Children of Time
by Adrian Tchaikovsky · first published 2015
78% recommend20% neutral2% critical
Why HN recommends it
Sci-fi about humans accidentally uplifting jumping spiders, with a detailed, biology-grounded look at how their minds, societies and technology might develop. Suits readers who like big ideas and first-contact thinking.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home. Following their ancestor's star maps, they discovered the greatest treasure of a past age - a world terraformed and prepared for human life. But all is not right in this new Eden. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New monsters have turned it from a refuge into mankind's worst nightmare. Now two civilisations are on a collision course and must fight to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?
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Talking about Portias, I recommend reading "Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky, it's about the process of uplifting spiders and how humans re-establish contacts with them. Another great book about smart "spiders" is "A Deepness in the Sky" by Vernor Vinge,…
on “Spiders are much smarter than you think” ↗I learned way more about spiders in the sci-fi book "Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky than I thought I would! The basic premise is that the evolution of spiders on a new planet is hyper-increased, and they become the dominate intelligent species on the planet. The…
on “The ungentle joy of spider sex” ↗…Hydrogen Sonata" By Iain M. Banks. It certainly wasn't my favorite culture entry, but it's worth a read none the less. If you haven't read the others in the series I wouldn't suggest starting with it. "Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It took me a bit to get into this book, but once I did, I really enjoyed it. If you're into long timelines and human existential crisis this is your book. As far as July goes,…
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?” ↗The book mentioned in the article, Children of Time by Adrien Tchaikovsky is fantastic. Adrien does an excellent job of trying to imagine how distributed intelligence would work for a species as it evolves.
on “Another Path to Intelligence” ↗For a sci-fi take on this, Children of Time and Children of Ruin, Adrian Tchaikovsky
on “An ant colony has memories its individual members don’t have (2019)” ↗For science fiction, Dune is a must, and Children of Time is probably the most mind-bending sci-fi I've read since. Both create imaginary worlds that are so detailed and plausible that they make you see our world in a new light.
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗…life we know about. Also it'd be a bit presumptuous for us to colonize a hospitable planet for our own experimentation. But it's an interesting question. In fiction, I can recommend Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time, and sequel Children of Ruin.
on “Mars has right ingredients for present-day microbial life: study” ↗Others have recommended Three Body. I’d second that. Amazing trilogy. Rendezvous With Rama is one of my favorites. I’d also recommend Children of Time and Children of Ruin by adrian tchaikovsky. It was one of those random ones I picked up with low expectations, and it turned out to be amazing. It’s well regarded now, but this was when it first came…
on “Neal Stephenson – Announcing Termination Shock” ↗Kind of off-topic, but this seems like a good time to recommend Children of Time by Adrian Tchaicovsky
on “Researchers are discovering surprising capabilities among a group of arachnids” ↗…Body Problem trilogy is fantastic, and originating from China has quite a different feel to western sci-fi. Adrian Tchaikovsky is from the UK and has done some super interesting stuff as well, start with Children of Time.
on “We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus” ↗I didn't mean to imply that. Indeed, Portia! So if you love Portia, I recommend Peter Watts' Echopraxia and (for a full-length focus) Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time.
on “The Octopus Is Smart as Heck, But Why?” ↗Stormlight series by Brandon Sanderson. This is my first foray into high fantasy, and i absolutely loved these books. I also enjoyed sci-fi novel, The Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
on “Ask HN: Favorite fiction books of 2018?” ↗Just finished reading Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time, which deals with a theme related to that, about a terraformed planet where jumping spiders become a dominant, intelligent species. Good read. You might enjoy it!
on “New species of ancient human discovered in the Philippines: Homo luzonensis” ↗A fictional take on this that’s moderately entertaining is Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Ruin. It’s a sequel to Children of Time which I liked a lot.
on “Researchers model how octopus arms make decisions” ↗If you enjoyed those books, I'd recommend Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky as well! It explores the concept of a race of spiders evolving into sentience and how wildly different it's civilization and technology would be.
on “Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer?” ↗