Book · 2019 · Fiction
Children of Ruin
- mentions
- 6
- people
- 3
- podcasts
- 3
- episodes
- 4
- recommendation
- 1
What a wonderful book if anyone wants to read something that'll make your brain explode.
Chris Williamson · Modern Wisdom · Oct 2020 Listen at 55:02 What they say about it
- Features uplifted octopuses4
- Features octopuses in water spaceships“spaceships are full of water”3
The best things said about it
In Children of Ruin, which is the second of my kind of big sci-fi books in that series, I wanted to write about uplifted octopuses because they are very fascinating creatures.
Adrian Tchaikovsky How I Write · Dec 2025 In Children of Ruin, the octopuses have spaceships and the spaceships are full of water because they're octopuses.
Adrian Tchaikovsky How I Write · Dec 2025 If you look at Children of Ruin, 50% of that book is people working out how the hell you talk to an octopus.
Adrian Tchaikovsky How I Write · Dec 2025 Turns out to be a Sci-Fi book about an advanced civilization built by octopuses which sold completely sold immediately on that.
Ezra Klein The Ezra Klein Show · Feb 2023 And children of ruined by adrian tchaikovsky he's got these um these huge orbs that have got uh super intelligent octopuses in octopi and um they're flying these massive orbs of water around and um it's so it's such a funny idea.
Chris Williamson Modern Wisdom · Nov 2021 Where and when it comes up
Most mentions, by podcast
Why people recommend it
Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky is an imaginative science fiction novel that explores deep space exploration, alien encounters, and the evolutionary development of non-human intelligence, notably octopuses. On Modern Wisdom, Chris Williamson enthusiastically recommended the book to anyone looking for a mind-expanding read, highlighting the fascinating concept of genetically modified, super-intelligent octopuses flying around in massive orbs of water-filled spaceships. Williamson revisited the book in later episodes, marveling at the sheer humor and creativity of aquatic-based advanced civilizations. Author Adrian Tchaikovsky himself discussed the novel on How I Write, explaining that he wanted to explore uplifted octopuses and deliberately tackled the rigorous physics and scientific challenges of how water-breathing creatures would build spaceships and attempt to communicate with humanity. Ezra Klein also brought up Children of Ruin on The Ezra Klein Show, sharing that numerous listeners emailed him to recommend the science fiction masterpiece following a previous episode he hosted about real-world octopuses.
Every mention
Chris Williamson for all the adrian tchaikovsky and children of children of ruin might want that to be the case he genetical… 2
“and children of ruined by adrian tchaikovsky he's got these um these huge orbs that have got uh super intelligent octopuses in octopi and um they're flying these massive orbs of water around and um it's so it's such a funny idea”
“for all the adrian tchaikovsky and children of children of ruin might want that to be the case he genetically modified some octopuses octopi in that and then they're flying around in big orbs of what a wonderful book if anyone wants to read something that'll make your brain explode”
Adrian Tchaikovsky So for example in Children of Ruin, which is the second of my kind of big sci-fi books in that series, I wa… 3
“So for example in Children of Ruin, which is the second of my kind of big sci-fi books in that series, I wanted to write about uplifted octopuses because they are very fascinating creatures, but that felt like half a book.”
“Yeah, so I mean, for example, um Children of Ruin again. Okay. In Children of Ruin, the octopuses have spaceships and the spaceships are full of water because they're octopuses.”
“Whereas, if you look at Children of Ruin, 50% of that book is people working out how the hell you talk to an octopus.”
Ezra Klein so a while back I did an episode on octopuses and I immediately got all these emails from you saying have y… 1
“so a while back I did an episode on octopuses and I immediately got all these emails from you saying have you read Adrian Tchaikovsky's children of ruin children of her and when I looked it up turns out to be a Sci-Fi book about an advanced civilization built by octopuses which sold completely sold immediately on that”