This is the first work I\u2019ve read by the Arthur C Clarke\nwinning Adrian Tchaikovsky. It\u2019s a novella told in the first person about a trip\nto explore a strange alien artefact that has been detected from Earth. A motley\nbunch of crew members, chosen largely along political lines, has been chosen to\nexplore this strangely behaving \u2018thing.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not too much of a spoiler to say that things don\u2019t go\ntoo well. Our protagonist is Gary Rendell, and we meet him in the crypt-like\nsurroundings of the body, seemingly alone, apart from lots of similarly lost\nalien species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The tale is laced with dark and dry humour throughout, and you\nreally don\u2019t know where things are going. Indeed, it\u2019s not easy to see exactly\nwhat\u2019s going on. The alien world doesn\u2019t seem to conform to any understandable\nphysics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a fun read, although at times I thought it could get to\nits point even quicker. I\u2019ll definitely go and try some of his works, probably\nstarting with Children of Time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n