One of Clarke's most famous and acclaimed novels, winner of both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award

A stunning new SF thriller from the critically acclaimed author of The Execution Channel.

Mars - the red planet - is a barren landscape of mankind's dreams of space. This book follows the colonization of the planet, as a cratered wasteland is turned into a human habitation.

With the imminent death of the Sun, human beings launch embryos into space, hoping to keep the race alive. Years later, another group of human beings set off into space and touch down on the same planet, but they discover a phenomenal clash of cultures. From the author of 2061: ODYSSEY THREE and 3001: THE FINAL ODYSSEY.

In the penultimate year before the Encroachment, the dimming sun still shines on the cloud-high weathered walls of Serehfa Fastness. On the day the Count Sessine dies for the final time, the chief scientist to the clan Accounts/Privileges receives a summons from the office of the High Sortileger.