Children of Time - the best damn book I've read in ages and here's why you should read it

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky wrote the best damn sci fi I've read in a LONG time, and this little video might be able to show you why. Do you like beautifully written thematically complex wide scope stories that challenge you as a reader without talking down to you? Then Children of Time is for you. Do you prefer other stories? Children of Time is for you too. Just read it!
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PATREON / hellofutureme

[@PawanTanaySingh]

"anthills as supercomputers" You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention

[@brimtastic_spastic1154]

If I had a nickel for every time I read a book featuring an ant computer, I would have 2 nickels

[@HampusDahlstrom]

@@brimtastic_spastic1154 what was the other book?

[@brimtastic_spastic1154]

@@HampusDahlstrom Discworld. I specifically saw it in Hogfather, but I think it’s in other books of the series as well

[@AlexGoldhill]

Anthill inside

[@emanresu454]

The moment you said that the virus infects spiders, I rushed to amazon and ordered this book, can't wait to read it!

[@alexk1108]

It’s so good. You won’t regret it.

[@Nick-jm3bx]

How’d you like it?

[@maggs131]

When he said spiders, my finger instantly halted its journey to the Amazon "place order" button. It curled back into my clenched fist and I trembled like a spoon full of mayo being held by a nervous virgin about to get his salad tossed for the first time.

[@Archonsx]

for me the idea of spiders made me want to NOT read the book, not because spiders are scary, but because they are not interesting

[@itesseracted]

​@@Archonsx honestly the fact that they are spiders doesnt matter they think and act like something spiders wouid do, but as he said, its not a character driven book, if you dont really like the spiders, think about the vast spaces and time that this book is really trying to drive home

[@tsitsimelody5874]

Sold getting the book now, thanks

[@matthewthompson3405]

Very much loved this book

[@justinhart8652]

This book is very good and available as an audiobook on KZbin.

[@netimarneto6473]

"the virus infects... Spiders" Aight, imma head out.

[@heliosphaeresonnen_wind_ki5720]

but they are cute!

[@netimarneto6473]

@@heliosphaeresonnen_wind_ki5720 Elephants think we're cute, look how well that's turned out so far😅

[@Heatsaber]

Hahahaha about right.

[@UNSCPILOT]

Come back in a few thousand years though, the Portia Spiders civilization is pretty awesome by their space age

[@netimarneto6473]

@@UNSCPILOT It's like they were born for space

[@TonksMoriarty]

Children of Time is such a damn good book. Honestly, it might've helped my archnaphobia a bit to read this book.

[@jormungandthemidgardserpen1845]

Okay, you might help. I hate spiders, every time i see one or read about one, i want to burn it with hellfire and pour acid on top of what's left and burn it again while screaming and gagging like a little bitch. Is this book okay for my case?

[@dillon1037]

@@jormungandthemidgardserpen1845 I'm arachnophobic and I'm starting it. I shall report back.

[@fifthofascalante7311]

@@dillon1037 well how did it go?

[@dillon1037]

@@fifthofascalante7311 Tchaikovsky has since become one of my favorite Scifi authors so pretty good.

[@fifthofascalante7311]

@@dillon1037 how about the arachnophobia thing in particular?

[@parasocialbondsmetaswvoits9078]

All this sounds like something that a spider would say... How suspicious...

[@tfrantastic]

Mutherfucker….now that you mention it….notice how he only shows two hands and the camera doesn’t pan down to verify he had no other arms he is hiding!

[@nixian_zwaylus]

how was i not subscribed to the second channel yet? well, I'm here now.

[@karinkuo4656]

OMG THIS IS MY FAVORITE MODERN SCIFI BOOK. ABSOLUTE HANDSDOWN FAVORITE it’s got a genuinely nonhuman culture based believably on spider biology, it’s about the evolution of this nonhuman culture as well as the evolution of human spacefaring culture ALSO! Absolutely perfect storytelling techniques! The conflict is not superficial, both sides have believably high stakes, and the amazing resolution was hinted at throughout the book IT IS PERFECT

[@izzynobre]

It's depressing how obscure this novel is. My favorite scifi of the last 10 years

[@VICTOR03X]

Tu aqui?

