An excellent stand alone sci-fi book about the limits of control, fear of the unknown, and the wild world of alien biology. With a knock-out premise, incredible world building, and well drawn characters, this book comes out of the gate swinging and doesn't ever really stop. Tchaikovsky's readers will be very happy with this story, and I wouldn't be surprised if he earns quite a few new fans with this riveting and disturbing tale.

I've seen this opinion reflected elsewhere on the internet and it resonated with me completely -- this book is what I'd have wanted Mercy of Gods to be. I enjoyed Mercy of Gods, but the reading style and how seriously the book takes itself slowed my pace down a lot. Adrian Tchaikovsky's writing style worked much better for me -- I discovered his books this year, and am so glad I did! Also love that this is a standalone. I'm already in the middle of too many series -- feels good to have read one complete story!

Thank you Net Galley and Orbit Books for this eARC.

Am I able to officially say I'm in my science fiction era after finally picking up an Adrian Tchaikovsky book?

It took me a little bit to get into this book. The first-person perspective left me initially confused and writing was clunky, but boy was the payoff and the end of the book worth it.

For those of you who are looking to get into science fiction, pick up something like this. Don't let the humorous tone fool you - this is serious science fiction: space travel, first contact aliens, corrupt governments, revolution...it's all here, wrapped up in a narrator blantantly breaking the fourth wall with some *wink wink* *nudge nudge* every few chapters.

This was my first Tchaikovsky book and I am excited to read a lot more of his works!

I’m running out of original or clever ways to say “Adrian Tchaikovsky’s new book is brilliant,” because A) there’s a whole lot of them, and B) they’re almost all brilliant. To be fair, they’re not *all* brilliant. Some are just at the lowly level of “excellent” and I can think of one that I would call a mere “pretty good.” But there’s no one out there that comes even close to matching his combination of quality & quantity.

This one is about an ecologist sent to a labour camp on a remote colony world. It’s a life sentence, as there’s no FTL travel and the ship that brought them there was built to break up on arrival. And it’s assumed that the life sentence probably won’t be all that long, as the planet of Kiln is extremely hostile to human life. Upon arrival, he learns a secret that the government has been keeping very tightly: Kiln holds ruins built by an alien intelligence, and the protagonist is going to be applying his skills as a scientist to helping to understand them.

There’s a second angle to this story. That one is about a society where the government enthusiastically embraces science, but a tailored, narrow view of science that serves to legitimize the existing hierarchy and the government’s mandate to rule. In this angle, the protagonist is an academic who was targeted for his mildly non-Orthodox work, lightly challenging the places where the officially approved science didn’t fit reality. He’s sent to a penal colony and required to solve scientific questions. This is an impossible task: to survive, he must provide the government with the answers they seek, but those answers must fit with what the powers that be *know* to be the truth. Simply telling the Commandant what he wants to hear won’t work, as the Commandant is enough of a scientist himself to ask follow-up questions. But he also won’t accept “wrong” answers either.

This is simultaneously a dazzlingly brilliant science fiction story and a clever, incisive commentary on modern police states (including the “police state lite” of a heavily surveilled society). This touches on the power of propaganda (to which no one is immune), authoritarian powers stratifying society to stabilize their position at the top of the pyramid, a government’s need for legitimacy in the eyes of both rulers and ruled, and the difficulties of meaningful resistance when the government is sewing paranoia about betrayal everywhere. References to *1984* abound.

It’s standalone, which I greatly appreciate these days, and, as I said at the beginning of this review, a very typical Tchaikovsky. Which is to say, it’s brilliant.

This book surprised me. I’m not sure what I was expecting when I picked it up, but did not think I was about to find one of my favorites books of the year!

Professor Arton Daghdev is a xeno-ecologist swept up in the academic purged and imprisoned by the Mandate for his unorthodox beliefs. He will spend the rest of his life working in a prison labor camp on a remote planet called Kiln. The Mandate sent him to this planet because of his scientific background - they are desperate to understand what happened to the alien civilization that once thrived on Kiln.

