Gender equality figures prominently in the development of the spider civilization. Choose three to five scenes that depict gender equality or inequality. How do these examples build a more comprehensive argument about civil rights?

How do the various powerful figures in Children of Time represent the relationship between corruption and power? Be sure to consider Vrie Guyen, Isa Lain, Avrana Kern, and the spider leadership.

Tchaikovsky discusses his fondness for spiders on his website and in interviews (“Adrian Tchaikovsky.” Adrian Tchaikovsky). How does Tchaikovsky resist the common temptation to anthropomorphize nonhuman characters? Choose several descriptions of the spiders in Children of Time and discuss how Tchaikovsky’s descriptions present arachnids in a way that is largely free of human bias.