Children of Strife: The unmissable next instalment of the highly acclaimed Children of Time series, from award-winning master of science fiction Adrian Tchaikovsky

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 crew has vanished – leaving only Cato, the belligerent mantis shrimp captain, and Kern, the ship’s AI.

In searching for their fellows, Alis and Cato must venture into the darkness of the planet below. What did those ancient terraformers unleash? And could their last surviving cremate become a greater threat than the world itself?

Praise for Adrian Tchaikovsky

‘Brilliant science fiction and far-out world-building’ - James McAvoy

‘One of the most interesting and accomplished writers in speculative fiction’ - Christopher Paolini

‘Magnificent’ - Ian McDonald

Children of Time won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Science Fiction Novel w/c 24 August 2016

© 2026 Tor (Audiobook): 9781035057825

Release date

Audiobook: 26 March 2026