Been trying to get the full set in hardback, last volume arrived today (ORBIT edition) and it’s a bit of a jolt compared to the TOR versions.
I get there are usually some differences but this is extreme!
If anyone has the Tor hardback and willing to take a good picture of the dust jacket so I can make a spine cover for this version for whilst on the shelf I would be eternally grateful!!
Huge fan of the series but I just can't seem to get into it. I keep spacing out as I read it as it seems to be a lot of tell and not enough show. Too much explaining it seems.
I don't remember the other books being like this...or, if they were, I guess the story in those maybe just resonated with me more? Not sure but something feels a bit off here to me.
Is it worth toughing it out? Does it have a great pay off? I really liked the simulation artifact concept from the last book...so other than what we learned about Alis' experience in said simulation so far, do we end up learning more about the artifact's origins?
If not, hate to be a quitter on a series I love but I think I'm going to have to tap out. As none of the other plot threads in this story (or its characters) seem to interest me very much.
Hey gang. (Hope this is okay with the mods!) I'm one of the devs working with Adrian on the upcoming Children of Time Roleplaying Game and thought folk here might be interested in it.
You can find out a bunch about the game and follow it here.
Happy to answer questions folk might have too!
Hi folks,
Very new to Tchaikovsky, I’ve only read Dogs of war, One day all of this will yours and Cage of Souls. Have to say it was one of the best books I’ve ever read. Absolutely incredible. Are there any suggestions of what I could follow it with? I was thinking the Tyrant Philosophers series. So hard to pick considering the amount of books! Thanks in advance.
I just finished reading this today, and having finished it, the question occurred to me: for most of the book, we're given to understand that having Kiln organisms in a human body is fatal over a longer or shorter period of time (example tank, some people who come back from excursions)...
And then we learn it's not inevitable fatal (Rasmussen), and then we have what happens on the long march back to camp. So what makes Rasmussen, the marchers and everyone in camp after the marchers return different from the example tank victims?
While reading Children of Strife, it was a bit hard for me to visualize how Cato can deliver those lethal punches. This video really put things in perspective.
I've been a fan of the Children of Time series for many years now, and being extremely hyped for Children of Strife, rather than just doing one simple art piece, I decided to make one for each part of the book. While a daunting task, what a fun adventure its been! 🦠
Thank you to everyone for the support over the past 2 weeks! It means so much to hear others inspired to also create, and I've loved hearing how everyone's headcanons differ.
I've gotten several requests to draw other AT works next, but this was more of a detour from my other projects, so I won't be able to do any other books for now. (I occasionally post non-AT scifi art on other socials) But rest assured I will be back if/when AT releases another "Children of" book! Check out my other CoT art if you haven't yet.
My Thoughts on the Book:
In my opinion, Strife is easily the most well-rounded story in the series so far. I remember Memory's reception being weak at release, but I think as time's passed its regarded thematically as one of the strongest, and I think the same applies for Strife. What Strife does even better is juggle strong character dynamics and a large scale adventure narrative at the same time. The characters between ages felt connected thematically in ways that earlier books (save maybe Time) didn't.
On Common Complaints I've Read:
Regarding the contrast between the portrayal of the Imir simulation in Memory vs in Strife, I think its important to remember the context of the characters involved. For Miranda, the "reality" of the simulation was a question of identity and consciousness. For Alis, the simulation was nothing more than a tool for ego-stroking wish fulfilment. These ideas aren't mutually exclusive and make for a great nuanced discussion on topics like AI and identity. Also, I've been seeing some Nodan haters out there. Its fair to not want a deus-ex-goop-monster to end every story, but imo the Nodan organism is one of the most emotionally and thematically rich characters in the series... So hop off my goat lol
Critiques:
I think a few characters deserved a more capstoning moment. For example, Portifabian and Alis both suffer in a way that directly parallels the pantheon. In the end, their "resolution" seems to just be "you gotta live with it", which may be realistic, but feels less substantial when the characters aren't presented with any choice. Part of me also wishes we could've had a chapter with the second age ark crew and the pantheon really interacting. Like the birth of the culture surrounding The Life.
That's all for now. I hope everyone's enjoyed the art! Please let me know if there's any one piece you liked most!
*uplifted
I want to see how an intelligent society of cats would function.
Rebound the paperback into a custom velvet hardcover with sprayed edges. Pretty happy with how this one turned out!
That's all folks!
What a great story. I'll share my thoughts together in a full compilation post with all the pieces (+ maybe an extra sketch or 2) tomorrow.
Just finished Children of Strife and dealing with some literary sci-fi withdrawal. I loved it. But the idea of having to wait years for another visit to that universe is a real bummer.
That's when I remembered the 1986 novel The Genesis Quest by Donald Moffitt. It's got some serious Children of Time vibes.
The alien Nar receive a radio message from a distant galaxy 73 million light-years away. They decode it and learn it's instructions on how recreate the human species.
There's a sequel call Second Genesis where the hunans decided to find Earth and head home.
I stumbled upon this, and I haven't gone to find our local Japanese student to verify, but if true, did Adrian know?
I just really appreciate the fact that they manage to find so many good narrators for Adrian’s audiobooks. Shard, Alien Clay, Final Architecture, Children series, all different readers who do a great. Thats it, that’s the whole post.
I’m currently in the middle of Children of Strife and a thought popped in my head (adhd babyyy) totally unrelated to what I was reading.
Do the Humans “look” different than humans? I kinda remember in CoT Holsten explaining that Humans had kept evolving (as evolution tends to do) and looked distinctly different than the humans that Kern was used to. Which was one of the reasons she kept rejecting the Gilgamesh.
Or did I just imagine all of that??
>!This is the one character and arc I didn't really understand. !<
>!1. What does the left eye allow him to do? Clearly not travel safely through the woods. But transport through it?!<
>!2. Why did the left eye brigade become unorthodox?!<
>!3. It seems he died from a creatur in the woods, but why did he go there in the first place?!<
I'm up to part 3 and i'm having a tough time engaging with it. It feels like we're getting long poetic descriptions of everything and very little actual plot. The whole of part 2 just felt like a chore with very little actual happening besides the fever dreams of someone who may or may not be a researcher?
Is this the whole book or does it shift at some point?
Ahhh Alis is touching Cato and not getting pulverized into minced Alis-meat!! The character developmenttt 😭
Adrian, you son of a gun, you've done it again 🙌🏽
The face on this dude was tricky. Originally was gonna have him look at Kieraven, but I think looking at the viewer is creepier.
I tried giving him a creepy smile too, but it just made him look silly 😭
Reminder this new horror compilation featuring Adrian [Ghost Hunt] was released a few weeks ago. Seems to be print only, not e-book. Beautiful binding, large font. Only a 20 page story, but it's a nice collection of authors like Rian Hughes.
I tried fitting as much of this climactic moment as I could in here, but it got a bit messy. Hopefully people can tell what's going on.
PS: I'll be busy most of tomorrow so the final part probably won't be til day after tomorrow 🙏🏽
