Adrian Tchaikovsky is a British science-fiction and fantasy writer known for a wide variety of work, including the Children of Time, Final Architecture, Dogs of War, Elder Race, Tyrant Philosophers, and Shadows of the Apt series, as well as standalone books such as The Doors of Eden, Spiderlight, and many others. Children of Time won the Arthur C. Clarke Award and its sequel, Children of Ruin, won the British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Novel. His other works have won British Fantasy, British Science Fiction and Sidewise Awards, and he is a frequent nominee in several Hugo Award categories.

"[A] charmingly bizarre SF noir....Interstitial fiction at its most engaging and mind-bending." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"If Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy toned his language down and opened a private investigator's office like Philip Marlowe, he'd be Tchaikovsky's Skotch.... Readers searching for an adult Redwall, the animals-as-humans concept of Juneau Black's Shady Hollow, or the upside-down criminal enterprise of John Scalzi's Starter Villain will be thrilled to meet Skotch." --Library Journal, starred review

Praise for Adrian Tchaikovsky

"A surprisingly thoughtful and compelling story...Readers who love a good postapocalyptic hell ride, AI-centered adventures, and robot/human companion stories, such as A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers, will appreciate." --Library Journal, starred review on Service Model

"With humor, heart, and hope balancing out the decay, this glimpse of the future is sure to win fans." --Publishers Weekly on Service Model

"Picking up an Adrian Tchaikovsky book is proof you love your brain and want it to be happy." --John Scalzi

"There's an Ursula Le Guin-like grace to [Tchaikovsky's] storytelling....Ten out of ten." --The New York Times on Elder Race

"An epic tale of a land ruled by magic--or the sober record of a world colonized by science....The double vision built into the story works well." --The Wall Street Journal on Elder Race

"Rex, a two-metre-tall bioengineered dog, is one of the most achingly human characters I have ever encountered in an SF novel. A gripping dive into bioethics and artificial intelligence." --New Scientist on Dogs of War

"Children of Time is a joy from start to finish. Entertaining, smart, surprising and unexpectedly human." --Patrick Ness

Publisher: Tor Books

Pub date: 2026-06-23

Length: 368 pages