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Shroud
Win a free kindle copy of this book!
10 days and 02:34:29
100 copies available
U.S. only
An utterly gripping story of alien encounter and survival from Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning 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 . . .
If they escape Shroud, they’ll face a crew only interested in profiteering from this extraordinary world. They’ll somehow have to explain the impossible and translate the incredible. That is, if they make it back at all.
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 . . .
If they escape Shroud, they’ll face a crew only interested in profiteering from this extraordinary world. They’ll somehow have to explain the impossible and translate the incredible. That is, if they make it back at all.
436 pages, Hardcover
First published February 27, 2025
321 people are currently reading
8,099 people want to read
About the author
Adrian Tchaikovsky
191books15.3kfollowersADRIAN 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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 202 reviews
March 10, 2025
Stars I gave just for the last 10 percent of story... Let me put this into words you can understand... well... sorry I can't...
The crew of the Garveneerr Composite Mission Vessel, a Special Projects team, is on Shroud, a zero-oxygen, high-radiation planet. After an unexpected accident, Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne find themselves in a small, makeshift vehicle, separated from their ship and lacking communication. As they travel through Shroud, they find species...
And now this, you should know, this is how a science fiction horror story should go on, this is how alien and space planet develop and you freak out and pull your hairs out...
My huge thanks to Pan Macmillan via NetGalley for DRC. I have given my honest review.
The crew of the Garveneerr Composite Mission Vessel, a Special Projects team, is on Shroud, a zero-oxygen, high-radiation planet. After an unexpected accident, Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne find themselves in a small, makeshift vehicle, separated from their ship and lacking communication. As they travel through Shroud, they find species...
And now this, you should know, this is how a science fiction horror story should go on, this is how alien and space planet develop and you freak out and pull your hairs out...
My huge thanks to Pan Macmillan via NetGalley for DRC. I have given my honest review.
January 13, 2025
This is another excellent example of Adrian Tchaikovsky exploring alienness by dumping some unfortunate protagonists into a hostile and incomprehensible alien environment - the planet Shroud - with insufficient resources to get safely home.
The hostility of the environment on Shroud is well established in the first section of the book, but the central two thirds of the story chronicles the journey of Juna and Mai, constrained within a vehicle barely adequate for the task, to reach a place from which they have at least a slim chance of being rescued. This central section falls into a pattern of Juna and Mai lurching from one risky and unknown situation to the next, as their predicament gets progressively more dire.
Throughout the story, the incredible “otherness� of the native life on Shroud is superbly drawn, with the story peppered with short sections from the point of view of that native life. The gulf of understanding between the humans and the natives is the driving power behind the narrative, and builds the story to a very satisfying final chapter, as the difficulties in one life form’s meaningful comprehension of the other comes to a head.
My only reservation was that, for me, I was losing engagement with the story during the long trek to safety. As Juna and Mai found themselves in increasingly difficult situations, I found myself just treading water waiting for the narrative tide to turn. When the tide did turn, though, I was back and fully invested in the story’s conclusion, and the pay-off at the end is quite rewarding.
The structure of the story is similar in many ways to one of Tchaikovsky's earlier books, . As with that book, if you’re new to Adrian Tchaikovsky, I wouldn’t necessary start here - but it’s an imaginative and thought provoking exploration of alienness.
Thank you #NetGalley and Pan MacMillan / Tor for the free review copy of #Shroud in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Under no circumstances can a human survive Shroud’s inhospitable surface � but a catastrophic accident forces Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne to make an emergency landing in a barely adequate escape vehicle. Alone, and fighting for survival, the two women embark on a gruelling journey across land, sea and air in search of salvation.The alienness of the life on Shroud is so very� alien. This is something that Adrian Tchaikovsky seems to excel at. It put me in mind of Stanislaw Lem’s - where the alienness is so unfathomable that it’s difficult to see where an attempt at first contact could even begin.
The hostility of the environment on Shroud is well established in the first section of the book, but the central two thirds of the story chronicles the journey of Juna and Mai, constrained within a vehicle barely adequate for the task, to reach a place from which they have at least a slim chance of being rescued. This central section falls into a pattern of Juna and Mai lurching from one risky and unknown situation to the next, as their predicament gets progressively more dire.
Throughout the story, the incredible “otherness� of the native life on Shroud is superbly drawn, with the story peppered with short sections from the point of view of that native life. The gulf of understanding between the humans and the natives is the driving power behind the narrative, and builds the story to a very satisfying final chapter, as the difficulties in one life form’s meaningful comprehension of the other comes to a head.
My only reservation was that, for me, I was losing engagement with the story during the long trek to safety. As Juna and Mai found themselves in increasingly difficult situations, I found myself just treading water waiting for the narrative tide to turn. When the tide did turn, though, I was back and fully invested in the story’s conclusion, and the pay-off at the end is quite rewarding.
The structure of the story is similar in many ways to one of Tchaikovsky's earlier books, . As with that book, if you’re new to Adrian Tchaikovsky, I wouldn’t necessary start here - but it’s an imaginative and thought provoking exploration of alienness.
Thank you #NetGalley and Pan MacMillan / Tor for the free review copy of #Shroud in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Read
February 21, 2025Tchaikovsky's science fiction often focuses on a singular theme: curiosity about what might be out there, in the great expanse of the universe. What might alien intelligence, biology, and societies look like? He has explored this question with spiders and octopuses in the Children of Time trilogy, then with Lego-style symbiote in Alien Clay (my personal fave). Now, we have a horror-tinged standalone sci-fi novel about a moon shrouded in darkness, on which lives a hive mind of machine-like monsters.
Our protagonists are the two remaining crewmembers of a ship that was scanning the moon for resources (their society is a hungry capitalist machine), and now they are stranded in the darkness, desperately trying to understand the alien life that lives there, all while the alien life tries to understand them.
Our protagonists are the two remaining crewmembers of a ship that was scanning the moon for resources (their society is a hungry capitalist machine), and now they are stranded in the darkness, desperately trying to understand the alien life that lives there, all while the alien life tries to understand them.
December 7, 2024
Firstly, thank you so much to Pan MacMillan (Tor) and the author for the physical ARC of this book!
Shroud is a sci fi thriller following a crew who have encountered a new world shrouded (lol) in darkness, and the things that lurk amongst it.
The start of the book is very heavy with technical and sci fi jargon but that very quickly makes way for a more human-centric and emotive story following Juna and Mai.
I thought it was bloody fantastic.
It’s just enough science fiction to scratch my itch without venturing into the realms of head scratching nonsense that can sometimes plague stories like this.
It felt like such a unique story, and the way Tchaikovsky included two different alternative narratives was a refreshing take on the stranger lost in a strange world trope.
Shroud feels like a story of polarities - light and dark, up and down, known and unknown. With enough stakes to keep you wanting more and to find out what comes next, but without making things unrealistic.
A strong female-led and focused narrative was also a big plus for me. It felt well told and I can genuinely see this easily making the transition to film at some point, akin to stories like Project Hail Mary, Gravity and the like.
I’d highly suggest picking up a copy of Shroud in February if you like science fiction, and a good healthy amount of tension in your stories.
4.0/5.0
Shroud is a sci fi thriller following a crew who have encountered a new world shrouded (lol) in darkness, and the things that lurk amongst it.
The start of the book is very heavy with technical and sci fi jargon but that very quickly makes way for a more human-centric and emotive story following Juna and Mai.
I thought it was bloody fantastic.
It’s just enough science fiction to scratch my itch without venturing into the realms of head scratching nonsense that can sometimes plague stories like this.
It felt like such a unique story, and the way Tchaikovsky included two different alternative narratives was a refreshing take on the stranger lost in a strange world trope.
Shroud feels like a story of polarities - light and dark, up and down, known and unknown. With enough stakes to keep you wanting more and to find out what comes next, but without making things unrealistic.
A strong female-led and focused narrative was also a big plus for me. It felt well told and I can genuinely see this easily making the transition to film at some point, akin to stories like Project Hail Mary, Gravity and the like.
I’d highly suggest picking up a copy of Shroud in February if you like science fiction, and a good healthy amount of tension in your stories.
4.0/5.0
March 20, 2025
It took a little while, but once this story had its hooks in me it did not let go. Wow! It is hard to really talk about the parts that floored me without giving away spoilers, but let’s try. Firstly, the world-building is spectacular. The physical spaces, yes, from the way the different celestial bodies in this corner of space relate to each other to the complexities of the ship to the absolutely wild and complex world of Shroud. But more than just the places, the thoughts and ideas and people that fill those places. The direct connections between greed and individualism, the destruction of Earth, and the entire project of strip-mining the universe all set the stage, and the violences and pressures of those capitalist systems are literally a thrumming undercurrent running through the story. That affects all the people we meet on the ship and how their world is socially organized, and it affects our main protagonists as they traverse this alien planet. Maybe more important, though, is the alien society and culture. The relationship between form and function, the ingenious biological obstacles Tchaikovsky put on Shroud and the way the flora and fauna there overcome those obstacles, it is just genius. And in that regard yes, it does feel a little more hard-sciencey than some of his other works, and that totally works for the story. There is such wonderful detail of the science and tech, and it goes a long way to helping convey the sterility of human connection.
The writing is superb. It is not, especially at the beginning, as intimate as some of his other novels. The majority of chapters are from one character’s POV, though we do occasionally get chapters from the aliens�' POV, which are genius, and they increase as frequency as the mission develops. In between sections there are brief interludes, and these contain more of the dry, cheeky voice I have come to expect from Tchaikovsky, and these discuss evolution on Shroud, helping give us context. The writing in these three sections, (main character, alien, interlude) is distinct and clear, and as the character’s learn more and the situation develops the tones and urgency of their voice changes. I won’t lie, the very first section feels a little dry, a little distant, disconnected. But then there is the emergency event that really gets our narrative moving and the intensity and personality to the writing grows and grows along with the narrative. It all works together really well, and that also speaks to the pacing. At its genre heart this is a survivalist horror story, about being trapped in a hostile environment and stripped of nearly all the resources you need to survive. There are only so many ways to keep readers invested, by letting the characters overcome some obstacles only to discover new ones, and Tchaikovsky does this incredibly well. In lesser writers� hands these kind of stories feel like a group of disconnected save points, little unrelated mini-missions that plod their way from point A to B. Tchaikovsky is able to create a plot that builds on itself, challenges (and victories) that are iterative, that grow with our characters, and in the process all of the emotions, the terror and despair, and the rare joy and celebration, are all amplified. The obstacles never feel disproportionate to the world, nor the ways they are navigated. Everything fits together in a quite satisfying way.
