Children of Strife is the extraordinary fourth volume set in the Children of Time universe, one of the most celebrated and bestselling space opera series of the decade. After Earth fell, ark ships hunted for a new home. They sought lost worlds terraformed in Earth's forgotten past. A ship crewed by maverick humans, spiders and a spectacularly punchy mantis shrimp captain is about to rediscover one such world, and an ark. Then human crewmate Alis wakes to discover that she, her captain and the ship's intelligence are the only ones left on their ship. But what happened to those who left to explore the ark . and the world below?.