What if you could create a new intelligent life form in your own image? What if you had to share a planet with them? This is the premise of Children of Time, a science fiction novel by Adrian Tchaikovsky that explores the themes of evolution, culture, and communication.

The novel follows two parallel stories: one of Dr. Avrana Kern, a scientist who tries to uplift monkeys on a terraformed world using a nanovirus, but ends up creating a civilization of sentient spiders; and one of the Gilgamesh, a starship carrying the last survivors of a dying Earth, who are looking for a new home among the stars.

As the spiders develop their own society, religion, and technology, they encounter Kern?s satellite, which broadcasts her messages and influences their culture. As the humans approach the spider planet, they face a dilemma: should they try to coexist with the spiders, or should they claim the planet for themselves?

Children of Time is a captivating and original novel that won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for best science fiction of the year in 2016. It is the first book in a trilogy that continues with Children of Ruin and Children of Memory. If you are looking for a novel that tackles big themes with brio, you will enjoy Children of Time.