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?

On Imir, Captain Holt founded a new colony on an empty world. In the process, he created hope and a new future for humanity. But generations later, his descendants are struggling to survive. As harvests worsen and equipment fails, strangers appear in a town where everyone knows their neighbor. Now the inexplicable lurks in the woods and the community fears it's being observed - that they're not alone. They'd be right, as explorers from the stars had arrived in secret to help this lost outpost. Confident of their superior technology, and overseen by the all-knowing construct of Doctor Avrana Kern, they begin to study their long-lost cousins from Earth. Yet the planet hides deeper mysteries. It seems the visitors aren't the only watchers. And when the starfarers discover the scale of their mistake, it will be far too late to escape. Children of Memory by Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky is a far-reaching space opera spanning generations, species and galaxies.