Engines of Reason by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Published by tordotcom on September 1, 2026

Engines of Reason is a sequel to Elder Race. The story will probably make little sense to readers who aren’t familiar with the first book.

Earth colonized a number of planets before it collapsed. After Earth recovered, its anthropologists visited the colonized planets. Nyr is an anthropologist on the planet Sophos 4, whose inhabitants have forgotten their origin. The local governments are primitive and the largest one is ruled by a dynasty.

Nyr lives in a tower that communicates with an orbiting satellite, but he hasn’t heard from Earth in quite a long time. Prior to Elder Race, he spent most of his time sleeping and waiting for instructions from an Earth that might again have collapsed. In Elder Race, Nyr saves Sophos 4 from someone who has discovered how to activate machines from Earth and use them for destructive ends. Because Nyr can control monstrous technology, he is viewed as a wizard.

Engines of Reason picks up the story many years after Elder Race ends. A young woman who implored Nyr to help her in Elder Race learned some secrets of his wizardry but disregarded his jealous advice not to marry a lout. Nyr and Lyn have been estranged ever since, but they reunite when Sendra appears, claiming to be a wizard.

Sendra is a charlatan, but the person who empowered him with the secrets of technology — Ilmoth the Elder — seems to be Nyr’s equal. Ilmoth is determined to conquer (or destroy) Sophos 4, and Nyr will need to team with Lyn and her daughter Sara to save the planet.

Taken together, Elder Race and Engines of Reason impress me as some of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s best work. The theme of an undeveloped society mistaking technology for magic is nicely developed, the relationship between Nyr and Lyn is complex, and the mystery of Ilmoth’s ability to control technology adds a new dimension to the story. The theme of self-sacrifice that made Nyr such an endearing character in Elder Race is reinforced in the sequel.

Science fans who haven’t read Elder Race might want to pick up that book and follow it with the sequel. Fans of the first novel will likely enjoy Engines of Reason as a tasty new treat.

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