324:, he is charged with translating a prominent Old Empire language—“Imperial C”. Holsten's primary responsibility is to help the ark ship navigate the unknown territories and technologies of the Old Empire. However, he eventually embraces a higher mission: establishing a new cultural heritage for humanity based upon the historical narrative through which he lived while aboard the
308:, Guyen often exercises autocratic authority over the expedition and its sleeping human cargo. Guyen leads the ark ship to another terraformed world after Kern forces his hand and discovers experimental Old Empire technology capable of uploading a human mind to a sufficiently complex computer. He eventually devotes himself to a new quixotic purpose: uploading his mind to the
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returns to Kern's World, the two narratives collide, seemingly dooming one or both sides to extinction. The
Portiids, on the other hand, devise a strategy that saves both their world and the invaders, uniting with and inviting the last humans to live with them on Kern's World, drawing on past genetic
218:
Dr. Kern learns there is an agent of an anti-technology group aboard the ship about to overload the reactor, and she flees aboard an escape pod before anyone else can. The payload of monkeys is jettisoned from the ship in a landing craft but it burns up in atmospheric entry. With no monkeys on Kern's
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chief of security. Though flamboyantly blunt, Karst demonstrates himself as a cautious leader by restricting weapons access during the ark ship's internal conflicts. Initially intimidated by the gruff gunslinger, by the end of the novel, Holsten eventually comes to respect Karst, who appears to have
344:
leader, Lain is frequently forced to hold the ark ship together in the face of near-insurmountable mechanical breakdown. Sacrificing decades of her life guiding and preserving “the tribe”—primarily descendants of engineering; initially Lain's anti-Guyen faction—and the vessel itself, she becomes the
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that she hopes will be named "Kern's World." The team is preparing to release a genetically designed nanovirus onto the new world to accelerate the evolution of a group of monkeys. There is talk of war stirring back home between authorities and multiple anti-technology factions opposed to this kind
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The Old Empire's only known survivor; a cynical, egotistic woman aiming to "beget new sentient life" in the image of humanity. She survives the destruction of her ship and spends millennia in suspended animation inside an observation satellite, orbiting the only world she was able to seed with the
383:
The novel spans thousands of years and multiple generations of
Portiid spiders. The spiders each have their own identities, lives, and experiences, on top of their genetic memories called "Understandings," although the narrative refers to its main and supporting characters by four different names
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and a staunch adherent of professional objectivity, Vitas is more than capable of notable research. However, her ambitious scientific curiosity, deference to precedent, and, ultimately, personal insecurity frequently lead her astray. Holsten sees her as almost robotic and uncannily ageless.
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takes a centuries-long detour to a neighboring system that proves uninhabitable. The novel plays off the contrast between the rapid advancement of the spiders' societies and the descent of the crew of last humans into strife and barbarism, primarily seen through the eyes of the
27:
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World, and its ecosystems originally seeded with a minimum of possible competitor species for Kern's experiment, the nanovirus spends its time infecting and altering a multitude of living creatures, a notable example being jumping spiders (
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Many millennia pass, and civilization reemerges on Earth from the hunter-gathering descendants of survivors, eventually salvaging machinery leftover from Kern's time, which is only known as the Old Empire. Faced with the slow
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gene-editing nanovirus while it works wonders on the animal population below. Unstrung by millennia of isolation and mechanical and biological degradation, she xenophobically denies the humanity of the crew of the starship
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for best science fiction novel. The director of the award program praised the novel as having "universal scale and sense of wonder reminiscent of
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due to the long-delayed consequences of the ancient war, the last remnants of humanity are en route to Kern's World aboard the starship
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Male spider; scientist, rebel, genius, leader. Main supporting male, becomes the main viewpoint for the spiders' seventh story.
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Portiid spiders. Confronting Dr. Avrana Kern in orbit, powerful and rendered crazed and xenophobic by the millennia, the
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s ship-born generations. If Guyen is the villain in
Holsten's historical narrative, Lain is unquestionably the heroine.
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computer, as a means of establishing firmer control over the ship itself before returning to Kern's World.
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and what they assume to be their main threat until the starship returns to her world centuries later.
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memories, known as "Understandings," which showed collaboration was the better option in the end.
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of genetic engineering, including a terrorist group or radical movement known as "
945:
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641:"Tor.com: Adrian Tchaikovsky Continues His Epic Series With Children of Memory"
605:"Arthur C Clarke award goes to Adrian Tchaikovsky's novel of 'universal scale'"
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Female spider; warrior, priestess, leader. Usually the main viewpoint female.
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In the far future, Dr. Avrana Kern is the head of a science team orbiting a
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154:. The novel follows the evolution of a civilization of genetically modified
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Female spider; warrior, scientist, leader, genius. Main supporting female.
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In July 2017, the rights were optioned for a potential film adaptation.
833:
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527:"Adrian Tchaikovsky wins Arthur C Clarke Award for science fiction"
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Female spider; scientist, leader. Another main viewpoint female.
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Tchaikovsky has since disavowed the win due to the subsequent
190:, was published in 2022. In 2023, the series was awarded the
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564:"The Clarke Award Shortlist Includes Some Great Surprises"
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based on distinct personalities or historical archetypes.
