Fiction Reviews
Alien Clay
(2024) Adrian Tchaikovsky, Tor, £22, hrdbk, 389pp, ISBN 978-1-035-01374-6
Here's the latest science fiction novel by Adrian Tchaikovsky this year. He’s clearly a writer whose prodigious output (I make it about forty books so far to date) shows no signs of slowing down, to the point where in my mind he's almost rivalling Brandon Sanderson in his voluminous output. Indeed, as I write this, he has I believe three more books due later this year!
Mind you, Alien Clay shows us that whilst the output is huge, there is no corresponding decrease in the quality. He’s been a regular award nominee and award winner in recent years. Personally, I think that Tchaikovsky is one of the most engaging and original authors I've seen in the genre recently. I think that Alien Clay further cements that reputation.
Here in Alien Clay we begin with Anton Daghev, a xeno-ecologist dissident exiled to the planet Kiln. (Yes, there's a distinct Crime and Punishment vibe here.). The book begins startlingly well. In a scene reminiscent of Starship Troopers, Anton describes being dropped to the planet in a plastic cocoon, except unlike Starship Troopers there is no training in this. It's a shocking beginning – Anton sees other bodies burn up on the way down – but this action emphasises that the convicts are expendable and that s it’s the cheapest and most cost-effective means of getting these dispensable bodies to the planet.
Through Anton’s first-person narrative we find out why he's being sent to Kiln. Part of the reason for this is that he and other convicts are scientific dissidents, possibly subversive to Earth’s rulers and therefore removed from being an disruptive influence on society. Earth is ruled by the Mandate, who have outlawed scientific thought unless sanctioned and as a result Anton and his fellow prisoners have no place on Earth. Kiln is a prison planet thirty years of travel away from Earth, one of nine habitable, Earth-like exoplanets discovered so far, but has a reputation for being unpleasant without being entirely impossible for humans to live on. It’s liveable for humans, but its rampant and aggressive biology shows us that leaving the prison colony without protection is a sure sign of death.
Much of the first part of the novel describes Anton’s first few days at what is basically a prison colony. This mainly involves each convict jockeying for a position in the social order. Anton spends his time avoiding others, some of whom he has met in the past. His isolation is also emphasised as he becomes favoured by Commandant Terolan, the person in charge of the outpost. It is also at this point that Anton tries to understand the place to which he has been exiled. He becomes aware of some strange structures around near the prison, which even after decades of scientific observation and research the structures have shown that their origins and purpose are unknown. Anton is give the task of working with other scientists to study this further as the Mandate wants to know and understand them before bringing more colonists. Anton's future seems clear – working for the scientists on Kiln, never to escape.
In order to do his work, in the middle part of the book, Daghev goes on expedition (an ‘Excursion’) outside the prison camp to the structures. Here Tchaikovsky's imagination is let free, with strange trees and elephant-like creatures, all of whom are dangerous to humans. It's dangerous work, and there's a few unpleasant deaths to illustrate this. If you thought that the spiders in the 'Children of Time' series were strange, this really is Children of Time ramped up to 11. Perhaps not surprisingly, I found that the world-building was impressive, as Kiln feels genuinely alien.
Besides the alien ‘things’, the biggest discovery (which I’m not going to reveal here!) changes the way Anton sees the world and gives him the answer to Kiln’s biological secrets. The conclusion of the book deals with the consequences of the group’s discoveries, leading to an ending that is both logical and actually rather creepy.
As well as the alien world, Alien Clay is also impressive in terms of style. It is not easy writing a first-person narrative and keeping the reader engaged, as you are only getting one character’s perspective and not perhaps the full story, but Adrian manages this supremely well. It helps that the characterization of Anton is complex. He is appropriately literate, intelligent, and snarky. His sense of humour is suffused with his bitterness at being imprisoned and his corresponding anger over his fate. Daghev’s side-sojourns in his narrative lead to us getting drip-fed details about his own past, about Earth, about his ideas of society and philosophy, even about the importance of science and discovery.
Given the Crime and Punishment vibe I mentioned earlier it may be no surprise that Adrian gets Anton as part of his dialogue to debate and discuss political and philosophical notions, touching on currently relevant thoughts of identity, free speech and the suppression and censorship of ideas.
In summary, Alien Clay shows Tchaikovsky’s strengths. From the start it is familiar enough and yet strange enough to build on science-fictional tropes and take them to new and unusual places. It has clever plotting and imaginative world-building, whilst at the same time allowing the discussion of big and complex ideas in science and politics. It is seriously impressive.
Mark Yon
You can see Mark Bilsborough's take on Alien Clay here.
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