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Children of Time #3
Children of Memory
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Science Fiction (2023)The modern classic of space opera that began with Children of Time continues in this extraordinary novel of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet.
Earth failed. In a desperate bid to escape, the spaceship Enkidu and its captain, Heorest Holt, carried its precious human cargo to a potential new paradise. Generations later, this fragile colony has managed to survive, eking out a hardy existence. Yet life is tough, and much technological knowledge has been lost.
Then strangers appear. They possess unparalleled knowledge and thrilling technology – and they've arrived from another world to help humanity’s colonies. But not all is as it seems, and the price of the strangers' help may be the colony itself.
Children of Memory by Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky is a far-reaching space opera spanning generations, species and galaxies.
Earth failed. In a desperate bid to escape, the spaceship Enkidu and its captain, Heorest Holt, carried its precious human cargo to a potential new paradise. Generations later, this fragile colony has managed to survive, eking out a hardy existence. Yet life is tough, and much technological knowledge has been lost.
Then strangers appear. They possess unparalleled knowledge and thrilling technology – and they've arrived from another world to help humanity’s colonies. But not all is as it seems, and the price of the strangers' help may be the colony itself.
Children of Memory by Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky is a far-reaching space opera spanning generations, species and galaxies.
486 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 24, 2022
About the author
Adrian Tchaikovsky
171 books13.5k followersADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY was born in Lincolnshire and studied zoology and psychology at Reading, before practising law in Leeds. He is a keen live role-player and occasional amateur actor and is trained in stage-fighting. His literary influences include Gene Wolfe, Mervyn Peake, China Miéville, Mary Gently, Steven Erikson, Naomi Novak, Scott Lynch and Alan Campbell.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,130 reviews
February 11, 2023
I'm torn.
I LOVED the beginning but lost interest towards the end when things got (purposely) confusing. I'm not sure if this is the last book in the series as the ending leaves the story opened for more but I think I'm done.
I LOVED the beginning but lost interest towards the end when things got (purposely) confusing. I'm not sure if this is the last book in the series as the ending leaves the story opened for more but I think I'm done.
January 30, 2023
Fascinating. Mesmerizing. Thought-provoking. And incredibly enjoyable. That’s why Adrian Tchaikovsky is firmly on the list of my favorite writers, sharing the podium with Pratchett and LeGuin. He’s not one of SFF greats-in-the-making; he’s made it to the pantheon, and seems to be having a blast there.
The latest (but hopefully not the last) book in his amazing Children of Time series that started with spacefaring spiders and went on to include spacefaring sentient octopuses and a new truly alien knowledge-thirsty symbiote as well as a grumpy AI, Children of Memory continues the themes of the previous volumes — the question of personhood, the unity vs division, the “Us” vs “Them”, bridging the gap, and the intoxicating appeal of curiosity and knowledge.
And typical for Tchaikovsky, this doesn’t go exactly where you’d think it would, instead branching off in a direction that is way more interesting and thoughtful than I’d ever predict. My expectations just don’t live up to the treasure trove of awesome that is Adrian Tchaikovsky’s brain.
Sentience and personhood are the questions we are left with. Naturally, it made me think of Blindsight by Peter Watts, a literary discourse on sentience and consciousness, but done way more accessibly, humanistically and engagingly. There were still moments of sitting still and slow-blinking in astonishment, but in a way that made me feel strangely happy. Because what matters, really — whether a species is indeed sentient or how *you*, a supposedly sentient being, choose to treat them and act towards them?
Humans are smug, aren’t we? In search for other life we look for something recognizable, something that is close to *us*, since of course our definitions of life and sentience and therefore value gotta be that elusive “it”, right? But of course that says more about us than those we are judging.
Tchaikovsky is a pro at creating worlds that can have good things in them without falling into that recently omni-present sugary cozypunk with too much fiction and too little science. He doesn’t do that; he’s humanistic without pandering to every current “it” issue, considerate without ever being preachy, hopeful without saccharinity. He’s just a genuinely good writer, and that’s a gift to humanity, and I’m not just being a fangirl here, I swear.
This series is a modern SFF classic, on par with the “greats” of the genre.
5 stars. Brilliant.
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My review for the first book in the series, Children of Time is here.
My review for the second, Children of Ruin is here.
“What you want,”she says disgustedly, “is a zoo where you can come and look at the exhibits in their natural habitat. But what are you really preserving, then? Nothing except a means to sate your curiosity. You’re not doing it for *them*, at that point. Just for you.”
The latest (but hopefully not the last) book in his amazing Children of Time series that started with spacefaring spiders and went on to include spacefaring sentient octopuses and a new truly alien knowledge-thirsty symbiote as well as a grumpy AI, Children of Memory continues the themes of the previous volumes — the question of personhood, the unity vs division, the “Us” vs “Them”, bridging the gap, and the intoxicating appeal of curiosity and knowledge.
And typical for Tchaikovsky, this doesn’t go exactly where you’d think it would, instead branching off in a direction that is way more interesting and thoughtful than I’d ever predict. My expectations just don’t live up to the treasure trove of awesome that is Adrian Tchaikovsky’s brain.
“She had forgotten, somehow, that the people on Imir were, after all, just people, and that they suffered, and that they died.”
Sentience and personhood are the questions we are left with. Naturally, it made me think of Blindsight by Peter Watts, a literary discourse on sentience and consciousness, but done way more accessibly, humanistically and engagingly. There were still moments of sitting still and slow-blinking in astonishment, but in a way that made me feel strangely happy. Because what matters, really — whether a species is indeed sentient or how *you*, a supposedly sentient being, choose to treat them and act towards them?
“Because Liff understands, without needing to know why, that looking different isn’t a good thing.”
Humans are smug, aren’t we? In search for other life we look for something recognizable, something that is close to *us*, since of course our definitions of life and sentience and therefore value gotta be that elusive “it”, right? But of course that says more about us than those we are judging.
‘It’s not *life*,” Kern-major tells her. “It was never life. It was just … life fan-fiction’.
‘We all are. The two of us standing here, and you as well. And any human who uploads or gets transferred to a new body. Or any of it. We’re at a point where we can play all sorts of clever games with minds. Store them, and pour them, and shuffle them back and forth, like playing which cup the ball is under. Yet we still remain ourselves, to ourselves. Don’t you find it arbitrary to draw the line of reality there? To say, “You can be real, if there was once a living exemplar of you, even if now you’re a copied and recopile version made of ants and raw data”?’
Tchaikovsky is a pro at creating worlds that can have good things in them without falling into that recently omni-present sugary cozypunk with too much fiction and too little science. He doesn’t do that; he’s humanistic without pandering to every current “it” issue, considerate without ever being preachy, hopeful without saccharinity. He’s just a genuinely good writer, and that’s a gift to humanity, and I’m not just being a fangirl here, I swear.
“They jostle and joke among themselves, and whoop and say in over-loud voices how this’ll show *them*. She know they don’t even know who *they* are. But that’s not important once you’ve decided there’s an *us* and a *them*. Only the fact of the division matters.”
This series is a modern SFF classic, on par with the “greats” of the genre.
5 stars. Brilliant.
—————
—————
My review for the first book in the series, Children of Time is here.
My review for the second, Children of Ruin is here.
“She is a cultural leech, meaningless without the society she has burrowed into, and because of this she spends her time trying to give back to it. What has more sense of obligation than a parasite, after all?”
November 13, 2022
This series has been a bit hit and miss for me. Children of Time was a delight, I really enjoyed it in almost every aspect. Children of Ruin less so, but it was still okay – there were just a few bits that I wasn’t so much a fan of. Children of Memory, sadly continued and expanded upon that trend.
The overall concept of the series remains a very good one, but I feel this third book was a bit of a reach. There were several bits here that I wasn’t a fan of, and by the time I started to come to the end of the book, I had already decided that it was easily my least favourite of the three. Then the ending itself came along and… I really disliked it. With a fair amount of passion.
Technically, this is a well-written book, as I would expect from Tchaikovsky, but saying that, I did feel at various points that it was also a bit disjointed. The start, for me, was strong, but before too long, it felt like the threads that followed had become too tangled and hadn’t been straightened out again.
There were time jumps to give backstory, but I felt these broke up the flow too much (a common complaint I have with flashbacks), and plenty of confusion outside of that as well. The confusion I had was eventually explained, but that formed part of the ending that I very much disliked.
As far as the positives go, many of them for me were tinged with negatives as well. The writing was good but yet disjointed, as previously mentioned; the worldbuilding was excellent but somehow then seemed a step too far for what we know from the series; the characters are great but then some of them are not quite as we have come to know (and potentially love) them.
So overall, this was a disappointing read for me. Lots of the other reviews I have seen are very much to the positive end of the scale, so that points to this one just not working for me. But if you’re a fan of the series who loved the second book as much as (or more than) the first, then I suspect this would be another winner for you.
The overall concept of the series remains a very good one, but I feel this third book was a bit of a reach. There were several bits here that I wasn’t a fan of, and by the time I started to come to the end of the book, I had already decided that it was easily my least favourite of the three. Then the ending itself came along and… I really disliked it. With a fair amount of passion.
