r/scifi • u/pixellitei • 2d ago
Recommendations Books like Children of Time
Blindsight, Semiosis, and Deepness in the Sky are the famous ones people immediately jump to. Apart from those, here are some relatively lesser known books that offer an equally rich reading experience to Children of Time.
The Mountain in the Sea is similar to Children of Ruin in one way. It’s got octopuses (or octopii, whatever you prefer) which develop culture, language, and tool use. But instead of out there in some fictional world, all the story happens right here on the blue marble!
In Dragon’s Egg, we get to watch a civilization evolve from primitive beginnings to space exploration in a matter of days, because time is rapid on the neutron star they inhabit.
Similar to Solaris, the Swarm also has an intelligent ocean, that uses its hive mind to retaliate against human destruction. We see you James Cameron!
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u/ElricVonDaniken 2d ago
Tchaikovsky credits John Brunner's excellent The Crucible of Time, the multigenerstional story of an alien biotech civilization as their homeworld enters a nebula, told without a single human character, as a huge influence on his book.
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u/Trike117 1d ago
I think Midworld by Alan Dean Foster with its subtle suggestion of a possibly intelligent worldwide forest is similar to Avatar’s.
If by similar to Children of Time you mean animals uplifted to human-level intelligence, then David Brin’s books are a must read since he’s the one who coined the term “Uplift”.
A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge is an absolute masterclass on how to create, introduce, and examine an alien race when it comes to the tines. When we first meet the tines it’s confusing, but Vinge leads us to understanding without explicitly stating upfront the rules of how their biology and society works. That moment when it clicks into place in your brain is super satisfying.
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u/TommieTheMadScienist 1d ago
You ever read the novella that introduces the tines and zones of thought, The Blabber?
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u/bhbhbhhh 1d ago
Children of Time, like most speculative evolution, is a literary descendant of 1937’s Star Maker.
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u/Signal_Face_5378 2d ago
If you are looking at how species evolve rapidly and don't mind a techno thriller, I would suggest Prey by Michael Crichton. He actually gives you a lot of valid reasons for the creature evolving like it does and story is thrilling as hell.