![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/ChildrenOfTime.jpg?resize=201%2C300&ssl=1\")
By Adrian Tchaikovsky\nTor (\u00a92015); Pan Books (\u00a92016); Orbit (\u00a92018)
\nISBN-13: 978-0316452502
\nASIN: B07DN8BQMD
\nKindle Version, file size 2632 KB; Paperback 640 pages\n
<\/p>By Adrian Tchaikovsky
\nTor (\u00a92015); Pan Books (\u00a92016); Orbit (\u00a92018)
\nISBN-13: 978-0316452502
\nASIN: B07DN8BQMD
\nKindle Version, file size 2632 KB; Paperback 640 pages\n
Let me just get right to the point. I loved this book. I cannot say enough good things about it. From the explosive opening chapter to the totally unforeseen twist near the end, Tchaikovsky leads the reader through two separate but converging threads; one the desperate leap of humanity\u2019s last shreds through centuries aboard the Gilgamesh, their ark ship; the other a relatively fast evolutionary development of the Green Planet\u2019s new masters. Though the inhabitants of the Green Planet are a race of Other (no spoilers here!), Tchaikovsky\u2019s storytelling makes them relatable in ways I would never have thought possible.<\/p>\n
The story\u2019s development builds by incremental steps to the surprising twist near the end. Thus, it\u2019s difficult to describe much without giving spoilers. The entire story is intricately constructed, step by step, in chapters that each leap generations ahead so that the entire span of the book covers thousands of years. Yet the author brings us along with apparent ease, catching us up each time in a seamless way. The characters grow and change throughout the story\u2014the humans through challenges and skirmishes (because humans are gonna do what they do) aboard the ship, and the Others through generations of accelerated evolution. It was fascinating to me to see the Others adapt and develop, moving from basic to advanced not just physically but mentally, scientifically, and technologically, in ways that would never occur to humans but which make perfect sense for this civilization and their environment. Yet even though they are far from human, their development mirrors some of the stages a new human world might follow. More than once I found myself reading and re-reading a passage because I found it deeply meaningful, even though the characters were Other.<\/p>\n
On the human side, I could absolutely believe every stage of their plight. Human nature is predictable enough that given enough stress and trauma, even the best of us might take undesirable actions to save ourselves or others. Imagine: an ark ship, filled with thousands of humans who are the last of their kind. All are trying desperately to save their race, but not all of them have the same idea on how that might be best accomplished. They are working with limited resources, on a ship that is built to survive the ages. But any mechanical device, given enough stress and time, will wear down. And without resources to repair or replace the worn parts, the aging ship adds to humankind\u2019s desperation, making them take bolder and less considered actions until there is only one option left.<\/p>\n
Note that this is not an easy read. It\u2019s heavy, hard sci-fi that is thick with details necessary to the story, but which did slow down the pacing. It took a lot of brain power to read, thus I would read for a while, then put it down to do other things before coming back to the story. I wanted to know how it ended, but it was slow going until I was about 65-70% of the way through. At that point, it picked up so fast I couldn\u2019t put the book down. And that ending\u2026 I was stunned. Fascinated. In love.<\/p>\n
There are two books that follow Children of Time<\/em>. The second is Children of Ruin<\/em>, and the third is Children of Memory<\/em>, both of which follow the same storytelling pattern (though with entirely unexpected twists of their own) as the first. I was excited to read them both but must admit I didn\u2019t enjoy them as much as this first book. Tchaikovsky\u2019s skill at making non-human characters totally relatable is amazing. However, because some of the characters in books 2 and 3 were so alien to a human way of thinking, their portions of the story were told in narrative style, rather than told more directly through the character\u2019s thoughts and feelings. This created, for me, a distance between myself and these essential characters, so that I couldn\u2019t feel as strongly for them as I wanted to. In addition, the pacing and density of the story was such that I couldn\u2019t maintain an interest enough to really enjoy them as I did this one. I completed both and will still sing praises to Tchaikovsky\u2019s genius, but I was glad to reach the last page.<\/p>\n While I loved Children of Time<\/em>, its sequels were not my cup of tea. However, if you love dense storytelling with unique character POVs and settings, this entire series will be just right for you.