:INFO
The Novel About Spiders That Became One of My Favorites
Children of Time has a premise that sounds improbable: it follows the evolution of a spider civilization across thousands of years as they inherit a terraformed planet meant for humans. Adrian Tchaikovsky makes it work through a combination of rigorous biology and genuine storytelling craft. By the third spider chapter I was more invested in the fate of the spider civilization than in the human storyline running alongside it, which I believe was entirely the point.


:NOTE.half
The spider chapters overtook the human chapters completely within 100 pages.
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:COUNTER.half
610 Pages

:QUOTE [quotetype:plain, subtitle:Adrian Tchaikovsky]
The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.


:JOURNEY
Reading Children of Time
4 Slow to commit
5 Gripping
3 Less compelling
5 Most satisfying

:CHECKLIST
Why Skeptics Become Believers in This Novel
[ ] The spider biology is accurate enough to feel real and invented enough to feel alien
[ ] Portia as a character achieves heroism without anthropomorphizing dishonestly
[ ] The human ship sections provide useful pacing contrast to the spider civilizations
[ ] The scale of the novel earns its length and the ending pays off the patience

:POLL
Did you come to prefer the spider chapters over the human chapters?
Yes almost immediately after the first spider section
Yes eventually, it took a few chapters to shift
No I preferred the human storyline throughout
I have not read it yet