The depiction of an authoritarian government imprisoning anyone who dares question their worldview is timely and terrifying. However, the sheer strangeness of this bizarre alien planet held enough wonder to cut through the dread and despair. Despite Daghdev’s imprisonment in this deadly labor camp, there is an undercurrent of hope. Maybe that hope is the result of there being no other option - he will die here, yes, but he is no longer on the run. It is finished. Or maybe the hope comes from the outside - from the planet itself, from its strange, ravenous lifeforms that are so deadly to humans yet so wild and wondrous to see.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Xenobiology my beloved. Great book for an ecologist to read, because it got me thinking hard. I absolutely loved way things lined up and happened, especially the end. I really liked the description of the revolution because it gets across how unimportant they really were, and how none of that was ever going to succeed. Is the ending happy or horrifying? I think happy.

Alien Clay imagines a space born dystopia, where dissidents are sent off to be the cannon fodder of exploration and settlement. Professor Arton Daghdev has fallen afoul of the Mandate. Similar to China in the 20th century, a feigned openness for criticism or challenge led to a crackdown, and as an academic not toeing the line of humanity as the peak of evolution Daghdev was forced underground and eventually captured and sent to the planet Kiln.

Kiln is foreboding, lightly and tenuously occupied by convict labor and the guards and commandant in absolute control. And he likes to play games. Daghdev is treated as a pawn, for the commandant to see if he will trade privilege for information, the abilities to use his education for betterment of knowledge of Kiln, or to be just a common laborer.

Daghdev's ship was designed to break up in orbit and get an acceptable number of passengers to the surface of Kiln. Much of the technology relied upon by the convicts is simply made and designed for short term use. There is a clear distinction of class and privilege, but Daghdev is hiding a past that means he could be far more capable of action than assumed.

The natural life of Kiln is not passive, it is symbiotic based. On learning of a dissection, it is detailed how many creatures work collective to the benefit of all instead of a more Darwinian triumph of the individual.

It's a fun romp, with Daghdev as an educated sarcastic narrator frequently pointing out the folly of man and the limits of truly knowing one another. At many points very much a horror story as what the planet looking for way to connect to all life tends to destroy the body and the mind. But when disinfection is a privileged reward just as much as food and shelter, what is the true greatest threat? Kiln? Or humanity?

A big thanks to NetGalley and Orbit for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

You know, the more I read Adrian Tchaikovsky. The less I'm sure I know what reality is.

Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky is a science fiction novel that features a professor with a terrible secret. The planet of Kiln is where the tyrannical Mandate keeps its prison colony, and for inmates, the journey there is always a one-way trip. One such prisoner is Professor Arton Daghdev, xeno-ecologist and political dissident. Soon after arrival, he discovers that Kiln has a secret. Humanity is not the first intelligent life to set foot there. In the midst of a ravenous, chaotic ecosystem are the ruins of a civilization, but who were the vanished builders and where did they go? If he can survive both the harsh rule of the camp commandant and the alien horrors of the world around him, then Arton has a chance at making a discovery that might just transform not only Kiln, but distant Earth as well.

All I got to say is this book blew my mind in all the best ways. And I can't wait to read more Tchaikovsky.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

This book drew me in from the very beginning. I enjoyed the world building and the interesting dynamic between characters and their environment. Would definitely recommend this one for sci-fi readers out there.

Discover the planet Kiln with Professor Arton Daghdev. Imprisoned at an alien work camp by the tyrannical group The Mandate, he uses is skills as a xeno-ecologist to uncover the secrets that make the hostile planet tick. Can Daghdev and the rest of the prisoners survive Kiln and the Mandate?

This novel is a politically charged survival tale with a good bit of fascinating biology to discover about a very dangerous planet. It is a wonderful underdog story about fighting against tyranny and unfamiliar nature.

If you love political stories, survival stories, and science fiction stories this one will definitely appeal to you. I highly recommend it for fans of science fiction.

