Shroud

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky

Narrated by: Sophie Aldred

On a planet shrouded in darkness, a stranded crew must fight for survival. But, the darkness may have plans of its own in this wildly original story from Adrian Tchaikovsky, Hugo and Arthur C. Clarke Award–winning author of Children of Time.

They looked into the darkness and the darkness looked back . . .

New planets are fair game to asset strippers and interplanetary opportunists – and a commercial mission to a distant star system discovers a moon that is pitch black, but alive with radio activity. Its high-gravity, high-pressure, zero-oxygen environment is anathema to human life, but ripe for exploitation. They named it Shroud.

Under no circumstances should a human end up on Shroud’s inhospitable surface. Except a catastrophic accident sees Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne doing just that. Forced to stage an emergency landing, in a small, barely adequate vehicle, they are unable to contact their ship and are running out of time. What follows is a gruelling journey across land, sea and air. During this time, Juna and Mai begin to understand Shroud’s dominant species. It also begins to understand them . . .

Critic reviews

"The most inventive alien world I've ever encountered in SF... Pure Tchaikovsky. I swear the man is some kind of genius."
—Peter Watts, author of Blindsight

"Adrian Tchaikovsky explores worlds where no one else would dare to go, and the unimaginable becomes believable... This is hard-edged science fiction that never loses its soul."

—Sue Burke, author of Semiosis

"Crunchy, conceptual SF at its best...the best alien contact novel I've read since Peter Watts' Blindsight, and that is high praise indeed."—Richard Morgan, author of Altered Carbon

"Thrilling, terrifying and fascinating in equal measure. A gripping story of survival and human endeavor against all odds. The most thought-provoking book I've read in a long time."—Tim Peake, British ESA astronaut

"Clever, vivid and terrifying. Shroud is probably the most alien world anyone could possibly imagine. But no one has an imagination like Adrian Tchaikovsky."—Jim Al-Khalili, presenter of BBC Radio 4's The Life Scientific

"A vision of extraterrestrial life that’s as fascinating as it is horrifying."

—BookPage on Alien Clay

Tchaikovsky's latest (after Service Model, 2024) reveals that the clash is more than just between human and alien but between ideologies that can blind one from harsh realities.—Booklist on Alien Clay

"[A] mind-expanding planetary romp... Tchaikovsky continues to impress."—Publishers Weekly on Alien Clay

Typical Tchaikovsky in that there is nothing “typical” about it!

Tchaikovsky always does such a great job with the unknown that is space and with space’s inhabitants. Such a lovely writer and able to create truly new ideas about what it means to be an “alien” or a “human” for that matter! Loved it!

Alternative alien intelligence

Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Shroud offers a unique take on alien intelligence. On a planet deemed unable to support human life, a group is exploring for possible resources. A team gets stranded on the surface and learns that dangerous lifeforms abound. They race to a location on the other side of the planet that offers a rescue. Along the way, they encounter intelligent life forms. What follows is both sides figuring each other out with direct communication nearly impossible. While the rescue is successful, the greedy corporate backers of the endeavor push a bit too much and the aliens very quickly ‘learn’ to stay one step ahead.

Tchaikovsky takes a classic sci-fi element of alien first contact with truly alien lifeforms, not simply their biology, but also their mental processes which are shaped by the unique environment in which they have evolved. All too often, aliens are anthropomorphized, but more likely it’s the environment that shapes intelligence, rather than biology.

The narration is quite good with solid character distinction. Pacing is a tad brisk.

Gets better as the story develops

Overall, an interesting book. At first, the story and the cadence of the plot development struck me as being rather slow. However, the book truly develops with a very interesting conclusion.

Another superbly written piece of science fiction

I loved the pace of the story, the dichotomy of perspective, the characters and narration, and above, the brilliant depth of imagination.

My favorite book of Adrian's since Children of Time

I will read anything the man writes, that is not the question. Nor is the quality of the writing, characters, story, inquiry, exploration, and occasionally interjected obscure references and witticisms between the above mentioned novel and this one. It is only to say that the gravity and revolution of this shrouded moon consumed me into its dark depths, and curiously I didn't mind. Between this and Alien Clay I'm really loving these crash landing standalones and hope he keeps writing more. May we all see these stories as examplars of finding ways to connect with each other despite the seemingly vast and alien differences between us.