Tchaikovsky is good at giving his characters emotional depth. Here, we spend most of our time with a very select number of characters, and while they feel fully realized and complete, perfectly three-dimensional characters, I would have liked a little more inner journey, especially on the page, if that makes sense. The characters they are at the end is different than who they were in the beginning, and that is clear at the end, but it is difficult to track it through the story, and it was hard to feel as connected to these characters as I have with those in other novels he has written. With that said, a type of confessional intimacy does develop, and given the other ideas and themes and worlds being explored it was never like there was lack of things to keep my attention.
Part of that is because he is playing with a lot of really hefty ideas here. Yes, the dangers of individualism and greed, certainly, the dangers of the oligarchs owning the working class to such a literal extent they can put workers in hibernation chambers for years on end when they aren’t necessary to bite back a little of the bottom line. And there are a whole mess of science ideas, about convergent evolution and how resources and necessity work together to mediate experience and growth. But there are also ideas about human consciousness and psycho-social development, about connection and what it means to be part of community, what it means to see others as comrades instead of competition. Given the circumstances he depicts this amazing simultaneity of claustrophobia and a vast, empty desolation, and how both of those extremes can work on our minds at the same time to drive us further from ourselves. He manages to hide these really important ideas, essentially about what it means to think and be, a literal ontology of becoming, within this thrilling, engaging survival horror set in a wild alien ecosystem. The novel balances intimacy with being sometimes staggering in scope, and by constantly exploring these kinds of dichotomies Tchaikovsky is able to keep you invested and compelled to learn more.
(Rounded from 4.5)
The writing is superb. It is not, especially at the beginning, as intimate as some of his other novels. The majority of chapters are from one character’s POV, though we do occasionally get chapters from the aliens�' POV, which are genius, and they increase as frequency as the mission develops. In between sections there are brief interludes, and these contain more of the dry, cheeky voice I have come to expect from Tchaikovsky, and these discuss evolution on Shroud, helping give us context. The writing in these three sections, (main character, alien, interlude) is distinct and clear, and as the character’s learn more and the situation develops the tones and urgency of their voice changes. I won’t lie, the very first section feels a little dry, a little distant, disconnected. But then there is the emergency event that really gets our narrative moving and the intensity and personality to the writing grows and grows along with the narrative. It all works together really well, and that also speaks to the pacing. At its genre heart this is a survivalist horror story, about being trapped in a hostile environment and stripped of nearly all the resources you need to survive. There are only so many ways to keep readers invested, by letting the characters overcome some obstacles only to discover new ones, and Tchaikovsky does this incredibly well. In lesser writers� hands these kind of stories feel like a group of disconnected save points, little unrelated mini-missions that plod their way from point A to B. Tchaikovsky is able to create a plot that builds on itself, challenges (and victories) that are iterative, that grow with our characters, and in the process all of the emotions, the terror and despair, and the rare joy and celebration, are all amplified. The obstacles never feel disproportionate to the world, nor the ways they are navigated. Everything fits together in a quite satisfying way.
Tchaikovsky is good at giving his characters emotional depth. Here, we spend most of our time with a very select number of characters, and while they feel fully realized and complete, perfectly three-dimensional characters, I would have liked a little more inner journey, especially on the page, if that makes sense. The characters they are at the end is different than who they were in the beginning, and that is clear at the end, but it is difficult to track it through the story, and it was hard to feel as connected to these characters as I have with those in other novels he has written. With that said, a type of confessional intimacy does develop, and given the other ideas and themes and worlds being explored it was never like there was lack of things to keep my attention.
Part of that is because he is playing with a lot of really hefty ideas here. Yes, the dangers of individualism and greed, certainly, the dangers of the oligarchs owning the working class to such a literal extent they can put workers in hibernation chambers for years on end when they aren’t necessary to bite back a little of the bottom line. And there are a whole mess of science ideas, about convergent evolution and how resources and necessity work together to mediate experience and growth. But there are also ideas about human consciousness and psycho-social development, about connection and what it means to be part of community, what it means to see others as comrades instead of competition. Given the circumstances he depicts this amazing simultaneity of claustrophobia and a vast, empty desolation, and how both of those extremes can work on our minds at the same time to drive us further from ourselves. He manages to hide these really important ideas, essentially about what it means to think and be, a literal ontology of becoming, within this thrilling, engaging survival horror set in a wild alien ecosystem. The novel balances intimacy with being sometimes staggering in scope, and by constantly exploring these kinds of dichotomies Tchaikovsky is able to keep you invested and compelled to learn more.
(Rounded from 4.5)
February 26, 2025
Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Shroud is a science fiction novel that covers themes of survival, first contact, and the complexities of alien ecosystems. The story follows two scientists, Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne, who, after a catastrophic accident, find themselves stranded on Shroud—a pitch-black, high-gravity moon teeming with alien life. Their journey across this hostile environment forms the basis of the story.
Tchaikovsky has to be praised for his imaginative creation of Shroud’s ecosystem. The alien flora and fauna are intricately detailed, offering a vivid portrayal of life in an environment vastly different from Earth. For me, this has to be one of Tchaikovsky’s most creative and inventive alien worlds, although I haven’t read all of his science fiction yet.
Along the way the novel provides chapters from the viewpoint of Shroud’s indigenous species, offering a unique take on first contact scenarios. I did feel this dual perspective enriched the narrative, giving us the profound differences and potential connections between human and alien consciousness.
The book was fascinating, however, I found the densely detailed scientific explanations and complex descriptions of the alien environment challenging to follow. For me, it made certain sections of the book feel slow-paced and overwhelming. This led to some major pacing issues for me. While the story started and ended with gripping sequences, the middle portion, focuses on the protagonists� trek through the alien landscape, and was a just a little too repetitive.
Shroud most definitely showcases Adrian Tchaikovsky’s strengths in crafting complex alien worlds and delving into profound themes of connection and survival. For those who appreciate detailed world-building and thoughtful explorations of alien life, Shroud offers a compelling read.
My thanks to both NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for an e-arc and an honest opinion.
Tchaikovsky has to be praised for his imaginative creation of Shroud’s ecosystem. The alien flora and fauna are intricately detailed, offering a vivid portrayal of life in an environment vastly different from Earth. For me, this has to be one of Tchaikovsky’s most creative and inventive alien worlds, although I haven’t read all of his science fiction yet.
Along the way the novel provides chapters from the viewpoint of Shroud’s indigenous species, offering a unique take on first contact scenarios. I did feel this dual perspective enriched the narrative, giving us the profound differences and potential connections between human and alien consciousness.
The book was fascinating, however, I found the densely detailed scientific explanations and complex descriptions of the alien environment challenging to follow. For me, it made certain sections of the book feel slow-paced and overwhelming. This led to some major pacing issues for me. While the story started and ended with gripping sequences, the middle portion, focuses on the protagonists� trek through the alien landscape, and was a just a little too repetitive.
Shroud most definitely showcases Adrian Tchaikovsky’s strengths in crafting complex alien worlds and delving into profound themes of connection and survival. For those who appreciate detailed world-building and thoughtful explorations of alien life, Shroud offers a compelling read.
My thanks to both NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for an e-arc and an honest opinion.
Read
March 6, 2025DNF @ 35%
Well my Tchaikovsky success record is certainly going down. Of the last 4 books I have a 50% DNF rate ( being the other one). Again, this is very much a situation of it’s me and not the book. In this case, while I appreciate the incredibly imaginative world under exploration, I want more story between the characters and less observing fascinating things.
The premise of Shroud reminds me of the excellent book by , which has all the things I missed here in terms of story and character interaction and development.
Well my Tchaikovsky success record is certainly going down. Of the last 4 books I have a 50% DNF rate ( being the other one). Again, this is very much a situation of it’s me and not the book. In this case, while I appreciate the incredibly imaginative world under exploration, I want more story between the characters and less observing fascinating things.
The premise of Shroud reminds me of the excellent book by , which has all the things I missed here in terms of story and character interaction and development.
January 9, 2025
3.5 stars
This kind of feels like it could be Alien Clay, if the “Alien� part was synonymous with the Ridley Scott movie. It feels very dark (figuratively, not just literally) and in several places definitely has that slight sci-fi-horror edge to it. I liked that, but I think the book overall is not quite my type of sci-fi.
There are only two main characters here, and the enclosed space we follow them in for the majority of the book makes for some fantastic character-building opportunities, but I don’t think we got as much of that as circumstances suggest we might have. Instead, the character was largely given over to the Shrouded, the aliens of this world (although, as a sidenote, they are the native species, so technically, our humans here are the aliens�).
I didn’t much like the perspectives we got here from the Shrouded � they just didn’t feel right to me. This has been something I’ve noted in other books and it’s clear to me that it’s a device I’m not much a fan of. In Children of Ruin, I didn’t like the hive-mind perspective that felt disjointed, but certainly alien. Here, the Shrouded perspective just felt too human, and it was a bit off-putting. Seems like you can’t win with me on that one!
We have three main parts to the book in terms of theme and setting, and I think the transition between these is a bit too sudden � the first transition is necessarily so, so that’s fine and was well-handled, but the transition between parts two and three felt a bit abrupt.
