Fiction Reviews
Alien Clay
(2024) Adrian Tchaikovsky, Tor, £22, hrdbk, 389pp, ISBN 978-1-035-01374-6
Another fine novel from the ubiquitous Adiran Tchaikovsky. Alien Clay is standalone science fiction set on a near-(ish) future colony planet where criminals and political dissidents are transported as penal labour for a small scientific community struggling to unravel the mysteries of the only vaguely habitable exoplanet yet discovered.
Kiln isn’t exactly paradise but the planet’s name, along with the book’s title, give some clues to the plot. There are mysteries in the thick, dense alien foliage in the shape of the ruins of an alien civilisation. That’s a threat to the totalitarian regime governing humanity, the Mandate, which sees itself as the top of the evolutionary tree: intelligent alien life of the distinctly non-humanoid kind most likely found on Kiln would fit uneasily with its master-race world view, and the scientists transported there are encouraged to make the facts fit acceptable theory, whether they do or not.
Because the alien life on Kiln is very different to life on Earth, as the scientists slowly discover. Early on, they realise that symbiosis is widespread: all the higher order creatures they encounter are actually at least three distinct organisms, cohabiting a single body. There’s also a high attrition rate as the hapless convicts sent out to clear sites of ancient ruins, equipped with inadequate environmental protection gear frequently succumb to infection.
There are two levels of storytelling here. On the one hand, this is a story of scientific unravelling, and there’s some cool science-fiction, from the desiccated convicts forced to crash land on an alien world (freeze dried to save weight with a 20% attrition rate considered acceptable) to the weird ecology or the planet itself. On the other hand, though this is a story about politics, and adaptability under pressure and oppression. There is a cruel, vicious tyrant, trigger happy flunkies, spies, saboteurs, forced labour, revolutions, executions betrayals and shifting loyalties, all revolving in a predictable and deadly cycle of oppression and reaction, oppression and reaction. Can the protagonist, dissident scientist Arton Daghdev, break the cycle?
Alien Clay is similar in style and tone to Tchaikovsky’s 'Children of Time' series, so regulars will know what to expect, ie intriguing plot, stimulating ideas, barely concealed social commentary, great characters and technically accurate sci-fi (at least to these untutored eyes). If you have not read this author yet, this is probably a good place to jump in. And watch out for it when the awards season comes back around next year – this novel is sure to feature heavily.
Mark Bilsborough
You can see Mark Yon's take on Alien Clay here.
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