Alien Clay

Tchaikovsky (Lords of Uncreation) once again secures his place in the modern science fiction canon. Throughout the story, Tchaikovsky effortlessly weaves together political conflict and extraterrestrial survival, neatly connecting the seemingly disparate pieces. Ecobiologist Artom Daghdev is sentenced to exile on a distant and hostile planet, Kiln, for his resistance to the authoritarian Mandate. Daghdev has to balance his scientific study of the planet against the competing interests of his Mandate overseer, who courts Daghdev’s scholarship and that of his fellow revolutionaries, who are plagued by suspicions of traitors in the ranks. The unraveling of the mystery of life on Kiln will keep listeners equal parts horrified and fascinated, and the tension among characters who struggle to trust one another helps maintain a sense of unease in what could otherwise be a sluggish scene. Ben Allen’s narration is a perfect pairing for Tchaikovsky’s work; Daghdev’s sardonic, gallows humor could become irritating in the wrong delivery, but Allen speaks with a natural dryness and control that keeps the asides from disrupting the narrative.