
Synopsis
They thought they’d found refuge.
But this paradise became their prison.
Centuries ago, a maverick terraforming team played god with a distant planet. Out of their vanity and spite, something terrible and unexpected arose.
Generations later, tormented scientist Alis is among the crew of the research vessel that rediscovers this lost outpost. But Alis wakes from nightmares of her own making to an all-too real catastrophe on board. The crew has vanished – leaving only Cato, the belligerent mantis shrimp captain, and Kern, the ship’s AI.
In searching for their fellows, Alis and Cato must venture into the darkness of the planet below. What did those ancient terraformers unleash? And could their last surviving cremate become a greater threat than the world itself?
Praise for Adrian Tchaikovsky
‘Brilliant science fiction and far-out world-building’
- James McAvoy
‘One of the most interesting and accomplished writers in speculative fiction’
- Christopher Paolini
‘Magnificent’
- Ian McDonald
Children of Time won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Science Fiction Novel w/c 24 August 2016
Details
Reviews
Tchaikovsky is the break-out star of contemporary British SF
Tchaikovsky is writing modern classics and you should start reading them as soon as possible
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
The central concept unravels itself in a manner that is both deeply satisfying and not at all predictable. He truly is one of our finest writers of SF right now. The whole was an excellent story told with Adrian's trademark skill and flair































