Children of Time
(Children of Time #1)
By Adrian Tchaikovsky
Winner of Arthur C Clarke Award 2016
Published Year: 2015
Page Count: 600 pages
Medium Used: Paperback
Genre : Science Fiction, Space Opera, Evolution, Spiders, Sentient Creatures, 2024-read.
Rating : 5/5 💝💝💝💝💝
This story is just superb. The ending floored me and brought a sheen of happy moisture to my eyes. I loved this book so so much. I couldn't put it down at all. I followed every scene with utter rapture and this makes for one of the best space operas I ever read! It lead to a reconfiguration of my brain and thinking in that I saw small, sentient creatures like spiders and ants in a new light. I began appreciating them for their qualities and features they could bring to the table. They have outdone humans not only in their technological evolution but also in their look at the big picture with kindness attitude.
Doctor Avarna Kern is the last remaining human of the Old Empire human race that perished itself through wars and in-fighting. They couldn't find any alien species in the universe and so made strides to spread all forms of life across it through a process called 'terraforming'. Doctor Kern is the creator of terraforming on the Green Planet. She couldn't accomplish her desire to introduce a host of uplifted monkeys into the planet but there are spiders, ant batches and other smaller sea creatures which are injected with a nanovirus that speeds up their process of evolution. She is circulating around the planet in a space shuttle to parley/guide her children when they evolve enough to communicate and also to keep away any unwanted visitors to the planet. Fast-forward the situation to about a two thousand years. Human descendants of Kern have formed on earth, evolved in a similar way to the old empire - only didn't emerge out as advanced as their predecessors - rendered the planet earth useless through fighting and poisoning, now are on the hunt for a new planet to survive. They come on a huge space ship called "Gilgamesh" which has hundreds of thousands of humans in suspension chambers. Kern with her superior shuttle fights them and redirects them to remote moon planets where they face unfavorable circumstances. With a failing ship that might not be able to explore the further reaches of the universe, the human proponents are journeying back towards the green planet and in desperation to survive, will fo any untoward act.
The spiders on the planet, meanwhile, learn to evolve in a very constructive and holistic way. They want to cling onto the only planet they have ever known. Kern guides them on their journey to learn and keep in line the incoming humans. Humans want to wipe out the spider monsters as they call them in order to make the planet their own. How will the spiders, small and weaker, fight them? How is this a war of equals? Can they survive the incontrovertible massacre thats gonna take place?
Both the species vying with each other..both focused with burden of the survival of their entire races .. which side will the author have win the race for survival? !
I found the step by step layout of the evolving spiders and ants on the green planet very informative. I really started rooting for them because of their wholesome natures. Humans had their chance multiple times but they just keep blowing them. Why not give the spiders their own planet and what would happen if some aliens should pounce on earth the same way one day? Very very engrossing and informative, edifying read. All the technical, medical and biological aspects of the species and their growth, the dysfunctional nature of humans are simplified for easier understanding. Loved it!!
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