Technically, this is a well-written book, as I would expect from Tchaikovsky, but saying that, I did feel at various points that it was also a bit disjointed. The start, for me, was strong, but before too long, it felt like the threads that followed had become too tangled and hadn’t been straightened out again.
There were time jumps to give backstory, but I felt these broke up the flow too much (a common complaint I have with flashbacks), and plenty of confusion outside of that as well. The confusion I had was eventually explained, but that formed part of the ending that I very much disliked.
As far as the positives go, many of them for me were tinged with negatives as well. The writing was good but yet disjointed, as previously mentioned; the worldbuilding was excellent but somehow then seemed a step too far for what we know from the series; the characters are great but then some of them are not quite as we have come to know (and potentially love) them.
So overall, this was a disappointing read for me. Lots of the other reviews I have seen are very much to the positive end of the scale, so that points to this one just not working for me. But if you’re a fan of the series who loved the second book as much as (or more than) the first, then I suspect this would be another winner for you.
November 25, 2022
Oh my (book-)gods! This is my favorite in the series (so far, I should add, since I'm hoping for more installments).
After the arachnids, octopuses and slime mold we now get ... humans! *lol* Of course, we are on another planet where another colony ship arrived a long time ago and humans settled. Many generations later, the settlers are still trying to survive the planet's harsh ecosystem. The problem is that the tech at their disposal is breaking down and conditions get worse and worse. Moreover, they start getting concerned about strangers with knowledge and tech they shouldn't have.
And yes, of course, it's our favorite gang of galactic explorers: Kern (or the AI with her personality), the spider Portia, Paul (one of the octopuses) and now also Miranda (the slime intelligence).
But something else is going on in the colony. And it's not just that the humans' problems seem to be triggering a stark rise in anger / suspicion / willingness to use violence.
I can honestly say that the thing I loved most about this third installment were the . I should have known from the book's title that the next uplifted intelligence would be .
Surprisingly, I also loved the exploration of the human colony though! I liked following along their day-to-day life, their hardships and struggles and seeing how my species is doing so many years after we probably killed off ourselves back home.
Maybe the other two books would have already felt this way if I had known Brin's Uplift books back then. I didn't but do now. And yes, this book's atmosphere very much reminded me of the sense of wonder, exploration and (self-)discovery of those books. In short: I loved it from the first to the last page.
Without wanting to show off, I have to say, that I had guessed at one of the twists about halfway through the book. The hints here and there, my brain going "does not compute", and knowing Tchaikovsky ...
That, in no way, marred my enjoyment of the tale and how it came together though! Not least because there were other twists and turns and yet more things to puzzle about.
The writing, as ever, is top notch. It's intricate, fast-paced, very smart, and sucks you right in.
I think I remember someone telling me this will be a trilogy, making this the finale. However, I'm definitely hoping there will be more installments, maybe even a journey back to Earth to see what has happened to our home planet, what life formed there after humans finally had gone extinct (yes, I'm convinced we did NOT make it). Though I trust the author that no matter where he takes us, we'll have one hell of a time. So yeah, more please!
After the arachnids, octopuses and slime mold we now get ... humans! *lol* Of course, we are on another planet where another colony ship arrived a long time ago and humans settled. Many generations later, the settlers are still trying to survive the planet's harsh ecosystem. The problem is that the tech at their disposal is breaking down and conditions get worse and worse. Moreover, they start getting concerned about strangers with knowledge and tech they shouldn't have.
And yes, of course, it's our favorite gang of galactic explorers: Kern (or the AI with her personality), the spider Portia, Paul (one of the octopuses) and now also Miranda (the slime intelligence).
But something else is going on in the colony. And it's not just that the humans' problems seem to be triggering a stark rise in anger / suspicion / willingness to use violence.
I can honestly say that the thing I loved most about this third installment were the . I should have known from the book's title that the next uplifted intelligence would be .
Surprisingly, I also loved the exploration of the human colony though! I liked following along their day-to-day life, their hardships and struggles and seeing how my species is doing so many years after we probably killed off ourselves back home.
Maybe the other two books would have already felt this way if I had known Brin's Uplift books back then. I didn't but do now. And yes, this book's atmosphere very much reminded me of the sense of wonder, exploration and (self-)discovery of those books. In short: I loved it from the first to the last page.
Without wanting to show off, I have to say, that I had guessed at one of the twists about halfway through the book. The hints here and there, my brain going "does not compute", and knowing Tchaikovsky ...
That, in no way, marred my enjoyment of the tale and how it came together though! Not least because there were other twists and turns and yet more things to puzzle about.
The writing, as ever, is top notch. It's intricate, fast-paced, very smart, and sucks you right in.
I think I remember someone telling me this will be a trilogy, making this the finale. However, I'm definitely hoping there will be more installments, maybe even a journey back to Earth to see what has happened to our home planet, what life formed there after humans finally had gone extinct (yes, I'm convinced we did NOT make it). Though I trust the author that no matter where he takes us, we'll have one hell of a time. So yeah, more please!
October 26, 2022
Tchaikovsky never fails to amaze and surprise.
I adored 'Children of Time' and 'Children of Ruin'. And yet, 'Children of Memory' is very different. It doesn't follow the formula of [species] + Uplift virus + chronology of the resulting society's twists and turns. I was a tiny bit sad about this - but this would probably have been a case of too much of a good thing.
Instead, this third book in the series takes a step towards something like fantasy, echoing Tchaikovsky's novella 'The Elder Race' and perhaps even a trace of 'The Tiger and the Wolf'. It is utterly intriguing, and the deep mystery at the story's heart sneaks up on you. It's also a philosophy lecture masquerading as a very good book - though I won't say more on that, for fear of spoilers.
The book is long, but easy to consume. It's written with the author's usual witty style, and I grinned or even giggled in places, thanks to the brilliant cast of characters from Avrana Kern to the new Gothli and Gethli. But it's also the most emotional book of Tchaikovsky's that I've read, with a bittersweet ending of sadness and joy.
For some reason, I had thought this would be the final book, but it feels like there's so much more to be explored still - and I have faith that there'll be a fourth.
(With thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review)
I adored 'Children of Time' and 'Children of Ruin'. And yet, 'Children of Memory' is very different. It doesn't follow the formula of [species] + Uplift virus + chronology of the resulting society's twists and turns. I was a tiny bit sad about this - but this would probably have been a case of too much of a good thing.
Instead, this third book in the series takes a step towards something like fantasy, echoing Tchaikovsky's novella 'The Elder Race' and perhaps even a trace of 'The Tiger and the Wolf'. It is utterly intriguing, and the deep mystery at the story's heart sneaks up on you. It's also a philosophy lecture masquerading as a very good book - though I won't say more on that, for fear of spoilers.
The book is long, but easy to consume. It's written with the author's usual witty style, and I grinned or even giggled in places, thanks to the brilliant cast of characters from Avrana Kern to the new Gothli and Gethli. But it's also the most emotional book of Tchaikovsky's that I've read, with a bittersweet ending of sadness and joy.
For some reason, I had thought this would be the final book, but it feels like there's so much more to be explored still - and I have faith that there'll be a fourth.
(With thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review)
November 26, 2022
This one offered up some pretty great SFnal surprises.
From the start, I had some suspicions that this would be something like a culture-shock kind of novel in a poor human colony world meeting the long list of truly fascinating alien (ish) races that were serendipitously uplifted in the previous Children of Time novels. (All fantastic, clever, philosophical, and well-explored.)
This one, however, takes a right turn to the others. My expectations had to swerve and were nicely pummeled by Tchaikovsky.
Now, as for the new alien race we get to explore, it's a classic Sentience problem with some great Corvids, as conducted by an actual AI, with lots of opinions carried by a slime mold, octopus, spiders, and some human memories. :) I mean... to say I'm intrigued is to say very little at all.
That being said, the author continues a dialogue with older SF but writes it in a great modern way with lots of attention to detail and description. I still say this series is a must-read for any fan of SF.
That twist... whew.
From the start, I had some suspicions that this would be something like a culture-shock kind of novel in a poor human colony world meeting the long list of truly fascinating alien (ish) races that were serendipitously uplifted in the previous Children of Time novels. (All fantastic, clever, philosophical, and well-explored.)
This one, however, takes a right turn to the others. My expectations had to swerve and were nicely pummeled by Tchaikovsky.
Now, as for the new alien race we get to explore, it's a classic Sentience problem with some great Corvids, as conducted by an actual AI, with lots of opinions carried by a slime mold, octopus, spiders, and some human memories. :) I mean... to say I'm intrigued is to say very little at all.
That being said, the author continues a dialogue with older SF but writes it in a great modern way with lots of attention to detail and description. I still say this series is a must-read for any fan of SF.
That twist... whew.
February 15, 2023
“ ‘Sentience,’ adds Gethli. ‘Is what is a what? And, if so, what?’ ‘You think,’ Kern all but accuses them.’ You’d think we think,’ he either answers or gives back a mangled echo. ‘But we have thought about the subject, and come to the considered conclusion that we do not think. All that passes between us and within us is just mechanical complexity.’ ”
“ ‘Think of it this way. You’re an alien symbiote incorporating an encoded memory of a human woman, whom you’re currently with sufficient fidelity, that you can believe you’re her. I’m a of a different human woman who was encoded into a computer, and then spent far too long as ants before being decanted into this blank body. We neither of us have much in the way of intellectual property rights, now do we?’ “
No one could ever claim that this author lacks in ideas. This book continues the story of a terraformed planet. It explores memory, sentience and identity in the author’s usual intelligent and witty way. The spiders and octopuses from the prior books were less prominent in this book, but it has birds. My favorite book of this trilogy (possibly series) was the first, but I really enjoyed the last 20% of this book and the concepts presented there.