[@Jaymes400]

To be fair though, if you consider just how many good novels get released every year its not all that surprising that many of them, like this one, get overlooked. I was more surprised by some of the negative comments from those who have read it.

[@vinicius1589]

Eu tava aqui me perguntando que youtuber já tinha me recomendado esse livro e veja quem eu encontro nos comentários

[@RichardBarclay]

Weird how depending on where you raise on the Internet something can be widely known of obscure. I would say this is like reddit's favourite book of the last few years.

[@gsafadi2]

Ei izzy acabei de ler. Por favor fala desse livro no teu canal. Aposto que teu publico vai curtir uma indicação de livro, especialmente com essa temática. 😉

[@closeben]

Sounds like the perfect book for Denis Villeneuve’s next movie.

[@robertwinslade3104]

Children of Time is one of my all time favourite books but it is borderline unadaptable. If anyone can do it though, it is probably Denis

[@Jaymes400]

While reading this I did think about a movie adaptation, but I don't think its possible personally. The spiders society and method of communication just doesn't feel like it could be adapted for screens without making it seem a bit cartoonish.

[@maggs131]

Three body problem first.

[@KyleHarmieson]

@@robertwinslade3104 Dune was once called unadaptable

[@UNSCPILOT]

I'd love to see Denise's take on Children of time after he's done Rama, everyone should know of the adorable awesomely smart little friends

[@ridney5887]

I loved this book, and am glad to see others spreading the word! Every time I wonder if my own speculative writing concepts are too weird to find an audience, I remember how I was not only enthralled by uplifted spiders and their alien societies, but actually moved to tears.

[@ruksanavarma204]

Every time you say Tchaikovsky my mind jumps to the composer. I have the Nutcracker stuck in my head after watching this - fantastic!

[@benstekar]

I live under a rock, so I didnt know this second channel existed.

[@grantcirks362]

This is literally my favorite book of all time

[@justinjeffries1554]

"the virus infects spiders" Sorry can't do it

[@mossbogger8366]

Check out “A Deepness in the Sky” by Venor Vinge. I’m also certain this is where the idea for Children of Time came from

[@korbendallas5318]

Oh yes, the motherlode, and a much better book.

[@EllieCedar]

One of my all time favourites, it's fantastic and everyone should read it, especially people who are afraid of spiders, you're gonna gave a connection with them by the time you finish this book

[@janApen]

I will should it?

[@nothankyouthanksforasking]

I thought it would be _buy it._ Ah well, at least there's a title that makes sense now.

[@shamblepants1450]

These two books made my head explode...totally in a good way. Loved them. Thank you for the review - these books deserve more readers.

[@DavidR575]

Oh man, I remember this book! Made me look at our spider-bros in a whole new way. Also a cool way of following a story through many generations.

[@austinf7201]

Children of Ruin was kind of a let down for me, but I agree with everything about the first book, it's amazing

[@axelrafael7510]

I know it's not an actual "Book", but ever since I started watching your vids a few years ago, I've always wanted you to review "The Practical Guide to Evil". Even though it's 6 books long right now, and it's the kind of story that gets better over time, if I could hear your thoughts on it's first book at least, it'd be so awsome ❤️ Thank you for all of your amazing content Tim

[@ashleysmith1276]

I struggled with Time, but Ruin was excellent. Everything else if his that I have listened to have been incredible also. Walking to Aldebaran is a novella but is prob my fave of his stuff so far.

[@wolfishpotato6978]

Yayyyy I'm so happy to see this, I read this book about two years ago and I loved it Edit: lol I love Children of Ruin in the background, that one was great too, but I kinda like the first one better. Though literally only because the sequel made me more sad XD

[@vijayragav4717]

Why some are angry about virus infecting spiders ? It is possible. Right ??

[@valentinepavliuchenko7309]

Agreed, hands-down one of the best Scifi books I've ever read.

[@ylhajee]

I loved Children of Time and I had no idea that it had a sequel! Thank you!

