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ckcosner 's review for:
Children of Time
by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The concept/backstory of this novel is on a par with Vernor Vinge's _A Deepness in the Sky_, or even exceeds it, but the storytelling is not as compelling. The basic problem is over-use of third-person omniscient narration (i.e., even when describing an alien's extremely subjective experience, constant comparisons are made to human concepts and things, and the perspective of the narrator is free to jump anywhere.) This much less engaging than third-person limited, in which the narrator is limited to the perspective of whichever character is the current focus. Vinge manages this in Deepness with similar characters, and I think Tchaikovsky could have as well. That said, I understand the choice was for clarity, and on that count it succeeds. Personally I'm comfortable with more unknowns, as that is more like real experience.