Released: 16th June 2019
Genre: Science Fiction
Number of Pages: 565
Some four years after Children of Time, Tchaikovsky’s space saga continues with Children of Ruin, an interesting if ultimately inferior follow-up.
Following the formation of the bond between humans and the arachnid Portiids, the coalition of species has set out to further explore the stars. They stumble across a planet called Nod, in which another human terraforming project unfolded centuries earlier. Unfortunately, this potential for a new, colonisable world is dashed when our protagonists come into contact with a hostile race of octopuses. The characters, both human and spider find themselves split up both on and off planet as they attempt to deal with the new threat while also contending with a vicious plague that has ravaged the area.
Once again, the book takes place across two different timeline; this time a clearly defined past and present. We see how humanity first came to Nod, attempting to make it fit for use, only to unleash an unforeseen menace as a result. This new set of human characters comprised of Senkovi, Baltiel, Lante and Meshner to name a few are all subjected to a catastrophic failure that renders their physical bodies useless. This is certainly the most interesting aspect of the book as we see their best laid plans fall victim to the deadly new environment. On the other hand, the present timeline sees the characters in the previous novel discover the consequences of past events. There’s another solid effort to distinguish the two timelines here, with different sections marking the shift and gradually bringing the two narratives together.
Unfortunately, that’s where much of Children of Ruin’s strengths end; without a defined or broad perspective to follow, much of the action is diluted by the constant swapping between characters. One moment you’ll be seeing an AI attempt to communicate with the octopuses and the next you’ll be seeing an effort to create a new organism through genetic engineering. The novel’s efforts to create a grander scale ring hollow with so many different events going on simultaneously. On top of this, things get a bit repetitive as the past timeline sees the octopuses break free of their human masters and form their own space-faring species, very much like the spiders in the first book.
Recommended?
MAYBE: Children of Ruin is a somewhat worthy continuation to Time, but it also feels less immediate from top to bottom. Watching a race of octopi go through a similar evolutionary process to the spiders in the previous book feels rather unoriginal, but Ruin’s greater issue is that it doesn’t offer much character development after establishing so much lore and background in its predecessor. There should have been more detail to the characters this time around, but as it stands, you’re not all that invested in the struggle to contain the Nod situation. Those who read the original book will be intrigued to see where this sci-fi tale goes, but there are better alternatives for other fans of the genre.
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