Alien Clay is a Science Fiction story set on a far away Alien world but ruled entirely by a distant dystopian autocratic Earth.

The main protagonist is Anton Daghdev, a respected scientist back on Earth. He is condemned as a traitor of the Mandate, a dictatorship ruling the entire planet and reminiscent of 1984 somewhat with the paranoia that results from it.

The plot starts with Daghdev waking up from the brutal trip that sent him on the prison planet of Kiln to be as a convict to be used in forced labour for the rest of his life, which is probably going to be very short.

Kiln is a completely alien world with overwhelming nature and horrific creatures that reminded me a bit of The Island of Dr Moreau by H.G. Wells in the uncanny and horror feelings it evoked. Kiln is not inhabited by intelligent life except for the few humans on it. Scientists all agree that there could not have been intelligent life formed on the planet except... there is proof that at one point in time, there probably was. Kiln has some clay structures that could only have been constructed by a life form that is organized and intelligent.

There lies the mystery of this book. I wanted it to be the main focus of the story but there was a lot of time spent on the rulers of Kiln, the politics, the rebellions, etc. Most of the characters are utterly unlikable, it was hard to feel sympathy for any of them.

The Science talk was a bit nebulous. It reminded me slightly of the Foundation science by Asimov which is mostly imaginary. That is not a bad thing. However I did not feel for most of the story that Daghdev was as intelligent as his reputation stated he was. I am still trying to decide if he was a reliable or unreliable narrator and I quite like that. The last third of the novel is the best part in my opinion, it raised it to a 4 stars for me. I cannot make my mind up about Daghdev, was he a fraud, a genius, a broken man or a con artist, or all of it?

The first half of the book was a bit too long and was telling more than showing. There were always references to future events like the protagonist meeting a new character and telling you that he would be important later on. It took me out of the story and was too heavyhanded for my taste. There is a lot of time spent on NOT exploring the planet but instead having political talk and plots. I did not go into this book expecting that angle so it was a bit jarring at first. I wanted Indiana Jones in space to be honest.

The planet of Kiln is horrible and uncanny. There is a body horror aspect to this book as well which was great. Tchaikovsky was taking his time revealing the planet and it's mysteries to us and it was done quite well. The ending is shocking and left me with a bitter taste but in a good way.

Overall I feel positive about this book but there were a few irritants along the way.

Alien Clay, the story of Professor Anton Daghdev, is our guide in this engaging story about how a political dissident finds a secret that will redefine the notion of alien intelligence forever. Like many of Tchaikovsky's other works, this novel is filled with compelling characters, incredible world-building, incredible science, and an exploration of the philosophy of what makes us human. Kiln, the labour camp in which Daghdev finds himself, is run by a totalitarian society to extract labor from its workforce until they succumb to madness and death. But Kiln is also the key to unlocking powerful secrets about life and the universe, and this novel, and Tchaikovsky skillfully brings the reader along on an unforgettable journey. Highly recommended.

This was such a fantastic witty story. I love a good scifi that feels like I'm watching a movie and this delivers that very well. To say which movie it reminds me of would be a spoiler but I assure you this is worth picking up.

The MC is very relatable especially in these volatile political days and Tchaikovsky balances the motivations, story, and the moral ambiguity of the characters to create an interesting and though provoking tale about the need for survival.

Science is weird. Sometimes the results you find aren't comfortable, but the data is what it is. Least I'm not in a place we're scientists are forced to conform to a set of theories of face rampant anti-intellectualism. Or deportation to space at the very least. But they do in Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Alien Clay" (someone stop him from writing so I can read his backlog). Thanks Hachette Audio for the copy.

Xenobiology is weird. Organisms don't evolve the same way as they did on earth. But they do have to adjust when humanity is boots on the ground on their planet. Least we can throw wave after wave of people at the planet since it is a work camp for those the authorities don't want on Earth. For Professor Arton Daghdev planet Kiln is his new home, except intelligent life seems to have been there before humanity. The work camps are a cheap labor force to uncover ruins left by aliens, the local wildlife isn't the biggest fan of these groups.

