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Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky - 3.5* - My Review

Children of Time is set in the far future when humanity's technological prowess has enabled large-scale terraforming projects. A scientist, Dr. Avrana Kern, attempts to uplift monkeys to a newly terraformed planet to create a better version of human civilization. However, the experiment goes awry and instead, a species of giant spiders evolves in their place. Meanwhile, humans have killed off life on earth, and a nanovirus has destroyed human life on the terraformed planets, except for a group who escapes aboard the generation ship Gilgamesh. The spider-occupied planet appears to be the last hope for human survival. The storyline leads to a high-stakes confrontation between these two intelligent species.

The narrative is structured in alternating chapters between the last humans and the evolving spider society. The spider chapters follow generations of a spider lineage as they develop complex social systems, language, and technology. It is a rather lengthy novel (over 600 pages) with plenty of scientific details. The novel explores what it means to be “civilized.” I like the concept but wish it had included a few more relatable characters. If you enjoy hard sci-fi with complex world-building, you will probably enjoy it. If you dislike spiders, I’d avoid it. While it sounds rather grim, it offers a kernel of hope.

3.5

the author has a thing for insects and hard science. he has also written a ten volume military fantasy series peopled only with insectoid species: Shadows of the Apt. He is very prolific and in general an easy read, at least for me.
The next two books in the Children series are even more focused on science and less on relatable characters.

This is a great balanced review. I’ve owned this for a long time, and keep putting it off. I don’t like spiders, but I figured this might help. I used to HATE bees until i started reading about them. The Bees really helped, along with all the news stories at the time. (The clear anthropomorphism was fine with me. When it’s more subtle, it might be more insidious.)

I do appreciate relatable characters, but otherwise this book sounds like something I would appreciate. Based on the scenario, I might take the spider’s side.

Algernon (Darth Anyan) wrote: "the author has a thing for insects and hard science. he has also written a ten volume military fantasy series peopled only with insectoid species: Shadows of the Apt. He is very prolific and in gen..."

I very much like hard science, and I was able to handle spiders. If it had been cockroaches, I'm sure I would have abandoned it.

I really enjoyed (and highly recommend) his book Service Model, which is why I decided to read Children of Time. I have Shards of Earth on my TBR. I will definitely be reading more of his work.

NancyJ wrote: "This is a great balanced review. I’ve owned this for a long time, and keep putting it off. I don’t like spiders, but I figured this might help. I used to HATE bees until i started reading about the..."
Thanks, Nancy. The characters just needed one human that had more human emotions. The two main humans are fine, probably realistic scientists, who react with logic to almost everything. Like I say, I just wanted someone to exhibit emotions, especially since they are in a "life or death" situation pretty much continuously. The spiders' personalities are well done, and their characters were more relatable than the humans to me, lol. I did find myself occasionally rooting for the spiders. I was surprised and pleased by the ending.

I could not get into the spider sections,and it was a DNF for me.

This was a 5-star book for me. I loved the interaction of the spider community. The level of imagination from the author was amazing. And I've never looked at spiders the same ever since.

Glad you enjoyed it, Sue! I definitely enjoy this author's writing style.