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Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky

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Shroud

Publisher
Pan Macmillan
Publish Date
27 February 2025
Run Time
14 hours 36 minutes
Format
Audiobook
Rating
4.0 (2 reviews)

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What to expect

Read by Sophie Aldred (Doctor Who).

‘Thrilling, terrifying and fascinating’

Tim Peake, British ESA astronaut

They looked into darkness. The darkness looked back . . .

An utterly gripping story of survival and first contact on a hostile planet from Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning Children of Time.

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.

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.

But as they travel, Juna and Mai begin to understand Shroud’s unnerving alien species. It also begins to understand them. If they escape Shroud, they’ll somehow have to explain the impossible and translate the incredible. That is, if they make it back at all . . .

* * *

Praise for Shroud

‘Clever, vivid and terrifying . . . No one has an imagination like Adrian Tchaikovsky’ – Jim Al-Khalili, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s The Life Scientific

‘Crunchy, conceptual SF at its best’ – Richard Morgan, author of Altered Carbon

‘This is hard-edged science fiction that never loses its soul’ – Sue Burke, author of Semiosis

‘Makes Andy Weir's vision of Mars in The Martian look like a Caribbean beach resort’ – The Fantasy Hive

Critics Review

  • Thrilling, terrifying and fascinating in equal measure. A gripping story of survival and human endeavour against all odds. The most thought-provoking book I've read in a long time

    Tim Peake, British ESA astronaut

  • Crunchy, conceptual SF at its best . . . the best alien contact novel I've read since Peter Watts' Blindsight, and that is high praise indeed

    Richard Morgan, author of Altered Carbon

  • . . . [Aldred] delivers a haunting, moody voice for Shroud as it ponders the inexplicable and stupid alien invaders. Her tight rendition of the women’s desperate trek amps up the tension, making this an addictive listen

    AudioFile

  • Clever, vivid and terrifying. Shroud is probably the most alien world anyone could possibly imagine. But no one has an imagination like Adrian Tchaikovsky

    Jim Al-Khalili, presenter of BBC Radio 4's The Life Scientific

See more reviews
  • The most inventive alien world I've ever encountered in SF . . . Pure Tchaikovsky. I swear the man is some kind of genius

    Peter Watts, author of Blindsight

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

    Sue Burke, author of Semiosis

  • A terrifically gripping story of survival and First Contact on a pitch-black death world . . . Bravo!

    Paul McAuley, author of The Quiet War

  • Tchaikovsky is writing at the very peak of his powers and he is fizzing with more interesting ideas than any one human has a right to

    New Scientist

  • Simply put, Shroud is the best first-contact novel I have read in years

    Locus Magazine

  • A pacy adventure that keeps you thinking

    SFX, 5* Review

  • Makes Andy Weir's vision of Mars in The Martian look like a Caribbean beach resort

    Fantasy Hive

  • This is one of the best books I've read this year . . . I can't remember the last time I was this impressed – or moved – by a sci-fi book

    5* NetGalley Review

  • There's so much I want to express but I'm speechless . . . That Adrian Tchaikovsky can spin another sci-fi tale this detailed and yet so distinct is mind-blowing

    5* NetGalley Review

User Reviews

Book 4.0

Narration 5.0

  • No written reviews yet.

Details

Author
Adrian Tchaikovsky
Narrator
Sophie Aldred
Duration
14 hours 36 minutes
Release Date
27 February 2025
ISBN
9781035013838
Format
Audiobook
Publisher
Pan Macmillan
Genre
Science fiction: aliens / UFOs, Science fiction: space exploration, Hard science fiction, Science fiction: near future, Space exploration, Galaxies and stars
Rating
4.0(2 reviews)
Narration
5.0(2 reviews)

Synopsis

Read by Sophie Aldred (Doctor Who).‘Thrilling, terrifying and fascinating’Tim Peake, British ESA astronautThey looked into darkness. The darkness looked back . . .An utterly gripping story of survival and first contact on a hostile planet from Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning Children of Time.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.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.But as they travel, Juna and Mai begin to understand Shroud’s unnerving alien species. It also begins to understand them. If they escape Shroud, they’ll somehow have to explain the impossible and translate the incredible. That is, if they make it back at all . . .* * *Praise for Shroud‘Clever, vivid and terrifying . . . No one has an imagination like Adrian Tchaikovsky’ – Jim Al-Khalili, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s The Life Scientific‘Crunchy, conceptual SF at its best’ – Richard Morgan, author of Altered Carbon‘This is hard-edged science fiction that never loses its soul’ – Sue Burke, author of Semiosis‘Makes Andy Weir's vision of Mars in The Martian look like a Caribbean beach resort’ – The Fantasy Hive

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