Science Fiction

Children of Ruin

Children of Ruin

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  • Create Date：2021-05-25 10:53:42
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
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  • Author：Adrian Tchaikovsky
  • ISBN：1509865853
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Summary

The astonishing sequel to Children of Time， the award-winning novel of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet。

Thousands of years ago， Earth's terraforming program took to the stars。 On the world they called Nod， scientists discovered alien life - but it was their mission to overwrite it with the memory of Earth。 Then humanity's great empire fell， and the program's decisions were lost to time。

Aeons later， humanity and its new spider allies detected fragmentary radio signals between the stars。 They dispatched an exploration vessel， hoping to find cousins from old Earth。

But those ancient terraformers woke something on Nod better left undisturbed。

And it's been waiting for them。
For more from Adrian Tchaikovsky， check out:
Children of Time

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Reviews

Brent Johnson ，

I think Shroedinger's Cat got out of that box it was dwelling/not dwelling within and dictated a story about Theseus' ship to Adrian Tchaikovsky。 Along the way he included a zombie movie meme and echoes of 2001: A Space Odyssey。 This is a trip to read。 My brain ached at points， especially as the humans， spiders， and octopi all tried to communicate and alienation overwhelmed them all。 Isn't alienation a human trait？Read this book if you want to experience epistemology within the framework of Scie I think Shroedinger's Cat got out of that box it was dwelling/not dwelling within and dictated a story about Theseus' ship to Adrian Tchaikovsky。 Along the way he included a zombie movie meme and echoes of 2001: A Space Odyssey。 This is a trip to read。 My brain ached at points， especially as the humans， spiders， and octopi all tried to communicate and alienation overwhelmed them all。 Isn't alienation a human trait？Read this book if you want to experience epistemology within the framework of Science Fiction。 。。。more

Alina Cristina ，

So you finished Children of Time and were amazed。 Then you heard there was a sequel。 And you thought "What？？ How could anything follow that？？"Well， prepare to be amazed again。 A bit less amazed than the first time， but it's still quite high up there: rounded up from 4。5 because the whole universe is amazing。 So you finished Children of Time and were amazed。 Then you heard there was a sequel。 And you thought "What？？ How could anything follow that？？"Well， prepare to be amazed again。 A bit less amazed than the first time， but it's still quite high up there: rounded up from 4。5 because the whole universe is amazing。 。。。more

Kristel ，

For some reason I could not get into this book。 Objectively I understand that it's great but it just was not that great for me compared to the first one。 For some reason I could not get into this book。 Objectively I understand that it's great but it just was not that great for me compared to the first one。 。。。more

Kathryn Atreides ，

4。5 Stars

Alvin ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 8/10What follows is my half lucid 5am ramblings after finishing this book; so it's probably gonna be really embarrassing reading later but I'M TIRED MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY N MY ARM IS SORE FROM BEING STABBED WITH PAPA GATES 5G CHIPS BUT I WANT TO BE A MORE CONTEMPLATIVE N REFLECTIVE CREATURE N GOOD NIGHT N GOOD BYE Children of Ruin is a marvelous exploration of the detailed universe that Adrian Tchaikovsky so elaborately constructed in Children of Time。 To me， Children of Ruin brought together 8/10What follows is my half lucid 5am ramblings after finishing this book; so it's probably gonna be really embarrassing reading later but I'M TIRED MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY N MY ARM IS SORE FROM BEING STABBED WITH PAPA GATES 5G CHIPS BUT I WANT TO BE A MORE CONTEMPLATIVE N REFLECTIVE CREATURE N GOOD NIGHT N GOOD BYE Children of Ruin is a marvelous exploration of the detailed universe that Adrian Tchaikovsky so elaborately constructed in Children of Time。 To me， Children of Ruin brought together the best of the speculative futures in Sunrise on Ilion and Leviathan Wakes， and placed them perfectly in his own vision of what may be。 In reading Ruin， I initially had believed that Tchaikovsky sacrificed his deeper commentary on legacy and posterity for an intensely riveting first-contact-turns-universe-ending-horror-thriller of a science fiction novel （and what a delightful rendition of such a genre this book is！）。 But in reality， where Time inquired as to what it means to stand on the shoulders of giants， Ruin seeks to investigate what it means to be able to--or unable to--communicate， and the world of horrors and joys， and achievements and let-downs that stem from such a simple （in）act。 Indeed， in finishing this book， painted on such a canvas as the literal universe of stars， one realizes just how sublime it really is to be able to share emotion and meaning with one another。 From this lens， one cannot help but overlay Ruin onto our own present， tens of thousands of years before the events of the book itself。 I'm sure everyone has heard the world's 'our world is as connected as ever'。 The great irony is that these words have been uttered so much that they have lost meaning。 'Yet，' it continues， 'we are as remote from one another in the history of humankind'。 It's as meaningless now as calling the covid-19 pandemic 'unprecedented times'。 Ruin implores us to remember that communication is a complex and deep world of its own， that we shouldn't reduce it down to meaningless and automated efforts but that it deserves to be pedestaled as a fundamental and core part of existence。 From simple gestures to magnum opus epics， from complex dance to facial expressions: this is what's important。 And with sufficient communication， perhaps gulfs as vast as the starry skies can be filled。 。。。more

