Children of Time

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky

Narrated by: Mel Hudson

Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

Adrian Tchaikovksy's critically acclaimed stand-alone novel Children of Time is the epic story of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet.

Who will inherit this new Earth?

The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age - a world terraformed and prepared for human life.

But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind's worst nightmare.

Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?

©2016 Adrian Tchaikovsky (P)2017 Audible Ltd

Critic Reviews

" Children of Time is a joy from start to finish. Entertaining, smart, surprising and unexpectedly human." (Patrick Ness)

Couldn't finish what should have been an amazing read

This book has an amazing story, and It starts out with all guns blazing. The premise was astoundingly brilliant and I was hooked.
But-halfway through-I had to abandon the book. Simply because I can. A well-written book would not allow me to do that! The story is cold. I honestly think some warmth and affection could redeem it. A character or two who hooks you and therefore guides you through the cold, empty, and lonely story spaces. But then again considering the storyline-it's a bit paradoxical, if the story is going for accuracy-then cold and lonely is accurately depicted.
I feel no connection to the characters. More annoyance than anything for their lack of development, and lack of development with each other. I think the author tries with Holsten and Lane, but it was not enough. I felt slightly affectionate for the spiders as they evolve and self-actualize-absolutely brilliant and a mirror to humanity-but I could not feel any real connection to them, and whenever it was their story's turn, I endured a cold, creepy feeling all throughout while imagining them.
But such technically intelligent concepts about space, technology, AI, evolution, and science. I can't help but be totally impressed by the author's knowledge and imagination. But-like the observation of so many other readers, the story needed better execution to pull it along and see it through.

Accountability

Instead of writing the Pros and Cons of this book (nothing wrong with the book just not necessary to write a review on everything) I think it is time we discuss the elephant in the room. Namely, the never ending fake reviews being generated to artificially inflate the ratings of mediocre books. If you have no idea what I’m talking about go check out “Dead Moon by Peter Clines” It currently has a 4 star average, but if you look at the first 30 top reviews they are all negative ratings. This went from being an exception to the new norm for Audible/Amazon. I’m sure you have seen other books with similar ratings which the reviews do not support.

Most of the fake reviewers only have 1 book (the book they are currently reviewing) in their reviews. So who are these fake reviewers? Why does Audible/Amazon allow it? Why is the rating system based upon number of reviews instead of helpful ratings? Do they condone it?

I understand they have a product they wish to sell and I do buy it (I have an Audible and Amazon account with over 600 books). I love audible books. I loved them from back in the 80’s where most narrators were monotonic, and I love how they have evolved.

Once again, there is nothing wrong with this book where you find this review. I just needed to vent and wanted to see if anyone else is feeling my pain. Is a little accountability too much to ask for?

Interesting Plot

Intersting story with a couple twists that keeps the listener engaged till the end. Unfortunately the narrator is a little flat when it comes to story telling. She was spot on with the character "Lane," but a limited repertoire when it came to differentiating the others.

Fascinating Premise Within an Excellent Story

This is everything you expect from good Science Fiction. I love it when an author can take a potentially hokey storyline and turn it into a stunning work of believable fiction. A work of this type takes detailed knowledge and superior writing ability. Mostly this is a book about the known characteristics and behavior of a certain species, and how that species would hyper evolve with the right catalyst. But it also has some awesome hard science fiction involving terraforming, long distance space travel, and an number of other more common sci-fi themes. The science was logical throughout while the story remained unpredictable - a great combination. Sometimes female narrators struggle with male voices, but Mel Hudson does an excellent job. This book is at the top of my list so far for 2017, so it gets 5 stars across the board.

A unique take on the alien

This was a very nice surprise. I read a lot of science fiction, and it's rare to come across a take on an alien society that is unique, and as well fleshed out as the author has achieved here.

The story concept is great, and the execution does not disappoint.

The start of the book didn't leave me expecting much - I found the main character in that early part pretty... cliche. Very glad to say that quickly got better though, much better.

A very pleasant surprise

What a pleasant surprise. I had never heard of this author and have become very hesitant to download books by authors new to me. In a time where the traditional barriers to publishing have crumbled, I tend to start with listening to the narrator in the sample on the premise that a talentless self publisher probably cannot afford a professional.

This is a well written and expertly narrated book. The premise interesting and the science believable. The characters are engaging and the storyline moves along at a nice pace.

Sorry for not giving away any of the storyline. Let's just say it's a story of humanity, survival, and some really intelligent mistakes. I enjoyed it and hope ypu will too.

All we need is enough time

Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time presents an interesting take on intelligence development among insect species (mainly spiders) due to unintended human intervention. After an experiment designed to observe evolution at an accelerated pace in primates goes awry and Earth implodes itself, a colony ship is all that remains of humanity. While the terraformed world is lush and inviting, a psychotic human / AI chimera refuses to allow the last remnants of the human race to settle and forces them to wander, all the while slowly devolving, while the rapidly developing insect world is progressing through the stages of creating a sustainable civilization. With nowhere else to turn, humanity must make a play for the planet to survive.