I did find the first part in particular to be incredibly densely written. It was full of information and science and technology in big long paragraphs, and it felt like it took me twice as long as it usually would to read individual pages. Once we got into “part two� (my estimation, not the parts the book is actually divided into), things moved along at a much better pace for me.
I think overall this was a good book, but it’s definitely not my favourite Tchaikovsky. Once again though, he showcases an incredible imagination that I just don’t see anyone else getting close to, especially not at the frequency we see new work from him.
This kind of feels like it could be Alien Clay, if the “Alien� part was synonymous with the Ridley Scott movie. It feels very dark (figuratively, not just literally) and in several places definitely has that slight sci-fi-horror edge to it. I liked that, but I think the book overall is not quite my type of sci-fi.
There are only two main characters here, and the enclosed space we follow them in for the majority of the book makes for some fantastic character-building opportunities, but I don’t think we got as much of that as circumstances suggest we might have. Instead, the character was largely given over to the Shrouded, the aliens of this world (although, as a sidenote, they are the native species, so technically, our humans here are the aliens�).
I didn’t much like the perspectives we got here from the Shrouded � they just didn’t feel right to me. This has been something I’ve noted in other books and it’s clear to me that it’s a device I’m not much a fan of. In Children of Ruin, I didn’t like the hive-mind perspective that felt disjointed, but certainly alien. Here, the Shrouded perspective just felt too human, and it was a bit off-putting. Seems like you can’t win with me on that one!
We have three main parts to the book in terms of theme and setting, and I think the transition between these is a bit too sudden � the first transition is necessarily so, so that’s fine and was well-handled, but the transition between parts two and three felt a bit abrupt.
I did find the first part in particular to be incredibly densely written. It was full of information and science and technology in big long paragraphs, and it felt like it took me twice as long as it usually would to read individual pages. Once we got into “part two� (my estimation, not the parts the book is actually divided into), things moved along at a much better pace for me.
I think overall this was a good book, but it’s definitely not my favourite Tchaikovsky. Once again though, he showcases an incredible imagination that I just don’t see anyone else getting close to, especially not at the frequency we see new work from him.
April 24, 2025
What makes Shroud unique is how it handles alien life. Instead of typical sci-fi aliens that somehow speak English, these creatures communicate entirely differently and perceive the world in ways humans can't imagine. There's so much I would like to say about this book but I don't want to spoil it..
”Contrary to the old maxim, when you’re all in the same tin can with limited elbow room, in space everyone can hear you scream.�
The book balances several key elements; a tense survival story, attempts to understand alien beings, and questions about how different species can communicate. The author creates a vivid picture of this dark world through the eyes of both humans and aliens. What I found fascinating was how an alien intelligence may interpret the actions of humans and vice versa. Tchaikovsky is a master at making you think about things differently which I absolutely love. The ending is both hopeful, uncertain and also a emotionally charged, leaving you wondering about the future of human-alien relations.
”I had the couch shoot me with a mood stabiliser. Standard working practice when despair was creeping in.�
Overall, Shroud is an amazing thought provoking sci-fi book that explores what might happen when humans encounter life forms that are truly alien, rather than just humans in costume. While the beginning moves slowly to give background on the events that happen on Shroud, the story builds into a gripping tale that keeps you wanting more. I always enjoy Tchaikovsky’s work and this is no exception.
”Contrary to the old maxim, when you’re all in the same tin can with limited elbow room, in space everyone can hear you scream.�
The book balances several key elements; a tense survival story, attempts to understand alien beings, and questions about how different species can communicate. The author creates a vivid picture of this dark world through the eyes of both humans and aliens. What I found fascinating was how an alien intelligence may interpret the actions of humans and vice versa. Tchaikovsky is a master at making you think about things differently which I absolutely love. The ending is both hopeful, uncertain and also a emotionally charged, leaving you wondering about the future of human-alien relations.
”I had the couch shoot me with a mood stabiliser. Standard working practice when despair was creeping in.�
Overall, Shroud is an amazing thought provoking sci-fi book that explores what might happen when humans encounter life forms that are truly alien, rather than just humans in costume. While the beginning moves slowly to give background on the events that happen on Shroud, the story builds into a gripping tale that keeps you wanting more. I always enjoy Tchaikovsky’s work and this is no exception.
March 14, 2025
“Let me put it into words you can understand. Life begins in darkness, where it belongs. There is only darkness, the natural state of all that is, so why should a word even be needed for it?�
So, two women crashland on an inhospitable moon. No oxygen, high gravity, total darkness. And things that go bump in the everlasting night. To have any chance of rescue, they have to limp halfway around this moon in their little, cramped and damaged pod. No big deal, right?
Rich in sarcasm. The POV from the alien(s) is nicely done. I rooted for them. I thought it would all berunning very slow limping from the creepy aliens and much screaming, but there is a lot more.
You need patience! Well, I did anyway. This is slow. So slow. And so much dense text and information. But this world is so cool and I just love Tchaikovsky‘s wicked imagination and humour. It took me two weeks to get through this and towards the end I was at first disappointed at the direction the plot took and then it got really good again.
Loved the ending! I doubt that there will be a sequel, but I would love to read it. Great stuff. After finishing the book, I had to go back and read all the interludes again. The headspace and progression of the aliens was fascinating.
Tchaikovsky is showing yet again a very repressive dystopian, corporate society, without personal freedom or choices. It reminded me in parts of and quite strongly of . If you liked that one, this should be right down your alley.
One of the things I like about Tchaikovsky‘s writing: It doesn‘t matter what gender the characters are and physical descriptions are just that. It took me half the book to figure out if the main character is female or male. It could have gone either way. Very refreshing.
Because of the slow pacing I figured for most of this that I would give it 4 stars, but considering how excited I am about this book, 5 stars it is! 🌚🌚🌚🌚🌚
P.S.: „� the slowest and most obvious heist in history.�
Good one! 😆
I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher or author through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.
So, two women crashland on an inhospitable moon. No oxygen, high gravity, total darkness. And things that go bump in the everlasting night. To have any chance of rescue, they have to limp halfway around this moon in their little, cramped and damaged pod. No big deal, right?
Rich in sarcasm. The POV from the alien(s) is nicely done. I rooted for them. I thought it would all be
You need patience! Well, I did anyway. This is slow. So slow. And so much dense text and information. But this world is so cool and I just love Tchaikovsky‘s wicked imagination and humour. It took me two weeks to get through this and towards the end I was at first disappointed at the direction the plot took and then it got really good again.
Loved the ending! I doubt that there will be a sequel, but I would love to read it. Great stuff. After finishing the book, I had to go back and read all the interludes again. The headspace and progression of the aliens was fascinating.
Tchaikovsky is showing yet again a very repressive dystopian, corporate society, without personal freedom or choices. It reminded me in parts of and quite strongly of . If you liked that one, this should be right down your alley.
One of the things I like about Tchaikovsky‘s writing: It doesn‘t matter what gender the characters are and physical descriptions are just that. It took me half the book to figure out if the main character is female or male. It could have gone either way. Very refreshing.
Because of the slow pacing I figured for most of this that I would give it 4 stars, but considering how excited I am about this book, 5 stars it is! 🌚🌚🌚🌚🌚
P.S.: „� the slowest and most obvious heist in history.�
Good one! 😆
I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher or author through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.
March 8, 2025
Disclaimer: Thanks to NetGalley and TorUK for the gift of an eARC.
This is a book about humanity. What it is, what it means, how it's expressed, and how it affects us. It's also a damned fine sci-fi adventure yarn.
Told through two mostly alternating points of view, one human, one alien, the narrative follows a human resource-stripping mission sent out ahead of the greater human diaspora to find and grab all the resources they can, and where applicable establish waystations for future humans to use and colonise. Along the way they discover Shroud, a tidally-locked moon of a gas giant, where the atmosphere is so thick that at the surface there is nothing but darkness. Well, darkness, and life. And when disaster strikes and two of the humans, Juna and Mai, get caught on the surface with nothing but their tiny pod to keep them alive, that life begins to take an interest in them.
As I mentioned at the top of this review, this book is about what it means to be human, and while the humans in this book are recognisably us, they're a version of us that's become consumed by corporate excess, absorbed into the gestalt that is the corporation machine, commodified, and ultimately dehumanised by the world they live in and the society they belong to. Spending most of their time in sleep pods, 'shelved', as it's referred to, the main human characters are consigned to an existence in which they're nothing more than interchangeable parts in the greater organism that is the corporation, which in turn is the ship and its mission.
The alien life of Shroud, on the other hand, is a gestalt that has fractured, a hive mind that can only maintain its memories and reason by staying close to its constituent parts. And should one or more of those parts get separated from the whole, a new colony is formed, a new mind begins.
Just like the uplifted species Tchaikovsky gives us in his Children of Time series, the aliens here are ridiculously well written, and genuinely feel alien. But then again, so do the humans to some degree. At one point Juna, the human narrator of the story, compares the Shrouders to ants, but clearly doesn't see that the same comparison could be made of the humans themselves.
As with pretty much all of Tchaikovsky's high-concept sci-fi, the writing here is a seamless blend of technical exposition and character-driven exploration. The growing sense of despair and defeat felt by the human narrator is perfectly captured throughout the developing story, and the sense of wonder and enlightenment that fills the Shrouders as they learn more about the strange creatures that have invaded their world is just as palpable.
There are a lot of moments throughout this book where I wanted to slap one or more of the human characters, but it's the ending that ultimately got to me. The final wrap-up, and the way in which everything is brought full circle, almost had me throwing my kindle across the room in frustration. But in a good way. Even now, a week and a half after finishing it, that ending still sticks with me, and that, above all else, is why I love this book.
Definitely a strong and well-earned five-stars, and definitely one I'd recommend you read.
This is a book about humanity. What it is, what it means, how it's expressed, and how it affects us. It's also a damned fine sci-fi adventure yarn.
