Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fascinating tale, made all the better for the story's landing and that oh-so-brilliant end.

Tchaikovsky has been tackling truly other-than-human viewpoints for a long time now and he's definitely not done with it--and for that, I thank him. So much SF glosses so much of the first-contact type of tale, and whenever I see a true failure to communicate, I want there to be some serious problems. You know, like with Arrival, or Blindsight, or even Cherryh's Foreigner series (to a lesser, more insidious degree.

This one just dives into the EM spectrum, suffocating out light, and amps up that radiation--in the Shroud.

It was funny, this time, to see corporation-speak ravagers overwork the poor humans into an adventure they were woefully unprepared for. It was also rather great to see such an alien intelligence just try to do NICE THINGS for us out of curiosity or pity. But the true main character was the vast gulf of misunderstandings. Hell, if the corporation of humanity hadn't been so bloody stupid from the get-go, this could have turned into a VERY different tale. Maybe even something on par with Solaris.

But isn't that what we love to see? Variations and nods and making the tale its own thing. And Shroud is definitely that.

Why can't we have so much more SF that actually builds on all that has gone before? Tchaikovsky understands the assignment. Over and over, he proves he can plumb the rich field of old SF and make it fresh again.

I just pray we can stop smoothing over the old concepts and bring back the sharpest tools to our collective shed. I'm talking to all you fans of good SF. Demand sharp SF. For everyone's sake--our reality has gotten so damn stupid. We need to have something to dream for--a way of being that we can be proud of.

Not that humanity in THIS novel proved itself in that regard, but the NOVEL certainly spells it out. :)

My synesthesia gave me a wonderful light-show this time, which is ironic since the majority of the novel took place in the dark. I'm definitely not complaining.



Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to requests. Just direct message me in goodreads or email me on my site. I'd love to get some eyes on my novels.

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