The sci-fi elements are mainly centered around evolutionary biology and the development of intelligence and civilization. Intriguingly, spiders come to dominate with females being the dominant gender evolving as a mirror image of humanity. Rather than a random or artificial rationale for this development, the author identifies size (females being larger as a consequence of reproductive necessity) and the lack of need for child rearing duties as the basis for this development which provides a sharp juxtaposition and contrast relative to humanity. The devolution of humanity on the colony was less well handled and the final denouement was tending towards the preachy, but overall the tale is a fresh take on the evolution of intelligent life in a somewhat alien species without simply "aping" human developmental lines.

The narration was excellent overall with a solid range of voices of both genders. In addition, the insectoid vocals were handled nicely without resorting to nasal or flat affect renditions and rapid transitions between the human / AI chimera were skillfully relayed. This is a thought provoking tale that starkly portrays evolution as an unfeeling taskmaster without the concept of right or wrong, but rather only consequences.

Thought provoking, timely and optimistic

Adrian Tchaikovsky is a busy author. Children of Time is the first book of his I have read and visits a familiar landscape in contemporary sci-fi: the Earth is becoming unlivable and great ships are being built to send stores of humans to far off worlds to begin new, terraformed colonies.  In this story there are some fascinating wrinkles.

The story opens with a ceremony marking the beginning of a terraforming project on one such far off world. The point of view is the narcissistic designer of this world drearily waiting through the formalities of her grand plan being put into effect. At the penultimate moment the pilot of the lead ship reveals himself to be a saboteur, a man whose personal convictions are that humans should not be imposing their view of the Universe on unsuspecting worlds. His efforts result in the grand plan mostly failing and the designer escaping death by placing herself in a hibernation chamber.

The plan for this project centered on a proto-virus that was introduced into the planetary ecosystem. The intent was for it to act as a catalyst and accelerator for evolutionary development of monkeys who were also to be introduced. The idea was to inoculate the planet with these elements, wait a few thousand years then descend a world pre-populated with humans at an early technological age and live as gods.

The monkeys did not make it and though the proto-virus had constraints to keep it from affecting every species, because only the monkeys were supposed to be affected, it turns out the native spider and ant populations were affected.

Meanwhile, time passes for the Earth. A lot of time. Time enough for the fall of the technological greatness allowing such project, an ice age, and a rebirth of technology eventually allowing for a new series of colony ships to be built and sent out.

Time is everywhere in this story. We watch the spiders evolve on their planet. The humans traveling in their colony ship have a stasis like sleep which can last for hundreds of years. They are periodically woken by the ship when their input or expertise is required to deal with issues and return to sleep. It's a fascinating plot device that allows for characters to age at different rates and wake to completely different realities within the confines of the same ship they start in.

The inevitable meeting of the two species, humans and spiders, in space is entertaining and exciting. I've written before about an author's ability to tell a story without breaking my suspension of disbelief and Tchaikovsky manages it well with his telling of the battle that ensues.

There is a fair amount of what I consider contemporary commentary of issues of the day like power, fairness, equality and the effects of technology on life.

Ending is horrible

Interesting story-ending makes no sense and story falls apart lacking any logical reasoning. Really disappointed.

Beyond inspiring

As a huge fan of science fiction I have read countless works by countless authors, non have ever touched me as this book. An understanding of life, in my opinion, has never been expressed so eloquently and so broad at the same time. This story is possibly a gateway to a new and improved perspective of humanity and of life itself. Amazing fantasy yet hopeful potential to be so much more. What we can achieve if only we can identify ourselves and the commonality between us and any other sentient being in the vast cosmos. A small, simple unique something that can bridge all the differences, that can connect to others and express one simple thought “This is us, we are like you”. This book deeply touches on all aspects of known and unknown qualities that make up our human intellectual capacity as well as those of other life forms. Then the question of “what can be achieved” is explored from a very unique alien yet familiar perspective. I cannot get enough of this book, and I pray that Adrien Tchaikovsky has planned more books along the same idea : “this is us” and what can we not reach together if we can break barriers of division. Beyond great, this book is a start in understanding more in every direction possible.

Felt cheated

Personally I think the synopsis is misleading which says that the book is about Humans colonizing a planet. Humans dont arrive on the planet until about a third of the way through the audiobook and even then most of the book is about spiders. Also I think Amazon should have a warning in the description as there is a fair amount of swearing in the book - not suitable for children IMO.

Average at best

To be totally honest, I don't know why this book has been given such high ratings, It's not that great really! Granted It has its moments where it starts to pick up but then loses its momentum. I listen to a lot of Sci-fi Audio books and I can say there is many better audio books to listen to than this.