Told through two mostly alternating points of view, one human, one alien, the narrative follows a human resource-stripping mission sent out ahead of the greater human diaspora to find and grab all the resources they can, and where applicable establish waystations for future humans to use and colonise. Along the way they discover Shroud, a tidally-locked moon of a gas giant, where the atmosphere is so thick that at the surface there is nothing but darkness. Well, darkness, and life. And when disaster strikes and two of the humans, Juna and Mai, get caught on the surface with nothing but their tiny pod to keep them alive, that life begins to take an interest in them.
As I mentioned at the top of this review, this book is about what it means to be human, and while the humans in this book are recognisably us, they're a version of us that's become consumed by corporate excess, absorbed into the gestalt that is the corporation machine, commodified, and ultimately dehumanised by the world they live in and the society they belong to. Spending most of their time in sleep pods, 'shelved', as it's referred to, the main human characters are consigned to an existence in which they're nothing more than interchangeable parts in the greater organism that is the corporation, which in turn is the ship and its mission.
The alien life of Shroud, on the other hand, is a gestalt that has fractured, a hive mind that can only maintain its memories and reason by staying close to its constituent parts. And should one or more of those parts get separated from the whole, a new colony is formed, a new mind begins.
Just like the uplifted species Tchaikovsky gives us in his Children of Time series, the aliens here are ridiculously well written, and genuinely feel alien. But then again, so do the humans to some degree. At one point Juna, the human narrator of the story, compares the Shrouders to ants, but clearly doesn't see that the same comparison could be made of the humans themselves.
As with pretty much all of Tchaikovsky's high-concept sci-fi, the writing here is a seamless blend of technical exposition and character-driven exploration. The growing sense of despair and defeat felt by the human narrator is perfectly captured throughout the developing story, and the sense of wonder and enlightenment that fills the Shrouders as they learn more about the strange creatures that have invaded their world is just as palpable.
There are a lot of moments throughout this book where I wanted to slap one or more of the human characters, but it's the ending that ultimately got to me. The final wrap-up, and the way in which everything is brought full circle, almost had me throwing my kindle across the room in frustration. But in a good way. Even now, a week and a half after finishing it, that ending still sticks with me, and that, above all else, is why I love this book.
Definitely a strong and well-earned five-stars, and definitely one I'd recommend you read.
April 12, 2025
Nobody can accuse Tchaikovsky of not having an incredible imagination with every book he writes. I’m always super impressed with him but almost every time I read his book it just doesn’t grab me. I have a hard following his descriptions of the aliens as well as action scenes. I probably will finish the books I already have by him but not pick up anything in the future unless he switches to fantasy.
February 2, 2025
This was my first Tchaikovsky but it won't be my last. I had a bit of a hard time getting into the story at first, but I quickly became absorbed by this sci-fi tale as soon as our protagonist, Juna, and her colleague end up on the mysterious planet they named Shroud. They're not prepared for what awaits them because they never planned to actually go planetside but are forced to due to an accident, and everything on the planet is so different, so Alien that they barely survive day by day. I loved the descriptions of the Shroud biosphere, of the fascinating aliens and how they work, and while we follow Juna and Mai on their journey to find safety and return to their ship for quite a while I never felt like the story dragged. There was just so much to discover and explore, and the last few chapters are just insanely exciting. Really enjoyed the writing, the pacing, the world building and the characters. The ending doesn't answer all the questions posed but it fit the narrative perfectly.
So yeah, will absolutely go dig into Adrian Tchaikovsky's backlist now.
Many thanks to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for the arc!
So yeah, will absolutely go dig into Adrian Tchaikovsky's backlist now.
Many thanks to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for the arc!
April 18, 2025
Thank you NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I am not typically a sci-fi reader. I have barely read any sci-fi books and some that I have I have ended up dnfing. But I am still bound and determined to try them and I know this author is a great writer. I did end up enjoying this, there were a few areas that were hard to get through—some pretty slow and repetitive scenes. Then there were other parts where I could not put down the book.
The story starts off with a small team of people who are trying to pierce the mystery of the planet Shroud. Shroud is a planet covered in darkness, absolutely no light is visible and there is a thick foggy atmosphere. The drones they are sending to the planet come back with imaging that there may be other life down there, but nothing like anyone has ever seen before.
An accident occurs on the ship in space leading our main character (Juna) and Mai to be thrown onto the planet. Juna and Mai are stuck in their space pod on a foreign planet where everything about the planet wants to kill them.
Mai and Juna soon come into contact with the other life on Shroud and find the creature(s)—called the Shrouded to be more complex than they seem. Mai and Juna then have to try to process their interactions with the Shrouded while at the same time trying to determine how they can get off of Shroud.
The main parts I enjoyed about this book where the Shrouded interactions as well as the point of view from the Shrouded. I thought this was a great addition from the author to include the Shrouded’s point-of-view. The world was also interesting and the author was able to paint an in-depth picture of what Juna and Mai where experiencing. Also the anxiety and distress of Juna and Mai as well as their coping mechanisms was done really well, since there were times I was feeling the anxiety myself.
If you do enjoy sci-fi, I would recommend giving this book a try. I really enjoyed the concept of Shroud and the Shrouded (who are way more complex than they seem). Even if you are not a huge sci-fi fan like me, I think you can still enjoy this since I did!
I am not typically a sci-fi reader. I have barely read any sci-fi books and some that I have I have ended up dnfing. But I am still bound and determined to try them and I know this author is a great writer. I did end up enjoying this, there were a few areas that were hard to get through—some pretty slow and repetitive scenes. Then there were other parts where I could not put down the book.
The story starts off with a small team of people who are trying to pierce the mystery of the planet Shroud. Shroud is a planet covered in darkness, absolutely no light is visible and there is a thick foggy atmosphere. The drones they are sending to the planet come back with imaging that there may be other life down there, but nothing like anyone has ever seen before.
An accident occurs on the ship in space leading our main character (Juna) and Mai to be thrown onto the planet. Juna and Mai are stuck in their space pod on a foreign planet where everything about the planet wants to kill them.
Mai and Juna soon come into contact with the other life on Shroud and find the creature(s)—called the Shrouded to be more complex than they seem. Mai and Juna then have to try to process their interactions with the Shrouded while at the same time trying to determine how they can get off of Shroud.
The main parts I enjoyed about this book where the Shrouded interactions as well as the point of view from the Shrouded. I thought this was a great addition from the author to include the Shrouded’s point-of-view. The world was also interesting and the author was able to paint an in-depth picture of what Juna and Mai where experiencing. Also the anxiety and distress of Juna and Mai as well as their coping mechanisms was done really well, since there were times I was feeling the anxiety myself.
If you do enjoy sci-fi, I would recommend giving this book a try. I really enjoyed the concept of Shroud and the Shrouded (who are way more complex than they seem). Even if you are not a huge sci-fi fan like me, I think you can still enjoy this since I did!
March 31, 2025
Actual rating 2.5/5 stars.
A pitch black and inhospitable moon is discovered and those who uncovered it named it Shroud. They could not survive there and it did not seem to want them, but when two of the crew crash land on its surface they must find a way to do just that.
A bonus star for the alien as well as human perspective this contained but, unfortunately, I found this a dry story with an anticlimactic ending. A space adventure should not be this slow but I found it focused on inward thought more than outward action and it just didn't suit my reading tastes at all. I'm all for a philosophical novel but this probed no deep questions about the meaning of life, so why such a slow pace? I did find the alien perspective an interesting development and appreciated how this differed to other space novels I have read but the book as a whole failed to properly grasp my interest.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Adrian Tchaikovsky, and the publisher, Tor, for this opportunity.
A pitch black and inhospitable moon is discovered and those who uncovered it named it Shroud. They could not survive there and it did not seem to want them, but when two of the crew crash land on its surface they must find a way to do just that.
A bonus star for the alien as well as human perspective this contained but, unfortunately, I found this a dry story with an anticlimactic ending. A space adventure should not be this slow but I found it focused on inward thought more than outward action and it just didn't suit my reading tastes at all. I'm all for a philosophical novel but this probed no deep questions about the meaning of life, so why such a slow pace? I did find the alien perspective an interesting development and appreciated how this differed to other space novels I have read but the book as a whole failed to properly grasp my interest.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Adrian Tchaikovsky, and the publisher, Tor, for this opportunity.
February 28, 2025
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.25 / 5
Shroud is a story of survival, exploration, and the intersection of human and alien cultures, as it dives into the complexities of first contact and the consequences of humanity's pursuit of profit and discovery.
📖 A commercial expedition to a distant star system discovers a pitch-black moon alive with radio activity. Its high-gravity, high-pressure, zero-oxygen environment is deadly to human life, but ripe for exploitation. They named it Shroud.
Forced to stage an emergency landing, in a small, barely adequate vehicle, Juna and Mai 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 . . .
� Review �
Shroud is a Sci-Fi with elements of horror. While this does have a plot it's slow paced. It's more of an exploration of a world and what it means to be human more than anything else. I loved it.
Tchaikovsky's world building is divine. This is a world mainly sat in darkness and the way he brought it to life in such a vivid way was incredible. There was also something eerily about this world and it had me nervous for what we were going to come across next.
The characters in this were solid, I could have used a little more depth because I wasn't fully engaged on an emotional level but overall I really enjoyed them. The way Tchaikovsky explores humanity and what it means to be human really does make up for that lack of emotional attachment.
There is just something so incredibly interesting about this world and story. I don't really want to talk about what my favourite part is because I feel like it's a spoiler and it was fun to discover on my own but there is a special element in the book that stole the show for me.
I can't wait to read more of his work.
Shroud is a story of survival, exploration, and the intersection of human and alien cultures, as it dives into the complexities of first contact and the consequences of humanity's pursuit of profit and discovery.
📖 A commercial expedition to a distant star system discovers a pitch-black moon alive with radio activity. Its high-gravity, high-pressure, zero-oxygen environment is deadly to human life, but ripe for exploitation. They named it Shroud.
Forced to stage an emergency landing, in a small, barely adequate vehicle, Juna and Mai 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 . . .
