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

[@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

[@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

[@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?

[@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

[@nixian_zwaylus]

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

[@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.

[@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

[@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!

[@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. 😉

[@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

[@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.

[@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

[@ylhajee]

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

[@Nickelodeon81]

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

[@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.

[@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

[@timothycraven2465]

This video started auto playing and I felt oddly fascinated by the world you were describing, then three hours later I couldn’t get it out of my head and ended up getting the book. I cannot believe how amazing this book was, and I still can’t believe I cried for a spider when Fabian sacrificed himself in the Starnet. Also the time and effort put into building the world and the staggering amount of work required to paint such vivid descriptions of the structures the spiders built so that we feel immersed is just really quite something.

[@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 :)

[@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.

[@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.

[@emberdragon3436]

I got this book for Christmas last year on your recommendation in another video, adored it, and then encouraged my friends and school librarian to read it too.

[@jxj5924]

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

[@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...)

[@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.

[@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

[@XxSallyLinnxX]

I had no idea you recommended books, super excited. Your videos have helped my world building a lot so I'm excited to see what you read.

[@pian-0g445]

Honestly, this was a book that just kept me engaged throughout the whole thing. You just couldn’t tell where it would go for a lot of it.

[@specialbeamcharlie7250]

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

[@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.

[@makaki6900]

HOW COULD I NOT KNOW YOU HAVE A SECOND CHANNEL?

[@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

[@robertwinslade3104]

One of my all time favourite books, so good to see people singing it's praises

[@Etherealsillygoose]

This is my favorite book right now and I read it because of your channel! Thank you so much

[@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

[@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

[@michaeljdauben]

Totally agree with your review. I loved Children of Time and it's one of my favorite SF books of the last 10 years. As I've read further Adrian Tchaikovsky books, he's become one of my favorite contemporary authors.

[@valentinepavliuchenko7309]

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

[@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

[@trombonemain]

I picked up a copy of this a few weeks ago but haven’t gotten a chance to read it yet. I finished a Cory Doctorow bend recently, I have to read this now! Can’t wait!

[@MagnusSecuris]

Just finished Children of Time off the back of watching this video when it came out. Absolutely amazing book

[@Beeritk]

Badass book! Can’t recommend highly enough. So happy to see a review for it on this channel.

[@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.

[@CoreyTF2]

Ive had a copy of this sitting on my shelf for years without really knowing what it was about, but that first minute has really made me keen to give it a read.

[@srwooten2]

I had heard of "organic" computers in many other stories, like Voyagers gel packs, or the Vorlons in Babylon 5 but I never thought to much about the concept until this book and wow what an eye opener! This book had me learning a lot about how analog and digital signals work and their pros and cons. I love books that fully captivate me in a wonderful story but also inspire me to learn and do research outside of story. Great books.

[@rhysholdaway]

Ohh. New book to add to my reading list. Thank you.

[@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.

[@sophiedarragh5914]

Adrian Tchaikovsky books are my favorite. His writing style and ideas are amazing

[@phredshunkie3487]

Great book. Thank for the recommendation Tim. 🤓

[@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'.

[@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.

[@masetheimpailer]

Seriously, one of the best books I’ve ever read. This book gets you thinking!

[@thedatabase677]

I just read this book because of Dominic Noble's new podcast, and it was just phenomenal. The ending had me crying.

[@cardamonrolls]

Love, love, love this book! I've read it several times at this point but it never gets old. Side note--when I was first reading this book, my husband was also reading one by the same author completely by coincidence. We found out by realizing that both had anthropomorphized insect characters.

[@drummerofawe]

Got this from the library based off this review and I think I've discovered a new author to dive into. As someone who's always been just a few steps removed from a full-blown arachnophobe, I was impressed to find myself rooting for the spiders almost instantly. It was riveting to experience many of the civilizational hurdles humanity had to overcome from an arthropod's viewpoint, with the section on the plague probably being my favourite. As for recommendations, Annihilation is another recent sci-fi book that I think earns a spot with the all-time greats. If you like your books weird, this one's for you.

[@Doeff8]

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

[@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.

[@apexazimuth]

Many thanks for recommending this! My wife and I had actually recently started a journey toward molting our hysterical revulsion of spiders by adopting jumping spiders. We are now tolerant of all kinds of spiders and we are in love with jumpers. This read was the perfect bookend to our journey of empathy toward our invertebrate siblings.

[@noeditbookreviews]

The climax and ending were SO good!

[@zPencilPirate]

Just finished this book and I'm obsessed, best book I've read in a while

[@bhbluebird]

This was such good sci-fi. Easy to follow, good characterizations, world building and the speculative science was very plausible.