Narrated by Ben Allen, had the right level of snark and scientific wonder to sell it. If you listen to the audio there is a chat between Adrian and Ben that is great.

Reasons to read:
-Real weird alien ecosystems
-Totally not relatable social situations
-Interesting uses for poop
-Wild tone change

Cons:
-Born too early to be a xeno-biologist

# Unreliable vs. Unrealistic

Alien Clay opens as the protagonist awakes in a decomposing one-way spacecraft, hurtling towards a prison planet with no escape. The main character, a scientist turned political dissident, fully intends to continue dissedenting and engaging in politics. All the while he researches the fascinating and science fictional biology of an ecosystem that differs from ours in a few very key ways. A good premise!

Tchaikovsky rewards us with some literary tropes that I think beneath him. The narrator conceals vital details from us, for most of the length of teh book, despite the narrative reading like he's talking directly to the reader. While an unreliable narrator is one thing, this borders on the unrealistic. He meets a character from his revolution days, and we don't find out they even know each other until after they make it somewhere private. It's a dramatic moment - meeting a tough-looking prisoner your first day inside the bars - but made worse in hindsight by the willful concealment of a fact that doesn't make the situation less dramatic. Under the watchful eye of the prison wardens two old co-conspirators have to pretend to meet for the first time and maintain their non-troublemaking personas until they reach somewhere private? Both have been told before, and Tchaikovsky doesn't land either one.

It reads more like watching a movie that's heavily narrated than it does reading a book.

The science-fictional elements are where the book really shines. As with his other works, Tchaikovsky is unafraid to posit an entire biosphere and its inner workings in a way that seems reasonable enough. I'm no biologist, and it holds up enough to be entertaining. What more can I ask? Perhaps the biologists or researchers should stay away from this one, if they hadn't been scared off by his arachnid-focused earlier work.

Overall it read well, I didn't have to try very hard to finish. The human bits of the plot left a lot to be desired, but the alien plots were great.

Galley copy provided by Netgalley and Orbit Books.

What would you do if you were exiles to an alien planet, fated to die under an oppressive regime, working yourself to death?

Adrian Tchaikovsy is a master of space science fiction and he doesn't let us down with Alien Clay. I was enthralled by Arton's curiosity and potential plight, and entranced with the atmospheric worldbuilding I feel very few are capable of pulling off.

A magnificent work, as always for this author.

WOW WOW WOW. WOW. It's been a while since I've encountered a book as surprising as this one. Not in a one-big-shock kind of way, but rather a pleasant slow creep of "Are we really going there? Oh my god, we are." Key features of my delight include absolutely perfect use of "unreliable" limited first person narration, and expertly wielded sections of non-chronological narrative.

It's a fascinating read, and feels very prescient right now. The way Tchaikovsky presents the political orthodoxy of this future, and the strengths and weak points of resistance from a perspective inside it, is so striking! And it's all happening inside this quiet growing horror, the source of which slowly shifts and evolves over the course of the book. What a treat to read a novel so fully unified in its themes, on every level of the narrative and even in the structure!

I also have to yell a little about the narrator, Arton Daghdev. He is simultaneously charming and pathetic, wickedly sharp and foolishly soft. His observations and assessments of himself and the people around him, of academia, of oppression and the oppressors, of the alien surroundings, are all so delightful to me and remind me favorably and unfavorably of many academics I know.

A complete stunner of a book, and my takeaway is that I should have been reading Tchaikovsky's books before now, and I will definitely be requesting some from my library.

While I've only started reading Adrian Tchaikovsky within the last couple of years, I discovered by looking in various bibliographies that he is prolific. And then I noticed that every time I looked up, he was publishing another novel or novella. His works have been nominated for the Hugo award, and he seems to be getting a lot of attention these days. I did enjoy his series entitled The Final Architecture, which was up for the Best Series Hugo this year, so when I got the chance to get a copy of his latest novel ALIEN CLAY I jumped on it.

