Children of Time (novel)

A cynical and egotistic woman determined to "beget new sentient life" in humanity's own image. She escapes the destruction of her ship and spends millennia in suspended animation inside an observation satellite, hovering above the only world she managed to seed with the gene-editing nano-virus as it works its wonders on the population below.

Leader of the Gilgamesh who exercises often autocratic authority over the expedition and its human cargo. After Kern forces his hand, Guyen leads the ship to another terraformed world and discovers experimental old empire tech capable of uploading a human mind to a sufficiently sized computer. He eventually becomes dedicated to a new mission, uploading himself to the Gilgamesh computer, as a means of establishing firmer control over the ship itself before returning to Kern's world.

Chief classicist of the Gilgamesh, he is charged with the translation of a popular Old Empire language - “Imperial C”. Holsten's primary responsibility is to help the ark ship navigate the territories and tech of the old empire, though he eventually embraces a higher mission: the establishment of a new cultural heritage for humanity based upon the historical narrative through which he lived while aboard the Gilgamesh.

Chief engineer of the Gilgamesh and its eventual de facto leader, Lain is often forced to hold the ship together in the face of near-insurmountable technological breakdown. She becomes the spiritual leader of the Gil's generations of inhabitants after spending decades of her life guiding and protecting “the tribe” as well as the vessel itself. If Guyen is the villain in Holsten's historical narrative, then Lain is most certainly the heroine.

Chief science officer of the Gilgamesh and a stern adherent to professional objectivity, Vitas is more than capable of performing notable research. However, her ambitious scientific curiosity can often guide her down the wrong path. She is described as somewhat robotic and uncannily ageless by Holsten.

The Gil's chief of security, though flamboyantly blunt, eventually proves himself a somewhat cautious leader by limiting weapons access during the ship's periods of internal confrontation. Originally intimidated by the gruff gunslinger, Holsten grows to respect Karst by the end of the novel.

The story covers many thousands of years and generations of Portiids. The spiders have separate identities, lives and experiences, but the novel refers to the major spiders by four names based on distinct personality attributes to avoid confusion, presumably.

Female Spider, warrior, priestess, leader

Female Spider, warrior, Scientist, leader, genius

Male Spider, Scientist, Rebel, genius, leader

Female Spider, Scientist, genius