When radiation from a supernova kills all the adults, the children become divided: some forge an imitation of the previous society; the others devolve into savagery and violence. 'Cixin Liu is the author of your next favourite sci-fi novel' Wired . Celestial giants don't go peacefully. They tear themselves to pieces, unleashing a tsunami of ultra high-energy radiation. Eight years ago and eight light years away, a supermassive star died and tonight its supernova shockwave will finally reach Earth. Dark skies will shine bright as a new star blooms in the heavens and within a year everyone over the age of thirteen will be dead, their chromosomes irreversibly damaged. And so the countdown begins. Parents apprentice their children and try to pass on the knowledge they'll need to keep the world running. But the last generation may not want to carry the legacy of their parents' world. And though they imagine a better, brighter future, they may not be able to escape humanity's darker instincts... 'China's answer to Arthur C. Clarke' THE NEW YORKER . 'Wildly imaginative, really interesting ... The scope of it was immense' BARACK OBAMA.