[@Indainna]

I can't believe you reviewed Adrian. He's my favourite author and I seriously LOVE his trilogy "the tiger and the wolf." His work is very poetic and just, ugh, beautiful. I got so excited as I (-havnt read but-) have been recommending this specific book to my bf for aggggessss now. Made him watch this with me

[@Luuuma7]

Have you read Shadows of the Apt? Reading it after reading the Echoes of the Fall series is fascinating, seeing all the things that overlap from a very different perspective. How Stepping differs from the Ancestor Art and how there are peoples who are in-between, like the Thorn-bugs or the sea-kinden, is fascinating.

[@jcwoodman5285]

Great book & follow up Children of Ruin...

[@Talesandtexts]

I just finished reading this book and it's SPECTACULAR! Funnily, this was my very first Sci-Fi book. I'm so glad I picked a good one, which has increased my interest in this genre. I've started Children of Ruin now :)

[@j.o6885]

I listened to all 9hrs of this in 2 days.and cried,and laughed and smiled more than I should at spider romance....it's a great read,my first fiction read in a long time.will be looking for children of ruin next

[@2thirds]

Don't you live waaaay too close to Spiderland to take it so lightly?

[@2thirds]

Don't you live waaaay too close to Spiderland to take it so lightly?

[@chaosbean3211]

As someone with arachnophobia, this sounds both super interesting and like a big can of nope

[@nanotyrannus5435]

In the recent r/Fantasy book club with Children of Time was a person that had their arachnophobia lessened by how much they loved the spiders in CoT

[@wolfishpotato6978]

It's not as panic inducing as it sounds because it's written from the perspective of the spiders rather than people discovering a spider alien species and studying it (although that does kind of come up at the ending and climax but by that point you'll probably regard the spiders as a different spin on aliens than anything and not be too freaked) It just depends on how bad you feel your phobia towards them is and which things trigger it. If it's just looking at spiders and knowing it could be poisonous and hurt you, then you should be fine since, yknow, it's just ink on a page. But if it's more just straight up _spiders_ then this may be a slightly ambitious read because the beginning starts with the spiders behaving much more like the spiders we know on earth, even if by the end they have a complex society that's barely recognizable

[@steffenschmidt3470]

Since this happens to be my sci-fi/dystopia/cyberpunk year (starting out with Collins' prequel and Paolini's childhood dream) - I'm intrigued! Thanks.

[@Nickelodeon81]

"Except, it all goes wrong". Wow what a twist

[@kailawkamo1568]

Fabian is intergenerational arachnid best boi

[@nf6386]

Love your work, Tim. How about reviewing China Mieville’s “Embassytown”, or as a sci-fi classic, Ursula Le Guin’s “The Left Hand of Darkness”? Some excellent world building by both authors, I believe.

[@Vexarax]

Children of Time and Children of Ruin are both freaking awesome, can't wait to start book 3 when it's released on Audible soon!! ^_^ Have you read Gone World?? An apocalypse like a giant white sun that turns all of humanity sort of inside out is moving back through time, and detectives from the past are going into the future to try to stop it but it keeps getting closer and closer to the present :o amazing concept, but I'm sadly almost finished it. Thinking about starting Three Body Problem next!! :D

[@jenniferlam7482]

Don't think I missed your cute dog teleporting in and out from 1:38 to 1:52

[@ilmatarkarvajalka3404]

You convinced me lol^^ I guess I know what I'll get myself for Easter... Edit: finished reading now: can confirm, the book is amazing, those spiders are just so cooooool

[@leondekok7389]

Could you possibly review the temeraire serie from noami novik? I would love tho hear you're view on them, first book is good enhough you can make a series if you want since there are six books

[@vikiszabo5939]

I loved the first book sooooo much, and I agree with everything you've said. I'm currently reading the second book and I would love to hear your thoughts on that too. I would enjoy more In-depth review too, if you ever fancy doing that. Hugs

[@AbhijeetBorkar]

I absolutely loved the book, and especially the ending. The way he has created the spider world is so fantastic!

[@francoisseys4511]

I didn't like the ending at all... ****Spoiler**** The only way he could find of saving humanity was to change them genetically with a Deus ex machina. Not a very useful concept. I would have preferred a planet-of-the-ape outcome, where humans are subdued and learn from/struggle against their arachnide masters over several generations.

