- English literature, Science fiction
On the distant world of Kiln lie the ruins of an alien civilization. It’s the greatest discovery in humanity’s spacefaring history – yet who were its builders and where did they go? Professor Arton Daghdev had always wanted to study alien life up close. Then his wishes become a reality in the worst way. His political activism sees him exiled from Earth to Kiln’s extrasolar labour camp. There, he’s condemned to work under an alien sky until he dies. Kiln boasts a ravenous, chaotic ecosystem like nothing seen on Earth. The monstrous alien life interacts in surprising, sometimes shocking ways with the human body, so Arton will risk death on a daily basis. However, the camp’s oppressive regime might just kill him first. If Arton can somehow escape both fates, the world of Kiln holds a wondrous, terrible secret. It will redefine life and intelligence as he knows it, and might just set him free…
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Character
Contemporary, classical in form, grave and earnest.
- contemporarynostalgic
- classical in formformally daring
- gravecomic
- earnestironic
- warmbleak
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About the book
- Author
- Adrian Tchaikovsky
- First published
- 2024
- Pages
- 358
- Publisher
- Orbit, Pan Macmillan, Tor
- Editions
- 7
- Language
- English
- ISBN
- 9781035013746
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On Open Library, 6 have read it and 9 want to.
“They say never start a story with a waking, but when you've been hard asleep for thirty years it's difficult to know where else to begin.”
ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY was born in Lincolnshire and studied zoology and psychology at Reading, before practising law in Leeds. He is a keen live role-player and occasional amateur actor and is trained in stage-fighting. His literary influences include Gene Wolfe, Mervyn Peake, China Miéville, Mary Gently, Steven Erikson, Naomi Novak, Scott Lynch and Alan Campbell.
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