Oct 29, 2026
Children of Time Books in Order
Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children books follow the last of humanity as it meets minds very different from its own, from uplifted spiders to octopuses. Each book centers on a new kind of intelligence and a new world.
By Adrian Tchaikovsky · 4 books so far.
Where to start
Start with Children of Time and read in order. Each sequel tells its own story on a new world, but they build on the first book, so don't skip ahead.
The Children of Time books in order
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Book 1
Children of Time Our pick
Humanity's last ark ship reaches a terraformed planet and finds it already claimed: by spiders uplifted by a failed experiment. A big-ideas epic told across thousands of years, and more moving than it sounds.
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Book 2
Children of Ruin
A new expedition finds another terraformed world, this one shaped by uplifted octopuses, and something far stranger waiting in the dark. Different alien minds, same big ideas about what it means to think.
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Book 3
Children of Memory
A struggling colony world hides a mystery that the series' humans, spiders and talking crows have to unpick together. The most mind-bending of the Children books.
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Book 4
Children of Strife
The fourth Children of Time novel returns to Tchaikovsky's universe of uplifted species, with more strange minds trying to understand each other. Read the earlier books first.
Good to know
- Expect big ideas and long time spans: the first book covers thousands of years.