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Adrian Tchaikovsky Tor (\u00a92015); Pan Books (\u00a92016); Orbit (\u00a92018) ISBN-13: 978-0316452502 ASIN: B07DN8BQMD Kindle Version, file size 2632 KB; Paperback 640 pages Let me just get right to the point. I loved this book. I cannot say enough good things about it. From the explosive opening chapter to the totally unforeseen twist near the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8n0kX-16p","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6223,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/13\/service-model\/","url_meta":{"origin":4241,"position":0},"title":"Service Model","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"July 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Adrian Tchaikovsky \u00a9 2024, Tor Books 373 Pages ISBN 13: 978-1250290298 As I\u2019ve come to expect from any Adrian Tchaikovsky book I read, Service Model was brilliant. Told with sensitivity, humor, humanity, and a touch of philosophical wonder, the story follows the personal development\u2014inasmuch as a robot can expect\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A robot, silhouetted against the clear image of a green and gold sky where the moon hangs close, stands amidst the dark ruins of a city. Text reads, Service Model, Adrian Tchaikovsky. \u201cAdrian Tchaikovsky is one of the best storytellers in the business. Come see for yourself.\u201d \u2013 John Scalzi.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ServiceModel-194x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3825,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/23\/dogs-of-war-duology\/","url_meta":{"origin":4241,"position":1},"title":"Dogs of War Duology","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"February 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Dogs of War: Dogs of War, Book 1 By Adrian Tchaikovsky Head of Zeus Publishing ASIN: B06XXJ4P9H Kindle version; file size 7308 KB; \u00a9 2017 Paperback, 352 pages; \u00a9 2022 Bear Head: Dogs of War, Book 2 By Adrian Tchaikovsky Head of Zeus Publishing ASIN: B08DJJBQ1M8 Kindle version; file size\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/DogsOfWar-196x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2929,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2022\/10\/23\/cage-of-souls\/","url_meta":{"origin":4241,"position":2},"title":"Cage of Souls","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"October 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Adrian Tchaikovsky \u00a9 2019, Ebook format ASIN: B07DPRW17S File size 1865 KB It's easy to see why this book was shortlisted for the 2020 Arthur C. Clarke Award. This is an intricate story, part fictional memoir, part dark dystopian ecofiction with touches of horror. There were elements of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/CageOfSouls-196x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5312,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/29\/lost-sentinel\/","url_meta":{"origin":4241,"position":3},"title":"Lost Sentinel","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"December 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Earth Survives Series, Book 1 By Rex Roberts \u00a9 December 10, 2020, Pajama Therapy Books ASIN: B08QCLJ6S6 Kindle Version, file size 4165 KB Imagine a post-apocalyptic storyline where dark stuff is happening, a story wherein people are doing hard things to survive a global pandemic that wiped out 98% of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A man and woman dressed in forest green cammo stand facing away from the reader, against a pathway that that leads into a thick forest. A spiral winds away into the canopy.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/LostSentinel-188x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":222,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/06\/17\/just-fall-by-nina-sadowsky\/","url_meta":{"origin":4241,"position":4},"title":"Just Fall, by Nina Sadowsky","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"June 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Ballantine Books, \u00a9 2016 ISBN 978055394863 304 pages, $26.00 Looks can be deceiving. That\u2019s what ELLIE LARRABEE finds out moments after saying \u201cI do\u201d when the man of her dreams reveals in one shocking sentence a truth that shakes her world. Everything she has taken for granted is built on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/JustFall.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":230,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/06\/26\/the-seventh-victim\/","url_meta":{"origin":4241,"position":5},"title":"The Seventh Victim","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"June 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mary Burton Kensington Publishing, Inc. \u00a9 2013 ISBN 978-1-4201-2505-4 Mass Market Paperback, 362 pages, $7.99 When Texas Ranger JAMES BECK arrives at the crime scene, the details\u2014victim clad in a home-made white dress, blonde hair fanned out around her head, and a penny clutched in one hand\u2014seem familiar somehow.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/SeventhVictim-183x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4241"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4243,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4241\/revisions\/4243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}