This time, the artefacts that preserved entire worlds from destruction are ineffective. And no planet is safe. The Human Colony worlds are in turmoil as they face extinction.
Some believe alliances with other species can save them. Others insist humanity must fight alone. But no one has the firepower or technology to ensure victory, as the Architects loom ever closer.
Idris spent decades running from the last war's horrors. Yet as an Intermediary, altered to navigate deep space, he's one of humanity's only weapons. He's therefore forced back into action.
With a handful of allies, Idris must find something - anything - to stop the Architects' pitiless advance. But to do so, he must return to the nightmare of unspace, where his mind was broken and remade. What he discovers there will change everything.
Praise for Adrian Tchaikovsky:'[Adrian] writes incredibly enjoyable sci-fi, full of life and ideas' - Patrick Ness, author of The Knife of Never Letting Go'Brilliant science fiction' - James McAvoy on Children of Time'Full of sparkling, speculative invention' - Stephen Baxter, author of the Xeelee Sequence on The Doors of Eden