I'm sure it's mostly me, not the book, but I struggled to get to p. 166. It's just too long and too confusing, especially because it put me to sleep before I could get a handle on who/what was being visited at each break. Too many names of people, planets, ships, shuttles.... If I ever try again, I'll have to take notes or see if there's a wiki. I loved the first, even reread it last week, but this I just can't handle, at least right now.

February 2023

More than worth a read if you enjoyed the first book. In many places I felt like it was better. This one does get a little shaky in the middle where the author seems to fall victim to whimsy. It gets a bit too fantastical for my taste and somewhat repetitive (I get it, they're going on an adventure) but only briefly. It starts strong and ends strong, and I'm very much looking forward to reading the third book. ( )

What happened?! Children of Time is one of my favorite books--it's smart, surprising, written well, has action, intrigue, science, etc. Children of Ruin has most of these things but somehow feels disjointed and uninspiring. I can't quite put a pin on it, but this should have been a fantastic book but felt really bland. The POV shifted a lot, the setting was never quite centered, there wasn't really a plot other than some weird horror-sci-fi parasite, and it was a trudge to get through.

I was really looking forward to this book, but it was a huge disappointment overall. There were some great moments that echoed the previous novel, but it was uneven and often boring. ( )

started out strong, ended pretty ok ( )

A really great follow-up to "Children of Time." Tchaikovsky really knows how to write for unique cultures and lifeforms. It's wonderful to read about species that truly feel alien while being relatable at the same time. I'm not sure how much I like the epilogue, but that's a minor nitpick for me. ( )

I did not expect to read [b:Children of Ruin|40376072|Children of Ruin (Children of Time, #2)|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548701599l/40376072._SX50_.jpg|62663185] in less than two days. It really is outstandingly compelling. I loved [b:Children of Time|25499718|Children of Time (Children of Time, #1)|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1431014197l/25499718._SY75_.jpg|45276208] and this sequel builds upon it brilliantly, by exploring meanwhile in another part of the galaxy. A separate expedition to a potentially habitable planet has a different legacy to that of Avrana Kern and the colony ship Gilgamesh, although there are certain striking parallels. The reader meets a small group of scientists sent to study and terraform, who find themselves cut off from Earth and faced with unexpected dangers. The planet they initially settle on has a lot of creatures that are fascinatingly different to terrestrial life, but do not initially appear intelligent or threatening. Then one of the crew is suddenly infected with an alien parasite that hijacks his mind. The shocking scenes of body horror that ensue are all the more powerful for being partially told from the parasite's perspective. Once again, Tchaikovsky is amazingly adept at evoking nonhuman perspectives. The spiders from [b:Children of Time|25499718|Children of Time (Children of Time, #1)|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1431014197l/25499718._SY75_.jpg|45276208] return, in established coalition with humans, and encounter new strange lifeforms.

I was absolutely delighted at the introduction of spacefaring octopi/octopodes/octopuses (different narrators use different plurals, a pleasing detail). I'm treating their presence as a spoiler because it was such a wonderful surprise for me. Like the spiders, they were dosed by the uplift virus - not that they weren't already intelligent and curious. Senkovi's experiments lead to them taking over his ship and eventually the terraformed planet. I recalled [b:The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness|22609485|The Soul of an Octopus A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness|Sy Montgomery|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1425611143l/22609485._SY75_.jpg|42099445] and [b:Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness|28116739|Other Minds The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness|Peter Godfrey-Smith|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1606353700l/28116739._SX50_.jpg|48126419] during these sequences. Octopus society, language, and technology were all brilliantly imagined. The scenes inside their water-filled spaceships are a particular highlight. I'm now of the opinion that there should be far more space octopodes in sci-fi.

