Shroud

‘Thrilling, terrifying and fascinating’ – Tim Peake, British ESA astronaut They looked into darkness. The darkness looked back . . . An utterly gripping story of first contact on a hostile planet from Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning Children of Time . New for this edition: The short story ‘Sins of the Children’, the fascinating prequel to Shroud . An 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 name the moon Shroud. But they never mean to go there . . . until a catastrophic accident forces Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne to crash-land on its inhospitable surface in a barely adequate escape vehicle. Alone, and fighting to survive, the two women embark on a gruelling journey in search of salvation. But Juna and Mai’s tenuous existence is threatened by Shroud’s extraordinary alien species. If they can escape, they’ll have to explain the impossible and translate the incredible . . . * * * Praise for Shroud 'Evokes an unrelatable extraterrestrial world . . . keeps you guessing throughout' – SFX , 5* Review ‘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

‘Thrilling, terrifying and fascinating’ – Tim Peake, British ESA astronaut They looked into darkness. The darkness looked back . . . An utterly gripping story of first contact on a hostile planet from Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning Children of Time . New for this edition: The short story ‘Sins of the Children’, the fascinating prequel to Shroud . An 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 name the moon Shroud. But they never mean to go there . . . until a catastrophic accident forces Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne to crash-land on its inhospitable surface in a barely adequate escape vehicle. Alone, and fighting to survive, the two women embark on a gruelling journey in search of salvation. But Juna and Mai’s tenuous existence is threatened by Shroud’s extraordinary alien species. If they can escape, they’ll have to explain the impossible and translate the incredible . . . * * * Praise for Shroud 'Evokes an unrelatable extraterrestrial world . . . keeps you guessing throughout' – SFX , 5* Review ‘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

On a planet shrouded in darkness, a stranded crew must fight for survival. But, the darkness may have plans of its own in this wildly original story from Adrian Tchaikovsky, Hugo and Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author of Children of Time. They looked into the darkness and the darkness looked back . . . New planets are fair game to asset strippers and interplanetary opportunists - and a commercial mission to a distant star system discovers a moon that is pitch black, but alive with radio activity. Its high-gravity, high-pressure, zero-oxygen environment is anathema to human life, but ripe for exploitation. They named it Shroud. Under no circumstances should a human end up on Shroud's inhospitable surface. Except a catastrophic accident sees Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne doing just that. Forced to stage an emergency landing, in a small, barely adequate vehicle, they are unable to contact their ship and are running out of time. What follows is a gruelling journey across land, sea and air. During this time, Juna and Mai begin to understand Shroud's dominant species. It also begins to understand them . . .

On a planet shrouded in darkness, a stranded crew must fight for survival. But, the darkness may have plans of its own in this wildly original story from Adrian Tchaikovsky, Hugo and Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author of Children of Time. They looked into the darkness and the darkness looked back . . . New planets are fair game to asset strippers and interplanetary opportunists - and a commercial mission to a distant star system discovers a moon that is pitch black, but alive with radio activity. Its high-gravity, high-pressure, zero-oxygen environment is anathema to human life, but ripe for exploitation. They named it Shroud. Under no circumstances should a human end up on Shroud's inhospitable surface. Except a catastrophic accident sees Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne doing just that. Forced to stage an emergency landing, in a small, barely adequate vehicle, they are unable to contact their ship and are running out of time. What follows is a gruelling journey across land, sea and air. During this time, Juna and Mai begin to understand Shroud's dominant species. It also begins to understand them . . .