this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2024
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Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky
I've been on a bit of a Tchaikovsky binge lately. I read Children of Time years ago and enjoyed it, but for whatever reason, didn't read anything else by him then. I had a copy of Made Things knocking around though, and I finally read it a few weeks ago and was so impressed I started reading him in earnest. This is the... let's see... seventh book of his I've read lately.
He sort of reminds me of Michael Crichton. He's not a particularly notable prose stylist - his writing is entirely competent and sufficient, but not in any way really remarkable. But he tells very imaginative stories very well, so he's a satisfying read.
This one is a sort of political thriller wrapped around a mystery that plays out a bit like a science fiction update of a Lovecraftian eldritch abomination story, leavened a bit with Emily St. John Mandel style misfit spaceship crew slice of life. I'm enjoying it.
I bounced off of Children of Time hard, finished, but hated it by the end. I might not have been so harsh if the praise for it wasn’t so high, but it just didn’t seem to deserve it imo. I think the premise was interesting, and it had good parts (I did enjoy the spider parts, though less towards the end), but things kept happening that eroded my suspension of disbelief for the setup until it collapsed completely. Looking back at the start of the novel, a bunch of the world building and piece setting just seemed silly under scrutiny.
I was thinking it was a 3/5, but when reading reviews it was the more thoughtful 1/5 and 2/5 reviews that reflected my feelings
Not to yuck your yum, and I certainly seem to be in the minority based on good reads