Alien Clay is a thrilling tale of first contact and those who are irrevocably changed by what they encounter - from the acclaimed Arthur C. Clarke Award-winner Adrian Tchaikovsky.

'Unputdownable' - Stephen Baxter, author of Proxima

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, but his wishes become a reality in the worst possible way. His political activism sees him exiled from Earth to a penal colony - based on Kiln. 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 and sometimes disturbing ways with the human body, so Arton must risk death on a daily basis. However, the camp's oppressive regime might just kill him first. If Arton can somehow escape both fates, and glimpse the planet's interior, Kiln holds a wondrous, terrible secret. It will redefine life and intelligence as he knows it, and might just set him free . . .

'Heart-in-the-mouth fantastic' - New Scientist

'Restlessly brainy and utterly involving, Alien Clay is as morally engaged as 1984 and as immersive as Avatar' - Daily Mail

'Imaginative, horrifying and always amusing, it's the perfect gateway into what makes Tchaikovsky great' - SciFiNow

About the Author

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.

Reviews
'This is what it's like to be sentenced to Transportation in a fictional futuristic world . . . The regularity with which Tchaikovsky delivers great books is astounding. Highly recommended -- Tade Thompson, author of Rosewater
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 -- Stephen Baxter, author of Proxima
One of our finest writers of SF right now . . . an excellent story told with Adrian's trademark skill and flair -- James Oswald, author of the Inspector McLean series
A hell prison on a hell planet with a thrilling, important message: only connect. Adrian's firing on all cylinders in this one -- Ian McDonald, author of New Moon
Is Tchaikovsky propping up the science fiction industry single-handedly? He is so prolific and reliably excellent that I think he might be * New Scientist *
Restlessly brainy and utterly involving, Alien Clay is as morally engaged as 1984 and as immersive as Avatar * Daily Mail *
[Adrian Tchaikovsky] has created a wonderfully strange new world as the basis for an intriguing puzzle with plenty of thrills * Guardian *
Imaginative, horrifying and always amusing, it's the perfect gateway into what makes Tchaikovsky great. * SciFiNow *
[A] brilliant, gripping standalone novel, which reconstitutes numerous familiar SF tropes to create something thought-provoking, unexpected and at times unsettlingly weird * SFX Magazine, 5* Review *



Book Information
ISBN 9781035013760
Author Adrian Tchaikovsky
Format Paperback
Page Count 560
Imprint Tor
Publisher Pan Macmillan