[b:Children of Ruin|40376072|Children of Ruin (Children of Time, #2)|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548701599l/40376072._SX50_.jpg|62663185] continues to develop the major theme of [b:Children of Time|25499718|Children of Time (Children of Time, #1)|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1431014197l/25499718._SY75_.jpg|45276208]: communication, specifically translation, between intelligent species as crucial to any kind of peaceful coexistence or progress. The characters struggle to understand one another; the ones that survive and thrive are those that combine creative strategies and persistence in order to communicate successfully. They build upon the failed attempts of those who came before them. I find this narrative encouraging and optimistic. Tchaikovsky's future is resource constrained yet emphatically not a zero-sum game. Communication and collaboration between very different intelligences (human, spider, octopus, alien virus, and AI) bring benefits for all, while mutual incomprehension leads to conflict and extinction. Although there are plenty of human characters, the narrative is not human-centric at all. I really enjoyed the continued evolution of Avara Kern, post-human and ant-fuelled AI, and absolutely loved the new beings joining humanity and spiders among the stars. What an addictive, original, and thought-provoking space opera! ( )

dnf
presumibilmente buono ma non ho voglia di passare ancora del tempo con un AI sociopatica, pseudotestuggini e polpi prepotenti, soprattutto troppo aracnofobica per sopportare oltre sti schifosissimi ragni ( )

when I thought it couldn't get any weirder after the first book, it did. In a good way. ( )

I finished this book a while ago, and somehow forgot to rate it. Overall, it was certainly worse than the first book for quite a number of reasons, the main on being that it was SO hard to follow and empathize with the characters, because their worldviews and perspectives were so far removed from mine, and very little effort was put into making a world I could understand before having characters exist in it. Instead, I felt like I was just traveling down a spiraling slide until the book ended, and at the end I wasn’t sure why I did it.

That said, the part in the middle where the book turns into a mini horror novel was quite chilling and well written. ( )

If I could give this 10 stars, I would. I cannot even attempt to write a review--I'm just sitting here in awe at this story.

I will be recommending this duology for years to come. ( )

Another great book in this trilogy of intelligent scifi.
There is much to like - the characters are engaging, there is some play - as in the gender reversal in the Portiid spiders, where it is the males who have to defer and pander in order to get ahead, the focus on (accelerated) evolution as part of the plot development, and the science which may not always be scientifically plausible, but remains believable in a fictional setting.
I was not a fan of the non-linear plot progression - with alternating sections from the past and present. I know that authors today sign up to a sacred pledge to never tell a story in linear fashion, but in this case I don't thenk anything was gained by the shuffling of timed segments.
Looking forward now to Part 3 of the series. ( )

ending is a little weak ( )

This was an OK sequel. I didn’t really get on with it. It started OK, and the parasitic element was interesting and this took some time to get into. Some space battles. Now enter near as good as the first one. ( )

Excuse me why did no one TELL ME THERE WAS A SEQUEL!!!!!

DNF at 82%. Hold's on to finish this, but I really need a physical book. It's brilliant but it's slow and I'm so bad at reading slow books digitally.

People seem to be more receptive to my telling them about sentient octopi than spiders. But honestly, I don't recommend reading this during a pandemic. We're going on an adventure and it's a bit too much. ( )

Good, indeed very good, but at times feels like a slightly forced retread of Children of Time. I was so looking forward to seeing the development of the relationship between Portiids and Humans, but feel not enough attention was paid to this and instead we got something interesting but not compelling. A bit of a disappointment overall. Probably a 3.75 could I give that rating. ( )

This was long a dragged a bit through the exploration of different types of species' cognition. I kind of got bored in the last third or so and thought I'd give up on the series. However, the ending is promising for a completely different horizon and I'll probably read further volume(s). ( )

4,8 stars

I am not capable of reviewing this coherently.

I loved Children of Time to the point of it being my favorite read of 2018. I've been waiting for Children of Ruin since I finished the first book, even before I knew for certain there would be a sequel. I had incredibly high hopes for this. And this didn't disappoint.

I am in awe of Tchaikovsky's ability to create cultures, and civilizations, and creatures that are at the same time familiar, alien, and completely believable. On top of that, he's just over all such an amazing writer. He's become a measuring stick for good scifi for me, and very few thing's I've read since have measured up.

