Synopsis:
Earth failed. In a desperate bid to escape, the spaceship Enkidu and its captain, Heorest Holt, carried its precious human cargo to a potential new paradise. Generations later, this fragile colony has managed to survive, eking out a hardy existence. Yet life is tough, and much technological knowledge has been lost.
Then strangers appear. They possess unparalleled knowledge and thrilling technology – and they’ve arrived from another world to help humanity’s colonies. But not all is as it seems, and the price of the strangers’ help may be the colony itself.
Review:
Children of Memory is an incredibly imaginative book with a completely unexpected twist that made the story so much better once it was revealed. While I still don’t think it was on the same level as Children of Time (it’s going to be really tough to top that book, in my opinion), I liked it a lot more than I did Children of Ruin.
Children of Memory is the tale of yet another planet the ancient terraformers of Earth had selected as a candidate for hosting life. The problem with this planet is the terraforming was never completed, and centuries later when the ark ship Enkidu arrives, there’s very little on the planet to help them survive. This part of the storyline alternates with that of a later expedition of human, Portiid, Interlocutor, and octopus scientists who came to that world long after the ark ship arrived, seeking more of their kin from old Earth. In addition to the species from previous books, we’re introduced to uplifted Corvids (crows or ravens), who have some unique problem-solving abilities the others lack.
Some of the characters from previous books are back (most notably, Avrana Kern, the terraformer-turned-AI. I was hoping for a bit more about Meshner after book 2, but other than a couple brief mentions, he wasn’t part of this story. Here’s hoping he’ll make a return in later books!)
This story requires a certain level of patience from the reader. There were parts in the first 2/3 of the book that had me scratching my head, and I was getting a bit frustrated by what appeared to be major inconsistencies. I say “appeared to be” because they were something else altogether, and it all made sense later on.
I think my enjoyment stemmed mostly from that big plot twist and how it altered my perception of everything that came before. The questions the book posed after that point were fascinating too, and I absolutely loved the ending.
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