whimsydearest

Professor Arton Daghdev is a xenobiologist who is shipped out (along with other political dissenters) on an expedition mission to the strange and deadly planet of Kiln. There he’s tasked with investigating the ruins of an alien civilization whose inhabitants mysteriously vanished without a trace. Alien Clay  is Adrian Tchaikovsky’s newest and mind-blowingly brilliant sci-fi novel that further solidifies him as a titan of the genre. In line with his previous works, the worldbuilding is extensive and well-thought out, which comes as a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, Tchaikovsky excels at creating believable planets and complex politics. On the other hand, the info-dumping does break up the story's momentum at times. As a result, the story gets off to a slower start. It's not until roughly a quarter in that we get a terrifying glimpse of the body horror and cosmic horror of the planet. Then it takes around half of the novel to finally get to the exploration of the ruins....

Ilmar is a mysterious city overtaken by the totalitarian Palleseen. However, when their Sage-Archivist dies, an investigation launches to track down the culprit as the city teeters precariously on the brink of rebellion. In City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky, the author crafts an intricate, complex story—so complex, in fact, that I had a difficult time getting immersed in it because I was too busy keeping track of all the information being thrown at me. There’s a whopping twelve different factions going on in the city, and on top of that, each chapter in the first half follows a different POV. I found myself unable to get attached to most of the characters, but by far my favorite had to be Yasnic, the last priest of his religion who must cater to his dying god. Overall, at its core, City of Last Chances is an ambitious book that explores colonialism, faith, and cultural identity, but its story unfortunately buckles under the weight of its large character cast and numerous plo...

I n the distant future, the whole universe is faced with a threat called the Architects--mysterious beings aptly named because they like to rearrange planets into aesthetically pleasing shapes ... to the detriment of all life on it. In order to combat them, humanity engineers superhumans known as Intermediaries who are able to telepathically communicate with them at the risk of their own insanity. When an Architect approaches Berlenhof—the heart of humanity’s colonies—an Intermediary named Idris somehow manages to destroy it. The war is over. Decades pass without an Architect sighting, but when one is rumored to have reappeared, Idris becomes a prized pawn as opposing factions seek to use him. Shards of Earth  by Adrian Tchaikovsky paints a richly imaginative and sweepingly ambitious space opera with splash of cosmic horror. There’s a plethora of unique alien races and warring factions, so there are a lot of pieces on the board here. This makes for a denser read, but thankfully, th...