I guess if Ray Porter read it then it might have been better.

Disappointing.

Brilliant

I enjoyed the originality of this book. It is told in such a way that I found myself rooting for both sides, and I felt the development of an 'alien' intelligence that is derived from something not alien at all was particularly interesting. The means by which the author deals with untold generations of spiders cohesively is also very clever.

My thanks to Adrian Tchaikovsky, and to Mel Hudson for bringing me on such an exciting, unpredictable journey. I highly recommend this book and will be looking out for more work from this author.

Unexpected gem

Awesome, wasn’t sure where it was headed but gripping from the beginning and literally weaves a clever story.

Tchaikovsky is still writing Symphonies!

This is genuine high-quality science fiction, in terms of pacing it's probably closer to Heinlein than Scalzi or Star Wars but it's innovative, well thought-out and fairly challenging. It's definitely at the thinking reader's end of sci-fi.

It has to be a clever book that gets you rooting for spiders and sympathising with them. This book covers issues of morality, decency, survival and has probably one of the most unique treatments of the age-old battle of the sexes I have ever read.

The treatment of time and lifespan is equally clever. There are almost three distinct timelines here. The relatively short-lived spiders together with the humans being able to engage in various uses of suspended animation could have resulted in a real mess with dozens and dozens of varied characters. I thought this was particularly well-covered with the implementation of a logical mechanism to provide consistency of character among the arachnids and longevity with key humans.

Mel Hudson does a fine job of the narration, no easy task this one making this in all a very high quality entry to the genre and I would echo Carl's thought's that we need more of this author on Audible. It seems Tchaikovsky is still writing Symphonies!

Gobsmacking scope

This was a new and intriguing story which is well worth a listen... it might even change the way you think. The reason I personally didn't give it 5 stars was that, given the story, there is a lot of description and passive voice. Add to this the very measured tone of the narrator I found myself drifting off many times. It took 5 goes to listen to the last couple of chapters. So, all in all, worth a listen but it won't keep you on the edge of your seat despite end if humanity type peril.

A beautiful take on evolution and hope

Loved this. Was a deeply satisfying story of humanity and something else... Wonderfully thought out intricacies of the evolution to sentience from an entirely different point of view and cleverly written to encompass great swathes of time with continuity. Who knew you could feel such empathy for spiders. And empathy is the fundamental message for us all if we are to not only survive, but also thrive.

A Web of delight.

An interesting concept, very well carried off. A story that's engaging populated by interesting characters. I know more about spiders than ever before, but in a good way!
Superbly narrated by Mel Hudson.

Not great and fairly predictable.

The story seemed to have a good, if not original premise. The problem is that the two initially separate story arch's simply blunder along at a slow pace to one of two inevitable conclusions. At no point do you really think that outcome will be anything other than one of the two. I will say that the performance is very lack luster, and that is not likely to have helped in caring for any of the stories protagonists. Where in some books you can really feel the performer bring the parts to life (and as actual separate characters), this is not the case here. From the very outset her portrayal of most of the humans characters is exactly the same, and on the few occasions she deviates from this....she just comes across as uncomfortable. Is it worth a listen......not really

Another stunning piece from Tchaikovsky

This is the second book by Adrian Tchaikovsky that I have reviewed (the first in audio format) and, all I can say is … I’m not sure he’s capable of writing anything that isn’t wonderful.

Children of Time focuses on the remnants of Earth, fleeing for the survival of their very species due to the disastrous aftermath of a civil war. The fleeing humans traverse (quite literally) time and space as they transport large numbers of the population in cold-storage, destined to be woken up when a new home world can be found.

Not only does Children of Time revolve around the struggles of mankind, it also focuses on the struggles of the alien species that mankind are to cross paths with. The book shows us the growth of their civilisation just as it shows us the struggles and pitfalls of mankind. It focuses on both in such a way that you can’t help but become emotionally attached to both … and I never thought I’d become emotionally attached to a race of intelligent, thinking, evolved spiders.

The novel deals with big themes such as science, religion, Artificial Intelligences and how such things impact the societies as they continue to grow. My only slight negative was that I felt the narrator’s range of voices wasn’t as wide as I would have liked. Other than that, it was a thoroughly interesting and engaging book from start to finish.

If I had to pick a favourite part, it would most certainly be the start. It really hooked me like no book has for quite a while. The author really manages to engage the reader extremely quick and kept me hooked from there on out. There is also the fact that you get to essentially watch as one civilisation is built from the ground up and another does it’s best to rebuild after being torn asunder.

Another bonus is that Children of Time is a standalone novel. In this era of huge epic fantasy series spanning twenty books, or epic space operas with has high a book count, I just find it refreshing to see there are still authors out there capable of telling a complete story in one book. I also read a rumour on the internet that this may end up being made into a film at some point in the future. Hopefully that rumour is correct!