Jazz M ，

This is a fantastic sequel to Children of Time。 It picks up the story decades/centuries later as the spider and humans are now collaborating on space exploration and discovery。 The characters of spiders and humans （and other species） alike are again fantastically characterised by Tchaikovsky。 The interplay between past and future is again well written and provides important parallels as the story unfolds。 I devoured this book in 24 hours！

Andrew Logan ，

The horrorI loved Children of Time and really looked forward to this。Where Children of Time was a celebration of possibilities， Children of Ruin is an exercise in the limits of the ideas propounded in the original and is as soulless as that sounds。 I know of a number of people who stopped reading when it got particularly horrible and I don’t blame them。 I know of others who finished and will speak for the book and praise the way it finishes。 I don’t agree。 The ending is dull and， again， soulless The horrorI loved Children of Time and really looked forward to this。Where Children of Time was a celebration of possibilities， Children of Ruin is an exercise in the limits of the ideas propounded in the original and is as soulless as that sounds。 I know of a number of people who stopped reading when it got particularly horrible and I don’t blame them。 I know of others who finished and will speak for the book and praise the way it finishes。 I don’t agree。 The ending is dull and， again， soulless。 In the end a thing that assimilates without empathy and without any understanding of what the components it claims to hold have lost， experiences without seeming to much enjoy its boringly patient triumph over time and space。 。。。more

Hannah Chivers ，

Makes you think like an octopus too

Angelina ，

Rating: 4/5After reading Children of Time last year and loving it so much， I immediately bought Children of Ruin！I think writing-wise these two books are on equal playing ground， but I think my love for book one made my expectations for book 2 a little too high。 I did still really enjoy this story and the characters， but I think I'm not as emotionally invested as I was in the first book because a lot of my favorite characters in book one "change" in book two （if you've read this series you proba Rating: 4/5After reading Children of Time last year and loving it so much， I immediately bought Children of Ruin！I think writing-wise these two books are on equal playing ground， but I think my love for book one made my expectations for book 2 a little too high。 I did still really enjoy this story and the characters， but I think I'm not as emotionally invested as I was in the first book because a lot of my favorite characters in book one "change" in book two （if you've read this series you probably know what I mean by that）。 Also， the pacing in this book kinda threw me off because we get a lot more POVs and the setting is in multiple locations。Other than that， this series is one that I am constantly going to be thinking about！ I find the whole concept super intriguing and all in all this series is a bunch of big brain energy that I like to think I understand！Small lil note here: there is a polyamorous relationship and an asexual character mentioned！ 。。。more

