{"id":750,"date":"2026-06-12T12:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T09:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/e4ellis.com\/?p=750"},"modified":"2026-06-12T12:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T09:59:10","slug":"shroud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/e4ellis.com\/?p=750","title":{"rendered":"Shroud"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Adrian Tchaikovsky<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"324\" height=\"501\" src=\"https:\/\/e4ellis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/shroud.png\" alt=\"Cover of Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky showing a futuristic pod-shaped vehicle entrapped by many tentacles.\" class=\"wp-image-749\" srcset=\"https:\/\/e4ellis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/shroud.png 324w, https:\/\/e4ellis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/shroud-194x300.png 194w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 324px) 100vw, 324px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Note<\/strong>: once you know this book is about first contact with alien life, this is a spoiler-free zone!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Set in the far future, with humanity still on its own, trying to spread out far and wide across the universe, the story focuses on one particular colonial encounter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the Prospector413 system, the spaceship Garveneer approaches a moon that is always on the dark side of the planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Juna Ceelander and others are brought out of cold-storage to explore the planet to determine its suitability for exploitation by way of strip-mining. One irony is that Ceelander lives in a corporate world that exploits her and she has, it seems, no choice but to extend the influence and reach of her bosses and exploit the alien moon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To put the plot at its simplest, Ceelander and company encounter alien life. The book describes this from the perspective of the humans \u2014 driven on by corporate budgets, goals, timetables, and internal politics \u2014 and the aliens.  The communications gulf and the consequential challenges are patiently and logically shown. The writing is evocative and engrossing as you are drawn in to the struggle for comprehension. The human characters are well drawn. Their interactions are meaninful and authentic. The alien parts are outstanding \u2014 fresh, new, and challenging. The backdrop is as much a character in the drama as anyone else. The pacing is just right, maintaining the tension without overdoing things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the best science-fiction book I have read in a long, long time. To keep the review spoiler free, it\u2019s short. But don\u2019t let that fool you. There is a lot packed into Shroud and you will be missing out if you don\u2019t read it. I have had some misses in the past with this author, however Shroud is definitely a hit. Highly recommended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Adrian Tchaikovsky Note: once you know this book is about first contact with alien life, this is a spoiler-free zone! Set in the far future, with humanity still on its own, trying to spread out far and wide across the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/e4ellis.com\/?p=750\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[82],"class_list":["post-750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","tag-adrian-tchaikovsky"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/e4ellis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/e4ellis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/e4ellis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e4ellis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e4ellis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=750"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/e4ellis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":751,"href":"https:\/\/e4ellis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750\/revisions\/751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/e4ellis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e4ellis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e4ellis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}