He's been on my to-read list forever so over the past few weeks I read the Children of Time books. Seriously great stuff. He does a really good job with world-building and focusing on characters as well as plot. Stephen Baxter's Evolution was what got me into hard sci-fi in the first place, and CoT in some ways felt like that. Really looking forward to Children of Strife. Which book of his should I read next?
I really enjoyed Cage of Souls, but YMMV.
I wanted to suggest this one. It’s a weird one tho
i think its his bestest so far if you are looking for something where moods drops off the pages
the whole dying earth mini-genre is worth takin a look at also
Bruh, my mileage varied while I was reading it. Shit is bananas
Yeah it's not a typical AT book and not even the kind I usually read but I was hooked instantly.
Cage of Souls is so ridiculously atmospheric and the world building is so dystopian and intense... it definitely gets its hooks in you.
Completely agree. Of all the books I've listened to this was the book that this one pained the most vivid picture of the world to where I could smell it
It’s really good on audio as well.
Stefaaannnn….. Stefaaaannnn
Cage of Souls is his best work in my opinion. It's such a wild romp through one hell of a unique setting.
if you looking for another series try The Final Architecture, I think his character work is better in those books.
For a one off story, go with Service Model or Shroud
Shroud is fucking wild. Love it.
i just finished the architect books and loved them. kinda akin to Guardians of the Galaxy with strong charcterization and everyone is a weirdo. parts of it get really World At War-y for me, how many times and how many different ways are you gonna tell me that the humans don't like the partheni and vice versa... but it really stuck the landing for me.
I've read near enough everything of his. The Doors of Eden is probably my favourite standalone.
The Doors of Eden is probably my favorite of all his works.
Why did you like this better than the others? It’s on my TBR list, but considering to read it sooner rather than later.
It just has some really great world building.
i know this is absolutely not what you asked, but reading China Miéville's Embassytown after Children of Time felt like the perfect accompanying novel, if you haven't checked that out & ever want a change post-Tchaikovsky
I know this is not what anybody asked, Embassytown made me feel sick.
oh fascinating; not in an argumentative way, but what aspect of it?
Oh, the rapid reduction of the aliens to desperate junkies was just awful.
I get that that was the point, I just wish hadn't read it!
that makes sense! i do appreciate novelty & concepts i could've never imagined is why i like SF, but i can see that. thank you for sharing.
i'm reading The Dark Forest right now & am well aware of readers' opinions of his portrayal (or lack thereof) of women, & that's been on my mind; still, Vandermeer's Dead Astronauts may be the only book i've read so far that i consider pretty faultless.
Shroud, or if you don’t mind Fantasy, City of Last Chances.
I DNFed City of Last Chances. Made it pretty far, got to the conversation between the brothers in the tent and said “why am I doing this to myself?”.
City of Last Chances is one of my favorite books and I do not recall anything about brothers in a tent in it.
Only AT I've dnf'd..I didn't make it past chapter 6
That’s nuts to me. I’ve read almost everything AT has published and I would rate City of Last Chances as overall his best work.
The series is probably his most consistently high-quality body of work so far. I get that it's not for everyone stylistically, but that literary and philosophical spin really raises it above almost everything else he's written so far in my opinion.
Good to know. I’ve read a few others and enjoyed them.
That series is so incredible.
Shroud would be a good spot or you can go before his Science Fiction arc and read Guns of the Dawn. His Fantasy stuff is great because he has a philosopher’s mind and approaches fantasy just like science fiction. He talks about it in interviews where fantasy is circular and science fiction is more linear and he uses the linear path for his fantasy, very good stuff. The dude just pumps out high quality material at a very rapid pace!
If you have the patience for it his insect based Shadows of the Apt fantasy series is worth the read, but it's a big time investment as it's 10 books, each around 700 pagges, plus a few novelettes, and a related 3 book series Echoes of the Fall (with each book being more than 600 pages), with its own additional stuff too.
You're looking a more than 10,000 pages total to read everything in that setting, and more than 7000 pages just in the main series without any of the extras.
If you liked the… zoological/evolution parts of Children of Time, The Doors of Eden will scratch that itch. It took me a while to get into the main plot, but it’s worth the pay off at the end.
I really enjoyed this book, especially this book. Like you mentioned the evolution of different species was my favorite.
Elder Race is a novella but the closest feel to Children of Time
Just finished this last weekend, loved the way the story was framed, especially the “storytelling” chapter.
Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis had a similar chapter where a speech has to be rendered differently to its audience. I wonder if it inconvenienced the typesetters?
I'm 3/4 of the way through this right now, It's really cool, especially the change in perspective between chapters. I'm hoping for a solid ending, probably going to finish it tonight or tomorrow.