I was listening to the audiobook, but I also had the ebook. Since the book skips around among many points of view, it was helpful that the ebook chapter headings identified who was speaking. I read the second book in this trilogy in 2019. Frankly, I remember almost nothing about the first two books. I don’t recommend reading this book as a standalone, and if it has been a while since you read the other books you might want a refresher. I sort of managed to keep up with this book, but I’m sure that I missed a lot, even though the beginning of the book recapped earlier events.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
“ ‘Think of it this way. You’re an alien symbiote incorporating an encoded memory of a human woman, whom you’re currently with sufficient fidelity, that you can believe you’re her. I’m a of a different human woman who was encoded into a computer, and then spent far too long as ants before being decanted into this blank body. We neither of us have much in the way of intellectual property rights, now do we?’ “
No one could ever claim that this author lacks in ideas. This book continues the story of a terraformed planet. It explores memory, sentience and identity in the author’s usual intelligent and witty way. The spiders and octopuses from the prior books were less prominent in this book, but it has birds. My favorite book of this trilogy (possibly series) was the first, but I really enjoyed the last 20% of this book and the concepts presented there.
I was listening to the audiobook, but I also had the ebook. Since the book skips around among many points of view, it was helpful that the ebook chapter headings identified who was speaking. I read the second book in this trilogy in 2019. Frankly, I remember almost nothing about the first two books. I don’t recommend reading this book as a standalone, and if it has been a while since you read the other books you might want a refresher. I sort of managed to keep up with this book, but I’m sure that I missed a lot, even though the beginning of the book recapped earlier events.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
February 23, 2024
A mediocre outing among the rest of the offerings within this trilogy. I don't know exactly what I was expecting but this felt short of it because the characters were much less well developed I think, excluding the fantastic Miranda and the Corvids with their unique quasi 'philosophical zombie' consciousness.
The plotline dragged a bit with some convolutions along the way. It still maintains a tangential connection to the first two plotlines (which I loved) so there's that but not much more.
I enjoyed the perspective of the microbial gestalt entity from Nod, named Miranda in this instance, and that of the alien birds, Gothi/Gethli, though the matter of their sentience is still up for debate. I'll still recommend this to someone familiar with the first two books to give this one a try.
2023 Read
The plotline dragged a bit with some convolutions along the way. It still maintains a tangential connection to the first two plotlines (which I loved) so there's that but not much more.
I enjoyed the perspective of the microbial gestalt entity from Nod, named Miranda in this instance, and that of the alien birds, Gothi/Gethli, though the matter of their sentience is still up for debate. I'll still recommend this to someone familiar with the first two books to give this one a try.
2023 Read
November 30, 2022
Sadly this is a big miss. I love the first two books in this series, a perfect combination of going on an adventure and interesting philosophical musings. Both thrilling and nuanced. Children Of Memory feels more like a spinoff fan fiction than a continuation of the series, failing to develop the wider narrative in any meaningful way. This would be perfectly fine if the story here supported its own weight, but that isn't the case either. It is a frustrating, slow and obtuse work at odds with the page-turning qualities of the previous two books. The central mystery holds no real interest and whilst the final reveal perks things up a little bit, it is still a long walk for a short drink of water. Feels rather empty from start to finish.
February 2, 2023
Absolutely brilliant storytelling and mind blowing sci-fi. This is such an amazing tale of evolutionary sci-fi, first contact and so much more where Tchaikovsky explores big questions of sentience, identity, the nature of existence and the purpose of life, especially in a post scarcity world. All with an immense ancient alien mystery lurking at the heart of it all. He is a master at pacing and the gradual reveal, giving juicy morsels along a winding, murky path, all while engendering a deep sense of mystery and discovery. Rather than inventing wild concepts out of thin air he has an uncanny ability to take concepts and beliefs we're familiar with, deconstruct them in a way that's entirely rational, and then layer them atop each other to synthesize something marvelous that is at both once familiar and yet completely novel. Science based speculative fiction at it's best!
January 17, 2023
4.0 Stars
This was a solid entry in this science fiction trilogy. Each novel focuses on a personal creature and this was not at all what I expected… which made the story very fun.
If you love the first two books, you won't be disappointed with this one. The writer is very consistent with strong prose and imaginative science.
My main struggle with this author is that he tends to write macro stories that lack intimacy with the characters. However I was pleasantly surprised to find this one to be the most character focused book within this trilogy.
Even though people describe this as a companion series, I feel that readers really should go back to the beginning and read the books in order. I would recommend this series to readers who love smart science fiction.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
This was a solid entry in this science fiction trilogy. Each novel focuses on a personal creature and this was not at all what I expected… which made the story very fun.
If you love the first two books, you won't be disappointed with this one. The writer is very consistent with strong prose and imaginative science.
My main struggle with this author is that he tends to write macro stories that lack intimacy with the characters. However I was pleasantly surprised to find this one to be the most character focused book within this trilogy.
Even though people describe this as a companion series, I feel that readers really should go back to the beginning and read the books in order. I would recommend this series to readers who love smart science fiction.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
April 5, 2023
I could feel my own brain while I finished reading this
I've never read anything like Children of Memory. I had some hesitation at first because, although I'm a big fan of Tchaikovsky (especially his Final Architecture) I wasn't a big fan of the preceding book to this, Children of Ruin which I found to be a little too dry without enough dynamic story telling. But I am sooooooo glad I picked this book up because it was a stunning and beautiful piece of science fiction unlike anything I've ever read. This third installment in this series is completely different from the other books and in all the best ways.
The backstory does matter and informs a lot of the characters and plot of this third book, but it's okay if you don't remember a lot of the stuff in the prior books because the author does a good job of recalling to the reader the prior stuff that actually matters. And the characters here are phenomenal. From the sentient-goo occupying a human/spider hybrid to a pair of crows that may or may not have dual sentience, there is some compelling stuff going on right from the get go. And then you have the backstory of the prior earth ark ships that tried to seed the galaxy and all their ecstasy and agony along the way. The narration is very good here at cobbling all these past plot points together to get you to actually care about what now is going on.
The author starts bringing in some welcomed fantasy elements into a new terraformed world where the majority of the story happens. The storytelling and mystery is incredibly engaging. The fledging colony, with all its hope and setbacks, is just really compelling. About 2/3 of the way into this book you realize something weird is happening and that your probably going to have everything turned upside down on you. And guess what, that's exactly what happens. At first I was like "hmm is this some dues ex Machina stuff going on?" The answer is no. What happens instead is the author completely shattering conceptions of autonomy, personhood and shattering and redrawing you expectations and perception of what sentience really is. Yeah. Tchaikovsky really pulls it off here and created just a stunning, though-provoking read that will make you feel your own brain as your reading. It was a little scary tbh.
A note about the writing style: it has a lot of exposition and lots telling over showing. But it works, really, really well. Why? Because the author has the confidence in his story and knows exactly what kind of reader experience he is crafting. This book is a prime example that there really aren't hard rules in writing.
There's nothing like this book at there. I highly recommend it. My overall rating for the series is 5/5 and that's even with Children of Ruin being 3/5. In fact, if you aren't really into Ruin, you could skip it and still pick up this book, which you should because it's amazing.
I've never read anything like Children of Memory. I had some hesitation at first because, although I'm a big fan of Tchaikovsky (especially his Final Architecture) I wasn't a big fan of the preceding book to this, Children of Ruin which I found to be a little too dry without enough dynamic story telling. But I am sooooooo glad I picked this book up because it was a stunning and beautiful piece of science fiction unlike anything I've ever read. This third installment in this series is completely different from the other books and in all the best ways.
The backstory does matter and informs a lot of the characters and plot of this third book, but it's okay if you don't remember a lot of the stuff in the prior books because the author does a good job of recalling to the reader the prior stuff that actually matters. And the characters here are phenomenal. From the sentient-goo occupying a human/spider hybrid to a pair of crows that may or may not have dual sentience, there is some compelling stuff going on right from the get go. And then you have the backstory of the prior earth ark ships that tried to seed the galaxy and all their ecstasy and agony along the way. The narration is very good here at cobbling all these past plot points together to get you to actually care about what now is going on.
The author starts bringing in some welcomed fantasy elements into a new terraformed world where the majority of the story happens. The storytelling and mystery is incredibly engaging. The fledging colony, with all its hope and setbacks, is just really compelling. About 2/3 of the way into this book you realize something weird is happening and that your probably going to have everything turned upside down on you. And guess what, that's exactly what happens. At first I was like "hmm is this some dues ex Machina stuff going on?" The answer is no. What happens instead is the author completely shattering conceptions of autonomy, personhood and shattering and redrawing you expectations and perception of what sentience really is. Yeah. Tchaikovsky really pulls it off here and created just a stunning, though-provoking read that will make you feel your own brain as your reading. It was a little scary tbh.
