Description
An utterly gripping story of survival on a hostile planet from Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning Children of Time.
They looked into the darkness. The darkness looked back . . .
A commercial expedition to a distant star system discovers a pitch-black moon alive with radio activity. Its high-gravity, high-pressure, zero-oxygen environment is deadly to human life, but ripe for exploitation. They named it Shroud.
Under no circumstances can a human survive Shroud's inhospitable surface - but a catastrophic accident forces Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne to make an emergency landing in a barely adequate escape vehicle. Alone, and fighting for survival, the two women embark on a gruelling journey across land, sea and air in search of salvation.
But as they travel, Juna and Mai begin to understand Shroud's unnerving alien species. It also begins to understand them. If they escape Shroud, they'll somehow have to explain the impossible and translate the incredible. That is, if they make it back at all . . .
Praise for Adrian Tchaikovsky
'The smartest evolutionary worldbuilding you'll ever read' - Peter F. Hamilton, author of Salvation on Children of Time
'Compelling on human and cosmic levels, and unputdownable' - Stephen Baxter, author of Proxima on Alien Clay
'Heart-in-the-mouth fantastic' - New Scientist on Alien Clay
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 table-top 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, while And Put Away Childish Things won the BSFA Award for Best Shorter Fiction.
Reviews
Convincing, compelling on human and cosmic levels, and unputdownable -- Stephen Baxter, author of Proxima on Alien Clay
One of the most interesting and accomplished writers in speculative fiction -- Christopher Paolini, author of Eragon and To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
Tchaikovsky is writing modern classics and you should start reading them as soon as possible -- Tade Thompson, author of Rosewater
A huge talent, writing at the peak of his powers * New Scientist *
Tchaikovsky is the break-out star of contemporary British SF * The Guardian *
Imaginative, horrifying and always amusing, it's the perfect gateway into what makes Tchaikovsky great -- SciFiNow on Alien Clay
Restlessly brainy and utterly involving . . . as morally engaged as 1984 and as immersive as Avatar * The Daily Mail *
[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 on Alien Clay
Book Information
ISBN 9781035013791
Author Adrian Tchaikovsky
Format Hardback
Page Count 448
Imprint Tor
Publisher Pan Macmillan
