many generation of these spiders, as it suggested a continued relationship for the reader who otherwise might not connect with such short-lived and ever new-and-improved generations.
There's a lot happening in this book. It's an intriguing cognitive experiment to see how intelligent spiders would develop civilization differently than intelligent hominids did. You can trust the mind of Tchaikovsky who is both thorough and convincing. But I'll leave discovery to the reader, and I hope you will take the time to give this big book a chance.
In the end, nonviolence and sacrifice and empathy win an impossible struggle, and I am always a fan of that motif.
Fascinating hard sf. A planetary "uplift" experiment does not go quite as planned and the results are very interesting. I was going to avoid spoilers but I see the other reviews mention the spiders so I will say I loved reading about the development of the spider species. (In fact they were much more interesting and fun to read about than the human sections, which were often pretty bleak.) This goes on my "Best SF" shelf.
Even if the human storyline is nothing special, the part that shows the evolution of spiders from insects to an extra-planetary civilization is absolutely superb and makes Children of Time one of the most interesting exploration of evolution that I've ever read. Also very good is the last part, where the two civilizations clash and take the reader in a great roller-coaster, both emotional and intellectual.
I cannot remember the last time I was so consumed by a story.
This is easily one of my favourite books of the year, maybe ever. And that's saying a lot considering I never really reach for sci-fi and have also read a tonne of exceptional books this year.
This novel is a wonderful example of how the written word can do so much more than film or TV could ever hope to.
Wow.
This is easily one of my favourite books of the year, maybe ever. And that's saying a lot considering I never really reach for sci-fi and have also read a tonne of exceptional books this year.
This novel is a wonderful example of how the written word can do so much more than film or TV could ever hope to.
Wow.