Children of Ruin

I am definitely having the "oh fuck" shivers while reading this one. It's darker, in a lot of ways, and would make a decent horror movie.

Tchaikovsky's Children Of Series focuses on the lifeforms left behind by mankind's self-destruction. The sentient spiders from Children of Time are back, and are exploring a solar system caught in a civil war. One of science fiction's strengths is being able to imagine other beings, and Tchaikovsky's depictions of their life and thoughts are excellent here as well.