Publishers Weekly
11/08/2021
Arthur C. Clarke Award winner Tchaikovsky (Children of Time) wows with this inventive and empathetic story of courage, science, and magic. Though Lynesse is the mere Fourth Daughter of the Royal Line of Lannesite, she knows she’s capable of more than being the family hoyden. When a demon ravages the countryside, Lynesse is determined to emulate her great-grandmother Astresse, who teamed up with the mysterious, ageless sorcerer Elder Nyr to destroy a monster. In truth, however, Nyr is not a mage but an anthropologist, the last of a team from Earth sent to study the colony that became Lynesse’s homeworld. He broke protocol to help Astresse defeat the demon, really a leftover piece of Earth-built equipment run amok, and wonders if that transgression is why he’s been cut off from Earth for over 300 years. Abandoned and unsure, Nyr knows the choice he makes now—to help or not—will define the rest of his life, and decide the fate of Lynesse’s world. Tchaikovsky takes beloved tropes to exciting new places, carried by memorable characters and clever prose. This proves yet again why Tchaikovsky is a master of the genre mash-up. (Nov.)
From the Publisher
Shortlisted for the Ursula K. Le Guin Fiction Prize!
An Indie Next Reading Group Selection!
"There’s an Ursula Le Guin-like grace to [Tchaikovsky's] storytelling, to the shifting of cadences. Everything about this book suggests deliberate care in uniting epic fantasy’s immersive world-building with the sharp, dislocating bursts of high-concept science fiction... Ten out of 10." —New York Times
"[An] epic tale of a land ruled by magic—or the sober record of a world colonized by science...The double vision built into the story works well." —Wall Street Journal
"[A] seamless blend of science fiction and fantasy... Recommended for lovers of portal fantasy, lost colony science fiction, and stories on the border between the two genres" —Library Journal
"Tchaikovsky takes beloved tropes to exciting new places, carried by memorable characters and clever prose. This proves yet again why Tchaikovsky is a master of the genre mash-up.” —Publishers Weekly
"Elder Race is a really fun novella, displaying Tchaikovsky’s trademark sharp prose and big ideas conveyed in interesting ways." —GrimDark Magazine
More Praise for Adrian Tchaikovsky
"Picking up an Adrian Tchaikovsky book is proof you love your brain and want it to be happy." —John Scalzi
“A great coming-of-age story that careens through a world so vividly realized that you can feel each insect bite and taste every acrid berry. The Expert System’s Brother gives you that visceral eek of satisfaction as its pieces come into view then fit together with exacting precision. It’s a smart story, smartly told.” - Hugo Award winner, John Chu
“I loved it. A bold, vivid story about humanity and the broader universe. Should we mold the universe to suit us? Or should we mold ourselves to suit the universe? Adrian Tchaikovsky keeps these choices in tension, and kept me riveted to the page.” - Ramez Naam, author of Nexus on The Expert System’s Brother
“Children of Time is a joy from start to finish. Entertaining, smart, surprising and unexpectedly human.” - Patrick Ness
“Brilliant science fiction and far out world building” - James McAvoy on Children of Time
“A refreshingly new take on post-dystopia civilizations, with the smartest evolutionary worldbuilding you'll ever read” - Peter F. Hamilton on Children of Time
“A magnificently imaginative space opera.” - B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog on Children of Time
Library Journal
10/01/2021
In this seamless blend of science fiction and fantasy from Arthur C. Clarke Award-winner Tchaikovsky (Children of Time), a neglected princess and a wizard who's actually an anthropologist join together to save a kingdom and each other. Princess Lynesse believes that Nyr is the great sorcerer Elder Nyrgoth who once helped her great-grandmother defeat a demon and so must have powerful magic that can once again vanquish the demon who has arisen on the borderlands of her mother's kingdom. As an anthropologist sent to study the planet's population, Nyr knows this is not true. But Lynesse needs the powerful Elder Nyrgoth and Nyr needs a reason to continue existing, abandoned as he is on this planet. Neither is who the other hoped for, but they work together in a story that highlights mutual respect, shared risk, and friendship reaching across a chasm of misunderstanding. Lynesse and her people are extraterrestrials, but there is the implication that they are analogous to Indigenous peoples. VERDICT Recommended for lovers of portal fantasy, lost colony science fiction, and stories on the border between the two genres.—Marlene Harris, Reading Reality, LLC, Duluth, GA