A note about the writing style: it has a lot of exposition and lots telling over showing. But it works, really, really well. Why? Because the author has the confidence in his story and knows exactly what kind of reader experience he is crafting. This book is a prime example that there really aren't hard rules in writing.
There's nothing like this book at there. I highly recommend it. My overall rating for the series is 5/5 and that's even with Children of Ruin being 3/5. In fact, if you aren't really into Ruin, you could skip it and still pick up this book, which you should because it's amazing.
December 9, 2022
Children of Memory is the final leg of the trilogy, but don’t let that dissuade you from grabbing it. This science fiction posits a universe with terraformed worlds out there, a failing earth, and arks of civilization journeying to establish colonies on the terraformed worlds. One such ark reaches its destination but the survivors feel guilt because the colony was never able to support more than a handful and there are thousands still in orbit waiting to be unfrozen. Those that made it seemingly have a tough hardscrabble agrarian life. But there are other evolved species out there filled with curiosity who are watching the colony develop and are hidden in plain sight despite a real existence as octopuses and spiders and the like. There’s also a colonist girl Laff who sees her grandfather’s ghost and chases it into the woods some 200 years after the shuttle landing.
The trick or conceit that Tchaikovsky plays is that the real story is not the colonists, but the alien brings watching them. And it is through them that he brings us to philosophical questions about what it means to be sentient and what it means to be real rather than artificial.
There are points where the story is quite confusing as the threads begin to separate, but hang in there. It will all come together in the end and make you think and wonder.
The trick or conceit that Tchaikovsky plays is that the real story is not the colonists, but the alien brings watching them. And it is through them that he brings us to philosophical questions about what it means to be sentient and what it means to be real rather than artificial.
There are points where the story is quite confusing as the threads begin to separate, but hang in there. It will all come together in the end and make you think and wonder.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 14, 2023
*** 5+++++ ***
"...“Things fall apart, though, and entropy is the landlord whose rent always gets paid.”..."
One of the best books of one of the best series I have had the privilege to read!!!! I have no words. It is the perfect thinking series on topics like humanity, self, and identity... It is beautiful! I wish everyone would give it a try!!!
"...“Things fall apart, though, and entropy is the landlord whose rent always gets paid.”..."
One of the best books of one of the best series I have had the privilege to read!!!! I have no words. It is the perfect thinking series on topics like humanity, self, and identity... It is beautiful! I wish everyone would give it a try!!!
March 16, 2023
Tchaikovsky gives us some mindfuckery here that I am still processing in this, the latest volume in the Children of Time series. I loved Children of Time but was pretty mixed on the second installment, Children of Ruin, but Tchaikovsky takes us on a very different path here from its predecessors, although the question of sentience still anchors the novel, perhaps even more here than before.
Children of Memory starts with the crew on one of Earth's arkships that were built by the shattered revival of civilization after the disastrous war/plague ended the 'ancient' human civilization that had progressed to terraforming planets in distant solar systems. Earth was in its death spiral so the arkships were humanity's last hope, seeking to find and colonize the planets the ancients had terraformed millennia ago. The arkship arrives after centuries of travel to find a planet they call Imir, but it is not what they hoped for at all. Yes, while the terraforming efforts centuries ago succeeded in creating breathable air, that was about it. So, in desperation, they have to give a colony the old college try...
Meanwhile, Tchaikovsky introduces a different spaceship, one from the strange, hybrid civilization constituted around the planets from Children of Ruin, with sentient spiders and octopus as crew, along with a 'base' human and the strange creature known as Miranda. Miranda is more a composition than an individual, known as an Interlocutor, as she is the communion of all things that have become part of Nod, the planet-wide intelligence also introduced in Children of Ruin. The Miranda persona is one part of the whole, having been copied by the Nod being from an actual Human Miranda. The last member of the crew is a grumpy splinter AI from Kern's world-- Kern herself (if you can call her that). This ship is on a discovery mission to find out what happened to the terraformed planets left by the ancients and they find a planet inhabited by Corvids-- something akin to ravens.
So, this is part of the mindfuckery Tchaikovsky gives us here-- what does sentience actually mean? Are the Corvids intelligent or merely good mimics? What about Kern? She can pass the Turing test, but what does that actually mean? I have not read such an exposition/exploration into the meaning of sentience since Blindsight by Peter Watts! Tchaikovsky takes us deep down a rabbit hole with this one. The second part of the mindfuckery is what is going on when this intrepid crew finds Imir, and this is where the title comes from (which you figure out as the book progresses), but I will say no more about this to avoid spoilers.
Tchaikovsky might be a bit morose or melancholy in his work; his Cage of Souls seemed to reflect that and so did this, although he gives us a ring of hope here. He is also not afraid to tackle the big existential questions great science fiction asks, like what does it mean to be human, and in this case sentient. What is the meaning of life after all, and no, it is not 42 😎 In this, he excels, but Children of Memory as a text left me a little wanting. Once you figured out the 'trick' if you will on what is going on on Imir, it became a bit of a slog. And the denouement? Perhaps a little to happy and hopeful given the events in the book itself. Nonetheless, if you liked the first two in this series, you will likely really like this. 4 sentient stars!!
Children of Memory starts with the crew on one of Earth's arkships that were built by the shattered revival of civilization after the disastrous war/plague ended the 'ancient' human civilization that had progressed to terraforming planets in distant solar systems. Earth was in its death spiral so the arkships were humanity's last hope, seeking to find and colonize the planets the ancients had terraformed millennia ago. The arkship arrives after centuries of travel to find a planet they call Imir, but it is not what they hoped for at all. Yes, while the terraforming efforts centuries ago succeeded in creating breathable air, that was about it. So, in desperation, they have to give a colony the old college try...
Meanwhile, Tchaikovsky introduces a different spaceship, one from the strange, hybrid civilization constituted around the planets from Children of Ruin, with sentient spiders and octopus as crew, along with a 'base' human and the strange creature known as Miranda. Miranda is more a composition than an individual, known as an Interlocutor, as she is the communion of all things that have become part of Nod, the planet-wide intelligence also introduced in Children of Ruin. The Miranda persona is one part of the whole, having been copied by the Nod being from an actual Human Miranda. The last member of the crew is a grumpy splinter AI from Kern's world-- Kern herself (if you can call her that). This ship is on a discovery mission to find out what happened to the terraformed planets left by the ancients and they find a planet inhabited by Corvids-- something akin to ravens.
So, this is part of the mindfuckery Tchaikovsky gives us here-- what does sentience actually mean? Are the Corvids intelligent or merely good mimics? What about Kern? She can pass the Turing test, but what does that actually mean? I have not read such an exposition/exploration into the meaning of sentience since Blindsight by Peter Watts! Tchaikovsky takes us deep down a rabbit hole with this one. The second part of the mindfuckery is what is going on when this intrepid crew finds Imir, and this is where the title comes from (which you figure out as the book progresses), but I will say no more about this to avoid spoilers.
Tchaikovsky might be a bit morose or melancholy in his work; his Cage of Souls seemed to reflect that and so did this, although he gives us a ring of hope here. He is also not afraid to tackle the big existential questions great science fiction asks, like what does it mean to be human, and in this case sentient. What is the meaning of life after all, and no, it is not 42 😎 In this, he excels, but Children of Memory as a text left me a little wanting. Once you figured out the 'trick' if you will on what is going on on Imir, it became a bit of a slog. And the denouement? Perhaps a little to happy and hopeful given the events in the book itself. Nonetheless, if you liked the first two in this series, you will likely really like this. 4 sentient stars!!
January 25, 2023
2.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2023/01/24/...
We have now reached the third book in the Children of Time series. If we travel back to the spring of 2017 when I read the first book, which incidentally was also my first novel by the author, I had to this to say: “Children of Time is one of the smartest, most remarkable and innovative science fiction novels I’ve read in years and now I can’t wait to read more by Adrian Tchaikovsky.”
Fast forward to today, and I find myself struggling to put my feelings into words about this latest installment. Because the truth is, if I was rating it solely on my enjoyment, I would be forced to rate this book much lower than I want to. As much as it pains me to say this, and I have a feeling this will be an unpopular opinion, but the story just didn’t do it for me. While the writing was superb, which is nothing less than I would expect from Tchaikovsky, I can’t say I really enjoyed myself. The most I can say about Children of Memory was that it was okay.
Set many years after the events of the previous book, Children of Ruin, this third volume in the sequence once more focuses on the different species of uplifted creatures as well as a line of enhanced Humans who have bonded closely with the arachnoid aliens known as Portiids. The octopoids have also come into their own to feature in a major role alongside a new race of life form discovered from the planet Nod, and the joining of these disparate spacefaring species has amazingly created a new society in which all of them coexist in relative peace. Together, they now look outwards to the greater universe beyond in search for even more civilizations and intelligences.
In their explorations, they come upon a colony where thousands of years before, their ancestors had arrived on the spaceship Enkidu carrying its precious cargo of sleeping passengers preparing to settle the planet. Instead of paradise though, the colonists found hostile conditions and hardship. Generations later, the descendants of a small cohort from the original crew of the Enkidu have still yet to make the planet completely habitable, but then that’s when the visitors arrive. They have come to help humanity’s colonies, or so they say, yet there’s more to them that meets the eye. But then, perhaps not all is as it seems with the colony either.
