7th September 2024

This sequel to Children of Time has been sat on my shelf for over three years, and it’s been five years since I read the first book. Yet I found it easily to slip back into and read - easier than the first from what I can interpret from my notes.

This time out, we meet a different group of human terraformers, who are deep in space, each with their own side interests, when they make a startling discovery. In parallel we are in the future, continuing the journey of book one’s characters as they learn about what has happened elsewhere.

I was surprised by how readable I found it. I don’t know if this is a shift of tone from the first book, or if I just don’t remember. But it’s relatively light, there’s a lot of little moments of humour dropped into the narrative, and moving between time periods and points of view is made very easy for the reader.

I certainly found it compelling enough that I will look out for a copy of book three, although the length might mean I put off reading it for another five years.

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27th October 2019

Children of Time is a hard sci-fi novel set in a future where space travel and genetic engineering are the norm, and scientists are starting to think about seeding terraformed planets with the seeds of intelligent life for purposes that are not particularly moral. The book was lent to me by a friend who found it unreadable due to the presence of giant spiders.

I came to really like the way the story evolves over time - following multiple plot lines that each move through time at different paces, yet still mirror each other in various aspects. The use of the spiders was slightly tricky to get my head around at first, but following the world building here was fascinating, and probably my favourite part of the story.

I enjoyed the book and will probably seek out the sequel sometime - although I had to tell my friend that they were correct not to read it.

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