The Hungry Gods in SpecFic Buddy Reads

Aug 11, 2025 Nataliya rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley, 2025-reads

“Sometimes future demands sacrifice.”

Having read a string of quite unsatisfying novellas recently, I was about to start doubting the genre. But then Adrian Tchaikovsky as always swoops in and seemingly effortlessly shows how it’s done, how a sharply and skillfully written novella can be perfect for its length, with all the worlbuilding and character development and interesting well-paced plot happening at the same time and in the same space.

Tchaikovsky doesn’t fall into the common awards-ba

“Sometimes future demands sacrifice.”

Having read a string of quite unsatisfying novellas recently, I was about to start doubting the genre. But then Adrian Tchaikovsky as always swoops in and seemingly effortlessly shows how it’s done, how a sharply and skillfully written novella can be perfect for its length, with all the worlbuilding and character development and interesting well-paced plot happening at the same time and in the same space.

Tchaikovsky doesn’t fall into the common awards-bait trap of pompousness, preachiness and overt message fiction. He finds new angles to see old tales from a new point of view. He lets the story breathe and has characters develop organically, with ear for dialogue and believable human behavior that doesn’t feel like just plot service. His plots don’t need shocking twists to feel fresh, and he’s an absolute master of satisfying closure to the stories.

In Hungry Gods future Earth, polluted and poisoned, a few small tribes eke out subsistence living in the remains of once great cities — and then four gods come from the sky, ready to battle over the future of this world. Of course, they are not actual gods; they are elite scientist and tech entrepreneurs of eons ago who ran away from what they thought was a dying Earth to build utopias in space, but now are back, all with their own vision of how exactly they can fix the planet. But none of their grand ideas seem to leave any place for people who are actually already there, who dared to survive when the “best minds” left, and who may inconveniently get in the new gods’ way to become godlike saviors.

And maybe any sufficiently advanced technology can often be indistinguishable from magic, but also maybe narcissistically self-important tech/science bros can’t quite assume that everyone is so beneath them that manipulation is easy. When you used to being on top of the world, it’s too easy to disregard the rest of the “biomass”, but that way lies danger and payback.

It’s interesting and clever, and slightly cynical, and at first quite bleak, but the glimmer of hope gets brighter in the end. We all can easily think of those entitled few who are so convinced of their special superiority and untouchability and want to see the smugness knocked off the self-satisfied mugs of theirs. Well, Tchaikovsky is with us on that, and it’s satisfying to say the least.

Emma Newman did an excellent job narrating the story, and I’m very happy with all of it.

4.5 stars.
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Thanks to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for providing me with an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Also posted on my blog. ...more

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Aug 31, 2025 Trish rated it really liked it

Welcome to another of Tchaikovsky's dystopias. *lol*

This time, we're on Earth (again), but you'd hardly recognize it for there is barely any drinkable water and even the drinkable stuff will eventually kill you. The world is a dry, lethal, polluted and contaminated place where you're old if you manage to make it to 30.
In this ruinous world where barely any humans are left, there are factions named after animals: Seagulls who are mostly fighters, Pigeons who are traders, Cockroaches who scaveng Welcome to another of Tchaikovsky's dystopias. *lol*

This time, we're on Earth (again), but you'd hardly recognize it for there is barely any drinkable water and even the drinkable stuff will eventually kill you. The world is a dry, lethal, polluted and contaminated place where you're old if you manage to make it to 30.
In this ruinous world where barely any humans are left, there are factions named after animals: Seagulls who are mostly fighters, Pigeons who are traders, Cockroaches who scavenge, Rats who are supposedly resistant to the poisons and diseases, and Rabbits who mostly run when there is danger.

It's this last tribe our MC hails from. She's a nobody within her tribe's hierarchy, has no family, so she has to earn her keep. During one of her rather desperate attempts to find anything resembling wood (to burn under the stoves that boil the water so it can be consumed), something falls out of the sky.

As it turns out, there are "gods" - humans who are not diseased and dying of thirst but well-equipped scientists who once abandoned Earth and lived in space, even traveling the stars). One of them was cast out when they all returned to "save" Earth. And if you're thinking of an angel falling from the sky like friggin Lucifer, you'd be right.
The "angel" is called Guy, which made me chuckle quite a bit. Apart from him, there are 3 other "gods". They consider themselves "the worthy" who left Earth when it became too toxic and are generally not very friendly or empathetic people (maybe also because of how old they are what with them having the tech to transfer their consciousness into designer bodies).

Since Amri (our MC) has nothing to lose (the pod Guy arrived in struck her village and what started growing at the crash site all but wiped out her tribe), she follows Guy. Thus begins her journey of "self-discovery" smack in the middle of quite a conflict for literal world domination.

Not sure I bought into the self-discovery bit but Amri was a pretty likeable character (up to a certain point). Personally, as is almost to be expected by this point, I was more interested in the "mystery" of what had happened to Earth, where it fit with regards to the other novellas, who the "gods" were, why Guy was cast out etc. Plus the exploration of all the science.

