Written by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Children of Ruin (CoR) is an evolutionary sci fi novel set in a star system that humans had just begun terraforming before an almost complete technological collapse destroyed human civilization. It is a sequel to Children of Time but picks up some time after with a new cast of characters.
In keeping with the style of the series the story is told through many different viewpoint characters and with a non linear passage of time between chapters. This varying time passage is a neat feature and builds suspense even as the story moves forwards hundreds of years in some cases. As a reader I also appreciate the chance to try and puzzle out how chapters in the past will impact the story in the “present”.
One thing that stood out to me in Children of Time that is present again in Ruin is the fairly balanced nature of the characters. Too often in fiction we’re presented with characters who are either too perfect, or flawed in a manner that just doesn’t seem plausible. Adrian Tchaikovsky manages to give even minor character believable drives and motivations that make acts of genius, heroism, recklessness and cowardice appear natural and in keeping. With one of the returning characters this is so on point that I felt a sense of foreboding when they were presented with a dilemma, knowing full well how tempting an opportunity the “wrong” option would be for them.
CoR is a fairly slow burn that picks up speed quickly in the final chapters, making the most of the tension the rest of book has built up. Though I will say that unlike when I read Children of Time, I knew that there was a sequel, this meant I had ruled out the story ending in a certain way which slightly reduced the dramatic power of the ending.
I’m pretty hyped to pick up the third in the series, hopefully Adrian Tchaikovsky manages to come up with some interesting twists to keep the formula of the series fresh for its third installment.
mothership rpgs review
Our cyberpunk campaign has reached a season finale and as such needs the full group present for the next session, this meant that we ended up having enough players to play but not enough for cyberpunk.
review books
Written by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Children of Ruin (CoR) is an evolutionary sci fi novel set in a star system that humans had just begun terraforming before an almost complete technological collapse destroyed human civilization. It is a sequel to Children of Time but picks up some time after with a new cast of characters.
rpgs homebrew journal
In my previous post I’d started a campaign journal for a post apocalyptic setting. The first session went great, the players enjoyed it and then…
rpgs homebrew journal
The other week I ran the first session of a post apocalyptic hex crawl TRPG I’m calling, for lack of a better name, Dominion of the Sword. I transplanted some of the lore I’d written for a post apocalyptic wargame to come up with the seed for a setting and then fleshed out the local area and set the players loose.
osr rpgs review
Mausritter is probably the cutest TRPG I’ve ever encountered, players take on the role of mouse adventurers on a quest for treasure in the giant and dangerous world. I picked up a copy of the boxed set, primarily because I thought it would fit with some of players wishes for a more light hearted and fantastical game. However, once I’d read through the rules I realised that this is one of the best written systems I’ve ever read and played.