Children of Time (Children of Time, #1) by Adrian Tchaikovsky

“And then the great bulk of the Gilgamesh is drawing close, at the end of its long deceleration, its ailing thrusters fighting to slow it to the point where the momentum of a dive past the planet will mesh with the reaching gravity and bring the ark ship into orbit.” pg 536, ebook

In Children of Time, humanity has poisoned Earth and needs to find a new home. An ark ship, the Gilgamesh, carries a cargo of sleeping humans as they search for a fresh planet to colonize.

In an earlier era, a scientist was working on elevating other species through an evolutionary vaccine. When her project goes awry, she does her best to salvage the situation, but not even she can predict what is going to happen next with her virus on an alien planet.

This story is told from a few different perspectives. Readers get to enjoy the story of the human colonists, the ancient scientist, and the species that is changed by her virus- the spiders.

The brilliance of this book is the spider portion of the story. I was amazed at how Adrian Tchaikovsky was able to make spiders relatable. (Not a huge fan myself, though not phobic.)

“For now they can only cling to their webs, as the extended senses their technology gives them track the approach of the end.” pg 536, ebook

I was cheering for the spiders as they struggled and evolve throughout the tale.

That’s not to say the human portions are lacking, they are also fascinating to follow.

How would humanity fare, being many light years away from home and knowing that they have no fixed destination in mind? How long would a space ship hold together with millennia of use? I thought Tchaikovsky’s story nailed the problems that would arise in such a situation.

The ending of Children of Time is fantastic and definitely worth the build up to it. I don’t want to say too much here beyond that because I don’t want to ruin someone else’s enjoyment of such a great science fiction tale. Highly recommended.

Thanks for reading!

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