Children of Time / Adrian Tchaikovsky

Children of Time
by Adrian Tchaikovsky

science fiction

copyright 2015
read in November 2015

rated 8/10: really quite good

What is it about this man and invertebrates ?!

Whatever it is... it's good :-)

Tchaikovsky takes space travel, terraforming, uplift, cold sleep, the human tendency to destroy -- and weaves a great yarn. Pun intended ? Read the book. There are two threads to the story...

One storyline has characters popping in and out of cold sleep. This allows for continuity by having a small number of key characters continually interacting -- over many, many centuries. Their world changes but we see it from the common perspective of these few characters.

The second storyline follows the development of intelligence and civilisation, over millennia. No character can survive all that... but... key characters use a small set of names. So the "Portia" of each generation is always an explorer / hunter / soldier; the action hero. "Bianca" is always the thinker / leader / priest. It's a clever technique which provides a strong sense of continuity to the ages-long story.

Each storyline is exciting in itself. When they overlap, there is trouble... Trouble for the characters, that is. And the two threads finally converge, to what can only be disaster... Humans, I'm thinking, Are nothing but trouble. I hope they are all destroyed ! Not that I really want that, because there are sympathetic characters on both sides. But if one group has to be destroyed...

The story draws me in. I hope for a satisfactory conclusion -- for everyone. It just seems to be an impossible hope. And that is a sign of what a great book this is !

Good characters, solid science fiction plot, not many unexpected twists but developments enough to keep me interested and reading.

A very satisfactory ending... Slightly saccharine but satisfactory. All round, good.

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Oh, a side issue: I read this novel as an eBook. I read the first half in small doses. And found that the eBook was not good for stop-start reading.

When I return to a paper book, it takes just a second or two to glance at previous pages, to remind myself where I'm at in my reading. I also have a feeling for plot progression simply by seeing how much of the book is still to be read.

With the eBook it's easy to glance back a page or two. Less easy to jump back a few chapters, to see how it all began. I miss the ability to riffle pages as I search for a vaguely remembered passage...

On the other hand, I have learnt to glance at the bottom of the screen to see "percent read", so I know how close I am to a conclusion.

Books and ebooks: different. But each with their own pluses and minuses.

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26jan19: Just finished re-reading this book. I've barely read a chapter before I realise that I have read it before. I remember broad themes but not the detail. I very quickly realise that I am enjoying this book. Again.

Everything I wrote (in 2015) after my first reading -- is still true. Plus some comparisons:

I've recently read another episodic book of generation ship crew waking for a short while every few centuries; this book does it so much better. I've recently read a book where humanity is painted in a very negative, destructive style; this book does the same -- but with enough positives to make it far more enjoyable.

This is an excellent book. Well worth the re-reading.

Oh, and it is far easier -- for me -- to read it as a paper book. Perhaps because my wife now uses our shared tablet, so my e-book reading time is severely limited :-)

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Lord grant me the strength to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can & the friends to post my bail when I finally snap!
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05 Feb 2020: I've just read this book -- yet again -- and enjoy it -- yet again :-)

It doesn't take me long to recognise the story. The overall plot is still clear in my mind. The ending still surprises me -- though it is obvious from the story-so-far that it is possible. This time I also recognise the message to our current war-mongering humanity, a message which is presented quietly, without in-your-face shouting. A good message.

Definitely a good book.