(Drivebycuriosity) - Adrian Tchaikovsky belongs to the rising stars on the firmament of science fiction and impressed already with novels like “Children of Time” & ”Children of Ruin" and other publications. The author, who has studied studied zoology and psychology, weaves complex & fascinating plots based on logic, biology, evolution & technology and spices his tales with a lot of philosophical musings.
Tchaikovsky`s latest novel "Shroud" shows what science fiction is capable is of ( amazon). The plot follows 2 humans who try to survive on an alien moon (this is a spoiler free blog). They are confronted with an environment - gravity, atmosphere, radiation, chemistry - which is very different from the conditions on earth.
"The inner hemisphere of the moon, turned forever towards its planet, was warmed by its radiation. The outer hemisphere, facing eternally away from the planet, received none of it. The imbalance resulted in a constant dog-chasing-tail of a wind system, from warm to cold, and then the cooled atmosphere feeding back to the warm again. A predictable and constant tempest of circulating cells. Something life could evolve to exploit."
Tchaikovsky describes and explains how intelligent life developed under conditions that are extremely different from life on earth. The result is "a mad world of blind watchmakers (a book title by evolution author Richard Dawkins) where the basic physics of lever and fulcrum had been instinctively mastered in some primordial and thoughtless age". The residents of the moon (the humans are the aliens there) - and how the live & communicated - differ profoundly from life as we know, which causes a lot misunderstanding. But since the locals and the humans are both intelligent, they are adapting and learning from each other.
The author based his tale on sciences, including evolution, physics, chemistry & biology, inspired by the deep bottom of earth´s oceans, where strange life form developed under extremely high pressure, without light and oxygen.
But Shroud is also an exciting adventure story where the protagonist have to fight for their survival and to adapt to sheer endless challenges, spiced with dry humor & philosophical musings. "Kirkus Review" compares "Shroud" with classics like Stanislaw Lem´s "Solaris". I agree, but Tchaikowsky`s novel develops also into a nail-biting action thriller. A must read for scifi connoisseurs.
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