Alien Clay

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

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky

Narrated by: Ben Allen

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

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

good performance, boring story

the world-building is great. at first and then it is repeated so many times.... i couldn't finish, i gave up with only 40minutes left.

Original and thought provoking

An excellent take on space exploration. Great character development and jumps in time. Loved it.

Alien ecosphere...and oppressive human regime

Adrian's ALIEN CLAY joins Brian Stableford's DARK ARARAT and Greg Bear's LEGACY in creating a truly bizarre, alien ecosphere. Only the main point of view character has any dimensionality, but note that this is not bad; the novel is a first person narration. The horrors inflicted on the human prisoners of the totalitarian regime is reminiscent of the recent THE GLASS BOX by J. Michael Straczynski. Highly recommended, and worthy of a re-read down the road. As for the voice actor, he sounds like Star Trek Enterprise's Dominic Keating, so a plus!

Xenobiology meets class struggle

Very enjoyable hard Sci Fi with believable characters on a hostile planet working under brutal conditions leading to a plot line that is more relevant than it should be.

Best Tchaikovsky book since Children of Time!

I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a listen this much. Both the content and the performance are top notch. Would absolutely recommend.