245:, hoping for a paradisiacal planet and ignorant of the
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The novel received positive reviews, and won the 2016
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16:2015 science fiction novel by Adrian Tchaikovsky
717:"Pan Mac's Children of Time optioned for film"
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467:"'Children of Time', by Adrian Tchaikovsky"
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562:Anders, Charlie Jane (April 27, 2016).
457:
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184:, was published in 2019. A third book,
689:"The 2023 Hugo Award Winners Are Here"
375:a heroic, albeit vulnerable, quality.
746:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
660:"A Statement on the 2023 Hugo Awards"
7:
715:Cowdrey, Katherine (July 19, 2017).
258:s chief classicist, Holsten Mason.
14:
603:Flood, Alison (August 24, 2016).
539:. August 25, 2016. Archived from
465:Lovegrove, James (July 3, 2015).
357:The chief science officer of the
320:Chief classicist of the starship
537:British Broadcasting Corporation
340:chief engineer and its eventual
1287:Novels set on fictional planets
1042:Dreams Before the Start of Time
670:from the original on 2024-02-21
215:(nothing greater than nature).
1:
160:(arachnoid) on a terraformed
994:The Testament of Jessie Lamb
503:"The Arthur C. Clarke Award"
1282:2015 science fiction novels
1066:The Animals in That Country
206:, previously uninhabitable
1323:
1302:Fiction about terraforming
507:The Arthur C. Clarke Award
192:Hugo Award for Best Series
788:
24:
1297:Works about women in war
1292:Hugo Award-winning works
1034:The Underground Railroad
178:The next in the series,
978:The City & the City
874:The Calcutta Chromosome
725:. Bookseller Media Ltd.
615:Guardian News and Media
1182:World of the Five Gods
906:Perdido Street Station
782:Arthur C. Clarke Award
169:Arthur C. Clarke Award
1216:The Murderbot Diaries
744:title listing at the
664:adriantchaikovsky.com
658:Tchaikovsky, Adrian.
1187:Lois McMaster Bujold
1175:Lois McMaster Bujold
345:spiritual leader of
1277:2015 British novels
1170:The Vorkosigan Saga
1082:Venomous Lumpsucker
794:The Handmaid's Tale
574:Gizmodo Media Group
543:on October 17, 2016
21:
1245:Adrian Tchaikovsky
1074:Deep Wheel Orcadia
802:The Sea and Summer
442:ballot controversy
304:The leader of the
187:Children of Memory
152:Adrian Tchaikovsky
41:Adrian Tchaikovsky
1264:
1263:
1209:James S. A. Corey
1092:
1091:
1010:Ancillary Justice
890:Dreaming in Smoke
810:Unquenchable Fire
584:on March 19, 2017
213:non ultra natura"
139:
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121:978-1-4472-7328-8
83:Publication place
20:Children of Time
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1240:Children of Time
1228:Wayward Children
1154:, et. al. (1945)
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1026:Children of Time
826:Take Back Plenty
818:The Child Garden
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132:Children of Ruin
127:Followed by
78:2015 (hardcover)
74:Publication date
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699:. Retrieved
697:. 2023-10-24
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623:. Retrieved
619:the original
610:The Guardian
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1204:The Expanse
1130:Best Series
930:Quicksilver
898:Distraction
882:The Sparrow
477:Nikkei Inc.
237:of Earth's
204:terraformed
1271:Categories
1255:Ann Leckie
1126:Hugo Award
954:Nova Swing
701:2024-02-21
674:2024-02-21
512:2022-10-11
452:References
347:Gilgamesh'
275:Old Empire
270:Characters
261:After the
256:Gilgamesh'
175:himself."
146:is a 2015
1193:Wayfarers
1050:Rosewater
1002:Dark Eden
962:Black Man
866:Fairyland
578:Univision
372:Gilgamesh
359:Gilgamesh
338:Gilgamesh
326:Gilgamesh
322:Gilgamesh
310:Gilgamesh
306:Gilgamesh
294:Gilgamesh
287:Gilgamesh
263:Gilgamesh
251:Gilgamesh
243:Gilgamesh
239:biosphere
208:exoplanet
162:exoplanet
100:paperback
96:hardcover
63:Publisher
986:Zoo City
668:Archived
342:de facto
247:uplifted
235:collapse
47:Language
834:Synners
694:Gizmodo
645:Tor.com
569:Gizmodo
532:BBC.com
379:Spiders
94:Print (
50:English
1257:(2024)
1247:(2023)
1235:(2022)
1223:(2021)
1211:(2020)
1199:(2019)
1189:(2018)
1177:(2017)
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813:(1989)
805:(1988)
797:(1987)
625:May 3,
588:May 3,
547:May 3,
487:May 3,
472:FT.com
404:Fabian
396:Bianca
388:Portia
227:stasis
173:Clarke
134:
67:Tor UK
37:Author
1137:Retro
858:Fools
428:Notes
412:Viola
366:Karst
353:Vitas
107:Pages
55:Genre
1128:for
850:Vurt
627:2017
590:2017
549:2017
489:2017
370:The
336:The
332:Lain
198:Plot
116:ISBN
98:and
1253:by
1243:by
1231:by
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