Alien Clay (SF) - Adrian Tchaikovsky ****

This 2024 novel is the first of Adrian Tchaikovsky's books I've read - I can certainly see what the fuss is about, though there were a couple of things I really disliked about Alien Clay.

Let's get those negatives out of the way first, so we can get onto the positives. I'm no fan of dystopian fiction - if I want to be depressed, I can read the news. Tchaikovsky sets his book in a space travelling future totalitarian world state, using remote planets as one-way prison colonies. Initially this seems to make no financial sense, but the political prisoners are shipped out because they are cheaper and more disposable than machinery. The central character and narrator, Professor Arton Daghdev has been taken from his relatively privileged lifestyle to be the lowest of the low. Jolly it is not.

The bigger negative, though, is the character himself. Of course rebelling against a totalitarian state should be seen as a positive - but Daghdev's politics are all too reminiscent of irritating student protests in our own world. More to the point, though, he is given to extensive internal monologues, droning on for page after page - about half way through the book I was really tempted to give up, but it the end I just skip read his droning to get to anything happening.

Switching to the positive, I am so glad I did persevere, because the denouement is spectacular. One thing that was brilliant all the way through was Tchaikovsky's envisioning of a genuinely alien flora and fauna, one of the very few times I've seen this achieved. It's stunning. And then, following a disaster to make the dystopian world even less pleasant, we get a huge plot twist. I wasn't a great fan of the way Tchaikovsky presents this, suddenly starting to jump back and forth on the timeline to give little hints of what had happened. But what happens is remarkable.

Oddly, it reminded me of a book from an author that couldn't be more politically different - Robert Heinlein. IThe outcome here feels like Stranger in a Strange Land with better science, but less sex and mysticism. The way things turn out is wonderfully done, I just wish some aspects of the journey (unless we were intended to suffer like Daghdev) was less difficult.

Hardback:

Kindle:
Using these links earns us commission at no cost to you
These articles will always be free - but if you'd like to support our online work, consider buying a virtual coffee or taking out a membership:
Review by Brian Clegg - See all reviews and Brian's online articles or subscribe free here

Comments

Mathematics with Love – Mary Stopes-Roe *****

Admittedly it’s early days (this review is written in January), but this, for me, is the surprise hit of the year so far! I approached this book with trepidation, but found it absolutely delightful. It is described on the cover as the “courtship correspondence of Barnes Wallis, inventor of the bouncing bomb”, and contains a series of letters between Wallis and his cousin and eventual wife Molly Bloxham, along with some useful annotation by their daughter, Mary. The courtship itself is not without difficulties, as Wallis was 18 years older than the 17-year-old Molly at the start of the correspondence, and her father, not surprisingly, wasn’t too pleased about the interest of such an elderly suitor, but that isn’t the only reason the letters are interesting – it’s also because of maths, and Wallis’s position in the UK as the engineering hero of the Second World War. (Incidentally, it seemed very strange to see letters addressed to “Barnes” – I had always assumed Barnes Wallis was a ...

Data Empire - Roopika Risam ****

The central thesis presented by Roopika Risam is that information gives us (and particularly countries) the power to organise, control and dominate others. Although I have a couple of issues with the presentation, this is a genuinely interesting trip through the history of our use of stored information from the earliest tallies to the latest information technology. I loved a quote from Lisa Gitelman that data is is always 'cooked' so 'raw data is an oxymoron'. This neatly underlines Risam's thesis that data and information are not neutral facts, but rather tools that (like everything from fire to electronics) can be used for good or evil. As we are taken through the historical context, it can sometimes be a little difficult to judge whether Risam regards a particular example as bad or good, even when the outcome is disastrous. One thing I didn't like too much is the adherence to a popular science writing approach that has got distinctly hackneyed: opening chapte...

Andrew Jaffe - Five way interview

Andrew Jaffe is professor of astrophysics and cosmology at Imperial College, London and director of the Imperial Centre for Inference and Cosmology. His new book is The Random Universe. Why science? I’ve always been interested in science, in particular in astronomy, astrophysics, and space. One of my earliest memories - back in nursery school in New Jersey, I think - was watching one of the moon launches. I wanted that excitement to be part of my life! I never got to be an astronaut, but I did get to be part of the Planck Satellite team, and was privileged to be able to travel to the ESA Spaceport in French Guiana to watch the launch. In between, I was lucky enough to have a supportive family, get a good education, and find inspiring teachers, mentors, and collaborators. They helped me model the universe, and helped me learn how to refine those models in the face of experimental and observational evidence. That is, they taught me to be a scientist. Why this book? The Random...

Search This Blog