Mike Barrett, Wormwood contributor and author of Doors to Elsewhere, writes:
The best book that I read this year was science fiction, a genre that I rarely bother with these days, but Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky reminded me of what so attracted me to imaginative literature several decades ago. A book that is exciting and thought-provoking, one where you really do want to keep on reading to find out what is going to happen next, and which maintains its momentum throughout the whole of its 600 pages.
The basic premise of spiders being subjected to accelerated evolution on a remote and isolated planet may sound unpromising, particularly when they develop space travel, but the author brings it off with style and aplomb and the climax where spiders and humans have their inevitable clash is gripping and gratifying. Tchaikovsky is a fine writer - his multi-volume Shadows of the Apt series is excellent, as is the stand-alone fantasy Guns of the Dawn, but Children of Time is unquestionably his best book to date.
Sounds very much like Colin Wilson's Spider World books, which were published nearly 30 years ago and are, I feel, very underrated.
ReplyDeleteJust bought my copy and will be reading it as time permits. Now I have to rethink the scenario for the space opera I'm currently writing.Dammit.
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