Children of Ruin

This was a fascinating book, probably even better than it's predecessor, Children of Time. There is a lot going on plot-wise, and we do need a few sections of exposition, but otherwise it paints an intriguing tale of contact between civilizations. These new aliens are even more alien than the uplifted spiders and it's very interesting to see the characters struggle through to communicate with them.

For a full review, check out my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2024/06/book-review-children-of-ruin-by-adrian.html

Tchaikovsky's Children Of Series focuses on the lifeforms left behind by mankind's self-destruction. The sentient spiders from Children of Time are back, and are exploring a solar system caught in a civil war. One of science fiction's strengths is being able to imagine other beings, and Tchaikovsky's depictions of their life and thoughts are excellent here as well.

The way Tchaikovsky brings total alien intelligence to life is just spellbinding.

Decent read! Unexpectedly enjoyed having previously read one of the author's reference books (if you have gotten into Children of Ruin you might be able to guess which topic it concerns :) Less bombastic storyline than Children of Time, a larger focus on cognition in general

This is a big improvement over its predecessor, Children of Time. Here's why: Tchaikovsky wants to write about evolution, which, even with the accelerated mechanism he invents, takes a long time. This leaves a narrative difficulty - protagonists keep dying, often before there's time or reason to care about them. There's much less of this compared to the first volume and the contrast between the more conventional narratives highlights the problem. If you managed to get through Children of Time I think you will be pleasantly surprised by this sequel.

It might look like it took me a while to get through this but life has been funny recently. A very strong book and a good follow on to the previous. The same general structure was echoed but that did not detract from the storytelling. Whilst I can recommend highly, this was not in the top tier for me. It is difficult for me to put a finger on why, maybe the multiple points of view just didn't work for me. Still, very good.