A long time ago, humanity spread out into the stars with the aim of terraforming other worlds for future colonization.

Thousands of years later, the descendants of humanity and their new arachnid allies follow a mysterious radio signal to a distant star, hoping to find the society of another of mankind's legacies.

What they find is a system in chaos as warring factions struggle against the tide of what the terraformers awoke long ago.

Writing for Locus, Paul Di Filippo said that "Tchaikovsky performs all the wonders of the first book, while at the same time making some quantum jumps in his sequel".

[3] Likewise, Three Crows Magazine writer Olivia Hofer wrote "Children of Ruin is a truly original, evolution-based science fiction novel unlike any other", but said that "despite being a gripping sequel, is very similar to its predecessor.