Children of Strife

Children of Strife is a 2026 science fiction novel by Adrian Tchaikovsky that is the third sequel to Children of Time. It is preceded by Children of Memory.

Stats

• Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Publication date: 2026-03-17

Details

People

Domus

(b4c1.1) Underseer AI for Pancreator.

Gerey Hartmand

(b4c1.1) Tyrannical leader of the terraforming project aboard the Pancreator. Resentful terraforming competitor to Avrana Kern.

Ken Pil

(b4c1.1) Assistant to Hartmand.

Ottis Milner

(b4c1.1) Assistant to Hartmand. Likes meetings.

Redina Kott

(b4c1.1) Assistant to Hartmand. Skilled at hiding emotions. Enjoys watching coworker drama.

Sui Dorcheson

(b4c1.1) Second Visionary of the Pancreator, alongside Gerey Hartmand. Judged lacking by Kott.

Things

Pancreator

(b4c1) terraforming ship/station

Narrative

§	Description	Characters
1.1	Kott physically enters Hartland's quarters. Kott finds Hartland arguing with Dorcheson. Kott announces Pil is harming the terraforming project.	Kott, Hartland, Dorcheson
1.2	Hartland gathers the rest of the crew. Kott privately criticizes Milner's insistence on holding meetings with artificial personality models of investors. A summary by Kott about how Hartmand stole a planet from Kern. How Hartmand's rapid terraforming project has repeatedly failed. Kott privately believes her data linking is responsible. How Kott believes Hartmand will murder one of his Visionaries and so Kott tattle-telling on Pil improves her survival chances. Hartland confronts Pil who says he has saved the project.	Kott, Hartland, Dorcheson, Milner, Pil
1.3	Kott and Pil get high together. Kott notices Pil acting strangely. Kott clears her blood chemistry of mind-altering substances and notices the sixth terraforming failure is unlike the previous failures. Kott sees microbial fiefdoms rising and competing against others instead of global mass death. Pil says he applied Kott's own method to the terraforming microbes. Kott does not understand Pil but knows she must tell Hartland what Pil has done to avoid Pil implicating her.	Kott, Pil

See also

• Wikipedia:Children of Strife