So, what made this a miss when the first book was such a hit? To be honest, I felt the series was already in decline with Children of Ruin, a sequel marred by uneven pacing and heavy exposition. Unfortunately, these issues have only gotten worse in Children of Memory. I felt the main plot dragged and was encumbered by over lengthy descriptions and too many meandering side discussions and other distractions. Ultimately, as much as I wanted to like this book, the story was made to feel unnecessarily complicated and difficult to follow at times.
Also more diluted in this installment was the “biopunk science” which put the first book on the map, especially with regards to the population biology and social organization aspect. The evolution of human culture took on a more central role, an intriguing topic in its own right, but just a little too off the track from what got me interested in the series in the first place. In as much as there is a main character, I was also not too impressed with Miranda. On the surface, the potential for this unusual character would appear to be limitless, but without spoiling anything, I suppose it shouldn’t have come as a shock that the character development might be on the weaker side.
Will there be more books after this? Well, seeing as the announcements of the sequels to Children of Time actually came as a surprise to me both times, I think it will be hard to say. But then, personally I saw little point in trying to improve or expand upon the already perfect, and we all know what they say about quitting while you’re ahead. I write all of this as someone who is a fan of Adrian Tchaikovsky, but as Children of Memory has proven to me, there’s little doubt that we are straying farther and farther away from everything I loved about the first book. If it does turn out we’ll get another sequel, I expect I’d probably be nervous instead of excited.
We have now reached the third book in the Children of Time series. If we travel back to the spring of 2017 when I read the first book, which incidentally was also my first novel by the author, I had to this to say: “Children of Time is one of the smartest, most remarkable and innovative science fiction novels I’ve read in years and now I can’t wait to read more by Adrian Tchaikovsky.”
Fast forward to today, and I find myself struggling to put my feelings into words about this latest installment. Because the truth is, if I was rating it solely on my enjoyment, I would be forced to rate this book much lower than I want to. As much as it pains me to say this, and I have a feeling this will be an unpopular opinion, but the story just didn’t do it for me. While the writing was superb, which is nothing less than I would expect from Tchaikovsky, I can’t say I really enjoyed myself. The most I can say about Children of Memory was that it was okay.
Set many years after the events of the previous book, Children of Ruin, this third volume in the sequence once more focuses on the different species of uplifted creatures as well as a line of enhanced Humans who have bonded closely with the arachnoid aliens known as Portiids. The octopoids have also come into their own to feature in a major role alongside a new race of life form discovered from the planet Nod, and the joining of these disparate spacefaring species has amazingly created a new society in which all of them coexist in relative peace. Together, they now look outwards to the greater universe beyond in search for even more civilizations and intelligences.
In their explorations, they come upon a colony where thousands of years before, their ancestors had arrived on the spaceship Enkidu carrying its precious cargo of sleeping passengers preparing to settle the planet. Instead of paradise though, the colonists found hostile conditions and hardship. Generations later, the descendants of a small cohort from the original crew of the Enkidu have still yet to make the planet completely habitable, but then that’s when the visitors arrive. They have come to help humanity’s colonies, or so they say, yet there’s more to them that meets the eye. But then, perhaps not all is as it seems with the colony either.
So, what made this a miss when the first book was such a hit? To be honest, I felt the series was already in decline with Children of Ruin, a sequel marred by uneven pacing and heavy exposition. Unfortunately, these issues have only gotten worse in Children of Memory. I felt the main plot dragged and was encumbered by over lengthy descriptions and too many meandering side discussions and other distractions. Ultimately, as much as I wanted to like this book, the story was made to feel unnecessarily complicated and difficult to follow at times.
Also more diluted in this installment was the “biopunk science” which put the first book on the map, especially with regards to the population biology and social organization aspect. The evolution of human culture took on a more central role, an intriguing topic in its own right, but just a little too off the track from what got me interested in the series in the first place. In as much as there is a main character, I was also not too impressed with Miranda. On the surface, the potential for this unusual character would appear to be limitless, but without spoiling anything, I suppose it shouldn’t have come as a shock that the character development might be on the weaker side.
Will there be more books after this? Well, seeing as the announcements of the sequels to Children of Time actually came as a surprise to me both times, I think it will be hard to say. But then, personally I saw little point in trying to improve or expand upon the already perfect, and we all know what they say about quitting while you’re ahead. I write all of this as someone who is a fan of Adrian Tchaikovsky, but as Children of Memory has proven to me, there’s little doubt that we are straying farther and farther away from everything I loved about the first book. If it does turn out we’ll get another sequel, I expect I’d probably be nervous instead of excited.
December 18, 2022
Children of memory
I looked at a few other reviews before I decided on posting this, and the general consensus of the 3 stars and lower kind of lines up with mine. Although I don’t really understand why they would give it THAT many stars tbh.
Normally I would edit my notes and write a “somewhat” profanity free and grammar // spellcheck review, but I feel like this was such a colossus waste of my time that I’m just going to post my notes as is. I’m writing this outside with frozen fingers, at a temperature of -5C so, you can get a good feel of how much I hated this book. I really liked the first book, and I thought the second book was meh.. so, I was hoping so badly this one was going to improve the overall standing of the series. But it most certainly did not.
FYI massive spoilers ahead. They entire book gets dissected, don’t read this if you plan on reading the book, which I recommend you don’t anyway but: You’ve been warned, this ‘review’ is almost as badly written as the book is. (it’s also not really a review, but more me ranting, because I wanted this to be good)
My notes while reading:
I’d rate the first book 5/5.. the second book 3/5. And this one 1/5 and I’m being generous.. if I’d be honest it would be -3/5 tbh, there’s a lot of 4/5 and 5/5 star reviews that are honestly just people who enjoyed the first book too much, and therefor are giving this one too much credit for just being part of its large shadow.
I looked at a few other reviews before I decided on posting this, and the general consensus of the 3 stars and lower kind of lines up with mine. Although I don’t really understand why they would give it THAT many stars tbh.
Normally I would edit my notes and write a “somewhat” profanity free and grammar // spellcheck review, but I feel like this was such a colossus waste of my time that I’m just going to post my notes as is. I’m writing this outside with frozen fingers, at a temperature of -5C so, you can get a good feel of how much I hated this book. I really liked the first book, and I thought the second book was meh.. so, I was hoping so badly this one was going to improve the overall standing of the series. But it most certainly did not.
FYI massive spoilers ahead. They entire book gets dissected, don’t read this if you plan on reading the book, which I recommend you don’t anyway but: You’ve been warned, this ‘review’ is almost as badly written as the book is. (it’s also not really a review, but more me ranting, because I wanted this to be good)
My notes while reading:
I’d rate the first book 5/5.. the second book 3/5. And this one 1/5 and I’m being generous.. if I’d be honest it would be -3/5 tbh, there’s a lot of 4/5 and 5/5 star reviews that are honestly just people who enjoyed the first book too much, and therefor are giving this one too much credit for just being part of its large shadow.
August 26, 2023
By far the worst book in the trilogy, playing at some intricate story about nature of consciousness and what differentiates sentient being from non-sentient - but we get that only at the end.
I didn't have any expectations for this book. I knew it was different from first two and not as popular but I didn't expect this.
I guessed what's going on the moment Liff met the "Witch". Admittedly, it was humorous that Tchaikovsky turned "that" character into a role like this but he also made her even more annoying than ever before. Allegedly she's not suppose to have feelings but disdain, anger and frustration were present in every single dialogue she had. So which is it? Because it's outright stated in the book that she no longer dabbles with emotions. And if she wasn't so full of herself this story could've been shorter.
It was so annoying to go through hundreds of pages of deliberately keeping the twist secret. Not knowing properly what's going on and why, jumping through realities/time periods. Don't get me wrong, I love a puzzle. Malazan is my favorite book series ever. But it needs to be done well. There need to be crumbs left on the ground (pun intended) for it to work. For me to return to previous chapters after twist is finally shown and have the "aha" moment, seeing the puzzle pieces spread throughout the book. The First Law did this brilliantly with Bayaz and Jezal. Here it's simultaneously completely obfuscated and banging your head on the wall with the solution. Which you probably already have guessed 100 pages in.
Setting is boring compared to previous books. It takes place on another world that humans with small h tried to colonize as last resort after Earth fell. There are no interesting aliens as focus of the story, although we are introduced to Corvids which are sentient ravens and our new allies. Although they would argue they are not sentient. And that nor are we. I enjoyed those few philosophizing pages.
It's a wild west mixed with fairy tale. Did not work for the book. At all. Main character from the planet Liff is 12 yo kid through whose eyes we see the world. And world makes no sense. It's explained why. It doesn't mean I liked it. It's a jumbled mix of various scenarios that lead nowhere.
I would really want to know how this story came to be. If Children was sold as trilogy and Tchaikovsky planned this story from the get go, if he had no idea what to write the third book about and this is how it ended, if it was originally a novella and he inflated it (as 120 pages long novella this would've worked so much better!), or if he just had an idea about witch tales and Groundhog Day and decided to put it into this world.
The series ends on huge disappointment. There were so many directions this series could've gone instead and the very last page of Ruin hinted at it. It's post-scarcity hard sci-fi about alliance between several sentient species and we got a fraking medieval village story with witches!
