"A tour-de-force, with nuanced characters in a masterfully conceived world of stunning, mind-bending eco-tech" from the author of A Human Stain (Annalee Newitz, bestselling author of The Terraformers ).

Finalist for the Hugo and Nebula Awards

Discover a shifting history of adventure as humanity clashes over whether to repair their ruined planet or luxuriate in a less tainted past.

In 2267, Earth has just begun to recover from worldwide ecological disasters. Minh is part of the generation that first moved back up to the surface of the Earth from the underground hells, to reclaim humanity's ancestral habitat. She's spent her entire life restoring river ecosystems, but lately the kind of long-term restoration projects Minh works on have been stalled due to the invention of time travel. When she gets the opportunity take a team to 2000 BC to survey the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, she jumps at the chance to uncover the secrets of the shadowy think tank that controls time travel technology.

"The far future, the distant past. Time travel, bioengineering, office politics—and ecological consulting. How could I not love this?" —Peter Watts, author of award-winning author of Blindsight

"A brilliantly structured far-future novella focused on ancient history . . . Robson's world-building is fantastic; I'm always grateful for books that fold business and finance systems into their narratives in lively ways." — The New York Times Book Review

"Robson . . . builds both her future and ancient worlds with convincing detail for such a short novel, populating them with characters who are believable and engrossing, even when they have tentacles. It's likely to be one of the most impressive debut novels of the year." — Chicago Tribune