Children of Ruin

Description

In the far future, human terraformers reach two promising worlds: ocean-covered Damascus and Nod, where the discovery of alien life halts development. On Damascus, Disra Senkovi releases genetically uplifted octopuses to serve as underwater workers; on Nod, explorers encounter a microscopic parasite that absorbs memories and learns through a collective mind. Thousands of years later, humans, intelligent Portiid spiders, and an uploaded artificial intelligence answer signals from the civilization the octopuses have built. They arrive amid devastation caused by the escaped parasite and a communication crisis with minds organized unlike their own. Moving across species and millennia, the novel examines whether radically different forms of intelligence can understand one another before fear turns contact into catastrophe.

Themes