[@Doeff8]

This book deserves to be made into a movie. By a VERY good director....

[@LeBingeDoctor]

Listening the review Unsheathing blue card

[@Ronxer12]

“The virus infects spiders.” Ok I’ve been convinced.

[@masterxeon1001]

i loved this book. I will be reading all his books.

[@heek8964]

ah yet another book you have recommended that I must read after finishing discworld.

[@ryanoneal8480]

Interesting idea, I use discworld novels as a palate cleanser between other novels since they're so short and delightful.

[@nanotyrannus5435]

Love this book even if I have some problems with some parts of the writing style for the spiders and many of the human characters didn't quite work for me. But the concept is incredibly well done. Tchaikovsky's best book is probably Dogs of War, because there he manages to bind a really great character study of a bio engineered dog together with how we treat the life we create, something humanity WILL have to deal with inevitably and I really hope the people who have to make the calls there will have read Dogs of War because then they might understand what they are judging about. Must read. He quickly became one of my favourite authors and now I have to read everything he published. Which is hard, because he writes so damn fast that he releases 2 novels and THREE novellas this year. Btw, there are loose plans for a third Children novel he is trying to work into a more coherent form atm.

[@makaki6900]

HOW COULD I NOT KNOW YOU HAVE A SECOND CHANNEL?

[@nuanceblacksywin4868]

I'll let you know what I thought of it. IT WAS AMAZING!! It's probably the best book I've ever read. Or listened to, that is. The audio book version is also MAGNIFICENT! I can't imagine it being narrated better. Mel Hudson does SUCH A GREAT JOB that I would encourage everyone who's read it to go and listen to it, just for her. But back to the book. It's the ONLY fiction book that has ever stayed with me for weeks after I read it. I usually just enjoy books in the moment, and when I'm done I don't think too much about them. Not this one. And it changed how I view spiders forever. Almost irrationally so. I have to remind myself that the spiders haven't gotten this virus irl. (But I still can't bring myself to kill them.)

[@dominictemple]

Avrana really is a fascinating character, she goes through so much. And as for the sequel... tentacles!!!

[@iamVickieZ]

And organic protomolecule

[@l4zrh4wk]

It’s a great book. Only negative was some of the human story, some of the characters were a bit wooden, made hilariously bad decisions and every character said “seriously?” WAAAY too often. But the spider story was absolutely fantastic!

[@Hereticxxii]

Ant computers...

[@dragoninthewest1]

Really cool book. I am reading right now. The opening had me hoping for a spiritual prequel to Planet of the Ape. I would love it if Adrian Tchaikovsky explored a world in which Kern's original Simian plan was successful. Or a world where the virus uplifted mammals or other vertebrates. It'd be pretty cool to see planets of the elephants and the orcas

[@maybebearable6910]

Team Fabian!

[@Neontaster]

Loved this book but did not enjoy the sequel. It's also a good example of a book that tackles modern social issues (in this case, a gender revolution) in an interesting way that doesn't feel like the book is lecturing you. It was really clever to superimpose the real world gender dynamic of those spiders onto a sentient version of that animal. Without spoiling anything, I will say that one central character felt too passive and lacked agency, which made the parts focusing on that character a bit frustrating.

[@wolfishpotato6978]

Out of curiosity what made you dislike the sequel?

[@Neontaster]

@@wolfishpotato6978 I just found it less compelling, especially the weird invasion of the body snatchers type plot.

[@alexandercarlson9377]

Between you and Daniel Green, I'm just never gonna finish my reading list, am I? (Not that I'm complaining)

[@TeacherGalante]

How about Metro 2033?

[@bobhawke7373]

I started this first book yesterday and I am 46% of the way through and am really enjoying the writing and ideas. At this stage I would give it a 9/10. And it has 54% to go and is just heating up

[@XiagraBalls]

I agree. Loved this book. Was sceptical about how he'd described a spider-run society, but it was very cool.

[@jeffreystewart9809]

Listened to the audiobooks of this and the sequel about a year ago. I loved every moment of them! Great writing and great narration.

