300 years in the future, Verity Auger is a specialist in the archaeological exploration of Earth, rendered uninhabitable after the technological catastrophe known as the Nanocaust. After a field-trip goes badly wrong, Verity is forced to redeem herself by particpating in a dangerous mission.

A pretty fun story that I really hope Alastair Reynolds gets back to one day. I found myself enjoying the stuff in the ‘past’ to be more interesting than the scifi side of the story, but was very happy when they finally intersected and all the different story elements came together in a pretty spectacular fashion. Like most of Reynold’s books, I highly suggest this book.