Reviews

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Only show reviews with written explanations

goodbooksgreatgoats's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

This book is phenomenal. So complex, horrifying, and beautiful.

jankeselak's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

So good! Not a huge nonfiction or sci-fi fanboy here, but boy, this was a good one. Once I picked it up, I couldn't let go. It is written so well, drags you in instantly and keeps you curious about what comes next basically until the very end.

Some of the concepts are absolutely mindblowing - this book dabbles in AI, evolution, world building, philosophy and quiet a bit of morality and ethics, balancing each element very nicely.

Read this if you get a chance. I can't wait to go through the rest of series asap.

geekmom's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated

4.25

I thought this was brilliant, creative, and thought-provoking. At the same time, I had a hard time feeling invested in the story; I felt distanced from the characters. I also had some massive quibbles with the "science" part of this book.

There are a few assumptions/tropes that spoil an *awful lot* of sci-fi for me because they are based on some assumptions that are just not supported by science or by philosophy of science:
Genes do not contain "information"... DNA is not "information" or "instructions", at least not in the way that this book suggests.
Knowledge is not "information".
Minds are not computers - they do not "process information", they are not containers of information.

I could say much more about this... but it would be better for anyone actually interested to just read Bennett & Hacker's "Philosophical Foundations of Neuroscience", because they do a much better job of deconstructing the cognitivist theories that are woven throughout this book. https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/92b7e74f-111f-494c-99f7-680e9b8369d1

In the end I still had to give this book a high rating, because in spite of my quibbles I think Tchaikovsky does an exceptional job here, constructing a cleverly written story that tackles some big ideas about the nature of humanity, about how societies change, about how we treat other species, and about what direction our own species is heading.

bombasticcrib's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

4.25

mahiccup's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I've never read anything like this! Sci fi that tackles huge concepts about evolution and what makes a human, through space spiders. Didn't expect to love reading about the spiders as much as I did but the timeline, skipping generations, worked so perfectly (tho now I feel a bit weird seeing a spider or an ant out in the wild...) Holsten and Lain were also fun characters and though the human side of the story got a little repetitive it felt quite realistic.

I was hoping it wouldn't get too nihilistic humans-are-evil and it was a little bit, but the ending turned it around for me. Loved the ideas of the new humans just recreating the mistakes of their ancestors, the spiders evolving tech based on their skills, Kern's influence throughout the whole thing from chapter 1. Such a crazy book!!

"It was life, and only now did Holsten realize that he had never really seen Earth life, as it had been intended. The home he remembered was just a dying, browning stub, but this ... Gently, almost imperceptibly, Holsten felt something breaking up inside him."