� Review �
Shroud is a Sci-Fi with elements of horror. While this does have a plot it's slow paced. It's more of an exploration of a world and what it means to be human more than anything else. I loved it.
Tchaikovsky's world building is divine. This is a world mainly sat in darkness and the way he brought it to life in such a vivid way was incredible. There was also something eerily about this world and it had me nervous for what we were going to come across next.
The characters in this were solid, I could have used a little more depth because I wasn't fully engaged on an emotional level but overall I really enjoyed them. The way Tchaikovsky explores humanity and what it means to be human really does make up for that lack of emotional attachment.
There is just something so incredibly interesting about this world and story. I don't really want to talk about what my favourite part is because I feel like it's a spoiler and it was fun to discover on my own but there is a special element in the book that stole the show for me.
I can't wait to read more of his work.
April 18, 2025
Double first contact, with alternating viewpoints, made Shroud a mesmerizing read. Great atmosphere...the foreboding of what lies where you cannot see. You don't want to head forward into the unknown, but you must go.
Once the bowling ball, or pod, makes it to the surface, the story really begins to shine. Well...shine as much as a machine can in a world with no illumination, in perfect blackness.
Another gadget or difference in all of Tchaikovsky's novels that I admire is the vast difference in chapter breaks or headings in the pages. Always creatively unique to each story, makes it more engaging. Clever guy that Adrain.
There is one scene early on that reminded me of what happens to a crab or mussel at dinner at a restaurant. That stuck with me, and I wanted to see how it all turns out at the end.
Four stars.
Once the bowling ball, or pod, makes it to the surface, the story really begins to shine. Well...shine as much as a machine can in a world with no illumination, in perfect blackness.
Another gadget or difference in all of Tchaikovsky's novels that I admire is the vast difference in chapter breaks or headings in the pages. Always creatively unique to each story, makes it more engaging. Clever guy that Adrain.
There is one scene early on that reminded me of what happens to a crab or mussel at dinner at a restaurant. That stuck with me, and I wanted to see how it all turns out at the end.
Four stars.
April 17, 2025
Perfection.
Just. Wow.
No notes.
More thoughts later
Just. Wow.
No notes.
More thoughts later
February 28, 2025
TLDR: Detailed world-building and captivating hard sci-fi concepts, but a dry start, underdeveloped characters, and a repetitive middle made this one tough for me.
Shroud is centred around a crash landing on a pitch-black alien moon that forces two humans into a fight for survival—while its mysterious inhabitants start to take an interest in them.
This was my first Tchaikovsky, and unfortunately, I struggled with it. The beginning was dense, packed with heavy scientific exposition that made it feel like reading a business report rather than a novel.
The plot itself didn’t really get going until a fifth of the way in, and even then, it often felt like the same complications were repeating without adding much to the story or characters. The whole middle section could have been condensed—this probably would’ve worked better as a novella. Luckily, the short chapters kept things moving.
The biggest issue for me was the (human) characters. There wasn’t much character development, and the MC sometimes felt more like a sidekick than a protagonist. The characters weren’t particularly compelling or nuanced. A small bone to pick: If I hadn’t read the synopsis, I wouldn’t have even realized the narrator was female. I'm not sure if the story lacked opportunities to make this clearer or if it was a flaw in the writing, but it stood out.
The world-building was phenomenal, though. Shroud itself is so vividly described that I had no trouble picturing its eerie, oppressive darkness, and the alien species was genuinely interesting. I just wish the book had leaned more into the interactions between them and the humans.
I am still interested in trying Children of Time, since I’ve heard from @book_syl that all of Tchaikovsky’s books are very different. But this one wasn’t for me. If you love hard sci-fi and you’re more interested in the mechanics of the technology and new worlds, you might have a better time with it.
Thank you to Pan Macmillan for providing an eARC for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Shroud is centred around a crash landing on a pitch-black alien moon that forces two humans into a fight for survival—while its mysterious inhabitants start to take an interest in them.
This was my first Tchaikovsky, and unfortunately, I struggled with it. The beginning was dense, packed with heavy scientific exposition that made it feel like reading a business report rather than a novel.
The plot itself didn’t really get going until a fifth of the way in, and even then, it often felt like the same complications were repeating without adding much to the story or characters. The whole middle section could have been condensed—this probably would’ve worked better as a novella. Luckily, the short chapters kept things moving.
The biggest issue for me was the (human) characters. There wasn’t much character development, and the MC sometimes felt more like a sidekick than a protagonist. The characters weren’t particularly compelling or nuanced. A small bone to pick: If I hadn’t read the synopsis, I wouldn’t have even realized the narrator was female. I'm not sure if the story lacked opportunities to make this clearer or if it was a flaw in the writing, but it stood out.
The world-building was phenomenal, though. Shroud itself is so vividly described that I had no trouble picturing its eerie, oppressive darkness, and the alien species was genuinely interesting. I just wish the book had leaned more into the interactions between them and the humans.
I am still interested in trying Children of Time, since I’ve heard from @book_syl that all of Tchaikovsky’s books are very different. But this one wasn’t for me. If you love hard sci-fi and you’re more interested in the mechanics of the technology and new worlds, you might have a better time with it.
Thank you to Pan Macmillan for providing an eARC for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
January 12, 2025
Thank you to Pan MacMillian and Netgalley for the advance copy of Shroud. I've been reading a lot of Adrian Tchaikovsky lately, so getting an arc was an honor. The books I've read, I loved. Shroud is no exception.
Far in the future human greed forced humanity to leave Earth after stripping it of all resources. To make sure humankind survives no matter the cost, humans have taken to stripping planets and moons for materials. This is the starting point of Shroud.
Our FMC, Juna Ceelander, and Mai Ste Etienne end up stranded on Shroud, a moon void of illumination, after a disaster that destroyed their spaceship. Following them through the story, and their struggles really show what we can overcome against overwhelming odds.
Adrian skillfully spins a tale that explore what the future could be if we keep exploiting Earth, and what could happen if we meet intelligent life that evolved in darkness.
There's so much I want to express butit would be incomprehensible noise I'm speechless.
If you have already read know that despite it also being humankind meeting another lifeform on an alien planet, it is nothing like it. That Adrian Tchaikovsky can spin another sci-fi tale this detailed and yet so distinct is mind-blowing. If you haven't read either I encourage you do it ASAP.
I recommend this book to every sci-fi reader/enthusiast. It is very heavy on the sci-fi jargon, so it can be a bit difficult getting into if the reader is not well-versed in it. It might be tough, but it's damn well worth it!
5 well-deserved stars
---------
Pre-read
AIII! I received an arc copy from Pan Macmillan!!
Far in the future human greed forced humanity to leave Earth after stripping it of all resources. To make sure humankind survives no matter the cost, humans have taken to stripping planets and moons for materials. This is the starting point of Shroud.
Our FMC, Juna Ceelander, and Mai Ste Etienne end up stranded on Shroud, a moon void of illumination, after a disaster that destroyed their spaceship. Following them through the story, and their struggles really show what we can overcome against overwhelming odds.
Adrian skillfully spins a tale that explore what the future could be if we keep exploiting Earth, and what could happen if we meet intelligent life that evolved in darkness.
There's so much I want to express but
If you have already read know that despite it also being humankind meeting another lifeform on an alien planet, it is nothing like it. That Adrian Tchaikovsky can spin another sci-fi tale this detailed and yet so distinct is mind-blowing. If you haven't read either I encourage you do it ASAP.
I recommend this book to every sci-fi reader/enthusiast. It is very heavy on the sci-fi jargon, so it can be a bit difficult getting into if the reader is not well-versed in it. It might be tough, but it's damn well worth it!
5 well-deserved stars
---------
Pre-read
AIII! I received an arc copy from Pan Macmillan!!
Read
March 11, 2025The only other novel I have read by Tchaikovsky is . I can only repeat almost verbatim what I wrote about it. It's the same annoying voice and a lot of repetition (get a real editor, please!), but on the other hand there is a super-fun exploration of a fascinating alien world that is also a lesson in (onto)politics for our world and our time. I now suspect that Tchaikovsky is well read in the post-Haraway new materialist queer ecology. There's really no other possible explanation.
March 30, 2025
Something I love about Adrian Tchaikovsky's science fiction writing is how bloody novel he gets. Tchaikovsky never settles for the "basically a human but with green skin and an extra limb or two" trope for extraterrestrial life, he goes down a rabbit hole of factors for determining how life, and perhaps sapience, could develop one way or another. It's challenging and mind-boggling but it fits.
A few observations about this book:
- Tchaikovsky's description of how humanity's survival strategy has developed is essentially the "this alien race is invading to strip all of our resources" trope anthropomorphized and overlaid onto the most toxic corporate structure imaginable. That version of humanity needs some conservationists and some unions, damn it.
- Pretty sure Rocky from Project Hail Mary came from a world described as Shroud is and I wonder if Tchaikovsky read that book and took it as a challenge.
- Employing the use of light, and exposing life forms to it who have no history with it and thus no protection from side effects, would that have caused side effects? Or would that only happen with UV rays?
A few observations about this book:
- Tchaikovsky's description of how humanity's survival strategy has developed is essentially the "this alien race is invading to strip all of our resources" trope anthropomorphized and overlaid onto the most toxic corporate structure imaginable. That version of humanity needs some conservationists and some unions, damn it.
- Pretty sure Rocky from Project Hail Mary came from a world described as Shroud is and I wonder if Tchaikovsky read that book and took it as a challenge.
- Employing the use of light, and exposing life forms to it who have no history with it and thus no protection from side effects, would that have caused side effects? Or would that only happen with UV rays?
March 5, 2025
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of my favourite Sci-Fi books, so I was very excited to read his latest novel. And it did not disappoint!
In the future, mankind has taken to the skies. A commercial mission discovers a moon that is pitch back, which they name Shroud. But as they study the moon in more detail, they begin to realise it may not be as uninhabited as they thought.
Adrian Tchaikovsky has a real gift for writing from a different perspective. I loved the creativity in terms of the human society and of Shroud.
