Children of Time

How do the various powerful figures in Children of Time represent the relationship between corruption and power? Be sure to consider Vrie Guyen, Isa Lain, Avrana Kern, and the spider leadership.

Tchaikovsky discusses his fondness for spiders on his website and in interviews (“Adrian Tchaikovsky.” Adrian Tchaikovsky). How does Tchaikovsky resist the common temptation to anthropomorphize nonhuman characters? Choose several descriptions of the spiders in Children of Time and discuss how Tchaikovsky’s descriptions present arachnids in a way that is largely free of human bias.

Children of Time has been praised for the level of world-building that Tchaikovsky achieves. How does the Green Planet (Kern’s World) shift and evolve as the arachnid civilization progresses? Discuss how Tchaikovsky creates a world with his descriptions, plotting, and characterization.

How does Tchaikovsky portray the simultaneous evolution of spiders and devolution of humans across the ages? Choose multiple examples from both the human and spider chapters to support your analysis.

The spiders are all named after Shakespearean characters. Choose at least two and explain how their Shakespearean namesake affects the characterization of their various iterations across the generations.

Focus on Kern, Vitas, and at least two spiders scientists. How does each character represent a different approach to scientific progress? Pay particular attention to the underlying ethical issues associated with each character’s projects and endeavors.

There are two distinct populations of humans that progress through the generations aboard the Gilgamesh. What aspects of human nature are embodied by each population?

Analyze Guyen’s devolution from charismatic leader to tyrannical despot. What broader commentary does Tchaikovsky make about the corruptive influence of power? What role does technology play in Guyen’s philosophical transformation?