[@montrose252]

Children of Time is an absolute masterpiece! But Children of Ruin is so-so, and Children of Memory is shite!

[@PhilHoggart]

So glad you've discovered these! Breathtakingly good books, I've recommended them to people who don't 'do' scifi and they've loved them 'Semiosis' by Sue Burke plays with a few similar questions - this time looking at sentient plants - and while not as brilliant as Children of..., I still found it a good read

[@thedarkside3899]

If you play videogames as well... play Horizon Zero Dawn you might like that one quite well.

[@jessefriesen9121]

I didn't think this was a bad book. But I do find it really strange that I haven't found much online about it seemingly ripping A LOT from A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge. That book came out years earlier and also involved: a hapless ship full of the universe's remaining humans seeking a world to pull resources from, a hyper intelligent race of spiders grown larger and dominating a lush world, a stretch of millenia to watch the new race grow and the old human race almost devolve, a sense of species voyeurism as the humans wait and the spiders spread and conquer the elements, and I could probably go on but I won't. I liked this book but I do think it heavily borrows from the book by Vinge.

[@lewessays]

The word spider jist turned me off 😢..But, I will try it out anyways.....

[@abcadef6171]

Adrian Tchaikovsky has always been spectacularly good at unique worldbuilding (and giant insects. Dude has a thing about giant insects), and his writing has been improving for years: his first books were sort of YA fantasy, ish? Except not in any way like you think when you hear that: it's more like YA Game of Thrones, except with giant insects and a clockpunk industrial revolution. The first few books do have some clunkiness from being his first books ever, but you can literally watch the prose improving as it goes through. It also (a) has an ending, which beats actual Game of Thrones, and (b) has a decent ending, which beats the Game of Thrones show. His Echoes of the Fall series is another amazingly unique fantasy series, and.., well, also all of the rest of his books. Dude writes a lot, and it's all worth reading. Cage of Souls is probably the strongest in terms of outright character work. Walking to Aldebaran is also worth a read, especially if you liked Piranesi: it's got a very similar vibe.

[@lughmanwatandust1020]

Children of time was quiet interesting it was the beginning of the trilogy and was a quiet new experience But after reading all three books I must admit I liked the the second books Octopuses in space is just cool

[@Shads62]

best thing I have read since The Culture. RIP Iain Banks. Portia made this a very character-centric book for me.... even if it wasnt the same person....er.... spider

[@dancook8733]

Just found out about this bloke! Kinda scary especially when I have been a Xenomorph/face hugger fan for almost 30 years and how they develop

[@AspiringAuthor]

Hey Tim! I recently acquired this book after hearing you rave about how good it is. And holy moly! Its absolutely amazing so far.

[@ericchristen2623]

For really original character developments read Siamese Nation (a nation of 6000 men and women joined at the hip and moving as one through a planet of vastly unique aliens that can stretch across oceans and and others who repeatedly commit suicide to enter dream states) - the key story in the book of original short stories of the same name. Author: Christen E. Yep, it's on Amazon. It steps out of the box and into parallel worlds like a rubix sandwich leaping through a bunnies eyes crowning a weathered scepter of reversed music...

[@CosmereInformant]

The video where you talk about worldbuilding architecture and mention the vertical webs and stuff got me to go look these books up. They’re amazing

[@misomiso8228]

0:50 Children of Time is fantastic, but there are other great Sci-Fi books. If you liked this kind of story telling try 'The Stars my Destination', and 'A Fire Upon the Deep'.

[@triplecrossproduct8656]

"It's not a book about character work" My Emotions during the 'Things Fall Apart' chapter would like to strongly disagree with you

[@kellenanthoney4588]

The octopods in Children of Ruin annoyed the hell outta me... they were like Danny DeVito "so anyway, i started blasting" It was such a frustrating book to read... imagining a civilization without a real command structure or constant direction (yet still somehow managing space travel/colonization) is ridiculous, thinking they somehow survived everything that came at them.

[@efxnews4776]

To be honest, this concept isn't new to me, if you watch the ep. Beyond the Aquila Rift from Love, Death and Robots, based on the short story of Alastair Reynolds of the same title, you get the same idea just with an spice flavor. Although i suffer from arachnophobia, i still fall in love for the character Greta.

