My most anticipated book of the year - Peter F. Hamilton, Britains no.1 science fiction writer n n Children of Ruin follows Adrian Tchaikovskys extraordinary Children of Time, winner of the Arthur C. Clarke award. It is set in the same universe, with new characters and a thrilling narrative. n n It has been waiting through the ages. Now its time . . . n n Thousands of years ago, Earths 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 humanitys great empire fell, and the programs decisions were lost to time. n n 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. n n But those ancient terraformers woke something on Nod better left undisturbed. n n And its been waiting for them. n n Books like this are why we read science fiction n - Ian McDonald, author of the Luna series n n All underpinned by great ideas. And it is crisply modern - but with the sensibility of classic science fiction n Stephen Baxter, author of the Long Earth series (with Terry Pratchett) n