Children of Ruin

· Pan Macmillan
4.3
117 reviews
Ebook
592
Pages
Eligible
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About this ebook

'Asimov or Clarke might have written this' – Stephen Baxter, co-author of The Long Earth

A scout ship discovers a human outpost lying derelict in space – and a planet better left unexplored. Set in the same universe as Children of Time, this is a thrilling narrative from the award-winning Adrian Tchaikovsky.

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 awoke something on Nod. Something better left undisturbed.

And it has been waiting for them.

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

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 an original narrative.

Ratings and reviews

4.3
117 reviews
Esko Peikko
January 16, 2021
Firat half of the book was great like the Children of Time was 5/5. But after first half the "We" parasite was utterly ridiculous and spoiled the whole book. I dont recommend wasting your time on reading this.
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Martin Anděl
June 18, 2020
Massively enjoyable with an unexpected horror like quality to it. Some necessary clichés in this book are easily outweighed by the sheer amount of original and truly mind-blowing ideas. If you were a fan of the Children of Time, this sequel won't let you down! P.S. I'll never look at an octopus the same way!
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Bargle Farglemond
March 8, 2021
I loved Children of Time but didn't enjoy this title as much. I found the parasite to be pretty irritating and found the second half of the book really dragged.
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About the author

Adrian Tchaikovsky was born in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, and headed off to university in Reading to study psychology and zoology. For reasons unclear even to himself, he subsequently ended up in law. Adrian has since worked as a legal executive in both Reading and Leeds and now writes full time. He also lives in Leeds, with his wife and son. Adrian is a keen live role-player and occasional amateur actor. He has also trained in stage-fighting and keeps no exotic or dangerous pets of any kind – possibly excepting his son.

Adrian is the author of the critically acclaimed Shadows of the Apt series, the Echoes of the Fall series and other novels, novellas and short stories. The Tiger and the Wolf won the British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel – and Children of Time won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. This was in the award’s 30th anniversary year.

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