Alien Clay

English language

Published 2024 by Orbit.

ISBN:: 978-0-316-57898-1

(2 reviews)

Professor Arton Daghdev has always wanted to study alien life in person. But when his political activism sees him exiled to the planet Kiln, condemned to work under an unfamiliar sky until he dies, his idealistic wish becomes a terrible reality.

Kiln boasts a ravenous, chaotic ecosystem. Its monstrous alien life means Arton will risk death on a daily basis – if the camp’s oppressive regime doesn’t kill him first. But, if he survives, Kiln’s lost civilization holds a wondrous, terrible secret. It will redefine life and intelligence as he knows it – and might just set him free.

6 editions

Leaving_Marx reviewed Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Fav book this year!

5 stars

I really loved this book. It felt like the interest and passion in biology that Mikhail Bakunin exhibited in Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution but told ask a sci-fi epic@!

analyzing the conditions and contradictions of a human inmate labour camp upon an exoplanet with alien life Tchaikovsky looks at what makes us human, what mutualism and organization mean, and the struggles against domination.

I would liken this to The Dispossessed of Tchaikovsky's catalog and want you all to read it then get coffee with me and talk about the ups and downs.

Tak! reviewed Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky

5 stars

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!