Finished this book recently. The parallel story of the terraformers in the past alongside the current events unfolding is actually well-handled. The evolution of the octopii is made different from that of spiders in the first book since the spiders begin as a primitive species whereas the octopii begin their evolution with space-faring technology handed to them. The build-up is quite good as the story gradually converges to the point of the end of the last terraformer and the contact between the octopii and the human-spider faction. But after this contact happens, the story doesn't seem to pan out as well as it could've.... Whereas in the first book, the contact between the humans in the ark ship and spiders of Kern's world, with everything leading upto it is just BRILLIANT

Completely agree with you that CoR, as a sequel, fulfilled expanding the world and exploring more of human and spiders interaction, but didn't quite hit the mark as a standalone book. I was intrigued initially and was excited to learn more about the octopi and how they evolved as a society. But the crown v reach hook wasn't delved into sufficiently so instead of being taken on a journey on how their unique intelligence fueled their advancement I felt like we were expected to accept that as is. Slime mould was even more one dimensional and the ending was too simplistic and abrupt. But I still enjoyed it, and will still read CoM and let you know how it goes!

@zaxbie

2 ай бұрын

Finished the 3rd book Children of Memory. Very different narrative structure from CoT and CoR, didn't span time or space but instead focused on telling a single story in one place and time. I get the sense that Adrian T wanted to explore 2 key ideas - what makes a species sentient, and should a species engage with / help another upon discovering them? In doing so, many of the enjoyable elements that defined CoT and CoR were sacrificed. Most of the novel read like a historical piece instead of science fiction. We barely had time with characters like Fabian, Portia though new characters like the corvids were interesting. It was difficult finishing the book and a unsatisfying end to the trilogy.

I can agree with most of this. Character development wasn’t there. I didn’t quite care for any of the characters except … the slime mold. This could have been two books where the characters would get much more developed. Instead of two timelines, each is its own separate book. I loved the horror of the slime mold. I can’t get over the line “We’re going on an adventure”. So creepy and so good

Hi Roro, nice review. I have been watching all the reviews on this series since I just finished all three books. I think that the third book is worth the read. Similar to you, I fell in love with the first book and I agree that the creative richness with the spider plotline was what made it shine, and similarly, the lack of it is what made me not enjoy the sequel as much. However, Tchaikovsky takes the third book in a very different direction and I think it is definitely worth checking out. I would not say it is nearly as spectacular as Children of Time, but it was more interesting and engaging to me than Children of Ruin. Children of Time 9/10 Children of Ruin 6/10 Children of Memory 7.5/10

@rororeads

22 күн бұрын

Thank you so much! That’s the push I need to give it a go.

Nice to hear someone had the same experience with this book as I did. You really put your finger on what I was failing to put into words

Unda the sea, unda the sea Darling it's betta , down where it's wetta take it from me Up on the shore they work all day out in the sun they slave away While we devotin' full time to floatin' unda the sea

Nice review. I went into this with exactly the same nervousness as you, as I loved Children of Time so much when I read it a few years ago. Finally decided to read Children of Ruin and I’m relieved to say I loved it too. Sad for you that you didn’t! Hate it when that happens to something you’ve been looking forward to. Hope it hasn’t tarnished the first for you. My personal opinion is I think Children of Time is superior in its structure, with how the spiders rise chapter by chapter and how it explores huge themes like warfare, gender, disease, medicine etc. Added to that the immense suspense of Kern floating around the spider planet, waiting for her “monkeys” to bring her down. So good. But the human narrative was lacking, like you say! I found it a bit flat and repetitive and it felt like Holsten was waking up from cold sleep every chapter to a new episode of “whose turn at mutiny” 😂 Whereas here I think all the narratives are equally interesting and all move the story along. The human/ spider viewpoint is fun and I think the Nod Crew and what happens to them is way more exciting than any human plot from the first book. Plus then you have all the octopus uplift goodness and a good dose of Kern! I agree that the spider stuff from book 1 is the best of the lot but overall as a read, I thiiiiink I enjoyed this as much as the first. 🐙

@rororeads

2 ай бұрын

“Whose turn at mutiny” 😂😂😂

Definitely agreed with you between time and ruin. But I didn’t find ruin as bland as you, more like I just got a little thrown off by the structure. Somehow, the time jumping in CoT was much easier to follow, more chronological. In ruin the back and forth was complicated PLUS the addition of multiple plot lines in both the past and present POVs that included the hive mind elements. I will say I found your video because I’m working on Memory right now, about 45% of the way through and just wanted some refreshers on the first couple books as I work my way through the third. I definitely feel like CoM is MUCH more character driven. Like them more but the complexity of some of the plot in book two plays a big roll and I keep feeling like I’m missing something and I’m not sure if that’s because there is a mystery unraveling that I shouldn’t be getting at this point or because I mis-comprehended something in Ruin. Just to say, if the lack of character development was what you disliked, CoM gets better, however there is not as big of an evolutionary uplift through line in this one as there was in either Time or Memory.

Thanks for taking one for the team - also loved the first book but was waffling on the second. I'll skip it! If you want a good Octopus SciFi - have you read Nayler's *The Mountain in the Sea* ?

@rororeads

4 ай бұрын

I haven’t but I have heard about it. I’ll check it out :)

Good sci-fi fantasy Appleseed by Matt Bell

Couldnt agree more, I am almost at 30% with this book, and it is dragging too long for me to read. First book was such a page turner for me.

Oooooooooh