Alex Mango ，

2/3 Physical， 1/3 Audio。 Very entertaining and well crafted， however I feel like the book suffered a bit from plot and world dumping。 Tchaikovsky essentially details every step of the world’s progress， from genesis through future， and every plot point from every characters perspective （of which there are a ton）， and i felt like this bogged down the book a bit。 Which is shocking， considering this is actually shorter than the previous book， which had arguably less plot and worldbuilding！This also 2/3 Physical， 1/3 Audio。 Very entertaining and well crafted， however I feel like the book suffered a bit from plot and world dumping。 Tchaikovsky essentially details every step of the world’s progress， from genesis through future， and every plot point from every characters perspective （of which there are a ton）， and i felt like this bogged down the book a bit。 Which is shocking， considering this is actually shorter than the previous book， which had arguably less plot and worldbuilding！This also left little room for the characters to shine beyond their dictated moves as required by the intricate plot， namely Helena who spends the entire book confused and trying to communicate with the cephalopods， and does literally nothing else。 Also was quite shocking to see our beloved Portiids essentially on the back burner through this narrative， with very little continued development for them included。 That could have simply been the result of the previous book’s perfection， essentially presenting a complete and satisfying arc for the spiders with nowhere left to go， but it still felt a bit sad that the spiders could not take a stronger role in this story。Still very enjoyable！ 。。。more

Wonko ，

Just as creative & surprising as children of time， with a spooky and scary flavor， and aliens that are really alien， not just monsters with big teeth。

Izwan En ，

On par if not better than its prequel。 I read Children of Time years ago and I remember the same enjoyments reading this。 Children of Ruin has a little bit addition of what I would say sci-fi horror which I immensely enjoyed。 Greatly recommended。

Lucas Brady ，

This book managed to take the phrase "We're going on an adventure，" and simultaneously turned it into a herald of abject terror and a symbol of attempted communication and understanding。This book and the first in the series （Children of Time） are both amazing sci-fi books that take place over evolutionary timescales。 They cast humanity both as accidental gods and as made up of flawed and realistic people。 This book managed to take the phrase "We're going on an adventure，" and simultaneously turned it into a herald of abject terror and a symbol of attempted communication and understanding。This book and the first in the series （Children of Time） are both amazing sci-fi books that take place over evolutionary timescales。 They cast humanity both as accidental gods and as made up of flawed and realistic people。 。。。more

Myrthe R。 ，

Not as good as part 1， but I really enjoyed meeting the new alien species， and the descriptions of their evolution。 I wish it had more of the alien species evolution and history though， as in Children of Time， but I also think this was more absent because this new species was more difficult to relate to。