Just so you know, Humble Bundle is offering some of his fantasy titles for a huge discount. 14 books for a minimum of $18. I'm not sure if the bundle is US-only.
It's UK as well. 20 quid for the lot is an absolute bargain.
I enjoyed the Dogs of War series.
I enjoyed Alien Clay. If you like his style you will like this.
I’m 100 pages into Alien Clay and losing steam. Seems like endless descriptions of flora and fauna with no plot. Does it get better?
Yes things happen. It is slow paced and you have to deal with the author's repetitive prose (on all his work I think) but enjoyable.
That was the best part for me. But yes, things happen
My opinion: It wasn't as good as some of his other works. It seems like it would tremendously appeal to people who have certain experiences or who are in certain emotional states which I haven't experienced. But it does come to a fairly satisfying conclusion and I finished it without regretting that I had.
I also got bored in the beginning, but found the middle and the ending totally worth it. Especially the ending.
It stays botanical all the way, though.
Not really. It was fine but disappointing and needed some major editing, especially in the middle 50% of the book. I liked the resolution at the end but kind of a slog to get there.
I don't even remember reading this one.
This was the first book of his I read, knowing very little about him. Within the first page or two I had to check with Google as I somehow knew he must be a fellow Brit. Couldn't even say exactly why, just something about his style. Really interesting book as well, felt like it did something very different.
For bonkers world building Cage of Souls is my pick. It's an absolute experience and I wouldn't say I like it as much as the Children of series but my god is it a trip.
The Final Architecture trilogy is definitely worth reading - there are some great ideas and aliens in those.
I get the impression that Doors of Eden is less popular, but I found it a total blast. Great fun.
If you really want to go down the Tchaikovsky hole, his Shadows of the Apt series is 10 books of well-written original steampunk fantasy.
How is that different from children of time?
CoT is far future sci-fi. SotA is alternate universe speculative fiction with a heavy fantasy and steampunk feel. It also has a very cool take on race and how we separate ourselves that I don't want to spoil.
I just read Shroud and it was great.
Almost all his sci-fi is wonderful, creative and compelling. I'm just now finishing The Hungry Gods and am so blown away by the rhythm and wit, it's so well written.
The Final Architecture and Dogs of War series are both fantastic. The novels Shroud, Cage of Souls, Doors of Eden and novellas Elder Race and Ogres all stand out for me. Great stuff on all counts.
I share an anthology TOC with him.
Not really relevant, but hey, I don't get many chances to flex these days.
Pretty good flex. Which anthology?
I’m in the middle of Service Model and it’s both funny and intriguing :) it’s my first novel by him so I’m not sure how it compares to the rest of his work unfortunately
Just about all his book are great. He's one of my favorite authors when it comes to building an alien world and always has interesting "thematical elements" (I don't know what else to call it). Just start working through them, you'll enjoy all of them.
It’s like his books investigate similar tropes, like sentience or otherness, but from a different angle from one story to the next. You never quite know where things are going, which makes for interesting reading!
I was lucky enough to be sent an early copy of Children of Strife and I finished it yesterday and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
If you don't mind a more fantasy bend, his 'Philosopher Tyrants' series is phenomenal. Probably his best written series, prose and structure-wise. It's truly superb and full of masterful world-building.
The blurb for CoS sounds really good!
Standalone alien clay or service model are his best tbh. Really wanna read shroud
Shadows of the Apt is excellent but he’s got some side quest filler books in the back end.
It's not a finished series, but I think the Tyrant Philosopher books are his best work so far. I was really shocked at how good this was. But you can't go wrong with any of the series. I'm not as big a fan of the stand alones but Alien Clay has been my favorite so far.
Service Model, great satire
Shards of Earth trilogy is a fun space opera reminiscent of The Expanse
The spider arc in children of time was incredible but the human arc was such an insane drag I couldn’t believe they were part of the same book. The ending also was not great
Walking to Aldebaran is a short story by him which I found to be an excellent piece of fiction. Strongly recommend for the dark atmosphere.
I just read my first book by him last month, Cage of Souls. I thought it was outstanding. I’m reading Spiderlight by him right now, it’s like a very fun riff on D&D/LOTR inspired fantasy. Really excited to keep digging deeper and deeper in to his books.
I would definitely recommend Shroud, Alien Clay, and the novella Elder Race. I also would recommend the series of War Dogs, Bear Head, and Bee Speaker.
Elder Race is absolutley worth checking out - it's a novella that brilliantly plays with the "sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" concept and has that same fascinating clash of perspectives you probly enjoyed in CoT.