thecaptainsquarters 's review for:

Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky

5.0

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Ahoy there mateys!  This is a standalone sci-fi novel and a five star read.  Shroud is the name given to a “moon that is pitch black, but alive with radio activity. [It has] high-gravity, high-pressure, zero-oxygen environment.”  The Earth corporation of course wants to exploit it and does not care what the challenges are.  Turns out alien life is on the planet.

Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne are not scheduled to go to Shroud.  No one is.  However, an accident causes their pod to land on the moon.  They have to make a grueling journey the pod was not calibrated to handle.  I loved the evolution of the relationship between the two humans.  I loved how awful their explorations of the surface felt.  I loved watching smart people handle and survive absolute chaos.  I loved watching the corporation (badly) deal with the situation.  I also loved the glimpses we got into how the corporation worked.

But the best part of the book was the aliens.  The humans and the aliens worldview is so different that incorrect assumptions abound.  Watching both sides freak out and course correct was fascinating.  All the lifeforms of Shroud were fascinating.  Tchaikovsky’s aliens feel . . . well alien.  This book made me think about everything and its consequences.

I read this in Kindle form from the library but will likely buy it in the future.  Perhaps in audiobook form.  Arrr!