Children of Ruin

'My most anticipated book of the year' - Peter F. Hamilton, Britain's no.1 science fiction writer

Children of Ruin follows Adrian Tchaikovsky's extraordinary Children of Time, winner of the Arthur C. Clarke award. It is set in the same universe, with new characters and a thrilling narrative.

It has been waiting through the ages. Now it's time . . .

Thousands of years ago, Earth’s terraforming program took to the stars. On the world they called Nod, scientists discovered alien life – but it was their mission to overwrite it with the memory of Earth. Then humanity’s great empire fell, and the program’s decisions were lost to time.

Aeons later, humanity and its new spider allies detected fragmentary radio signals between the stars. They dispatched an exploration vessel, hoping to find cousins from old Earth.

But those ancient terraformers woke something on Nod better left undisturbed.

And it’s been waiting for them.

'Books like this are why we read science fiction'
- Ian McDonald, author of the Luna series

All underpinned by great ideas. And it is crisply modern - but with the sensibility of classic science fiction'
Stephen Baxter, author of the Long Earth series (with Terry Pratchett)

Genre: Science Fiction

"A novel of sublime plot twists and spectacular set pieces, all underpinned by great ideas. And it is crisply modern - but with the sensibility of classic science fiction. Asimov or Clarke might have written this. A hugely satisfying sequel." - Stephen Baxter

"This is really smart science fiction." - Peter F Hamilton

"Magnificent. This is the big stuff -- the really big stuff. Rich in wisdom and Humanity (note the 'H'), with a Stapledonian sweep and grandeur. Books like this are why we read science-fiction." - Ian McDonald

"Children of Ruin is wonderful - big, thinky SF that feels classic without being mired in the past, absolutely crammed with fun ideas. Anyone who likes sweeping, evolutionary-scale stories will love this." - Django Wexler