Children of Time is a 2015 science fiction novel by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

In the distant future, humanity seeks to create new habitats for itself on distant planets, terraforming them and seeding them with life. Dr. Avrana Kern is heading one such project, orbiting the tentatively named "Kern's World", where the plan is to release monkeys le-monke infected with a nanovirus that will accelerate their evolution. Through an act of sabotage from an anti-technology group that has also destroyed much of Earth, the monkeys are never released, and the virus instead infects a species of spider, Portia labiata. The book follows the evolution of the spiders and their eventual civilisation, as well as a remnant of humanity that fled to Kern's World hoping to find paradise.

also children of ruin and children of memory, the sequels, are really good

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  • iridaniotter [she/her, she/her]
    ·
    2 days ago

    Death to the reactionary egg prime directive! Long live the revolutionary zone of proximal transgender development!

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    • TerminalEncounter [she/her]
      ·
      1 day ago

      I think the egg prime directive is around to prevent heartache, like a Nevada style thing.

      I would've loved if someone told me at 14 that I was feeling so awful about puberty and browsing like fictionmania and researching trans healthcare and being jealous of how my mom related to my sister was all because I was a girl and I could be transgender too. As obvious as it was post egg crack, it wasn't when I was living through it... I probably would've just rejected all that and said "nope still a guy"

      But the weird toxic discourse about the egg prime directive isn't about any of that, it's about thinking being called a trans woman or trans man or non binary is the worst thing like an insult or that people who just play with gender (tom boy or butch lesbian) might be "pressured" to transition. I love being trans, it's not an insult to me. We have one last cis het guy in our friend group, everyone else came out and/or transitioned, who we lightly tease about somehow being the last cishet.

    • Thallo [she/her]
      ·
      2 days ago

      I feel like you can respect the egg prime directive while still helping others with realization.

      I've been here going on and on about big gender feelings for like a year, and nobody ever told me I was trans or that I should start hormones or whatever. They just helped me along until I came to those decisions myself.

      Speaking of... Can someone finally tell me I'm trans now!?

      • iridaniotter [she/her, she/her]
        ·
        1 day ago

        I've been here going on and on about big gender feelings for like a year, and nobody ever told me I was trans or that I should start hormones or whatever. They just helped me along until I came to those decisions myself.

        Yes that's the ZPTD not the egg prime directive. Egg prime directive is saying nothing and making your "friend's" dysphoria last years longer than it needed to.