Jeffrey Rampton ，

Not as good as the first， but still fun

Tory Thai ，

Weaker then the first book as I felt it was a bit bogged down by way too long action scenes and too often。 Also felt like the discovery of a new species aspect felt exhausting and a bit too repetitive with the books pure focus on world building and completly forgetting to put forward some engaging plot or characters。 This book was entirely made up of world building that I felt was a bit rushed at the end as it all sorta wrapped up too quickly and in a way that I just didn't feel very satisfied w Weaker then the first book as I felt it was a bit bogged down by way too long action scenes and too often。 Also felt like the discovery of a new species aspect felt exhausting and a bit too repetitive with the books pure focus on world building and completly forgetting to put forward some engaging plot or characters。 This book was entirely made up of world building that I felt was a bit rushed at the end as it all sorta wrapped up too quickly and in a way that I just didn't feel very satisfied with。 All the moving parts going on with its multiple timelines， multiple character percpective， multiple worldview percpective and multiple locations just ovwrwhelmed me。 I felt like I was constantly experiencing world building for a plot that doesn't exist。When you step back and analyze the plot。 It's so incredibly simple and straightforward but the massive amount of world building surrounding the plot just distracts you with the massive amount of tedious details of trying to build up this new world。 It was definitely not as fluid as the first book which was super disappointing。 I felt like the characters were probably the worst part of this book due to lack of character building。 Even by the end I felt absolutely nothing for these characters。 The writing kept focusing on these world building details too much and often wouldn't be able to focus in enough on specifics to get you to know these characters for long enough to care about them。 After a while you could just sorta pigeon hole what role each character was playing instead of being able actually care to identify that character。 The writing even very often helps you by telling you the characters role often and with reminders so you don't forget。 Thank goodness too because without those reminders so frequently I'd totally forget who is who because the writing for the characters as individual just isn't good enough to be remembered。 I found the situations surrounding the characters to be interesting but a lot of scenes play out like you're expected to have some attachment or sympathy for a specific character but the writing forgot to include enough details to get that out of a reader。 The overly detailed world building was cool to see everything that was going on but I really feel like it could have been cut in half in favor of including some of that building more into plot or character roles。 It was insanely creative and cool to 'see' all the intricate details of the going ons but I just wish more was done with all those details。 Even world history would be glazed over so casually instead of us getting to experience it。 I miss being able to experience these past historical events like we were able to with the spiders。 The previous book gave us plot and characters to experience these world building events and i loved it。 Instead it's just told at us with a brief snippet and then just ends to explain a way some complicated whys。 I was getting so frustrated when this kept happening。The Deus ex machina ending felt nonsensical and cheap too。 The threat was so vast， uncontrollable and written out to be so world ending that I honestly couldn't see a way out without having to deus ex machina plugged in there as a easy button to explain away the end plot。 It felt cheap and a way to try and rush the books ending but I was greatful because I couldn't take much more of this。 I really want to give this 2 stars but the world building was so good that it kept me going as I found it creative and did still enjoy myself。 Just wasn't thrilled or terribly excited as that same world building also bogged the book down。 3 stars seem fair。 I don't think i will continue in this series by getting the 3rd book though。 。。。more

Bram Roose ，

Een stuk minder goed als Children of Time， minder spanningsboog， minder engagerende personages， een minder groot avontuur。 Maar wel meer ideeën uitgewerkt en een verhaal met een grotere scope。 Een aantal heel vernieuwende ideeën en een ongelofelijk talent van Tchaikovsky om zich in te beelden in dieren en een logisch en coherent wereldbeeld op te hangen op basis van de eigenschappen van het dier in kwestie， dit keer de octopus。

Pietro Alberto ，

A very good continuation to its previous book of the series， with an extra creepy touch to it which is always appreciated。 Highly recommended if you have already read children of time。

Unai ，

No me ha acabado de gustar tanto como el primero， pero lo voy a achacar a prejuicios personales。 Por lo que sea， la sociedad Portiia me resultó mas interesante， pero las sociedades de esta segunda novela， me han puesto mas nervioso de lo que esperaba y no me conseguido entrar del todo。 Aun así， bien todo pero sin entusiasmos。

Adrian ，

Made “we’re going on an adventure” terrifying。 Felt the wrap-up was rushed。

Gemma Williams ，

Just astounding， I loved this book。 If you loved Children of Time， you have to read it， it won't let you down。 Just astounding， I loved this book。 If you loved Children of Time， you have to read it， it won't let you down。 。。。more

Mike ，

Children of Ruin is very much like its predecessor in that it starts slowly （although this one is better than the first in that regard） but just creeps up on you。 You don't get attached to the characters or the plot as Tchaikovsky seems to keep them at arms length。 You read for his take on sci-fi ideas and the aliens and you start to get attached to them and want to see where they go。 You're halfway through and you finally understand how everything works and you want to see what the book does wi Children of Ruin is very much like its predecessor in that it starts slowly （although this one is better than the first in that regard） but just creeps up on you。 You don't get attached to the characters or the plot as Tchaikovsky seems to keep them at arms length。 You read for his take on sci-fi ideas and the aliens and you start to get attached to them and want to see where they go。 You're halfway through and you finally understand how everything works and you want to see what the book does with those ideas and then you're almost done and you realize you DO want to know what happens next and you ARE kinda worried about the characters and then Tchikovsky zooms back out to show the long term effect of his ideas and it ends and you're like Wow。 。。。more

