Quick Synopsis –The planet of Kiln is where the tyrannical Mandate keeps its prison colony, and for inmates, the journey there is always a one-way trip. One such prisoner is Professor Arton Daghdev, xeno-ecologist and political dissident. Soon after arrival, he discovers that Kiln has a secret. Humanity is not the first intelligent life to set foot there.

Song This Reminds Me Of – Better Together by Jack Johnson

Publication Date – US – Sept. 17, 2024 (this book was previously published in the UK)

Content Notes – There is graphic violence, blood, vomiting, and other bodily fluids mentioned throughout. There is also transphobia mentioned, mostly in the form of refusing to recognize they/them pronouns.

Rating – ⭐⭐⭐.5 out of 5

Review – If you’re a fan of hard science fiction books, you’ll probably like Alien Clay. I enjoyed this book, but there was too much exposition and not enough character descriptions. Also, I felt like this was a second book. I could have used more information about what Earth was like and how the Mandate worked. Otherwise, I thought this was a great novel about the human spirit and connection. There will always be dissidents and people who fight back against unjust regimes.

The planet, Kiln, is honestly my favorite character in the book. Kiln rejects any notion of binary and is a symbiotic planet. The Mandate only believes in and reinforces the ideals of a binary, if you are not 100% a Mandate believer then you are an anarchist who wants the destruction of polite society. When Arton arrives at Kiln and sees intelligent life, he thinks he understands why he was sent to this labor planet. He is a xenobiologist and could be useful for the Science team. He quickly learns the pecking order on Kiln, everything is done at the whim of the harsh Commander. Arton also recognizes some familiar faces, people who were on subcommittees with him and other academic dissidents. Even here on an alien planet, there is resistance. But can rebellion survive a hostile alien planet?

The alien life on Kiln is symbiotic; if you dissect one lifeform, you’re likely to find several more inside it. There is a note of horror, and there were portions of this book that gave me the shivers. I liked how Arton would continually try to reframe alien life in a way that resembled what we see on Earth; it made the book feel almost real. The whole book is written almost like a scientific publication from Arton’s point of view. A lot of the descriptions are almost like a journal entry, especially when Arton reviews how he knows other characters from Earth that are with him on Kiln.

I don’t think I would read the next in the series, but I did enjoy this book. I just thought there could have been a little less science dumping and more fleshing out of the characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit for the advanced copy; all opinions are my own.