Children of Time Novels – serie

They thought they’d found refuge. But this paradise became their prison.Centuries ago, a maverick terraforming team played God with a distant planet. Out of their vanity and spite, something terrible and unexpected arose.Generations later, tormented scientist Alis is among the crew of the research vessel that rediscovers this lost outpost. But Alis wakes from nightmares of her own making to an all-too-real catastrophe on board. The rest of the crew has vanished – leaving only Cato, the belligerent mantis-shrimp captain, and Kern, the ship’s AI.Searching for their lost fellows, Alis and Cato must venture into the darkness of the planet below. What did those ancient terraformers unleash? And will their last surviving crewmate become a greater threat than the world itself?The journey that began with Children of Time reaches a new, terrifying frontier in Children of Strife, from the award-winning master of sci-fi Adrian Tchaikovsky, featuring epic adventure, first contact and the nature of intelligence among the stars.* * *Praise for the series: ‘Children of Time has a fabulous sense of scale that only someone as talented as Adrian Tchaikovsky can pull off . . . Very much recommended’– Peter F. Hamilton‘Brilliant science fiction and far-out world building’– James McAvoy‘A joy from start to finish. Entertaining, smart, surprising and unexpectedly human’– Patrick Ness'An exemplar of classic widescreen science fiction’– New ScientistChildren of Strife was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 30/03/2026.

It has been waiting through the ages. Now it's time . . .A scout ship discovers a human outpost lying derelict in space – and a planet better left unexplored.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.Children of Ruin follows the 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. Continue the journey with Children of Memory.* * *Praise for the series:‘Asimov or Clarke might have written this’– Stephen Baxter, co-author of The Long Earth‘Books like this are why we read science fiction’– Ian McDonald, author of the Luna series‘Entertaining, smart, surprising and unexpectedly human’– Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls‘Brilliant science fiction and far-out world-building’– James McAvoy‘A fabulous sense of scale that only someone as talented as Adrian Tchaikovsky can pull off’– Peter F. Hamilton, author of Exodus: The Archimedes Engine

Humanity is overrated.The tenth anniversary edition of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s critically acclaimed Children of Time – an epic story of humanity’s battle for survival on a terraformed planet. Winner of the 30th anniversary Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Novel.Contains the short story ‘Bearable’ exclusive to this edition.Who will inherit this new Earth? The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age – a world terraformed and prepared for human life.But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind’s worst nightmare.Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?Continue the journey with Children of Ruin, Children of Memory and Children of Strife.* * *Praise for Adrian Tchaikovsky‘Children of Time is a joy from start to finish. Entertaining, smart, surprising and unexpectedly human’ - Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls.‘No one has an an imagination like Adrian Tchaikovsky’ – Jim Al-Khalili, presenter of BBC Radio 4's The Life Scientific‘Tchaikovsky is the break-out star of contemporary British SF’ – The GuardianChildren of Time won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Science Fiction Novel w/c 24 August 2016

They thought they’d found refuge. But this paradise became their prison.Centuries ago, a maverick terraforming team played God with a distant planet. Out of their vanity and spite, something terrible and unexpected arose.Generations later, tormented scientist Alis is among the crew of the research vessel that rediscovers this lost outpost. But Alis wakes from nightmares of her own making to an all-too-real catastrophe on board. The rest of the crew has vanished – leaving only Cato, the belligerent mantis-shrimp captain, and Kern, the ship’s AI.Searching for their lost fellows, Alis and Cato must venture into the darkness of the planet below. What did those ancient terraformers unleash? And will their last surviving crewmate become a greater threat than the world itself?The journey that began with Children of Time reaches a new, terrifying frontier in Children of Strife, from the award-winning master of sci-fi Adrian Tchaikovsky, featuring epic adventure, first contact and the nature of intelligence among the stars.* * *Praise for the series: ‘Children of Time has a fabulous sense of scale that only someone as talented as Adrian Tchaikovsky can pull off . . . Very much recommended’– Peter F. Hamilton‘Brilliant science fiction and far-out world building’– James McAvoy‘A joy from start to finish. Entertaining, smart, surprising and unexpectedly human’– Patrick Ness'An exemplar of classic widescreen science fiction’– New ScientistChildren of Strife was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 30/03/2026.

Humanity is overrated.Adrian Tchaikovsky’s critically acclaimed Children of Time – an epic story of humanity’s battle for survival on a terraformed planet. Winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Novel.Who will inherit this new Earth? The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age – a world terraformed and prepared for human life.But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind’s worst nightmare.Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?Continue the journey with Children of Ruin, Children of Memory and Children of Strife.* * *Praise for Adrian Tchaikovsky‘Children of Time is a joy from start to finish. Entertaining, smart, surprising and unexpectedly human’ - Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls‘No one has an an imagination like Adrian Tchaikovsky’ – Jim Al-Khalili, presenter of BBC Radio 4's The Life Scientific‘Tchaikovsky is the break-out star of contemporary British SF’ – The GuardianChildren of Time won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Science Fiction Novel w/c 24 August 2016