A recommended read for fans of Children of Time, Solaris, and books that explore non-human intelligence.
Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
In the future, mankind has taken to the skies. A commercial mission discovers a moon that is pitch back, which they name Shroud. But as they study the moon in more detail, they begin to realise it may not be as uninhabited as they thought.
Adrian Tchaikovsky has a real gift for writing from a different perspective. I loved the creativity in terms of the human society and of Shroud.
A recommended read for fans of Children of Time, Solaris, and books that explore non-human intelligence.
Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
December 13, 2024
Let me put this into words you can understand.
Let's not bury the lede here. This is one of the best books I've read this year, and if a better SF novel is published in 2025 we're in for a good time. I can't remember the last time I was this impressed - or this moved - by a sci-fi book.
The best first contact stories invariably have something to say about what it means to be human. Putting us next to another sapient species means we inevitably begin to draw comparisons. How do we define "alien" if not by pointing at it and saying "not human"? In defining what makes something alien we inevitably are forced to reckon with what makes us human.
Shroud puts humanity on full display, peeling us apart piece by piece and looking at the resulting mess. It's a novel of both the best parts of human nature - ingenuity, curiosity, empathy, resilience - and the worst - violence, the endless cycle of colonisation and extraction, the reduction of people to little more than cogs in a machine. The arrogance to think that we're uniquely special.
Tchaikovsky's writing here is, I think, the best in his career. I've never read a book of his that I didn't at least enjoy, but in the past - specifically in the Shadows Of The Apt series - I've sometimes got a bit lost in his action scenes and the way he describes "weird" things. Shadows... was over a decade ago, though (The Empire In Black And Gold, terrifyingly, 16 years ago), and he's had plenty of time to improve his craft. Shroud is the evidence that he's put the work in. The frozen moon of Shroud is a truly weird, alien place, populated by some of the strangest aliens I've ever seen in fiction, but the prose is crystal clear. I can picture this world, and the awful things that happen to our main characters during their journey across it, like I was right there with them. The pacing, too, is great. This rattles along like the best of thrillers. There isn't a single wasted moment here. It's a proper gripping page turner, evidenced by the fact that I write this after having stayed up until 2AM against all my better judgement to finish reading it.
Over the past few years I've been really drawn to moody sci-fi horror. In 2020 I wrote , a solo journalling game about being really stressed and having a terrible time on your own in space. Some of my favourite SF of recent years has had very similar themes. The Wretched was absolutely a response to the unique isolation of COVID lockdowns, and I suspect that's also true of much of the fiction along similar lines that's emerged since then.
Shroud is also a novel about having a terrible time in space, but it's specifically a novel about having a terrible time in space and leaning on shared bonds and our connections with other humans to help us endure and survive. Even in its most bleak moments, even when our worst impulses as a species are on display, it's still a novel that has some hope for the future. As I was reading it I couldn't help feeling like it feels like a novel about healing and rebuilding. As with a lot of recent SF I think this is a book that was forged in the aftermath of lockdowns, but it's a book that's able to imagine a coming together of people in the aftermath of catastrophe rather than one that wallows in isolation.
Shroud is released in February 2025, and I can't recommend it highly enough. I'm very grateful to Tor and Pan Macmillan for furnishing me with an ARC. Don't sleep on this on when it lands.
February 3, 2025
I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and honestly review an advanced reader’s copy of this book.
I’m glad I was already in a sci-fi mindset before diving into this beast of a book! Shroud is much heavier than my usual sci-fi reads, drawing you in with its blend of mystery and dense scientific detail. Once the story reaches Shroud, the eerie planet comes to life with vivid, unsettling descriptions of its alien plants and creatures—both incredibly imaginative and downright terrifying. I’m pretty sure I’ll be having nightmares tonight!
I really enjoyed the dual narrative, though I wished the human characters had a bit more depth. They felt somewhat shallow, which kept me from fully connecting with them.
That said, if you’re a fan of weighty, intricate sci-fi, this one is definitely worth the read!
I’m glad I was already in a sci-fi mindset before diving into this beast of a book! Shroud is much heavier than my usual sci-fi reads, drawing you in with its blend of mystery and dense scientific detail. Once the story reaches Shroud, the eerie planet comes to life with vivid, unsettling descriptions of its alien plants and creatures—both incredibly imaginative and downright terrifying. I’m pretty sure I’ll be having nightmares tonight!
I really enjoyed the dual narrative, though I wished the human characters had a bit more depth. They felt somewhat shallow, which kept me from fully connecting with them.
That said, if you’re a fan of weighty, intricate sci-fi, this one is definitely worth the read!
Read
February 26, 2025Of the Tchaikovsky I've read � which is a lot, but still only a fraction of his vast output � this runs closest to the recent Alien Clay, another bunch of luckless Earthlings squeezed between a rigid, blinkered regime back home, and a new world that's impossible both in the sense of being utterly inhospitable to human life and entirely baffling to human assumptions. They're not, however, part of the same setting; where that book's Mandate was motivated by human-supremacist pseudoscience, the Concern here is all about growth for growth's sake, ensuring humanity avoids another euphemistically named 'bottleneck' by spreading our across the galaxy so we can exhaust other planets just like we did the one that so foolishly gave us birth; turns out it really was easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism, and all the more so once it had already happened once. Be lovely if either the Mandate or the Concern seemed remotely implausible, wouldn't it? But the overlap was sufficient that I remembered all the fan jokes suggesting Tchaikovsky must just be the frontman for a syndicate, wondered if he'd maybe not kept enough of an eye on the subordinates to make sure they were all producing either series proper or sufficiently distinct works.
That was one part of why I made slower progress with Shroud than I normally would with an ARC of the next Tchaikovsky from Netgalley. Another, obviously, was that the Concern shaded too much into the sort of apocalypse we're already living through, and which as such I mostly tend to dodge in entertainment. But the biggest delay wasn't either of these so much as the belated appearance of James Cameron's The Abyss on UK streaming, reminding me quite how stressful I find submarine stories. I was talking recently to a friend who can't get on with spaceship stories, part of that being the ongoing, anxious awareness of the hostile environment just beyond those terribly thin tin walls. Which I don't get at all in a lot of SF, because it either has in-world arguments for why explosive decompression isn't a big worry (have I ever mentioned how much I miss the Culture?), or simply determines not to draw attention to that because it would stress everyone out when we're all here for swashbuckling in space. Well, Shroud goes the other way, very firmly reminding us that the Concern ship is a long way from help and one mistake or puncture away from death � and then going right the other way as some of the crew find themselves down on the surface of Shroud, which is much more the submarine experience, in that the atmosphere outside is highly pressurised, opaque, toxic...so still one mistake or puncture away from death, and the pressure gradient going the other way is of immense practical significance, but emotionally makes less difference than you might think.
The other key detail that our poor bloody leads have established prior to landing on Shroud, apart from some very confusing footage of native life, is that it's incredibly noisy, in both the electromagnetic and sonic senses. Which means that once down there, simply signalling for help is a non-starter, so the bulk of the book is an odyssey across its surface which walks a number of very thin lines, both within the fiction, and in terms of narrative choices. Tchaikovsky is clearly aware of the pernicious side of the idea of the indomitable human spirit overcoming all odds, even while you can occasionally detect the imprint of an authorial finger on the scales ensuring that Shroud is, at least in part, another example of just that. My second criticism is that having a crew member called Ste Etienne inevitably made me think of wistful springtime wanderings on Primrose Hill, rather than a tough engineer trying to think and wrench her way out of dying on a distant, hostile moon. But the biggest is that the Concern humans, who have only ever known a world entirely dominated by hypercapitalism, grown as resources on space stations and stuck back in the deep freeze whenever their continued waking existence doesn't serve the bottom line, still come across an awful lot like transplanted moderns. Charitably, you could say that this makes sense given quite how far down that road we've already gone; certainly that feels true of the sections anatomising office politics, corporate bullshit, and managers anxious to claim credit and offload blame for work they don't even deign to try understanding. But sometimes it can feel like a cheat, a sop to 'relatability' in what would otherwise be a book where every element was strange.
This is a pity, because Shroud is at its best when it's strangest. The alien biosphere is ingenious and, at least to this non-specialist reader, believable even at its most outlandish. To go into any further consideration of which, I should warn that from here to the end there'll be SPOILERS. Such as, again like Alien Clay, Tchaikovsky seems here to be riffing on recent advances in understanding our own world's biology, not least via fungi, and the gradual, reluctant realisation that the boundary between self and other is a lot less firm than long-standing intellectual currents, not least the social misapplication of Darwinism, have given us to believe. And this is mirrored on the side of the human invaders, who may be taught to believe in individual competition, but who are really cells in a corporate whole, sacrificed with as little thought as a body discards a microscopic component which has outlived its usefulness. Tchaikovsky's choice of administrator Juna Ceelander as his main narrator initially seems like it's because her role means she has to know enough about everyone else's specialties to explain them to each other, or up the chain of command, and as such is also the best candidate for clarifying the situation to the reader. Partly it is, but what gradually becomes clear, to the reader sooner than it does to her, is the value of being a facilitator and connector in and of itself, the oil in the interlocking gears of humanity. By the end of the odyssey through Shroud's murk, the book has even got into some territory on the importance of real human connection and togetherness, as against the simulated version on which corporations batten, that feels a lot soppier than you might expect in a book with this many nightmarish alien life-forms. All of which, in turn, becomes another way to consider the old, hard philosophical problem of the self. And by the end it's clear, not to mention appropriate, that the similarities and differences between Shroud and the differently collaborative ecology in Alien Clay aren't a consequence of Tchaikovsky's fiction minions operating without co-ordination, but of a mind turning the same problem over and over, trying to shed light on it from fresh angles, and thereby find a fuller picture. Not a million miles away from how Iris Murdoch operated, in fact, except for the minor matter of using space missions in dystopian futures rather than emotionally messy post-Oxbridge cliques.
