Our science fiction book club pick this month was Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Our group read the hugo-award-winning Children of Time by the same author last year and it inspired one of our best-ever discussions; so we were excited to read another of Tchaikovsky’s books. He studied psychology and zoology early in his career, and his writing is infused with a profound fascination with the natural world.
Alien Clay is told from the point of view of political dissident and xeno-ecologist Arton Daghdev. His ideas go against the strict, anthropocentric edicts of the Mandate, so he’s been banished to Kiln to work in a labor camp for the rest of his life. He arrives paranoid and self-serving, constantly wondering which of his comrades sold him out to the Mandate. He’s also bent on surviving Kiln’s dangers, namely the prolonged exposure to Kiln life that changes humans into… something else.
The upside is that Kiln life is fascinating, a symphony of symbiosis, and he’s tasked with studying it. The planet’s real mystery lies in the ruins that dot its landscape, and who may have built them. It’s the research gig of a lifetime—even if he has to sugarcoat his findings to suit the Mandate.
It’s not until Arton’s research team becomes stranded and left for dead in the wilderness of Kiln, that he begins to truly understand the planet he now calls home.
Alien Clay posits a model of evolution very different from our earthling one. The creatures there rely on cooperation rather than competition. Juxtaposed with Arton’s existence under an authoritarian government, the author crafts a meaningful commentary around revolution, power, and what it means to be human.
Alien Clay: Questions for Book Club
If you’re planning on reading Alien Clay with your book club, or if you’re reading solo and looking for a thoughtful reading experience, here are some questions to go along with the book:
- The mandate cracks down on scientists who don't conform to orthodoxy. How does this reflect our current reality? What is lost when science is policed?
- One major theme is the individual versus the collective. It shows up in the idea of revolution, as well as the idea of symbiosis. What's the author trying to say? Do you agree with it?
- Kiln's biology interacts with human biology, ultimately changing the characters. In your opinion, is this change for the better, or worse?
- How does the "Lego-like" compatibility of the lifeforms on Kiln challenge our terrestrial understanding of "the individual" versus "the ecosystem"?
- I was thinking a bit about the loneliness epidemic as I read this. To what extent are we as humans actually individuals? To what extent are we part of a system?
Related Activity: Draw the Elephant’s Dad
This is a silly side note, but we all drew what we envisioned the elephant’s dad (a key “character” in the book) looked like, and compared our drawings.
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