Nothing much needs to be said about Tchaikovsky's writing as it's almost always excellent. I very much appreciate that his writing only deepens the WTF feeling and puzzlement for the reader in these novellas and a few of his other scifi works (the reader having to get their bearings and finding answers). ...more

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Aug 13, 2025 Lata rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, sf-f-h, 2025-read

Voice actor (and author) Emma Newman narrates this latest novella wonderfully in the audiobook of this story by author Adrian Tchaikovsky. In typical Tchaikovsky fashion, he posits what if people who left an Earth ravaged by environmental destruction returned, then gives us an unexpected ending.

The main character of this story is Amri, a member of the Rabbit tribe on Earth, whose whole way of life is, "See danger. Run." There are many other tribes also, all of them eking out a miserable existen Voice actor (and author) Emma Newman narrates this latest novella wonderfully in the audiobook of this story by author Adrian Tchaikovsky. In typical Tchaikovsky fashion, he posits what if people who left an Earth ravaged by environmental destruction returned, then gives us an unexpected ending.

The main character of this story is Amri, a member of the Rabbit tribe on Earth, whose whole way of life is, "See danger. Run." There are many other tribes also, all of them eking out a miserable existence on the planet.

The two other tribes who feature prominently in this story are Seagull and Cockroach; Amri has a violent encounter with some Seagulls, and runs back home, only to watch as it is obliterated. Out of the devastation come two things: an explosive proliferation of plants, and a man claiming to a god.

Amri is overwhelmed and in shock, and just accepts what the man says, and works with him to bring the Seagulls on board with his plan, which is to basically stick a wrench in what his fellow "gods" have in the works to rebuild/remediate Earth because they rejected and tried to kill him.

The god proceeds to tell Amri where he and the other three came from (space), and what they did over years, and why they're back, but none of these four men even bothers to really engage with the people whose lives they're destroying and/or changing, instead manipulating and talking down to them, much to their detriment.

This is a darkly funny little tale about ordinary people, and how tech bros, who, because of their privilege and technical aptitude, forget that people are at the centre of every situation, that problems are much more complex than they think, and unilaterally deciding for others, because they're small or supposedly irrelevant, is smug, superior and odious.

It was lovely to see Amri go from terror to veneration to cooperation with her former enemies, to canny priestess of a world that is gradually improving for Earth's inhabitants.

The story is so satisfying, as we see the tech bros get their comeuppance.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Tantor Audio for this ARC in exchange for my review. ...more

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Aug 05, 2025 Cindy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobooks, giveaways-and-arcs, sci-fi, climate-fiction-cli-fi

A rich multi-billionaire who had abandoned Earth long ago has now returned with a plan to clean and remake the decaying and overheated planet. But first, he must gain the support of a Rabbit and a few key Seagulls (names for groups of surviving humans).

It’s a post-apocalyptic tale that points a finger at those who are packing their bunkers, ready to spend millions to leave the planet rather than to help fix things that are broken on Earth. In true Tchaikovsky style, I care deeply about the huma ...more

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Aug 15, 2025 Cathy rated it liked it

Shelves: read-2025

The world is in ruins and poisonous. People are old at 30. There is little drinking water, wells are mostly empty. And the drinkable water they can find will eventually kill them.

Amri belongs to the tribe of Rabbit. If you want to survive, you run. There are also Seagull fighters, Pigeon traders, Cockroach scavengers and Rats.

Something strikes from the sky, her village is destroyed and she meets a god. His name is Guy Vesten, he wears a suit with a helmet and he has returned from space. The „wor ...more

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Aug 26, 2025 Victor Gutierrez rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2025-reads

3.75/5 (rounded to 4/5 because I’m biased.)

A great foray into the post-apocalypse from a modern science fiction Juggernaut. The novella tackles similar themes to the Children of Time series, this time coming back to where it all began. However, this story is not at any time tied to the aforementioned series, and I think that would’ve been a benefit to the narrative.

I enjoyed the novella but I felt that the characters weren’t very fleshed out and that the overall concept would have benefited from ...more

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Aug 31, 2025 Susy rated it it was ok

Shelves: sci-fi, audio-finished

2 stars
I don’t think Tchaikovsky is for me tbh. Going to try 1 more but in physical form instead of audio.
Characters didn’t do anything for me. The premise sounded interesting but the story just couldn’t hold my attention.

Characters 4
Atmosphere 4
Writing Style 6
Premise 6
Plot 2
Pace 4
Length 6
Structure/Setup 4
Enjoyment/Engrossment 1
Narration 5

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Sep 06, 2025 Leticia rated it really liked it

Shelves: novella

The audiobook was very well narrated.
Dystopian story worlds aren't my favorites, but I really enjoy Adrian Tchaikovsky's writing. His books, even if bleak, are still impossible to put down.

(view spoiler) ...more

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