And two more things.
I didn't have any expectations for this book. I knew it was different from first two and not as popular but I didn't expect this.
I guessed what's going on the moment Liff met the "Witch". Admittedly, it was humorous that Tchaikovsky turned "that" character into a role like this but he also made her even more annoying than ever before. Allegedly she's not suppose to have feelings but disdain, anger and frustration were present in every single dialogue she had. So which is it? Because it's outright stated in the book that she no longer dabbles with emotions. And if she wasn't so full of herself this story could've been shorter.
It was so annoying to go through hundreds of pages of deliberately keeping the twist secret. Not knowing properly what's going on and why, jumping through realities/time periods. Don't get me wrong, I love a puzzle. Malazan is my favorite book series ever. But it needs to be done well. There need to be crumbs left on the ground (pun intended) for it to work. For me to return to previous chapters after twist is finally shown and have the "aha" moment, seeing the puzzle pieces spread throughout the book. The First Law did this brilliantly with Bayaz and Jezal. Here it's simultaneously completely obfuscated and banging your head on the wall with the solution. Which you probably already have guessed 100 pages in.
Setting is boring compared to previous books. It takes place on another world that humans with small h tried to colonize as last resort after Earth fell. There are no interesting aliens as focus of the story, although we are introduced to Corvids which are sentient ravens and our new allies. Although they would argue they are not sentient. And that nor are we. I enjoyed those few philosophizing pages.
It's a wild west mixed with fairy tale. Did not work for the book. At all. Main character from the planet Liff is 12 yo kid through whose eyes we see the world. And world makes no sense. It's explained why. It doesn't mean I liked it. It's a jumbled mix of various scenarios that lead nowhere.
I would really want to know how this story came to be. If Children was sold as trilogy and Tchaikovsky planned this story from the get go, if he had no idea what to write the third book about and this is how it ended, if it was originally a novella and he inflated it (as 120 pages long novella this would've worked so much better!), or if he just had an idea about witch tales and Groundhog Day and decided to put it into this world.
The series ends on huge disappointment. There were so many directions this series could've gone instead and the very last page of Ruin hinted at it. It's post-scarcity hard sci-fi about alliance between several sentient species and we got a fraking medieval village story with witches!
And two more things.
November 26, 2022
Sadly, the third of Tchaikovsky's "Children Of Time" series is the weakest. The first one was a real crossover hit, its juxtaposition of dying humanity with the accelerated growth of a sentient spider species really worked, particularly with its last act rapprochement between the two. The second book Children Of Ruin initially appeared to repeat the trick with Octopuses, but then also a shifted into non-earthling species by considering a microscopic species, a sort of hive mind virus, that could take over other beings. That had a broad enough canvas to play with, but also tipped nicely into horror - mainly the tiny species' excitement for assimilation is said to be "going on an adventure". Children Of Memory again looks at adding a new type of sentience, but in its conversation between the species of the previous book and an attempt at something extremely alien falls apart.
The main problem I had was with its structure. Like previous books, it flip-flopped between two distinct time streams. However, because the "present" time stream appears to involve what seems to be time loops and characters that potentially should be dead, the mystery in the story gets a little lost. And whilst I don't need huge stakes for a book to work, here the stakes were increasingly unclear. There is still plenty of good stuff here, Tchaikovsky's new earth creature with sentience is crows and he plays an interesting philosophical game to see whether or not the uplifted birds are truly sentient or just mimicing (and what that difference might mean). But the central storyline just didn't hang together for me. I could see the poignancy he was aiming at, and it is worth reminding readers that this is a universe full of death, but the way he discusses the idea of monolithic memory made flesh didn't hang together.
The main problem I had was with its structure. Like previous books, it flip-flopped between two distinct time streams. However, because the "present" time stream appears to involve what seems to be time loops and characters that potentially should be dead, the mystery in the story gets a little lost. And whilst I don't need huge stakes for a book to work, here the stakes were increasingly unclear. There is still plenty of good stuff here, Tchaikovsky's new earth creature with sentience is crows and he plays an interesting philosophical game to see whether or not the uplifted birds are truly sentient or just mimicing (and what that difference might mean). But the central storyline just didn't hang together for me. I could see the poignancy he was aiming at, and it is worth reminding readers that this is a universe full of death, but the way he discusses the idea of monolithic memory made flesh didn't hang together.
Read
December 19, 2022A third instalment for this series about collapsed civilisations, new non-human societies, and making connections across boundaries of thought, culture, and species. AKA the one with the giant spiders.
This one focuses more on the assimilatory intelligence from Nod that was the Big Bad in most of the last book, and mostly takes place on a semi terraformed planet with people struggling for survival. As very often with this author, it makes sense, then it doesn't, then all the fractured pieces resolve into a completely different picture.
I will admit to not finding this quite as brilliant as the other two, in large part because it wasn't directly confronting the very different minds of the various intelligent species, but rather focusing on human people. Still hugely readable and absorbing.
This one focuses more on the assimilatory intelligence from Nod that was the Big Bad in most of the last book, and mostly takes place on a semi terraformed planet with people struggling for survival. As very often with this author, it makes sense, then it doesn't, then all the fractured pieces resolve into a completely different picture.
I will admit to not finding this quite as brilliant as the other two, in large part because it wasn't directly confronting the very different minds of the various intelligent species, but rather focusing on human people. Still hugely readable and absorbing.
August 26, 2022
This is again another incredibly original and succinct science fiction opus from Adrian Tchaikovsky. Subtly difference from previous books, I found this book possessed an increased challenged of perspective and knowledge from a variety of characters contained within, to really challenge the reader to think and ponder.
Fortunate to read this early via NetGalley, this is a joyous ride into discovery and timelines. Not for the faint heartened, but well worth the journey, as are all of Adrian Tchaikovsky's books. Strong, satisfactory and very, very good.
Fortunate to read this early via NetGalley, this is a joyous ride into discovery and timelines. Not for the faint heartened, but well worth the journey, as are all of Adrian Tchaikovsky's books. Strong, satisfactory and very, very good.
March 21, 2023
That was unexpected. A bit haunting and sad but really beautiful. All 3 of these books really over delivered on my expectations.
However, I was confused for the first 70% of the book, so I did struggle for a while, but then as the author slowly started to reveal things, I couldn't put it down.
However, I was confused for the first 70% of the book, so I did struggle for a while, but then as the author slowly started to reveal things, I couldn't put it down.
January 30, 2024
How I imagine Adrian Tchaikovsky's publisher selling his books:
You, The Average Reader are strolling down a darkened street, when The Publisher, an unshaven, seedy looking fellow in a trenchcoat and battered fedora steps out from a shadowy doorway. He signals for your attention.
"Hey! You! Psst! You look like someone who can handle a bit of reading. You looking for some serious action?"
The Publisher pulls a copy of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Dogs of War from the satchel he is holding and shoves it out towards you.
"Tchaikovsky. Pharmaceutical grade SF. All the action you could want. Strong stuff mate, hardback first edition.”
You make some excuses while you look around for assistance, claiming you have become jaded, need a break from more kinetic novels, etc. The Publisher nods in vigorous agreement, undeterred by your protests, and puts the novel away.
"Right you are, right you are my friend. I can tell you're a connoisseur. How about something to really get your imagination off, make you think some big thoughts about the universe and your place in it?"
The Publisher sidles closer, and opens the right side of his trenchcoat to reveal a copy of Children of Time.
“This is a real head trip this one. A consciousness expander. A little Watership Down, a bit Rats of Nimh but in space, you dig? Bit of action? Some very cool sequences of spiders evolving? Meditations on the nature of intelligence, inter-species cultural clashes… you’ll be spinning after one of these, my friend!”
You, The Average Reader , make some generic noises about not being fond of spiders. The Publisher is undeterred, and taps his nose knowingly.
"Alright, alright, I see ya, I see what you want. Maybe..." The Publisher glances around before opening the left side of his coat to reveal Children of Ruin "... your tastes run more to smart seafood?"
You wave The Publisher off, claiming to not be interested in talking animals, or smart animals in general. A flash of irritation crossed his face as he puts the book back in his coat. He nods to himself, then reaches behind his back, pulling out something he had stuffed down the back of his trousers. Carefuly, making sure there is no-one else around to see it, he turns a book in the dim streetlight, until you can make out the title: Children of Memory.
“OK, this is the special stuff I keep for veterans like yourself. Real top-shelf, 150-proof, blow-your-socks-off shit. Minimal talking animals. Maximal thinkage. The nature of consciousness. The multiplicity of the self. Questioning the very foundations of what it is to be a cogniscent being!”
You, the Average Reader, look down at the shiny paperback in the Publisher’s hands. It looks great. Cool cover art. Not too thick, but no emaciated novella either. At the back of your mind a tickle starts, the memory of how all Tchaikovsky’s other books have made you feel, that mixture of excitement, anticipation, and awe at his audacious imagination. You speak.
“How much?”
The Publisher breaks into a gap-toothed grin, knowing both a sale and an addict when he sees them.
“For you? RRP is £9.99, but you have an Aussie accent, so that will be $24.90. Cash or Paywave?”
***
P.S: Actual review: There are few SF writers as consistently good as Adrian Tchaikovsky.
