58 pages • 1 hour read
Adrian TchaikovskyChildren of Time
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2015A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Adrian Tchaikovsky is a prominent and prodigious author of science fiction and fantasy who has published more than 30 books, roughly half of which are science fiction. Children of Time is the first installment in his award-winning trilogy of the same name; the other novels are Children of Ruin and Children of Memory. When Children of Time won the Arthur C. Clark Award in 2016, “judges compared [it] to the eponymous author’s own work” (Flood, Alison. “Arthur C Clarke Award Goes to Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Novel of ‘Universal Scale.’” The Guardian, 24 Aug. 2016). Tchaikovsky is particularly praised for his depiction of the spiders on Green Planet, specifically his ability to make the spiders sympathetic without forcing them into an anthropomorphic lens. This ability likely comes from Tchaikovsky’s educational background and his personal love for spiders. He received degrees in zoology and psychology from the University of Leeds, choosing these fields because he wanted “to understand the behaviour—the minds—of the nonhuman” (Tabler, Beth. “Interview – Adrian Tchaikovsky.” Before We Go Blog, 7 Mar. 2021). His drive to understand the nonhuman mind led him to create sentient insect, arachnid, alien, and other nonhuman species in many of his novels.
His early writing grew from his love for role-playing games, and his first few short stories were inspired by a game called Bugworld. Throughout his various works Tchaikovsky has labored to illuminate issues of moral neutrality in progress and technology, and his novels also create worlds in which the moral elements of technology are tied to the users and creators of that technology. The evolving character of Avrana Kern is an excellent example of this concept, for moral neutrality of Kern’s technology is contrasted with her morally questionable motivations for creating the nanovirus and the experimental world.
Genre Context: Hard Science Fiction
The subgenre of “hard science fiction denotes stories that are based upon the strict application of scientific concepts and are focused on possible scientific advancements in computing, space travel, and genetic modification. The focus in this subgenre is on the potential of science and the likely problems and conflicts that arise when science challenges natural boundaries. Like Children of Time, many of these novels build worlds and galaxies of futuristic cultures, species, and technologies. Some notable titles that feature detailed world-building include Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series and Frank Herbert’s Dune series.
Tchaikovsky specifically explores ethical questions related to genetic manipulation and coexistence with alien species, which echoes ideas expressed in Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game series—particularly its third installment, Xenocide. Although many hard science fiction novels prioritize plot over characterization or literary language, Tchaikovsky’s work proves to be an exception, for his narrative exhibits complex characterizations and careful language, transcending the sparse prose of more pragmatic writers like Asimov. While most science fiction works address the possible effects of scientific discovery, hard science fiction seeks to represent the science it explores as accurately as possible. Tchaikovsky’s background in zoology and specific interest in spiders, as well as his extensive research with the Natural History Museum’s Entomology program, allows him to create precise and detailed extrapolations of what a culturally and technologically advanced spider species would look like. Although Children of Time is easily classified as hard science fiction, Tchaikovsky also melds elements of soft science fiction, which typically focus on the social and cultural developments of a given future world.
