Alien Clay cover art

Alien Clay

An incredible science fiction tale of first contact with the unknown, shortlisted for Best Novel at the 2025 Hugo Awards

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Alien Clay

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Narrated by: Ben Allen
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About this listen

They travelled into the unknown and left themselves behind . . .

Alien Clay is a thrilling tale of alien encounter – from the acclaimed Arthur C. Clarke Award-winner Adrian Tchaikovsky.

‘Unputdownable’ – Stephen Baxter, author of Proxima

Professor Arton Daghdev has always wanted to study alien life in person. But when his political activism sees him exiled to the planet Kiln, condemned to work under an unfamiliar sky until he dies, his idealistic wish becomes a terrible reality.

Kiln boasts a ravenous, chaotic ecosystem. Its monstrous alien life means Arton will risk death on a daily basis – if the camp’s oppressive regime doesn’t kill him first. But, if he survives, Kiln’s lost civilization holds a wondrous, terrible secret. It will redefine life and intelligence as he knows it – and might just set him free.

This audiobook edition includes an exclusive interview between Ben Allen and Adrian Tchaikovsky.

‘Heart-in-the-mouth fantastic’ – New Scientist

‘Restlessly brainy and utterly involving’ – Daily Mail

‘The perfect gateway into what makes Tchaikovsky great’ – SciFiNow

 First Contact Genetic Engineering Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Space Exploration Space Opera

Critic Reviews

‘This is what it's like to be sentenced to Transportation in a fictional futuristic world . . . The regularity with which Tchaikovsky delivers great books is astounding. Highly recommended (Tade Thompson, author of Rosewater)
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 (Stephen Baxter, author of Proxima)
One of our finest writers of SF right now . . . an excellent story told with Adrian's trademark skill and flair (James Oswald, author of the Inspector McLean series)
A hell prison on a hell planet with a thrilling, important message: only connect. Adrian's firing on all cylinders in this one (Ian McDonald, author of New Moon)
Is Tchaikovsky propping up the science fiction industry single-handedly? He is so prolific and reliably excellent that I think he might be
Restlessly brainy and utterly involving, Alien Clay is as morally engaged as 1984 and as immersive as Avatar
[Adrian Tchaikovsky] has created a wonderfully strange new world as the basis for an intriguing puzzle with plenty of thrills
Imaginative, horrifying and always amusing, it's the perfect gateway into what makes Tchaikovsky great.
[A] brilliant, gripping standalone novel, which reconstitutes numerous familiar SF tropes to create something thought-provoking, unexpected and at times unsettlingly weird
All stars
Most relevant
Another 10/10 from AT. While I have some deep desire for every alien to look like a Wookie or Klingon, what the author continually achieves is a vision of extraterrestrial life evolving in ways that defy the imagination of a mere mortal like myself. I again found myself spellbound by another of this author’s work. Also, some parts of the narration were genuinely hilarious, and the narrator did a top-notch job of being the characters to life. Strongly recommended.

Consistently novel approaches to alien life

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classic Tchaikovsky just as good as any of his past work. there's so much rubbish in the genre I desperately need him.

an actual good book

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Once again, another excellent outing by Tchaikovsky. If you enjoyed Children of Time, you’re in for a treat.

The Master is Cooking

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Great storyline with unexpected twists complimented by gifted narrator. Worth listening too again. This myst be his best so far

Masterpiece

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What if there was more than one-way evolution could work, one that is not based on adversarial survival? This idea is explored in Alien Clay through the narrator, an dissident academic who has been deported to a labor camp outside our solar system during a time when Earth is ruled by a totalarian regime. It has some similarity to the author's earlier book, Cage of Souls — the writing is witty and moves at a pace, well maybe until the end where it gets a little repetitive.

Alien Clay explores some big concepts while remaining accessible and entertaining. Not an easy combination to pull off! Recommended.

Alien evolution

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