Just finished “Children of Time” by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Wow.
As a sci-fi junkie, I thought I’d seen it all. But this book? Something else entirely. Tchaikovsky’s take on non-human intelligence is mind-bending.
The story bounces between desperate human survivors and a colony of rapidly evolving spiders on a distant planet. Sounds crazy, right? It is, but in the best way possible. I couldn’t put it down.
Those spiders, though! Watching them build a whole civilization from scratch was absolutely mind-blowing. It really made me question what intelligence and society even mean. Deep stuff.
The human characters were good too, adding some nice contrast. But let’s be real – the spider storyline stole the show.
This isn’t just a space adventure. Tchaikovsky dives into some heavy philosophy and biology, but he does it in a way that’s actually fun to read. No small feat.
If you want a book that’ll make you go “whoa” and keep you thinking for days, this is it. My mind is still spinning webs about the future of humanity… and maybe spiders too. 
Seriously recommend this one. Anyone else read it? I’m dying to geek out about it!
Happy reading!
– Eric