Episode · How I Write · 2025-12-31
David Perell & Adrian Tchaikovsky: books mentioned on How I Write
Adrian Tchaikovsky: How to Write Absurdly Well | How I Write
Adrian Tchaikovsky came on the show to talk about how he writes fantasy and science fiction. He won the Arthur C.
David Perell discussed Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Adrian Tchaikovsky recommended The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie, Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock, and Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, and discussed The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky, City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky, The dancers at the end of time by Michael Moorcock, and Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky and others.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Children of Time
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky is an acclaimed science fiction novel that chronicles the evolution of an advanced civilization built by intelligent genetically modified spiders.
Discussed“He won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for a book called Children of Time, and the guy is just prolific.”
Where to get it
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The Hobbit
The Hobbit by J.R.R.
Discussed“So, for example, you know, Smaug in The Hobbit is an embodiment of greed, and Tolkien is taking that directly from Fafnir in sort of Anglo-Saxon myth.”
Where to get it
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Children of Ruin
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.
Discussed“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.”
Where to get it
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The dancers at the end of time
Discussed“There is a story that I mean, Michael Moorcock wrote a series called The Dancers at the End of Time, which is set in such a far future, there are basically about seven people left...”
Where to get it
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The Heroes
The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie is a gritty grimdark fantasy novel that focuses on a single brutal three-day battle from the perspectives of various participants on both sides.
Recommended“He wrote a book called The Heroes. There is a very large battle in The Heroes which you are basically seeing through the slot in someone's visor...”
Where to get it
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Mythago Wood
Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock is a landmark work of mythic fantasy that explores a British forest concealing ancient archetypes and mythical entities born from human collective consciousness.
Recommended“There are a couple of books I have read which have inspired me this incredible sense of the numinous. The numinous. Yes, of this kind of just the all of there being just a world that is just out of sight but is very very real and you can you get that I mean so Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood is”
Where to get it
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Piranesi
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is a critically acclaimed fantasy novel that follows an isolated protagonist navigating a surreal, statue-filled labyrinth known as the House.
Recommended“...and Susanna Clarke's Piranesi is another both of which are books I absolutely love and at some point I want to write a book that inspires a similar kind of sense...”
Where to get it
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Dogs of War
Discussed“So, there's in Dogs of War the main character is Rex. He is an bioengineered dog who is being used as a military asset.”
Where to get it
