Children of Memory

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky

Narrated by: Mel Hudson

Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

The modern classic of space opera that began with Children of Time continues in this extraordinary novel of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet.

Earth failed. In a desperate bid to escape, the spaceship Enkidu and its captain, Heorest Holt, carried its precious human cargo to a potential new paradise. Generations later, this fragile colony has managed to survive, eking out a hardy existence. Yet life is tough, and much technological knowledge has been lost.

Then strangers appear. They possess unparalleled knowledge and thrilling technology–and they've arrived from another world to help humanity’s colonies. But not all is as it seems, and the price of the strangers' help may be the colony itself.

Children of Memory by Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky is a far-reaching space opera spanning generations, species and galaxies.

©2023 Adrian Tchaikovsky (P)2023 Orbit

The Weakest in the Series

Children of Time is one of my favorite books. The sequel left me excited for what came after. This... does not quite meet expectations, and in fact leaves me liking the second book slightly less.

One of the strengths of this series is actually getting to watch a culture, or an entire species change over time. The characters may be interesting, but I keep coming back because I loved seeing how all these different ways of being played out and then converged.

This book provides much less of that. We get some quick sketches of the two main new players and their history, but nothing like the depth of the previous two books. It's very focused instead on the question of "What does it mean to be a person?" Which is normally something I'd be all for reading, but it's not what I came to this book for!

When I say this book made me like the second one less, it's because I realize they have a common flaw. The new people who are encountering these systems are interesting, but I simply don't care about them as much as the new worlds themselves and their people, and the more we get bogged down in the vastly powerful space adventurers, the less we get to hear about the worlds. I can see this is an issue now in the second book, because the third is so much worse about it.

It's still not bad. But I found it unsatisfactory. I would have been fine never getting around to it.

Another fantastic book in this series!

This book was such a joy from beginning to end. I had recently reread the first two prior to this ones release and it was such a wonderful continuation. The performance by Mel was superb again and I'm so happy to have more in this series. Highly recommend if you are a fan of the prior two and of having your brain spun around in your skull thinking about more complex topics.

deeply insightful.

The whole series is so well crafted and deeply insightful. A compelling world with rich characters.

my favorite?

I... I think it was my favorite in the series. And that's saying something. And this review requires 15 words.

Best Book of the series so far. Hope there's a 4th

If you enjoyed the first 2 books of the Children of Time series, then you are likely to enjoy this one too. I wouldn't reccomend reading this one if you haven't read the other 2 that came before.

I loved the way the Corvid species discusses sentience amongst itself!

This work of fiction approaches certain philosophical ideas around free will, the nature of reality, the concept of the self, and the idea of sentience in new and interesting ways.

The events in the novel are told sort of out of order and the big reveal (no spoilers) later on will help make sense of conflicting narratives. You see a similar chain of events unfold a couple times that are all slightly different. As a reader, I found this unnerving and a tad confusing the very first time this happens in the story. I knew that there was going to be some twist or some big reveal with the plot that was going to make it all make sense eventually... I just had no idea what it was or how the author was going to write themselves out of what looked like a fairly complicated narrative corner. The author succeeded in resolving their story without being predictable. I was very much invested and on the edge of my seat once the novel was working up to the climax.

I was impressed with how the story eventually began to resolve itself and make the earlier confusion of the conflicting events make sense.

The concept of the self / defining sentience AND questioning the nature of reality itself were the 2 big concepts the story repeatedly circled. I can't say more without giving too much away.

I found the first book to be an excellent opening to an amazing space opera. A wonderful gateway into an interesting new sci-fi world, written with a welcomed freshness and newness.

I found the second book to be an excellent expansion upon the world building but felt that some of the more fantastical elements happening within the mind of one the main characters to be almost movie like and maybe a little too dependent upon a deus ex machina. ... also a sort of glossing over of the hyper complex at the climax to help make the narrative more palatable.

This 3rd book also has an almost movie-like climactic scene, a deus ex machina plot point, and a quickening of pace and glossing over of detail for the sake of the story, but those elements didn't detract from the story for me the way they did in the second book.

The best story of the series so far! It really pulled me into the world and I would very much love to hear more from this universe! The narrator is perfect.

epic

very very good As good as the first and I can't wait for the next one

Excellent

Loved it. Ruminations on the nature of being. Humor. Joy and pain. All packaged in a skillful turn of phrase.

The most philosophical sci-fi of the Children series yet

At first I was just enjoying the story - taking it with a grain of salt, seeing where it would lead me - but then suddenly the story was over, and the story began. Thank you, Adrian, for creating the characters of Kern, Damascus, and Nod, and Roark, too, and for letting them live in this story here.

What is human? What is life?

This book is a perfect conclusion for the trilogy. At the end, we always ask ourselves what is human and what is life. The first 2 books give us a look on human and life by non-human perspective. The last book discuss these question under a human’s eyes-Miranda. She keep ask herself what she is, what her crewmen are?
Don’t let the confusion discourage you. It is intentional. It will all explain at the end. The twist plot at the end send me a chill.

a beautiful addition to the series

A change of tones but it keeps the series fresh. Less newness than Time. Less horror than Ruin. But this installment offers more attention to the nature and mystery of sentience and a few more well earned tears. Didn't grab me fast and early but had me eating out of its hands in the final motions. I look forward to more from this author's fantastic sci-fi lens.