Iain M. Banks comes to mind, as does Adam Roberts, but it's an elite field, that of authors who smash out book after brilliant book, each of them entertaining, thoughtful and beautifully written.
As you've probably guessed, I liked Children of Memory. It's a solid follow up to the brilliant Children of Time (one of the best SF works of this century IMHO) and the damn fine novel Children of Ruin.
It's a little more slow-moving that either of the two others in the series, but it's worth it as the story builds and Tchaikovsky develops the ideas that underpin this thinky novel that asks some very interesting questions about sentience, personhood and intelligence.
P.S.S: I bought all the novels mentioned here, and loved every single one. Adrian's publisher has me hooked.
Four talking crows out of five.
You, The Average Reader are strolling down a darkened street, when The Publisher, an unshaven, seedy looking fellow in a trenchcoat and battered fedora steps out from a shadowy doorway. He signals for your attention.
"Hey! You! Psst! You look like someone who can handle a bit of reading. You looking for some serious action?"
The Publisher pulls a copy of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Dogs of War from the satchel he is holding and shoves it out towards you.
"Tchaikovsky. Pharmaceutical grade SF. All the action you could want. Strong stuff mate, hardback first edition.”
You make some excuses while you look around for assistance, claiming you have become jaded, need a break from more kinetic novels, etc. The Publisher nods in vigorous agreement, undeterred by your protests, and puts the novel away.
"Right you are, right you are my friend. I can tell you're a connoisseur. How about something to really get your imagination off, make you think some big thoughts about the universe and your place in it?"
The Publisher sidles closer, and opens the right side of his trenchcoat to reveal a copy of Children of Time.
“This is a real head trip this one. A consciousness expander. A little Watership Down, a bit Rats of Nimh but in space, you dig? Bit of action? Some very cool sequences of spiders evolving? Meditations on the nature of intelligence, inter-species cultural clashes… you’ll be spinning after one of these, my friend!”
You, The Average Reader , make some generic noises about not being fond of spiders. The Publisher is undeterred, and taps his nose knowingly.
"Alright, alright, I see ya, I see what you want. Maybe..." The Publisher glances around before opening the left side of his coat to reveal Children of Ruin "... your tastes run more to smart seafood?"
You wave The Publisher off, claiming to not be interested in talking animals, or smart animals in general. A flash of irritation crossed his face as he puts the book back in his coat. He nods to himself, then reaches behind his back, pulling out something he had stuffed down the back of his trousers. Carefuly, making sure there is no-one else around to see it, he turns a book in the dim streetlight, until you can make out the title: Children of Memory.
“OK, this is the special stuff I keep for veterans like yourself. Real top-shelf, 150-proof, blow-your-socks-off shit. Minimal talking animals. Maximal thinkage. The nature of consciousness. The multiplicity of the self. Questioning the very foundations of what it is to be a cogniscent being!”
You, the Average Reader, look down at the shiny paperback in the Publisher’s hands. It looks great. Cool cover art. Not too thick, but no emaciated novella either. At the back of your mind a tickle starts, the memory of how all Tchaikovsky’s other books have made you feel, that mixture of excitement, anticipation, and awe at his audacious imagination. You speak.
“How much?”
The Publisher breaks into a gap-toothed grin, knowing both a sale and an addict when he sees them.
“For you? RRP is £9.99, but you have an Aussie accent, so that will be $24.90. Cash or Paywave?”
***
P.S: Actual review: There are few SF writers as consistently good as Adrian Tchaikovsky.
Iain M. Banks comes to mind, as does Adam Roberts, but it's an elite field, that of authors who smash out book after brilliant book, each of them entertaining, thoughtful and beautifully written.
As you've probably guessed, I liked Children of Memory. It's a solid follow up to the brilliant Children of Time (one of the best SF works of this century IMHO) and the damn fine novel Children of Ruin.
It's a little more slow-moving that either of the two others in the series, but it's worth it as the story builds and Tchaikovsky develops the ideas that underpin this thinky novel that asks some very interesting questions about sentience, personhood and intelligence.
P.S.S: I bought all the novels mentioned here, and loved every single one. Adrian's publisher has me hooked.
Four talking crows out of five.
March 23, 2023
I was thoroughly discombobulated for the majority of my reading experience with this book. That was the way it was supposed to be, of course, so minor spoilers for that I guess? I don't think that's actually spoilers, but some people would probably think it is. Anyway, I didn't anticipate that level of purposeful fuckery on behalf of Adrian Tchaikovsky, and the slow creep of the feeling that something was not right was simultaneously unpleasant and intriguing.
This is the third (and final??) book in Tchaikovsky's Children of Time series, and this one breaks the mold a little. Books one and two followed different types of creatures as they developed sapience and civilization , and how meetings with other type of sapient creatures in the galaxy created conflict and change in all parties involved. In this one all those parties are basically galactic co-workers, and they have traveled to another planet that was supposed to have been terraformed by a dying Earth and have found a small colony of surviving humans. For a reason we don't learn until later, they infiltrate the colony instead of announcing themselves, and that's when things start to get weird.
I was not as inherently fascinated by this premise as I was with the first two books. The scope is much smaller, so maybe that's part of it. The ending of the book was absolutely great, so that helps to put the rest of the book in context after the fact, but getting there is a bit of a process mentally. My favorite part of the book was of course the pair of talking genius Corvids they pick up who are somehow both chaos and order incarnate, and who are problem solving machines (in the literal, and possibly metaphorical sense, still up for debate apparently). They reminded me why I loved this series in the first place, and that's Tchaikovsky's creative imagination.
Now that this series is finally completed (??), I think it's time I finally start his newest space opera series, which I've been waiting on until it was several books deep. Probably won't be until later this year or early next year. I also want to get to more of his standalones, and finally try some of his fantasy! Too many books in the world, and he's too prolific! World's tiniest violin.
This is the third (and final??) book in Tchaikovsky's Children of Time series, and this one breaks the mold a little. Books one and two followed different types of creatures as they developed sapience and civilization , and how meetings with other type of sapient creatures in the galaxy created conflict and change in all parties involved. In this one all those parties are basically galactic co-workers, and they have traveled to another planet that was supposed to have been terraformed by a dying Earth and have found a small colony of surviving humans. For a reason we don't learn until later, they infiltrate the colony instead of announcing themselves, and that's when things start to get weird.
I was not as inherently fascinated by this premise as I was with the first two books. The scope is much smaller, so maybe that's part of it. The ending of the book was absolutely great, so that helps to put the rest of the book in context after the fact, but getting there is a bit of a process mentally. My favorite part of the book was of course the pair of talking genius Corvids they pick up who are somehow both chaos and order incarnate, and who are problem solving machines (in the literal, and possibly metaphorical sense, still up for debate apparently). They reminded me why I loved this series in the first place, and that's Tchaikovsky's creative imagination.
Now that this series is finally completed (??), I think it's time I finally start his newest space opera series, which I've been waiting on until it was several books deep. Probably won't be until later this year or early next year. I also want to get to more of his standalones, and finally try some of his fantasy! Too many books in the world, and he's too prolific! World's tiniest violin.
March 3, 2023
3.5/5
This was a pretty good book and I enjoyed time with it. That being said this is pretty clearly behind both Children of Time and Children of Ruin. While there is obviously cross over that makes this part of a series it feels very different than those books. And honestly less interesting as well. This book is really all about the central mystery. It's a pretty good one, but once you've figured it out there's not a whole lot else that is compelling.
This was a pretty good book and I enjoyed time with it. That being said this is pretty clearly behind both Children of Time and Children of Ruin. While there is obviously cross over that makes this part of a series it feels very different than those books. And honestly less interesting as well. This book is really all about the central mystery. It's a pretty good one, but once you've figured it out there's not a whole lot else that is compelling.
January 22, 2023
More accurate rating: 5.5/10.
The short of it:
Wow. That was... so bloody disappointing and not good. 😓
The general of it:
Children of Memory is a very weak conclusion to the Children of Time trilogy – sadly. The prose was about the same as it was in books one and two, but the pacing was off, and the structure...! My oh my the structure of this tale was needlessly convoluted, and all to prop-up a poorly executed Shyamalan-esque plot twist and relatively weak, too-abstract theming centred on the nature of reality and sentience. Sentience was a theme in books 1 & 2, but it was more grounded there and paired with the oh so delicious speculative evolutionary biology of the Portiids and Octopuses. Speaking of which... that element was very much fobbed in when it came to the brand new corvid uplifted species (and oof was that upsetting to this bird nerd). The character work was weaker overall, mostly because pride of place was given to one (too alien) character at the expense of all others. Once the plot twist was delivered, I was done with this book. So. Done. And this coming from freaking Children of Time, a novel I consider an all-time science-fiction favourite. Hot dayum indeed.
I don't know what happened, but it just wasn't up to par. This right here is exactly why I've grown leery of series that get "surprise additions", or that keep expanding, and expanding, without any real purpose. Perhaps there was undue pressure to publish at play here... Whatever the case may be, I am sad to say I wouldn't bother with this one if you haven't read it already.
