Tepper, Sheri S

The "magic" that was once America died with most of the Earth's inhabitants when the asteroid crashed into the planet. Bits and pieces of earth's history were collected after the diaster and boxes, books, bags, hard drives and filing cabinets lay sprawled in a heap, molding in darkness. Destiny has chosen Disme Latimer to lead a wasted world out of darkness...with a book. But the book is a sacred, unsettling tome, rife with disturbing ideas and revelations.

Linguist Paul Delis has been enlisted by the Planetary Protection Institute to explore the planet Moss for potential development and profit, and while exploring the planet with his half-sister, they uncover evidence of a ancient civilization that once populated the remote planet.