Groucho42 ，

I'm hitting a bad run of books。 Was wandering the stacks， desperate， and saw this。 It's world building through too much description and inner monologue。 Earth gets off some space shits before humans there end their civilization。 In this， one ship gets to a system to terraform a planet， find life， and decide to rapidly evolve beings there while they also mess up another planet。 Another planetary group does the same thing。 It seems pretty easy for people to create other intelligent species。 Rather I'm hitting a bad run of books。 Was wandering the stacks， desperate， and saw this。 It's world building through too much description and inner monologue。 Earth gets off some space shits before humans there end their civilization。 In this， one ship gets to a system to terraform a planet， find life， and decide to rapidly evolve beings there while they also mess up another planet。 Another planetary group does the same thing。 It seems pretty easy for people to create other intelligent species。 Rather overwritten， rather dull。 。。。more

Steven Poore ，

We're back in the realm of the spiders， but this time there's a whole new eco-system to visit too。 Three generations down the line from Children of Time， a joint Human-Portiid expedition has set out to investigate signals emanating from a star system consequently known as Nod。 As before， parallel with the "present-day" perspectives is a potted history of human exploration and attempted terraforming on Nod and its neighbouring ice-world Damascus。 Keeping that structure is sensible， as Tchaikovsky We're back in the realm of the spiders， but this time there's a whole new eco-system to visit too。 Three generations down the line from Children of Time， a joint Human-Portiid expedition has set out to investigate signals emanating from a star system consequently known as Nod。 As before， parallel with the "present-day" perspectives is a potted history of human exploration and attempted terraforming on Nod and its neighbouring ice-world Damascus。 Keeping that structure is sensible， as Tchaikovsky is also flinging a new set of aliens into the mix - in fact， two sets of aliens， both absolutely different in outlook and tone to either Humans or Portiids - and it's good to have one foot on the ground as Children of Ruin soars to take in tardigrades throwing rocks into orbit， water environments in space， octpusses' gardens in the sea， and a great vista of memories of cities， carved from sand like follies by the Nodan bio-viral entity。 While the sense of vertigo that infused Children of Time's flight through entire millennia of future history is scaled back in this sequel， the joy of discovery， of logical development， and the sense of inevitable danger are still there。 There's no absolute villain as such， and the book is all the better for that。 Go for the spiders， stay for the ant-driven AI and brain-expanding consciousnesses。 :） 。。。more

Hotaru ，

Tchaikovsky doesn't mind using again all the great ingredients of the "Children of Time" Recipe to suit his new content， with a few twists。 It is still very good and there are even some "wow" moments here and there （you know， the ones when your heart feels giddy and you have to stop to fully process what's happened and wonder "how cool was that？"）， even if it is not as new and shiny and awesome as the first volume。 Tchaikovsky doesn't mind using again all the great ingredients of the "Children of Time" Recipe to suit his new content， with a few twists。 It is still very good and there are even some "wow" moments here and there （you know， the ones when your heart feels giddy and you have to stop to fully process what's happened and wonder "how cool was that？"）， even if it is not as new and shiny and awesome as the first volume。 。。。more

Carly-Ann Clark ，

My review is much the same as everyone else’s。 Not as good as the first one I’m afraid。 For me， the major difference was the character development in this book was extremely lacking。 I found myself getting confused about who was who， who was human， who was spider and who was octopus。 There was no like-ability to any of them and when things happened to them I felt nothing。 The world building， the scientific intrigue was all there but for me， as a reader， that is worth very little if the character My review is much the same as everyone else’s。 Not as good as the first one I’m afraid。 For me， the major difference was the character development in this book was extremely lacking。 I found myself getting confused about who was who， who was human， who was spider and who was octopus。 There was no like-ability to any of them and when things happened to them I felt nothing。 The world building， the scientific intrigue was all there but for me， as a reader， that is worth very little if the characters haven’t won my heart。 。。。more

