Children of Time
Life is not perfect, individuals will always be flawed, but empathy – the sheer inability to see those around them as anything other than people too – conquers all, in the end.
written on: 2025-10-14
Wow, this one was a trip. This is the first book I have read by Tchaikovsky, and I think I am going to endeavor to read the entire series. There’s currently three books in the series, with a 4th one on the way.
A unique read that delves deep into some creative thinking surrounding evolution, biology, and inter-species empathy. I tend to enjoy more hard science fiction but this book leans into the fantasy arena, so I had to suspend my belief a few times.
Tchaikovsky weaves multiple plots together at the same time; each chapter jumps to a different character/groups perspective. Sometimes I was more interested in one character/groups perspective than another, making the shift frustrating.
Without giving too much away, Children of Time is a Sci-Fi epic that follows a wayward space ship containing the last of humanity, desperately searching for a new home after we have destroyed ours. There was so much turmoil on Earth during the last few hundred years that the large majority of advanced technology from generations passed were lost. They find a previously terraformed planet, but it already has an inhabitant.