Paperback, 432 pages
English language
Published Sept. 17, 2024 by Orbit.
The planet of Kiln is where the tyrannical Mandate keeps its prison colony, and for inmates, the journey there is always a one-way trip. One such prisoner is Professor Arton Daghdev, xeno-ecologist and political dissident. Soon after arrival, he discovers that Kiln has a secret. Humanity is not the first intelligent life to set foot there.
In the midst of a ravenous, chaotic ecosystem are the ruins of a civilization, but who were the vanished builders and where did they go? If he can survive both the harsh rule of the camp commandant and the alien horrors of the world around him, then Arton has a chance at making a discovery that might just transform not only Kiln, but distant Earth as well.
I think I find a jocular first person narrative really irritating. I wish Adrian Tchaikovsky would write fewer books but make them all as good as children of time (not the sequels).
This is now my favorite Adrian Tchaikovsky book. The writing is grippy, the narrator is wry, and I love the way the plotlines of revolution against authoritarianism and academic exploration of alien biology intertwine with each other.
Some extremely minor asides that I appreciated:
The narrator is quite funny and I appreciate the way he sometimes deceives the reader; there are several scenes where you get the surface level view of the scene and then find out shortly afterwards that he's also doing something furtive simultaneously.
I love that the authoritarianism is all about black and white binaries, and the book casually infers that one of the characters fell into political disfavor because they are some flavor of non-binary (without using that word, thank goodness).
This is also somehow the second academic adjacent alien book that I've read recently, with James SA Corey's The Mercy of Gods being the other. …
This is now my favorite Adrian Tchaikovsky book. The writing is grippy, the narrator is wry, and I love the way the plotlines of revolution against authoritarianism and academic exploration of alien biology intertwine with each other.
Some extremely minor asides that I appreciated:
The narrator is quite funny and I appreciate the way he sometimes deceives the reader; there are several scenes where you get the surface level view of the scene and then find out shortly afterwards that he's also doing something furtive simultaneously.
I love that the authoritarianism is all about black and white binaries, and the book casually infers that one of the characters fell into political disfavor because they are some flavor of non-binary (without using that word, thank goodness).
This is also somehow the second academic adjacent alien book that I've read recently, with James SA Corey's The Mercy of Gods being the other. The power dynamic contexts are different enough that they end up taking different collaborator vs revolutionary approaches.
A deeply interconnected multi-level story diving into structure, communication, and organization from the deep level of biology & chemistry through community and up into society.
You're never going to believe this, but Adrian Tchaikovsky of all people has written a novel about the biology of non-human consciousness & awareness and the implications of that structure for the social structures and creations of such an alien consciousness. This particular novel also engages a little with 20th century authoritarianiam and where that movement might go in the future. That political dimension is connected back as a metaphor for the biology, human connection, & consciousness.
A neat, tight, well-executed novel. Great stuff; lots to consider. Not quite as thought-provoking as Watts' Firefall books which engage with the same material in greater depth. Probably not going to be a perpetual reread for me, but a deeply satisfying read nonetheless.
Another great Tchaikovsky take on the truly alien, this time with added revolutionary fervor. If you like near-to-mid-future scifi rooted in existing social issues and aliens that aren't just humans with weird foreheads, Alien Clay is for you!
This was a bit of a mixed bag. A really cool concept featuring an inverted ecosystem however the plot itself was quite boring.
Slow start, more compelling middle, followed by a disappointing end. It looks to be set up for a sequel though according to the author it’s a standalone.
I enjoyed the comedic touches and the creative narration style but it’s hard to recommend this especially compared to Tchaikovsky‘s other books which are great.
