the author has always been prolific, and his books are full of interesting ideas. but this one, first of a trilogy, is an action-oriented space opera, a whole new type for him, and a lot of fun for both writer and reader. it's the far future, and Earth has been swallowed by an anomaly, the unknown Architect, but a universe of earth-colonies and alien planets still exist. the aliens and alien cultures are fascinating, as you would expect from Tchaikovsky, the characters are lively, and their interactions are often surprising. it's all exactly the kind of thing i felt like reading, especially just as it seemed to me like i was getting a little behind on my Tchaikovsky. onward to Book #2. ( )

Another thoroughly enjoyable tale from Adrian Tchaikovsky. He seems to deliver consistently high quality and fun books.
Excellent story, with more to come, and strong characterisation. Enigmatic bad guys are always a bonus too.
Enjoyed the narration too. ( )

A few years back, I read Children of Ruin by Tchaikovsky. I thought the premise was amazing, and the book started brilliantly. However, somewhere in the middle, it started losing my interest, and I never felt compelled to pick up the next book.

I am definitely a mood reader. I just get into a mood and read a bunch of books in that genre. I have been struggling with finding that mood over the last few years in Science Fiction. I don't know why because it is still my great love when it comes to reading. Last week I felt the urge to read a science fiction book and for some reason, the plot and cover of Shards of Earth were speaking to me. I was hesitant to listen to the inner voice because of my earlier experience, but I gave in and I am overjoyed that I did.

I loved this book. That is LOVED with all caps. It was brilliant from beginning to end. It has top-notch characters. Top-notch pot, which actually surprised me a few times. The writing is wonderful and I am all in on this series. I loved this book so much I know I will someday go back and read Children of Ruin and see if I just wasn't in the right mood when I read it the first time.

This is my favorite new science fiction novel. I enjoyed it every bit as much as I enjoyed the Expanse series which has been my favorite series in the last 10 years. read this book you won't regret it. ( )

OK space opera, the start of a trilogy. This is my first Tchaikovsky, so I don't know how it compares to his previous series.

Decades earlier, planet-destroying Architects were ripping populated planets apart for some unknown reason, starting with Earth. They went away after being contacted by human telepaths -- an exploited group reminiscent of the telepaths of Babylon 5. Now they might be back. A main character is the telepath who was the primary savior of humanity. Oddly, everyone notes how he hasn't aged but no one asks why not.

If you liked the Expanse, you'll probably like this, though I found it derivative in comparison. ( )

I’ve had mixed results when reading the author’s work. I found Children of Time to be outstanding, but the sequel, Children of Ruin an exercise in navel gazing. City of Last Chances was not science fiction and I didn’t particularly care for it. I decided to order the author’s Final Architecture trilogy based upon the promise shown in Children of Time. This is the first book of that series.

This science fiction work is set in a universe in which the Earth and many of its colonies have been destroyed by an alien civilization called The Architects. Periodically, a huge artifact simply appears in the skies over a planet, and systematically destroys it. The destruction is brought to a halt by the development of a class of specially trained humans who can somehow “make contact” with The Architects. The Architects disappear for decades. This book takes place at the time when the Architects return.

The primary characters of the book are the crew of a deep space salvage ship. One of the crew members (Idris) is one of the specially trained humans who made contact with the Architects. Due to his training, he is able to navigate the ship through “unspace”, the trick used to avoid FTL travel. The story includes other alien civilizations, which are not terribly well imagined.

In my opinion, the book could have been edited to lose about 100 pages of extraneous material. While definitely better than Children of Ruin, it is a far piece from Children of Time. ( )