Adrian Tchaikovsky's Latest Sci-Fi Drops

The "Children of Time" series, which now includes four books, began with a 2015 novel that secured the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award. The series went on to win a Hugo Award for Best Series, a testament to its broad appeal and critical acclaim. Tchaikovsky, a British author with a background in zoology and psychology, explores complex themes of evolution, artificial intelligence, and the nature of civilization. The initial novel follows the last remnants of humanity escaping a dying Earth, juxtaposed with the accelerated evolution of a spider species on a terraformed planet. This intricate world-building and exploration of non-human perspectives have become a hallmark of the series. Subsequent books, *Children of Ruin* and *Children of Memory*, expanded the universe with new species and existential threats. The latest installment, *Children of Strife*, continues to explore the far-future universe where ark ships from a fallen Earth encounter worlds terraformed in humanity's forgotten past. The plot involves the crew of a ship, comprised of humans, uplifted spiders, and a mantis shrimp captain, discovering a drifting, forgotten ark above a mysterious world. The speculative retelling of 'Moby-Dick' is titled *Hell's Heart* by Alexis Hall, marking his science fiction debut. The novel is set in a future where Earth is a ruin, and humanity survives by harvesting a hallucinogenic fuel from the brains of colossal Leviathans in Jupiter's atmosphere. This sapphic reimagining follows a narrator who joins the crew of the hunter-barque Pequod to escape her own debts. She is drawn into the obsessive quest of the ship's charismatic and unhinged female captain, known as 'A', who is hunting the specific Leviathan that injured her.