The setting is some unspecified time in Earth's future, although it is far enough out that humanity has developed space travel. Earth is something of an authoritarian planet, under the rule that is known simply as The Mandate. We don't learn much about the Mandate, who came up with it, or who enforces it. What we do know is that the Mandate dictates how life and the universe exists, and anyone who rebels against the Mandate is sent off world to one of the few planets that is known to be able to support macrocellular life, known as Kiln. Those who enforce the Mandate do not care about interplanetary colonization. Rather, it would like to use knowledge gained on Kiln to support its view of how the world and the universe work. And if what is discovered on Kiln does not support the Mandate, the discovery is hidden from the masses back on Earth, or at the very least twisted so that it does support the dogma of the Mandate.

As you might guess, the Mandate is really just the mechanism to set up the story on Kiln. The protagonist is Arton Daghdev, an ecologist who dared to contradict the mandate and led a small revolution to boot. Arton and a bunch of other dissidents - they aren't the first, and they won't be the last - are sent to work in Kiln's labor camp to find the answers that will support the Mandate's definition of the universe and thus that whatever civilization was on Kiln is not a threat to humanity.

Of course, what Arton and his workmates find does not fit into the Mandate's definition. The creatures that are found on Kiln are nothing like human beings. They are amalgamations of creatures. They are not hive minds, but rather a combination of various animals that work together for the greater good of the whole. A creature that was broken open by a weapon would reveal other creatures inside, and there might be other creatures inside of those. It's hard for the Commandant of the camp to accept what he learns about life on the planet. There are structures
scattered across the planet that the Commandant - the Mandate's representative on the planet - believes are indicative of a prior civilization. The structures have writing on them, which seems to support the belief that there was indeed intelligent life on Kiln, and of course the Commandant wants to know everything about those structures that he possibly can.

The problem is that if you take a bunch of dissidents from one location and transport them to another location in order to get them to work toward a stated goal, they are still dissidents, and will behave as such. So those same people plotted a breakout. It failed of course, because there is always that one person who squeals, not unlike people back on Earth who ratted out those who worked against the Mandate. This episode underscored that people don't necessarily change, and they will work together for the common goal.

This concept of working together for a common goal comes to the forefront when Arton's work team is stranded out in the forest because their transport is destroyed. That team cooperates with each other, and a growing sense of something else going on brings them closer with each other and with the planet.

ALIEN CLAY is a cautionary tale of what can happen when an authoritarian regime controls the thoughts of an entire planet. But it's also a story of how cooperation and collaboration, not just within a species but across species, can lead to better things. It seems as if ALIEN CLAY is talking about us here on Earth right now, and the dangers of things like the Mandate can send humanity down a dark path, and that the only way out is to band together for the common good, even with people we know absolutely nothing about. ALIEN CLAY also shows Tchaikovsky's
outstanding range. I've read multiple works by him now, and they are all different in tone, theme, and subject matter. It's my opinion that Tchaikovsky is one of the great writers of our day, and I look forward to reading more of his work.

Professor Anton Daghdev is exiled to Kiln due to his political activism. Kiln, the planet where amazing discoveries are to be made but where also everything has the potential to kill humans. Forced to work as part of his punishment, Daghdev gets more and more intertwined with the planet and its discoveries.

One of the reasons that I love reading Adrian Tchaikovsky's books is to see the unexpected places the stories go to; how cleverly he creates plots woven with fascinating ideas. However, I didn't find this in this book. I could see the ideas he was presenting (group versus individual) but I could predict what was happening and what was going to happen in the early stages of the book. I felt this particular story was already told before a lot of times especialy with the ideas that were shown. And due to my expectations, I felt let down. It's pretty easy to see where he is going based on the world and how the humans interact with it. I also found the book extremely repetitive.

By the end, I felt really underwhelmed and thought it was only ok.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.