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gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Thank you Black Crow PR for sending me out a copy to participate in the book tour. All opinions remain 100% genuine.
This was absolutely fantastic. I feel like there's so much that this story of planetary colonization and the oneness of the mind went into that I can't even begin to fully fathom it all, but my goodness was it bloody fascinating.
We are following Arton, who has just been revived on a distant planet inhabited by prisoners. It's the perfect way to send off convicts on a one way trip to a potentially hostile planet, whilst utilising them as resources to investigate what happened to the builders of the planet Kiln. Gotta love the government, ay?
He first 100 pages of this book had me absolutely hooked and the rest followed suit.
It almost felt like a sci fi murder mystery in tone, but without that actual theme... I'm not really sure how to get that across, but the vibes were immaculate.
Alien Clay has solidified the fact that I really adore the blend of ecology and first contact within science fiction. Something about that combination just scratches a brain itch so satisfyingingly.
Following the perspective of Arton who was locked up for thinking differently and rebelling against the government in science, I must say that I loved that despite the circumstances he found himself in, Arton kept this boisterous and inquisitive personality that came across particularly well on the audiobook version and was just enjoyable to read. Adjacent to that note, I loved the sinisterly playful foreshadowing in Arton's narration, too. He was never fooled that something worse still was to befall him, and he didn't want the reader to be blind to it all, but the way events were alluded to was so.... Tantalizing, I want to say.
The characters hat Arton meets along the way added a great deal of excellently executed tension, as a lot of them were people he knew in his life back on Earth, and of course everyone had this hostility in their eyes, wondering who ratted who out to the authorities to get them into this situation. I felt like no one could be trusted which added to this edge of your seat murder mystery atmosphere I mentioned earlier.
The planet of Kiln was terrifyingly beautiful. From your regular observer, it sounded absolutely dier, uninhabitable and deadly, but once Arton explored more and came to know it more cellularly and .... Yeah, I guess spiritually, it just became this beautiful hub of knowledge and life. I love the awareness that was still had throughout about how much this shifting ideals all sounded like a cult. It kept it a bit light and funny when the science and politics of it all got really heavy.
This was an intelligent novel. As I say, I doubt I can begin to grasp the complexities of this cleverly crafted plot and world, but I thought it was fantastically done and if there was ever any more books set in their world/timeline/etc, I would read it for sure.
I've been steadily making my way through Tchaivosky's works for the last couple months and he's definitely creeping up there with my favourite authors.
This was absolutely fantastic. I feel like there's so much that this story of planetary colonization and the oneness of the mind went into that I can't even begin to fully fathom it all, but my goodness was it bloody fascinating.
We are following Arton, who has just been revived on a distant planet inhabited by prisoners. It's the perfect way to send off convicts on a one way trip to a potentially hostile planet, whilst utilising them as resources to investigate what happened to the builders of the planet Kiln. Gotta love the government, ay?
He first 100 pages of this book had me absolutely hooked and the rest followed suit.
It almost felt like a sci fi murder mystery in tone, but without that actual theme... I'm not really sure how to get that across, but the vibes were immaculate.
Alien Clay has solidified the fact that I really adore the blend of ecology and first contact within science fiction. Something about that combination just scratches a brain itch so satisfyingingly.
Following the perspective of Arton who was locked up for thinking differently and rebelling against the government in science, I must say that I loved that despite the circumstances he found himself in, Arton kept this boisterous and inquisitive personality that came across particularly well on the audiobook version and was just enjoyable to read. Adjacent to that note, I loved the sinisterly playful foreshadowing in Arton's narration, too. He was never fooled that something worse still was to befall him, and he didn't want the reader to be blind to it all, but the way events were alluded to was so.... Tantalizing, I want to say.
The characters hat Arton meets along the way added a great deal of excellently executed tension, as a lot of them were people he knew in his life back on Earth, and of course everyone had this hostility in their eyes, wondering who ratted who out to the authorities to get them into this situation. I felt like no one could be trusted which added to this edge of your seat murder mystery atmosphere I mentioned earlier.
The planet of Kiln was terrifyingly beautiful. From your regular observer, it sounded absolutely dier, uninhabitable and deadly, but once Arton explored more and came to know it more cellularly and .... Yeah, I guess spiritually, it just became this beautiful hub of knowledge and life. I love the awareness that was still had throughout about how much this shifting ideals all sounded like a cult. It kept it a bit light and funny when the science and politics of it all got really heavy.
This was an intelligent novel. As I say, I doubt I can begin to grasp the complexities of this cleverly crafted plot and world, but I thought it was fantastically done and if there was ever any more books set in their world/timeline/etc, I would read it for sure.
I've been steadily making my way through Tchaivosky's works for the last couple months and he's definitely creeping up there with my favourite authors.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Slavery, Colonisation, Gun violence, Body horror, Classism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, Blood, and Confinement
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