That was one part of why I made slower progress with Shroud than I normally would with an ARC of the next Tchaikovsky from Netgalley. Another, obviously, was that the Concern shaded too much into the sort of apocalypse we're already living through, and which as such I mostly tend to dodge in entertainment. But the biggest delay wasn't either of these so much as the belated appearance of James Cameron's The Abyss on UK streaming, reminding me quite how stressful I find submarine stories. I was talking recently to a friend who can't get on with spaceship stories, part of that being the ongoing, anxious awareness of the hostile environment just beyond those terribly thin tin walls. Which I don't get at all in a lot of SF, because it either has in-world arguments for why explosive decompression isn't a big worry (have I ever mentioned how much I miss the Culture?), or simply determines not to draw attention to that because it would stress everyone out when we're all here for swashbuckling in space. Well, Shroud goes the other way, very firmly reminding us that the Concern ship is a long way from help and one mistake or puncture away from death � and then going right the other way as some of the crew find themselves down on the surface of Shroud, which is much more the submarine experience, in that the atmosphere outside is highly pressurised, opaque, toxic...so still one mistake or puncture away from death, and the pressure gradient going the other way is of immense practical significance, but emotionally makes less difference than you might think.
The other key detail that our poor bloody leads have established prior to landing on Shroud, apart from some very confusing footage of native life, is that it's incredibly noisy, in both the electromagnetic and sonic senses. Which means that once down there, simply signalling for help is a non-starter, so the bulk of the book is an odyssey across its surface which walks a number of very thin lines, both within the fiction, and in terms of narrative choices. Tchaikovsky is clearly aware of the pernicious side of the idea of the indomitable human spirit overcoming all odds, even while you can occasionally detect the imprint of an authorial finger on the scales ensuring that Shroud is, at least in part, another example of just that. My second criticism is that having a crew member called Ste Etienne inevitably made me think of wistful springtime wanderings on Primrose Hill, rather than a tough engineer trying to think and wrench her way out of dying on a distant, hostile moon. But the biggest is that the Concern humans, who have only ever known a world entirely dominated by hypercapitalism, grown as resources on space stations and stuck back in the deep freeze whenever their continued waking existence doesn't serve the bottom line, still come across an awful lot like transplanted moderns. Charitably, you could say that this makes sense given quite how far down that road we've already gone; certainly that feels true of the sections anatomising office politics, corporate bullshit, and managers anxious to claim credit and offload blame for work they don't even deign to try understanding. But sometimes it can feel like a cheat, a sop to 'relatability' in what would otherwise be a book where every element was strange.
This is a pity, because Shroud is at its best when it's strangest. The alien biosphere is ingenious and, at least to this non-specialist reader, believable even at its most outlandish. To go into any further consideration of which, I should warn that from here to the end there'll be SPOILERS. Such as, again like Alien Clay, Tchaikovsky seems here to be riffing on recent advances in understanding our own world's biology, not least via fungi, and the gradual, reluctant realisation that the boundary between self and other is a lot less firm than long-standing intellectual currents, not least the social misapplication of Darwinism, have given us to believe. And this is mirrored on the side of the human invaders, who may be taught to believe in individual competition, but who are really cells in a corporate whole, sacrificed with as little thought as a body discards a microscopic component which has outlived its usefulness. Tchaikovsky's choice of administrator Juna Ceelander as his main narrator initially seems like it's because her role means she has to know enough about everyone else's specialties to explain them to each other, or up the chain of command, and as such is also the best candidate for clarifying the situation to the reader. Partly it is, but what gradually becomes clear, to the reader sooner than it does to her, is the value of being a facilitator and connector in and of itself, the oil in the interlocking gears of humanity. By the end of the odyssey through Shroud's murk, the book has even got into some territory on the importance of real human connection and togetherness, as against the simulated version on which corporations batten, that feels a lot soppier than you might expect in a book with this many nightmarish alien life-forms. All of which, in turn, becomes another way to consider the old, hard philosophical problem of the self. And by the end it's clear, not to mention appropriate, that the similarities and differences between Shroud and the differently collaborative ecology in Alien Clay aren't a consequence of Tchaikovsky's fiction minions operating without co-ordination, but of a mind turning the same problem over and over, trying to shed light on it from fresh angles, and thereby find a fuller picture. Not a million miles away from how Iris Murdoch operated, in fact, except for the minor matter of using space missions in dystopian futures rather than emotionally messy post-Oxbridge cliques.
February 27, 2025
I was sent a copy of Shroud in exchange for an honest review.
This is Adrian T doing what Adrian T does best. Writing stories that'll make you sympathise with the aliens.
Shroud is an incredible first contact story that looks at both the impact on the humans and the impact on the aliens. The book starts on The Garveneer, a ship sent to scout a star system to see what mankind can harvest from it. Imagine capitalism but dialed up to 1000, with wage-worths and the ability to be put in stasis until you're needed again (or maybe forever if you do something wrong). Here Tchaikovsky introduces you to a bunch of humans who are conditioned to put work above all else. They're looking at a moon called Shroud and once they send Drones down to the pitch-black surface they start to see glimpses of alien lifeforms.
Shroud is a truly inhospitable place, and once Ceelander and Ste Etienne crash land on it's surface in nothing more than a prototype vehicle they start an epic journey to try and get home. The entirety of Shroud is experienced through camera feeds and in the claustrophobic space they have. The gravity is so high that they're stuck in these gel couches unable to even reach each other.
Once you get introduced to the aliens (from here the Shrouded) that's where for me the story became something completely unique. The story starts being told in 'Light' (humans) and 'Darkness' (Shrouded). At first the Shrouded chapters are simple thoughts and enquiries, but by the end they're this fully fledged species with it's own society and knowledge. You see them learn about the humans and you see how the learn and react to this new creature in their midst. Neither party can speak with each other but there are moments where maybe they understand, or understand enough to survive.
Adrian T has crafted a whole working world on Shroud. They're not just another human society and they learn/see/feel/exist completely differently to the humans with evolutionary history too. Alternating the chapters between the Shrouded and the Humans was so fascinating as you saw the story from both sides, while also rooting for everyone involved.
I could wax lyrical about this book for ages. It completely captured my imagination and despite the fact that you never see much of Shroud due to it's complete darkness (lights and cameras can only go so far) I could picture this whole world in my head. The Shrouded are unlike anything I've read before and there's something infinitely weirder about aliens that don't look like any lifeform we can describe. Honestly just pick this up and experience it for yourself, you won't be disappointed.
Shroud is a masterclass in worldbuilding and in making your reader sympathise with alien creatures. Everytime I think Adrian T has written his best book he releases another one that somehow tops it.
This is Adrian T doing what Adrian T does best. Writing stories that'll make you sympathise with the aliens.
Shroud is an incredible first contact story that looks at both the impact on the humans and the impact on the aliens. The book starts on The Garveneer, a ship sent to scout a star system to see what mankind can harvest from it. Imagine capitalism but dialed up to 1000, with wage-worths and the ability to be put in stasis until you're needed again (or maybe forever if you do something wrong). Here Tchaikovsky introduces you to a bunch of humans who are conditioned to put work above all else. They're looking at a moon called Shroud and once they send Drones down to the pitch-black surface they start to see glimpses of alien lifeforms.
Shroud is a truly inhospitable place, and once Ceelander and Ste Etienne crash land on it's surface in nothing more than a prototype vehicle they start an epic journey to try and get home. The entirety of Shroud is experienced through camera feeds and in the claustrophobic space they have. The gravity is so high that they're stuck in these gel couches unable to even reach each other.
Once you get introduced to the aliens (from here the Shrouded) that's where for me the story became something completely unique. The story starts being told in 'Light' (humans) and 'Darkness' (Shrouded). At first the Shrouded chapters are simple thoughts and enquiries, but by the end they're this fully fledged species with it's own society and knowledge. You see them learn about the humans and you see how the learn and react to this new creature in their midst. Neither party can speak with each other but there are moments where maybe they understand, or understand enough to survive.
Adrian T has crafted a whole working world on Shroud. They're not just another human society and they learn/see/feel/exist completely differently to the humans with evolutionary history too. Alternating the chapters between the Shrouded and the Humans was so fascinating as you saw the story from both sides, while also rooting for everyone involved.
I could wax lyrical about this book for ages. It completely captured my imagination and despite the fact that you never see much of Shroud due to it's complete darkness (lights and cameras can only go so far) I could picture this whole world in my head. The Shrouded are unlike anything I've read before and there's something infinitely weirder about aliens that don't look like any lifeform we can describe. Honestly just pick this up and experience it for yourself, you won't be disappointed.
Shroud is a masterclass in worldbuilding and in making your reader sympathise with alien creatures. Everytime I think Adrian T has written his best book he releases another one that somehow tops it.
March 9, 2025
Another excellent novel from Adrian Tchaikovsky that delivers adventure, action, tension, utter panic and an overall emotional rollercoaster as we follow the story of this human and alien encounter on Shroud.
This author really knows how to grip my brain and my heart at the same time. This story left me in a daze long after reading the ending.
I love sci-fi and first contact is also something I truly enjoy, but it’s often very predictable. Well, I could have never envisaged the world building, the depth of characters and the meaningful plot the writer gifted us with.
I was also surprised by my inability to pick a side. I despise humanity both in real life and most certainly in sci-fi books most of the time, but this time, I could not decide. Whilst I didn’t agree with our strategy in pursuit of humanity’s survival across the universe, I could also see how this is ingrained in our DNA and therefore it is who we are.
And whilst I felt for the species on Shroud, the author did such a superb job of highlighting how different they are from humans, that I struggled to understand them completely. I want to highlight that this is completely positive, as I (and I think the author) needed the Shrouded to feel truly alien to us (as we are for them).
As the characters navigated their insurmountable differences, the only commonality was the need to actively connect to be able to even come to a minimal understanding. And how this happened towards the end, still gives me the chills.
