Alien Clay

An interplanetary-scale, hyper-Orwellian stew of malignant academia . . . The regularity with which Tchaikovsky delivers great books is astounding. Highly recommended Alien Clay is convincing, compelling on human and cosmic levels, and unputdownable. With work like this, Adrian Tchaikovsky is fast becoming the voice of his generation in British SF The central concept unravels itself in a manner that is both deeply satisfying and not at all predictable. He truly is one of our finest writers of SF right now. The whole was an excellent story told with Adrian's trademark skill and flair A hell prison on a hell planet with a thrilling, important message: only connect. Adrian's firing on all cylinders in this one Is Tchaikovsky propping up the science fiction industry single-handedly? He is so prolific and reliably excellent that I think he might be Restlessly brainy and utterly involving, Alien Clay is as morally engaged as 1984 and as immersive as Avatar [Adrian Tchaikovsky] has created a wonderfully strange new world as the basis for an intriguing puzzle with plenty of thrills Imaginative, horrifying and always amusing, it's the perfect gateway into what makes Tchaikovsky great. [A] brilliant, gripping standalone novel, which reconstitutes numerous familiar SF tropes to create something thought-provoking, unexpected and at times unsettlingly weird Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky is another revolutionary adventure on an exoplanet with its own rules and paradigms When xeno-biologist Arton Daghdev is exiled to an alien planet, he journeys through a dangerous and hostile wilderness. Yet on his expedition, he uncovers lost alien ruins – and the mysterious builders who abandoned them. Alien Clay is a page-turning standalone adventure from master of sci-fi Adrian Tchaikovsky.
Alien Clay is a thrilling far-future adventure by acclaimed Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky.

They travelled into the unknown and left themselves behind . . .

On the distant world of Kiln lie the ruins of an alien civilization. It's the greatest discovery in humanity's spacefaring history – yet who were its builders and where did they go?

Professor Arton Daghdev had always wanted to study alien life up close. Then his wishes become a reality in the worst way. His political activism sees him exiled from Earth to Kiln's extrasolar labour camp. There, he's condemned to work under an alien sky until he dies.

Kiln boasts a ravenous, chaotic ecosystem like nothing seen on Earth. The monstrous alien life interacts in surprising, sometimes shocking ways with the human body, so Arton will risk death on a daily basis. However, the camp's oppressive regime might just kill him first. If Arton can somehow escape both fates, the world of Kiln holds a wondrous, terrible secret. It will redefine life and intelligence as he knows it, and might just set him free . . .

This audiobook edition includes an exclusive interview between Ben Allen and Adrian Tchaikovsky.

'A warning for a future we don't want . . . Highly recommended' – Tade Thompson

'Unputdownable. Adrian Tchaikovsky is fast becoming the voice of his generation in British SF' – Stephen Baxter

'One of our finest writers of SF right now . . . an excellent story told with Adrian's trademark skill and flair' – James Oswald
Adrian Tchaikovsky was born in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, has practised law and now writes full time. He's also studied stage-fighting, perpetrated amateur dramatics and has a keen interest in entomology and tabletop games.

Adrian is the author of the critically acclaimed Shadows of the Apt series, the Echoes of the Fall series and other novels, novellas and short stories. Children of Time won the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award, and Children of Ruin and Shards of Earth both won the British Science Fiction Award for Best Novel. The Tiger and the Wolf won the British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel.