Children of Ruin

(Paperback)

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Description

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. Children of Ruin follows the author's Children of Time, winner of the Arthur C. Clarke award. It is set in the same universe, with a new cast of characters.

Reviews

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 -- Stephen Baxter
You know youre in for a ride. . . This book thoroughly engaged me. Children of Ruin is a humdinger of a book I enjoyed immensely -- Neal Asher
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
Breathtaking scope and vision. Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of our finest writers -- Gareth Powell
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
I couldnt put it down. There is an effortless quality to Adrians writing and youve clearly got another winner on your hands -- James Oswald
My most anticipated book of the year -- Peter F. Hamilton
Brilliant science fiction and far-out world-building -- James McAvoy on Children of Time
A refreshing new take on post-dystopia civilizations, with the smartest evolutionary world-building youll ever read -- Peter F. Hamilton on Children of Time
Children of Time is a joy from start to finish. Entertaining, smart, surprising and unexpectedly human -- Patrick Ness on Children of Time
This is superior stuff, tackling big themes gods, messiahs, artificial intelligence, alienness with brio -- Financial Times on Children of Time
The novels clever interrogation of the usual narrative of planetary conquest, and its thoughtful depiction of two alien civilisations attempting to understand each other, is an exemplar of classic widescreen science fiction -- New Scientist on Children of Time
Essential science fiction, a book not to be missed -- SFBook on Children of Time
An entertaining and thought-provoking novel of post humanity, survival and legacy . . . Children of Time is an enormously interesting and well drawn SF novel -- SFSignal on Children of Time
I cannot recommend it enough. It's a helluva first contact story, and that's only like its 5th most interesting feature! -- Ezra Klein, New York Times columnist on Children of Time

Author Bio

Adrian Tchaikovsky was born in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire before heading off to Reading to study psychology and zoology. For reasons unclear even to himself he subsequently ended up in law and has worked as a legal executive in both Reading and Leeds, where he now lives. Married, he is a keen live role-player and occasional amateur actor, has trained in stage-fighting, and keeps no exotic or dangerous pets of any kind, possibly excepting his son. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Shadows of the Apt series, the Echoes of the Fall series, and several standalone novels, including Children of Time, the winner of the 30th Anniversary Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.