[@andyt4671]

great review, thank you

[@thembamabona9809]

...Yes sir, thank you for this. Been recommending this like a maniac ever since I read it. Might be the first book I'll ever give a second spin. Out of this world amazing. The second part is also very good. Couldn't get the phrase "Let's go on an adventure..." out of my head after that....

[@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

[@joshuam772]

Great review @TwotheFuture (seems strange not thinking Hello Future Me 😅), both are now on my TBR - I need to read about supercomputer ant colonies now. For thoughts on other books for you to review, I'm loving Red Rising which I'm halfway through but I've read that it's one of the worst in the series. I loved Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (it was mentioned in one of your On Writing videos, I think fight scenes, but I don't know if you've read it). Hope you get better soon :)

[@baron3576]

Just finished it, best book I've read in years. Tests and goosebumps galore

[@ElMarcoh]

I have stopped reading scifi for a while and read this just yesterday (thanks to this review) I was blown away. I agree some things get forced a bit, and I find hard to believe the choices they make compared to the technical feats they are able to achieve. But in the end I really enjoyed the read. Also when I finished I found a big spider in my bathroom, lol, it was of the venomous type, sorry little spider sister.

[@JasmineDragonXYL]

I'm loving these book reviews

[@jenniferlam7482]

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

[@AmandaInEly]

I enjoyed the first book loads. Am giving it to my daughter, who has just completed a phD on spider silk.

[@artiomrusch6984]

damn, your video totally convinced me to read children of time, and i absolutely loved it, same with children of ruins, so thanks for that :)

[@masterxeon1001]

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

[@theberrby6836]

Love hearing you talk about one of your favorite books Tim. ^^ Also I might get it someday soon because, you sold me on it

[@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

[@JamesBlackman13]

I just came across the boom and started reading it. It’s freaking brilliant

[@jcwoodman5285]

Great book & follow up Children of Ruin...

[@jasonjudson]

Agreed! It's One helluva good book! Can´t wait to read Children of Ruin! BTW, thanks for the video!

[@FredHMusic-gr7nu]

Awesome stuff. As far as sci-fi goes, Black Mirror, 1984, Animal Farm and Brave New World are my absolute favourite works. I will definitely add this to my reading list. Thanks Tim!

[@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

[@Warforged117]

Tchaikovsky's Shadows of the Apt series is my go to comfort reading series (Tolkien aside), I am so happy to see his talent in so many genres!

[@georgelong881]

I read it and really enjoyed it. The only issue I had was the structure. The need to constantly go back and forth between the different species slows the book right down and it feels like we sometimes cut away from a plot point just to see what the spiders up to. Other than that it was really clever. I’ve got the sequel but haven’t read it yet and hope it can sort out that issue from the first one.

[@jumpingspiderjesusfreak6219]

Ah yes, one of my all time favorite series!

[@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.

[@tsitsimelody5874]

Sold getting the book now, thanks

[@justinjeffries1554]

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

[@jakobrandel8105]

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

[@XiagraBalls]

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

[@cannonfodder4376]

Read/listened with Whispersync in the beginning of 2020. To say it surprised me and blew me away would be an understatement. The moment it was revealed the nanovirus infected the spiders and other invertebrates... I was hooked. It's a wonderful book for all the reasons you said. The best book I have read yet, left me with a post book high for some time. Now I await book three Children of Memory.

[@DuckRon626]

Have to agree with you. Absolutely an amazing book. I read Dune shortly after it first came out and Children of Time gives me that same feeling. Haven't read Children of Ruin, but, it is on my TBR. Must also look into other books by Tchaikovsky as he seems to be an amazing author. I believe that he also writes Fantasy, so, I have to look into that, also.

[@corro202]

Great review.

[@heliosphaeresonnen_wind_ki5720]

i really really liked it. one of the books that stayed in my head for long.

[@anomalous8583]

I've read both books 4 times. I wish he'd revisit this story and continue the series

[@FabrizioBiondi84]

Ok I'm sold :) Ordered it

[@joshuadavis6574]

It’s so good. Reading the 2nd one now.

[@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

[@rhodsym643]

Possibly one of my favourite books of all time, incredible.

[@Ruiluth]

It's my goal to someday have my own book reviewed and hopefully recommended on this channel. For some reason, Tim's writing advice has become the benchmark I hold my work to.

[@mavste5677]

Have any work available at the moment?

[@Ruiluth]

@@mavste5677 not yet. Work is progressing slowly, and I've been working on other projects. I haven't forgotten this though...

[@nemonomen3340]

I got this book when it went on sale on Audible as a whim. _Best whim ever._