Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. The novel introduces us to several distinct non-human intelligences: The Portiids, the octopuses, and the Nodan parasite. Which perspective did you find most compelling or challenging to engage with, and why?

2. How did you feel Children of Ruin built upon the world and themes of its predecessor, Children of Time (2015)? For those who haven’t read the first book, did you feel you had enough context to fully appreciate the story?

3. What was your experience reading the dual timelines detailing the ancient past of the terraformers and the present-day mission of the Voyager crew? Did you find this structure effective in building suspense and deepening the story’s mysteries?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Helena’s breakthrough with the octopuses comes when she stops trying to send a simple, logical message and instead broadcasts her raw, complex emotional state. Think about a time you struggled to communicate with someone from a very different background. What did you learn from that experience?

2. Senkovi pours his life into his secret project of uplifting octopuses, driven by a personal connection that surpasses his interest in his human crewmates. Can you relate to his sense of obsession with a passion project or hobby? What do you think his story says about the line between genius and recklessness?

3. What does the Nodan parasite’s desire for “adventure” reveal about its nature? How does its quest for novelty through assimilation compare with your own idea of what makes for a meaningful exploration?

4. The octopus civilization is shaped for millennia by Senkovi’s single, inherited prohibition against approaching the crashed shuttle. Have you ever felt constrained by a long-standing tradition or rule in your family, community, or workplace? How did you navigate that tension between respecting the past and forging a new path?

5. When the crew of the Aegean realizes Earth has gone silent, they must cope with the despair of being the last of their kind. How did you react to their different coping mechanisms, such as Lante’s cloning project or Baltiel’s obsessive research?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. In what ways does the collapse of the octopus civilization, brought on by overpopulation and resource wars, mirror contemporary anxieties about our own planet’s future? What warnings, if any, do you think the novel offers?

2. The novel explores the ethics of uplifting a species through the immense, unforeseen consequences of Senkovi’s project. How does this fictional scenario connect to real-world discussions about the responsibilities of creators, whether in the field of genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, or even parenting?

3. How does the novel explore the concept of contagion, both as a biological plague with the Nodan parasite and as a contagion of fear that shapes octopus society? Where do you see similar dynamics of fear spreading through societies today?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. How does Tchaikovsky use real-world biology, such as the octopuses’ decentralized nervous system or spiders’ inherited knowledge, to challenge a human-centered definition of intelligence and consciousness?

2. Baltiel and Senkovi represent very different approaches to leadership and scientific ethics. How do their parallel stories act as foils for one another, and what does the ultimate fate of each character suggest about his worldview?

3. What is the significance of ruins in the narrative? Compare the derelict orbital stations to the cities the Nodan parasite carves out of rock and the large fortress the interlocutor’s team discovers in the Epilogue. What do these structures symbolize?

4. Avrana Kern begins as a cynical, fragmented AI but evolves into a being capable of empathy and self-sacrifice. What key moments in her arc drive this transformation, and what might her journey suggest about the nature of consciousness?

5. Tchaikovsky’s acknowledgments mention Peter Godfrey-Smith’s 2016 non-fiction book Other Minds, which explores octopus intelligence. For those familiar with the science of cephalopod cognition, how did Tchaikovsky’s fictional depiction of the octopuses’ consciousness and society feel to you? Did it seem plausible, and did it give you a new appreciation for the alien minds that exist on our own planet?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. The crew of the Lightfoot makes several critical errors during first contact. If you were tasked with creating a new universal first contact protocol for this universe, what would be your top three rules for engaging with a completely unknown intelligence?

2. Imagine you’ve been given access to the Rus-Califi nanovirus to uplift another of Earth’s invertebrate species. Which creature would you choose, and what kind of unique civilization, with its own forms of communication and social structure, do you envision it developing?

3. If you were curating a museum exhibit titled “The Age of Terraforming: Ambition and Ruin,” which object from the novel would you choose as your centerpiece? Would it be a sample of the Nodan parasite, one of the fake cities from Nod, or Senkovi’s personal data slate, and what story would you tell about it?