The specifics of it:
The short of it:
Wow. That was... so bloody disappointing and not good. 😓
The general of it:
Children of Memory is a very weak conclusion to the Children of Time trilogy – sadly. The prose was about the same as it was in books one and two, but the pacing was off, and the structure...! My oh my the structure of this tale was needlessly convoluted, and all to prop-up a poorly executed Shyamalan-esque plot twist and relatively weak, too-abstract theming centred on the nature of reality and sentience. Sentience was a theme in books 1 & 2, but it was more grounded there and paired with the oh so delicious speculative evolutionary biology of the Portiids and Octopuses. Speaking of which... that element was very much fobbed in when it came to the brand new corvid uplifted species (and oof was that upsetting to this bird nerd). The character work was weaker overall, mostly because pride of place was given to one (too alien) character at the expense of all others. Once the plot twist was delivered, I was done with this book. So. Done. And this coming from freaking Children of Time, a novel I consider an all-time science-fiction favourite. Hot dayum indeed.
I don't know what happened, but it just wasn't up to par. This right here is exactly why I've grown leery of series that get "surprise additions", or that keep expanding, and expanding, without any real purpose. Perhaps there was undue pressure to publish at play here... Whatever the case may be, I am sad to say I wouldn't bother with this one if you haven't read it already.
The specifics of it:
December 3, 2022
The previous two books in this series are a hard act to follow, with the second one ending with an interstellar civilisation made up of uplifted spiders, uplifted octopuses, slightly modified humans, an AI based on an uplifted human and an alien organism capable of subsuming and copying other sentients. There was a hint of a future for this civilisation where embodiment in whichever way was a choice and sentient life is functionally immortal and infinitely variable.
So I was skeptical that the series had anything left to say or explore. But this is Adrian Tchaikovsky, and this form of existence raises all sorts of questions about what it is like to be a sentient in this sort of background culture. And what is sentience anyway?
Enter the ravens of Rourke and the human colony of Imir. The ravens are a new intelligence that the spider/octopus et al. culture have contacted and the first two ambassadors, Gothi and Gethli, have come aboard the Skipper (a spider-built spaceship) to participate in a mission to Imir. The mission is captained by an interlocutor (the copying organism from above) who is currently in the form of a human named Miranda. The story jumps around between the point of view of a colonist, a young human girl named Liff, and Miranda as she secretly observes the human colony, and our two (one?) raven pair as they investigate the profound mysteries of Imir.
Miranda's point of view is absorbing along with small details like the guilt she feels for her past actions as an interlocutor and because of the copied feelings of horror from her original that she experiences about her own existence. But her enthusiasm for novelty and adventure come through loud and clear as well, as well as her compassion for those around her. The reasoning through of the problem of Imir by Gothi and Gethli is also fascinating, as is their own thinking on the subject of sentience. And ultimately as it all comes to a head as to what's really happening, the conclusions that Miranda and the crew of the Skipper come to are profoundly human, even though nothing else about them is.
A wonderful book that's at least as good as the previous two.
So I was skeptical that the series had anything left to say or explore. But this is Adrian Tchaikovsky, and this form of existence raises all sorts of questions about what it is like to be a sentient in this sort of background culture. And what is sentience anyway?
Enter the ravens of Rourke and the human colony of Imir. The ravens are a new intelligence that the spider/octopus et al. culture have contacted and the first two ambassadors, Gothi and Gethli, have come aboard the Skipper (a spider-built spaceship) to participate in a mission to Imir. The mission is captained by an interlocutor (the copying organism from above) who is currently in the form of a human named Miranda. The story jumps around between the point of view of a colonist, a young human girl named Liff, and Miranda as she secretly observes the human colony, and our two (one?) raven pair as they investigate the profound mysteries of Imir.
Miranda's point of view is absorbing along with small details like the guilt she feels for her past actions as an interlocutor and because of the copied feelings of horror from her original that she experiences about her own existence. But her enthusiasm for novelty and adventure come through loud and clear as well, as well as her compassion for those around her. The reasoning through of the problem of Imir by Gothi and Gethli is also fascinating, as is their own thinking on the subject of sentience. And ultimately as it all comes to a head as to what's really happening, the conclusions that Miranda and the crew of the Skipper come to are profoundly human, even though nothing else about them is.
A wonderful book that's at least as good as the previous two.
June 14, 2023
I didn't enjoy this one as much as book 1 & 2 in the trilogy but still a good SiFi read. Recommended
January 8, 2023
Imagine a spaceship with a mix of Human, Spider, Octopus, Corvid, AI and Some-Kinda-Parasitic-Being crew. It almost sounds like a cartoon. But it's not. It's somehow high-concept brain-breaking sci-fi that opens up the nature of language, emotions, sentience and reality like a wound in your understanding of the universe.
The third book in the "Children of ..." series is, to my surprise, my favorite. The first one was certainly more shocking, the second one was weirdly delicious, but the third was simply fucking beautiful. It was a story made more real than reality by sheer will.
For the first 80% of this book I thought Adrian (yes, we are on first-name basis since I went and read 17 books from him) finally wrote a not-good book, but the reveals, the poetry, the magic ... it just kept coming at the end. It was like watching an explosion of genius. It was perfection.
The third book in the "Children of ..." series is, to my surprise, my favorite. The first one was certainly more shocking, the second one was weirdly delicious, but the third was simply fucking beautiful. It was a story made more real than reality by sheer will.
For the first 80% of this book I thought Adrian (yes, we are on first-name basis since I went and read 17 books from him) finally wrote a not-good book, but the reveals, the poetry, the magic ... it just kept coming at the end. It was like watching an explosion of genius. It was perfection.
February 9, 2023
This is a third volume of the (so far) trilogy Children of Time. I enjoyed the first two volumes, which I’ve already read two times reviewed here and here. I read it as a part of the monthly reading for February 2023 at SFF Hot from Printers: New Releases group.
The end of the previous book gave readers a glimpse of what to expect:
Our ship has spread its wings to the light of a fierce red star, … Every ship is different, depending on who got the building rights. Ours is cephalopod-made, meaning that our non-aquatic crewmembers traded their lungs for gills for the trip. Swapping back is easy enough these days, after all. We have five different species aboard, plus myself and the other two interlocutors. We are all children of Earth, one way or another, products of the terraforming programme and the Rus-Califi virus and, in one case, a wholly unexpected collision between a corvid genome and an alien molecular catalyst.
So the ship comes to a planet, and there are a team of evolved beings from the first two books – humans, spiders, AI, octopuses and a sentient virus as well as one species not from the books – corvids. And this novel is actually two stories in one – a shorter about the corvids and a longer about a planet long ago colonized by people from Earth. Like the previous novel, the story isn’t told in a chronological order, but different time periods (and dramatis personae) in each parts. There are 12 parts and the subtitle of each hints on a time period, e.g. the first three are:
The Ark Age | Long ago
Imir | Now
Miranda, Before Imir | Recently
So, there is another colonization, but unlike hi-tech initial expeditions of scientists with an artificial virus to speed up evolution, these people are like the crew of Gilgamesh of the ‘second age’ Earth, which was thrown into barbarity and then slowly recovered tiny bits of pre-fall knowledge and finally wrecked Earth in the process. They used the last of resources to build arcships and sent them toward a possible salvation. One of such ships arrived at a barely habitable word they named Imir on which they try to survive.
Ages passed and the ship of ‘our folk’ from the quote above comes to Imir and decided to study how the situation the progressed…
I liked the story, but to be honest it gripped me a bit less that earlier volumes – the first one was so good that I decided that I’ll re-read it right after finishing it. It is a solid SF, with a very strong finale but for a bit weaker that the previous books.
The end of the previous book gave readers a glimpse of what to expect:
Our ship has spread its wings to the light of a fierce red star, … Every ship is different, depending on who got the building rights. Ours is cephalopod-made, meaning that our non-aquatic crewmembers traded their lungs for gills for the trip. Swapping back is easy enough these days, after all. We have five different species aboard, plus myself and the other two interlocutors. We are all children of Earth, one way or another, products of the terraforming programme and the Rus-Califi virus and, in one case, a wholly unexpected collision between a corvid genome and an alien molecular catalyst.
So the ship comes to a planet, and there are a team of evolved beings from the first two books – humans, spiders, AI, octopuses and a sentient virus as well as one species not from the books – corvids. And this novel is actually two stories in one – a shorter about the corvids and a longer about a planet long ago colonized by people from Earth. Like the previous novel, the story isn’t told in a chronological order, but different time periods (and dramatis personae) in each parts. There are 12 parts and the subtitle of each hints on a time period, e.g. the first three are:
The Ark Age | Long ago
Imir | Now
Miranda, Before Imir | Recently
So, there is another colonization, but unlike hi-tech initial expeditions of scientists with an artificial virus to speed up evolution, these people are like the crew of Gilgamesh of the ‘second age’ Earth, which was thrown into barbarity and then slowly recovered tiny bits of pre-fall knowledge and finally wrecked Earth in the process. They used the last of resources to build arcships and sent them toward a possible salvation. One of such ships arrived at a barely habitable word they named Imir on which they try to survive.
Ages passed and the ship of ‘our folk’ from the quote above comes to Imir and decided to study how the situation the progressed…
I liked the story, but to be honest it gripped me a bit less that earlier volumes – the first one was so good that I decided that I’ll re-read it right after finishing it. It is a solid SF, with a very strong finale but for a bit weaker that the previous books.
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