# Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky

7 Hacker News commenters recommended Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Praised for laying out how different creatures think and learn; some find it darker and weaker than Children of Time.

## Why people recommend it

- Interesting take on nonhuman thinking (2 comments): "The author did a marvellous job of laying out the different ways the creatures think and learn." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47949753)) "not as good as Children of Time, but interesting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49427905))
- Each series entry enjoyable on its own (2 comments): "Every book of the series is amazing in its own way." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49985832)) "I enjoyed the second one as well" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46671077))

## What people warn about

- Darker, horror-leaning, unsettling tone (1 comments): "Children of Ruin had more of a horror focus to it and left me with much more icky feelings" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46678745))
- Not as strong as Children of Time (1 comments): "not as good as Children of Time, but interesting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49427905))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir](https://hackerapproved.com/p/project-hail-mary.md): 117 recommend
- [There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm](https://hackerapproved.com/p/there-is-no-antimemetics-division.md): 98 recommend
- [Blindsight by Peter Watts](https://hackerapproved.com/p/blindsight.md): 96 recommend
- [Dune by Frank Herbert](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dune.md): 82 recommend
- [Accelerando by Charles Stross](https://hackerapproved.com/p/accelerando.md): 71 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1509865853?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781509865857) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky", https://hackerapproved.com/p/children-of-ruin/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).