Mike ，

I finish Children of Time in just over a week and thought it was great so I was looking forward to the sequel Children of Ruin。 I started it in December and struggled to finish it by early May。 There were bits I really enjoyed and others it just dragged and for a week or so I just ignored it。 I want to say it was a good read and that the good bits out weighed the bad bits， but I just can't and at best I thought it was OK。 I finish Children of Time in just over a week and thought it was great so I was looking forward to the sequel Children of Ruin。 I started it in December and struggled to finish it by early May。 There were bits I really enjoyed and others it just dragged and for a week or so I just ignored it。 I want to say it was a good read and that the good bits out weighed the bad bits， but I just can't and at best I thought it was OK。 。。。more

Kevin ，

While not quite the stunning work that the first book was， this installment still had a ton to say。 Where Time focused on the nature of "humanity，" Ruin focused on the nature of consciousness and the value of seeking to understand。The most astonishing feat of this book is how believable Tchaikovsky's imagination of wholly alien consciousness is。 It is enthralling。The reason I stopped at 4 stars is I felt the message at the end was a bit on the nose。 Don't get me wrong， he is clearly writing this While not quite the stunning work that the first book was， this installment still had a ton to say。 Where Time focused on the nature of "humanity，" Ruin focused on the nature of consciousness and the value of seeking to understand。The most astonishing feat of this book is how believable Tchaikovsky's imagination of wholly alien consciousness is。 It is enthralling。The reason I stopped at 4 stars is I felt the message at the end was a bit on the nose。 Don't get me wrong， he is clearly writing this book to deliver a message and it is a message well worth delivering but for a set of novels written so subtly it felt a bit jarring and out of the voice of the story how things came together and suddenly everything was amazing。 Tchaikovsky somehow imagined an entire cephalopod space-faring civilization that felt entirely believable。。。I just wish the gilded moral at the end had followed suit。Still absolutely love these two books and wholeheartedly recommend。 。。。more

Riju Ganguly ，

This book， as everybody and their uncle know， is the sequel to the award-winning and critically appreciated 'Children of Time'。 It begins exactly where CoT had ended。 As a prefix as well as simultaneous narrative it describes events that had taken place roughly at the time of the beginning of the critical events of CoT。 All these may sound complex， but the whole things is handled brilliantly。 We get to see the Arachno-Human spaceship 'Voyager' reach a distant star-system following an Old Empire This book， as everybody and their uncle know， is the sequel to the award-winning and critically appreciated 'Children of Time'。 It begins exactly where CoT had ended。 As a prefix as well as simultaneous narrative it describes events that had taken place roughly at the time of the beginning of the critical events of CoT。 All these may sound complex， but the whole things is handled brilliantly。 We get to see the Arachno-Human spaceship 'Voyager' reach a distant star-system following an Old Empire signal。 But after reaching there， they encounter some very strange things like spaceships full of water and planets that are avoided by any means。What's the meaning of all these？What exactly had happened to the Terraformers who had tried to work on the planets here？CoR is absolutely brilliant in terms of story-telling and characterisation。 His ideas are simply incredible。 Yet， he makes them work！ Most importantly， while CoT was an uplifting adventure， CoR is unabashedly horror and suspense thriller punctuated by introspection and analysis of the concepts like memory and sentience。Tchaikovsky aces spiders。 That's something that we all have come to accept after 'Spiderlight' and 'CoT'。 But in this book he articulates completely inhuman biology and sentience in human terms， which is spectacular。 Plus， he allows us to revisit the dilemmas associated with the 'God complex' philosophy。Most importantly， he makes the word 'adventure' almost as charming as 'atom bomb incoming'。 How so？ To understand that， you need to read this novel。Highly recommended。 。。。more

eeKnud ，

Grat world building and imaginative evolutionary and intelligence development descriptions。 However， I found it all not that compelling。 Just a personal opinion， but I didn't really care what happened to any character or society/species。 I suppose the ocotopi were the most interesting probably because we think of them as closer to human。 Grat world building and imaginative evolutionary and intelligence development descriptions。 However， I found it all not that compelling。 Just a personal opinion， but I didn't really care what happened to any character or society/species。 I suppose the ocotopi were the most interesting probably because we think of them as closer to human。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Children of Ruin

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Children of Ruin&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Children of Ruin&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0