Just finished my first book of the year, Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I think he’s now my favorite author, at least currently writing. He’s so good at so many things, from hard SF to fantasy. He’s created some really interesting worlds, and populated them with interesting characters.
So far, I’ve read these books of his (order I read them, not order published):
- Children of Time
- Children of Ruin
- Children of Memory
- Made Things
- Walking to Aldebaran
- Service Model
- Shroud
- City of Last Chances
- Alien Clay
Each of these is a gem. The children of time series has to be an all-time great SF trilogy. If you want my little paragraph of spoiler-free notes on why of them, let me know.
I also recently got into this guy. First one I read was Cage Of Souls, which is very much in the same kind of Weird Fantasy genre as China Mieville. It’s written in the first person by an engagingly cowardly weasel of a man whose job is to guide you around a Book-Of-The-New Sun-ish knackered future world that is mostly just sitting around waiting to die.
Oh, I don’t think I’m familiar with that one. You liked it then? Guess I should add it to my reading list.