Needless to say, the writer gives us readers a lot to think about in this novel, whilst also entertaining us with adventure, action and vivid descriptions. Sci-fi fans will love it!
Thanks to the author and PanMacmillan for a copy and this is my honest opinion.
This author really knows how to grip my brain and my heart at the same time. This story left me in a daze long after reading the ending.
I love sci-fi and first contact is also something I truly enjoy, but it’s often very predictable. Well, I could have never envisaged the world building, the depth of characters and the meaningful plot the writer gifted us with.
I was also surprised by my inability to pick a side. I despise humanity both in real life and most certainly in sci-fi books most of the time, but this time, I could not decide. Whilst I didn’t agree with our strategy in pursuit of humanity’s survival across the universe, I could also see how this is ingrained in our DNA and therefore it is who we are.
And whilst I felt for the species on Shroud, the author did such a superb job of highlighting how different they are from humans, that I struggled to understand them completely. I want to highlight that this is completely positive, as I (and I think the author) needed the Shrouded to feel truly alien to us (as we are for them).
As the characters navigated their insurmountable differences, the only commonality was the need to actively connect to be able to even come to a minimal understanding. And how this happened towards the end, still gives me the chills.
Needless to say, the writer gives us readers a lot to think about in this novel, whilst also entertaining us with adventure, action and vivid descriptions. Sci-fi fans will love it!
Thanks to the author and PanMacmillan for a copy and this is my honest opinion.
March 7, 2025
4.5/5 stars, rounded up
“Let me put this in terms you can understand…�
Consider this, if you will, my annual public service announcement for any fan of science fiction to pick up Adrian Tchaikovsky’s works. With Shroud again, he proves himself a master of his craft, and in possession of an eerie knack for creating utterly alien aliens.
On first impression Shroud begins like so many first-contact stories. An alien planet, tidally locked to its sun, leaving one side in perpetual darkness. An environment utterly hostile to human life. A catastrophic accident that leaves a small group of survivors crashed and stranded in this hell-not-on-Earth. And then, the realisation that, in that darkness, they are not alone...
But Tchaikovsky wouldn't be Tchaikovsky if he didn't find a way to turn this narrative into something original. And he did.
Virtually all first-contact narratives share a single sin: oversimplifying what establishing actual first contact with an alien species would be like. It makes sense for the sake of telling a compelling “us-vs-them-narrative�. In order for us human-readers to picture our antagonist, we need our fictional aliens to be quite human-like in their thinking, actions and often even cultures/ethical norms. To speed the story along, the aliens often have some device to translate our language, to communicate and to negotiate on a human level, so that the real battle-scenes can begin.
Tchaikovsky clearly wasn’t interested in telling thát story though. Instead we get an insight into a first-contact scenario in which we have almost nothing in common with the aliens.
No language, no similar senses of way of perceiving the world around us, not even an overlap in the way we form thoughts or communicate amongst ourselves. The only overlap between us and them is an ability to perceive radio-signals, and the simple three-beat-signal on a shared bandwidth repeated back and forth: ugh, ugh…ugh.
From the perspective of our human crash-survivors, intercut with small sections of the Shrouded’s viewpoint, we see their curious attempts at contact and cooperation.
This might sound less exciting than your typical space-battle, but make no mistake: Shroud was a tense ride that gripped me and didn’t let me go. Tchaikovsky nailed the balance of the different elements that I’ve come to recognize in his novels to perfection here. There’s a thrilling survival story of people enduring in a hostile environment against all odds, mixed with a creative answer to the question “what form could sentient alien life take?�. Added to that is a generous dash of humor and heart. (honestly I didn’t expect to be this moved and charmed by the awkward attempts of two alien species trying to interact in the most clumsy way thinkable). The ever-present subplot of inter-human politics, with a bit of environmentalism and capitalist-critique, is there too, but it’s toned down to a point where it doesn’t interfere with the story.
About 100 pages in, I had some worries about this being too similar to in structure and set up, but Tchaikovsky completely made this its own story, thanks to the focus on contact rather than survival. I can’t wait to see what this man does next, as he truly deserves the title of master of modern sci-fi in my opinion.
“Let me put this in terms you can understand…�
Consider this, if you will, my annual public service announcement for any fan of science fiction to pick up Adrian Tchaikovsky’s works. With Shroud again, he proves himself a master of his craft, and in possession of an eerie knack for creating utterly alien aliens.
On first impression Shroud begins like so many first-contact stories. An alien planet, tidally locked to its sun, leaving one side in perpetual darkness. An environment utterly hostile to human life. A catastrophic accident that leaves a small group of survivors crashed and stranded in this hell-not-on-Earth. And then, the realisation that, in that darkness, they are not alone...
But Tchaikovsky wouldn't be Tchaikovsky if he didn't find a way to turn this narrative into something original. And he did.
Virtually all first-contact narratives share a single sin: oversimplifying what establishing actual first contact with an alien species would be like. It makes sense for the sake of telling a compelling “us-vs-them-narrative�. In order for us human-readers to picture our antagonist, we need our fictional aliens to be quite human-like in their thinking, actions and often even cultures/ethical norms. To speed the story along, the aliens often have some device to translate our language, to communicate and to negotiate on a human level, so that the real battle-scenes can begin.
Tchaikovsky clearly wasn’t interested in telling thát story though. Instead we get an insight into a first-contact scenario in which we have almost nothing in common with the aliens.
No language, no similar senses of way of perceiving the world around us, not even an overlap in the way we form thoughts or communicate amongst ourselves. The only overlap between us and them is an ability to perceive radio-signals, and the simple three-beat-signal on a shared bandwidth repeated back and forth: ugh, ugh…ugh.
From the perspective of our human crash-survivors, intercut with small sections of the Shrouded’s viewpoint, we see their curious attempts at contact and cooperation.
This might sound less exciting than your typical space-battle, but make no mistake: Shroud was a tense ride that gripped me and didn’t let me go. Tchaikovsky nailed the balance of the different elements that I’ve come to recognize in his novels to perfection here. There’s a thrilling survival story of people enduring in a hostile environment against all odds, mixed with a creative answer to the question “what form could sentient alien life take?�. Added to that is a generous dash of humor and heart. (honestly I didn’t expect to be this moved and charmed by the awkward attempts of two alien species trying to interact in the most clumsy way thinkable). The ever-present subplot of inter-human politics, with a bit of environmentalism and capitalist-critique, is there too, but it’s toned down to a point where it doesn’t interfere with the story.
About 100 pages in, I had some worries about this being too similar to in structure and set up, but Tchaikovsky completely made this its own story, thanks to the focus on contact rather than survival. I can’t wait to see what this man does next, as he truly deserves the title of master of modern sci-fi in my opinion.
February 7, 2025
4.25/5
Thank you so much to @bookbreakuk @panmacmillan for the advance proof copy!
I’ve gotten into the sci-fi genre over the last year, I’m not sure why it took me so long since I’ve always loved sci-fi films and tv. Obviously Adrian Tchaikovsky is a big name in this space (lol pun) and I’ve been meaning to try out his work for a while, so this was the perfect opportunity and I definitely wasn’t disappointed.
In a universe where humans have become a commodity: valued by their work-worth, frozen and woken up when suits their unscrupulous commercial employer, sci-fi thriller Shroud is a first contact story with a bit of a horror twist.
Shroud, the planet the company is attempting to exploit is pitch black: high-gravity, high-pressure and zero-oxygen. Tchaikovsky did a fantastic job of painting the oppressive and claustrophobic atmosphere, I think that those creeped out by space would find it quite unsettling!
I would actually recommend not reading the synopsis before reading and just going in blind, as the synopsis did give away an early plot point that I would have preferred to have been surprised by. So this review will be slightly vague!
The start had me gripped and while it slowed down in the middle, the last 100 pages were so unexpected and I loved the turn this story took. I enjoyed the writing style and it was accessible as far as sci-fi goes, the way the chapters are split up into 3 points of view was interesting and thought-provoking (I told you this would be vague).
I was very happy to see queer rep in main and side characters, although it leaned more heavily towards a focus on the science than character development despite us spending a lot of time with our 2 FMC’s. I can see what Tchaikovsky was going for with them but they didn’t feel fully fleshed out � that is definitely due to my nature as a character-reader though, so take it with a pinch of salt.
Overall would definitely recommend for anyone who enjoys sci-fi!
Thank you so much to @bookbreakuk @panmacmillan for the advance proof copy!
I’ve gotten into the sci-fi genre over the last year, I’m not sure why it took me so long since I’ve always loved sci-fi films and tv. Obviously Adrian Tchaikovsky is a big name in this space (lol pun) and I’ve been meaning to try out his work for a while, so this was the perfect opportunity and I definitely wasn’t disappointed.
In a universe where humans have become a commodity: valued by their work-worth, frozen and woken up when suits their unscrupulous commercial employer, sci-fi thriller Shroud is a first contact story with a bit of a horror twist.
Shroud, the planet the company is attempting to exploit is pitch black: high-gravity, high-pressure and zero-oxygen. Tchaikovsky did a fantastic job of painting the oppressive and claustrophobic atmosphere, I think that those creeped out by space would find it quite unsettling!
I would actually recommend not reading the synopsis before reading and just going in blind, as the synopsis did give away an early plot point that I would have preferred to have been surprised by. So this review will be slightly vague!
The start had me gripped and while it slowed down in the middle, the last 100 pages were so unexpected and I loved the turn this story took. I enjoyed the writing style and it was accessible as far as sci-fi goes, the way the chapters are split up into 3 points of view was interesting and thought-provoking (I told you this would be vague).
I was very happy to see queer rep in main and side characters, although it leaned more heavily towards a focus on the science than character development despite us spending a lot of time with our 2 FMC’s. I can see what Tchaikovsky was going for with them but they didn’t feel fully fleshed out � that is definitely due to my nature as a character-reader though, so take it with a pinch of salt.
Overall would definitely recommend for anyone who enjoys sci-fi!
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