This particular story followed in the foot steps of it's predecessors, but also added a dimension I didn't expect. I also loved the ending which gives me hope of a possible third book in the series, but at the same time wraps the story up in a way that I won't feel robbed if a third book won't happen.

100% will re-read this within the next year. ( )

Such a vivid depiction of alien cognition and an amazing vision for the future of earthkin ( )

I finished this a few days ago, but have been putting off writing a review because I didn't want to admit that I don't know if I fully understand it. I'm not totally sure what happened at the end. But then, I got somewhat lost a lot of times along the way and had to look back to see where I'd been.

I think the most interesting aspect of the series is the exploration of what exactly determines intelligence and communication, and humanity in general. I've read a lot of books where people were able to upload their brain to a computer, and possibly download it to another body, either human or machine. Thinking about that possibility alone has been enough to keep me busy thinking about it for years; what is it that makes us who we are? But what happens if your personality is transferred to a large number of ants who can act like digital circuits? What happens if you accelerate the evolution of spiders? How do you communicate with a species that doesn't use voice at all? That and many other such questions are answered or not in the series.

It was a pretty complex book, and I probably should at least skim over it again to see if I can pick up on some of what I missed. But after reading the two books of the series, I'm not really ready to do that right away, so I don't know if I ever will, unless some discussion comes up and gets me going on it. I gave it a full 5 stars for originality. ( )

Children of Ruin, the second book in the Children of Time series by Adrian Tchaikovsky continues to push the boundaries of first contact narratives and how to present the world from alien perspectives. This second installment follows a similar multiple-perspective structure to Children of Time. First, we follow the story of a terraforming team on the Aegan, their discovery of alien life on their target planet—later named Nod—and the ensuring chaos following the electronic virus that nearly wiped out human civilization. To allow the study of life on Nod, part of the terraforming team looked to terraform another planet in the system instead, named Damascus. One of the scientists on the mission, Disra Senkovi, also begins experimenting with limited uplifting of his pet octopuses to inherit Damascus. Eventually, we are also introduced to a parasitic hive-mind that throws additional wrinkles into the narrative. Disaster ensues and the octopuses eventually inherit the system and we follow a similar development line to the Portiid spiders in Children of Time with the specter of the hive-mind in the background. Then, we follow the story of the Voyager, the joint Portiid-Human exploratory vessel seen at the end of Children of Time heading to the Nod-Damascan system. The remainder of the novel follows the first-contact interactions amongst these three competing intelligences.

While I enjoyed the additional perspectives and complexities in Children of Ruin, translating different ways of thinking sometimes fell short and left the narrative muddied. In some ways, it felt like a perfect simulation of what it would have been like to be one of the humans on the mission as they struggle with the translation barriers with the mollusks and the gigantic leap of understanding the hive-mind. In the end, Tchaikovsky does a wonderful job pulling all of the threads together, painting another optimistic view of the power of overcome differences and unite in a common goal of understanding the universe. To cap off the novel, we are left with another cliffhanger teasing the next phase of the series. This entry cements Children of Time as genre-defining series: one that elevates the potential of first contact narratives and breaks the traditional chains of anthropomorphism to push our imaginations about what life could be. ( )

Good book, middle part a little slow and self important but interesting story. Being familiar with the author's style helps - otherwise would be harder to understand. It kept my attention through the week that I read it, but probably an acquired taste for most readers. ( )

It's more of a 3.5 compared to Children of Time. I still enjoyed it immensely. It doesn't have the same emotional punch for me but the world that Tchaikovsky built is still amazing and I was very invested in the characters. ( )

Very interesting take on alien life ( )

Tchaikovsky is really good at bringing to life non human consciousness. This time it's octop[uses|i|odes], and it's as good as children of time. ( )

🐙

An excellent continuation, but the end slows badly and the epilogue jumps jarringly ahead. After devouring the first, this felt plodding at the 75% mark ( )