[@calinm242]

Am I the only one who actually hates this book? I have forced myself to read through the first 300 pages before finally giving it up...

[@jakobrandel8105]

The synopsis sounded so ScyFy Original, but it was so much better than I could have anticipated.

[@aeolia80]

Loved loved loved this book!!! Couldn't put it down, now the sequel, eh, it's a bit tedious. I heard the movie rights have been bought but how the heck are they gonna adapt it, lol, like, I contacted even fathom how

[@soffren]

Most of the fiction I consume is science fiction. This is the best Scifi book I've ever read. I'm waiting on the last chapter until my girlfriend catches up, as I bought it for her as well.

[@t.j.webster5545]

I might be 2 years late to this video, but I gotta say: Spiders have always made me uneasy, but Portia and her Peers were vastly more compelling than the Gilgamesh Crew.

[@specialbeamcharlie7250]

I just finished it today. I loved it! I think the pacing was superb.

[@jxj5924]

I finally got around to starting this. It’s amazing, thanks for the recommendation.

[@zenmasterfu]

Criminally ignored by the Hugo's! Not even nominated, unbelievable, they really dropped the ball here. I've read it three or four times

[@stormhawk31]

"Shogun" by James Clavell. I'm gonna keep bugging you about this one. LOL

[@juzzyg1982]

Children of time and children of ruin are good books, but children of memory didn’t live up to them in my opinion, it felt a bit forced, like they had to get another book out, but didn’t actually have any ideas.

[@km1dash6]

I just started reading the book and so far, there is an interesting critique that is less a criticism and more a problem with my inability to suspend disbelief: if spiders are supposed to be this alien intelligence, how are we, the reader ever suppose to begin to understand them? When Portia goes hunting, the narrator describes categories in her mind, but how could there be categories? Would a spider even have a concept of "food?" Whenever there is a description of alien beings in science fiction, they're is an assumption that they have some kind of language, or at least an ability to organize the world into categories, that can loosely be translated to something we can understand, but how? To a certain extent, it's suspension of disbelief. The author is a human, he is writing for a human audience. What else is he expected to do? But it does take me out of the story a little to read about a spider having thoughts that a human could even begin to comprehend. There's a philosophy article called "what is it like to be a bat," where the writer points out that humans have no clue what it's like to be a bat. We can imagine what it would be like for humans to ecolocate and hang upside down to sleep, and have wings, and all these other things, but we could never know what it's like to be a bat. Similarly, we can't know what it's like to be a sentient spider, yet the author does his best to convey that to us.

[@bookssongsandothermagic]

Easily one of my favourite books. Love the review. Glad to have found your channel. I think you're right about how fresh and epic it is, while being really deep and brilliantly written. (love the appearance of the dog too...)

[@joshsalwen]

I didn’t like it as much as you, but I agree it is amazing. It took me a while to get into it, because I didn’t like any of the characters as individuals. I wouldn’t want to be friends with them. That said, they grew on me, so about half way in, I was all in. I was on the fence about reading the sequel, but you sold me.

[@mrgauth]

The moment you said intelligent spiders, I was out. Love the writer but just dont care for the subject. But no doubt his writing is superb. And your enthusiasm earned a sub.

[@will-allen]

You should have affiliate amazon links. I'm probably going to buy this book, and amazon should give you a portion of the sale for that.

[@kc0dawnte]

As an arachnophobic, I endorse this story. Exceptional and the sequel amps up the horror to a crazy level.

[@aaronmoehrholt1151]

quick question man.....are you the guy who used to have a channel with Mishka the cat?????

[@barretwaltz6631]

I read this book after watching this review and it's brilliant! He didn't even discuss the fact that the author brilliantly alludes to multiple theories of why we haven't found aliens in the real world as well as flipping the gender roles of a lot of stories. In this one, I would say the main protagonist and antagonist are all females while males take a supporting role at best. Also men illustrate some of our darker human nature even though the main human's perspective is male. Ten out of ten. Will have to look into the sequel

[@SilentSalad]

You should read The Robots Of Gotham. It's Not about Batman. You'll love it.