In the distant future, a fascist dictatorship, only referred to as The Mandate rules over humanity. It weeds out any dissidents, anyone whose thinking borders on “unorthodox” and ships them off on one-way trips to alien planets that are used as prison colonies. Arton Daghdev, a scientist and political dissident is sentenced to spend the rest of his days on the planet known as Kiln. There, he and his fellow inmates are tasked with investigating this strange world and the ruins that adorn its surface. Through their research, two questions loom large; Was there intelligent life on Kiln before humanity arrived? If so, what happened to it?
I had heard good things about Adrian Tchaikovsky’s books before reading Alien Clay, but this was my first experience with his work. I would say this title mostly delivered on the high expectations I had going in. The book features some of the more unique science-fiction worldbuilding I have seen. The world of Kiln feels so authentically strange, so different from anything I have seen in Sci-Fi before. It truly feels alien in all the best ways, from the narrator’s description of the fauna, to the bizarre creatures, and even the color of the sky.
I found the book’s narrative to be consistently engaging and well-paced. Naturally, our protagonist and the rest of the prisoners consistently find themselves at odds with the staff of the prison. The prison commandant is particularly vile, effectively serving as the main antagonist of the story. The interactions between the prison staff and the inmates reminded me considerably of The Shawshank Redemption, particularly in the scenes where we find our protagonist, Arton, confronting the commandant face to face. With this being said, the thing that really kept me going with this book was the mystery at its core. What did happen to the life on Kiln before the arrival of humans? As the story progresses and you learn more about the planet, the mystery only becomes more complex making it feel like you are only getting further from the answer. This mystery remains intriguing however. Our narrator is a scientist who seems all too familiar with this frustrating process of discovery. His perspective (and the often cynical and sarcastic narration) keeps the reader engaged. Without spoiling the entire book, I will say that the ending fits well with what the book was setting up throughout, but I did admittedly find myself feeling a bit let down by the answers we finally arrive at.
Alien Clay is a novel that features fascinating and wholly original worldbuilding, a compelling mystery, and occasionally some well-placed humor. I would strongly recommend it to Science Fiction fans.
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