I purchased this book on a whim and I got far more than my money’s worth for it. This is the best book I have read in a long time and I am here to tell you why I highly recommend adding Children of Time to your 2018 reading list.
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In the spirit of transparency, this book won’t be for everyone. True to the science fiction genre this book is lengthy, heavily doused with hypothetical factual and scientific information and, at times, quite wordy; if you aren’t paying close attention you’ll quickly find yourself completely confused as to what is happening within the space of a few paragraphs. As a huge fan of science fiction, I have grown accustomed to this style of writing but I can understand how traits such as these can turn a reader off initially from completing the book. I strongly recommend, however, sticking with this novel through its wordy sections because the book as a whole is simply fantastic! Even with my busy schedule I managed to read this book in just under a week, I really, truly couldn’t put it down. It was such an original, well thought out and executed story with great pace, imagination and attention to detail.
The plot is based in a universe where all that is left of humanity remains on a ship, travelling through space in cryogenic sleep, searching the universe for a new home after leaving a destroyed earth behind them hundreds of years before. The key crew of the ship are awakened from their long slumbers due to a detected distress signal. This transmission leads them to a satellite orbiting around a terraformed planet experimentally colonised and crafted by humans hundreds, possibly thousands of years prior. In a time where human being’s main focus was to colonise space, the aim of this planet was to create an organic earth-like environment. A mission to send down a shipment of monkeys with a nano-virus intended to speed up the primates evolutionary process failed and, as a result monkey’s do not inhabit this planet. Nor do human beings. Only the virus made it to the planet and as such, instead of affecting the intended primates the virus affected the insects. Now, thousands of years into the future this planet bends to new masters and the conflict between them, what’s left of humanity and Dr. Avrana Kern, seemingly the only human left from an old forgotten empire whose sole purpose is to prevent her experiment from being tampered with, is simply breathtaking.
This was such an inventive story that was carefully timed and written to perfection by author, Adrian Tchaicovsky. It really gives an insightful view of evolution and this process is so incredibly well thought out conceptually and enjoyable to read. I genuinely believe that even non-science-fiction fans (if such a thing exists) would enjoy this book as tremendously as I did. And, with rumours of a sequel in the mix, you best start reading soon!
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