Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky is an epic story of humanity's battle for survival on a hostile, terraformed planet.
'Entertaining, smart, surprising and unexpectedly human' - Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls
The last remnants of the human race have 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, its new occupiers 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 will emerge as the rightful heirs of this new Earth?
Dive into Tchaikovsky's chillingly brilliant universe with Children of Time, the Winner of the 30th anniversary Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Novel.
Continue the journey with Children of Ruin and Children of Memory.
WHO WILL INHERIT THIS NEW EARTH?
The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home. Following their ancestors' star maps, they discovered the greatest treasure of a past age - a world terraformed and prepared for human life.
But all is not right in this new Eden. 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 and must fight to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?
'The smartest evolutionary world-building you'll ever read'
Peter F. Hamilton
'This is superior stuff, tackling big themes'
Financial Times
'A writer who really knows how to entertain . . . Essential science fiction'
SFBook.com
I cannot recommend it enough. It's a helluva first contact story, and that's only like its 5th most interesting feature!