Review Day: Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

There are no major spoilers in this review.

Children of Time is the first book in the like-named trilogy by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

The last remnant of mankind has traveled across galaxies in search of a fabled planet that was terraformed and intended as a new Earth. They discover that the planet is not as uninhabited as they had presumed, and find it under the stewardship of a fiercely-protective artificial intelligence in orbit.

The book foreshadows the collision of two civilizations -- mankind at the tail end of a slow collapse and an on-planet presence with unnervingly similar societal traits on the rise. The story is told over millennia and generations, with cryo hibernation employed as a useful device to center the story around a consistent core of human characters. I found the evolution of each civilization across the extended timeline to be fascinating. I was enthralled from a dry, anthropological perspective, but less invested emotionally in any specific character due to the sheer scale of the timeline. If you need that singular kind-hearted character to root for in your books, the intentionally detached characters and prose may slow you down here, but the chapters are very short and readable.

Children of Time effectively tackles major themes, including self-identity, nature versus nurture, religion, human-computer interfacing, and the cyclical nature of mankind's failings. The book offers a lot of food for thought and memorable one-liners without becoming overly preachy. I found the ending to be a little abrupt on my first readthrough, but gradually appreciated how all of the clues earlier in the book could only lead to this apt conclusion.

Final Grade: A-

• Book 1: Children of Time review
• Book 2: Children of Ruin review
• Book 3: Children of Memory review