Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsHard to go wrong with Spiders in Space!
Reviewed in Australia on 13 September 2020
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky describes the evolution of a sentient spider civilisation, following the spiders from pre-sentience through to a spider space age. And really, how can you go wrong with spiders in space?)
The novel alternates between chapters describing the spider world and , and more conventionally written chapters featuring humans trying to survive a desperate space odyssey.
The spider sequences are reported as if by an observing scientist because the spiders have spider body language, biology, and culture. Also as the spiders evolve, and as the reader gains familiarity with the arachnid world, the spider chapters become increasingly immediate. However some readers might object to the 'info dump' feel of these chapters. Personally, I have a high tolerance for the creative info dump.
The human centred chapters are more conventionally written in third person. I particularly enjoyed the human protagonist, an introverted scholarly old man who's occasionally dragged out of stasis into stupidity-based chaos.
