Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Children of Time is my favorite book I've read this year, and it's a strong contender to be my favorite book of all time. Children of Ruin didn't hold onto me as hard as its predecessor did for most of its runtime, but it came close enough that it easily earns five stars.
I think that Children of Ruin has a much slower pace than Children of Time. Whereas CoT followed the rapid development/deterioration of two civilizations over thousands of years, CoR tells a more slow burn story that jumps between the present and the past. That slow burn was good, but the pace made it a bit of a slog in some points. CoR is also very dense, with a lot of complex ideas and concepts to explore. They were all great, but the dense content mixed with the slow pace meant that it took me a lot longer than I was expecting to finish this book.
CoT is very focused in its subject and it moves through that subject very quickly; on the other hand, CoR has a lot of ideas it wants to explore and it moves through those ideas very slowly. Whether or not that is a good thing will depend on the reader. I can assure you that all of those ideas are interesting and thoroughly explored - it never feels like your time is being wasted - there is just a lot of content here. Personally I like a fast-paced read, so I prefer CoT more, but that's just my own bias. I honestly believe that these books stand shoulder-to-shoulder in quality, and if you told me you liked CoR more, I would completely understand.
This book was a joy to read, full of technology and biology that seem so completely out there but so logical at the same time. One of my favorite dilemmas in CoT were all the language barriers and struggles to communicate, and CoR expands on those dilemmas with brand new problems. Every culture clash seems so frustrating and realistic that you feel like you're right there with the character wracking your brain every time. I love how smart these books are. Every concept is explored in amazing detail, and there is a refreshing through-line of empathy and collaboration in every encounter. So many stories resort to war and violence, so it's nice to read a book that is vehemently diplomatic and eager-to-collaborate.
If you're reading Children of Ruin, you've probably read Children of Time, so I feel safe to sum up my thoughts in a comparison. Compared to its predecessor, Children of Ruin is a much slower read, with a plot that simmers instead of flashing. If you're okay with dedicating the time and energy into indulging in such a dense story, though, this book delivers everything CoT achieved and more. I'm excited to see where the third book will go from here.
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