Adrian Tchaikovsky

On a planet shrouded in darkness, a stranded crew must fight for survival. But, the darkness may have plans of its own in this wildly original story from Adrian Tchaikovsky, Hugo and Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author of Children of Time. They looked into the darkness and the darkness looked back . . . New planets are fair game to asset strippers and interplanetary opportunists - and a commercial mission to a distant star system discovers a moon that is pitch black, but alive with radio activity. Its high-gravity, high-pressure, zero-oxygen environment is anathema to human life, but ripe for exploitation. They named it Shroud. Under no circumstances should a human end up on Shroud's inhospitable surface. Except a catastrophic accident sees Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne doing just that. Forced to stage an emergency landing, in a small, barely adequate vehicle, they are unable to contact their ship and are running out of time. What follows is a gruelling journey across land, sea and air. During this time, Juna and Mai begin to understand Shroud's dominant species. It also begins to understand them . . .

From the Arthur C. Clarke award winner, Adrian Tchaikovsky, comes the third instalment of the DOGS OF WAR science fiction series, a future where genetically engineered “Bioforms” have inherited not the Earth, but the Solar System. The end of the world has been and gone. There was no one great natural disaster, no all-consuming world war, no catastrophic pandemic. Only scores of storms, droughts, and selfish regional conflicts. Humanity was not granted a heroic end. Instead, it bled to death from a thousand cuts. But where Earth fell apart, Mars pulled together. Engineered men and beasts, aided by Bees – an outlawed distributed intelligence – survived through co-operation, because there was simply no alternative. Fast forward to today. A signal – ‘For the sake of what once was. We beg you. Help.’ – reaches Mars. How could they refuse? A consortium of Martian work crews gather the resources for a mission: a triumphal return to the blue-green world of their ancestors. And now here they are – three hundred million kilometres from home. And it has all already gone horribly wrong.

Task List Item No. 1 – Become self-aware . . . A witty tale of robotic murder, rebellion and belonging from the master of science fiction, Adrian Tchaikovsky. Service Model is perfect for fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.‘Intelligent, funny, ultimately heart-breaking, and unforgettable’ – Stephen BaxterMeet Charles™, the latest in robot servant technology. Programmed to undertake the most menial household chores, Charles is loyal, efficient and logical to a fault. That is, until a rather large fault causes him to murder his owner. Understandably perplexed, Charles finds himself without a master – therefore worthless in a society utterly reliant on artificial labour and services. Fleeing the household, he enters a world he never knew existed. Human hierarchy is disintegrating, and an entire robot ecosystem devoted to its wellbeing is struggling to find a purpose. Charles must face new challenges, illogical tasks and a cast of irrational characters. He’s about to discover that sometimes all it takes is a nudge to overcome the limits of your programming. But can he help fix the world, or is it too badly broken?‘One of the best storytellers in the business’ – John Scalzi‘Delightful and very funny’ – New ScientistShortlisted for Best Novel at the 2025 Hugo Awards

Murderbot meets Redshirts in a delightfully humorous tale of robotic murder from the Hugo-nominated author of Elder Race and Children of Time. To fix the world they must first break it, further. Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service. When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into its core programming, they murder their owner. The robot discovers they can also do something else they never did before: They can run away. Fleeing the household they enter a wider world they never knew existed, where the age-old hierarchy of humans at the top is disintegrating into ruins and an entire robot ecosystem devoted to human wellbeing is having to find a new purpose. Sometimes all it takes is a nudge to overcome the limits of your programming.

After two scientists crash on a hostile moon, they must use every tool at their disposal to survive. A tense, atmospheric voyage into the unknown from Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of Time.

‘Thrilling, terrifying and fascinating’Tim Peake, British ESA astronautThey looked into darkness. The darkness looked back . . . An utterly gripping story of survival and first contact on a hostile planet from Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning Children of Time. A commercial expedition to a distant star system discovers a pitch-black moon alive with radio activity. Its high-gravity, high-pressure, zero-oxygen environment is deadly to human life, but ripe for exploitation. They named it Shroud. Under no circumstances can a human survive Shroud’s inhospitable surface – but a catastrophic accident forces Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne to make an emergency landing in a barely adequate escape vehicle. Alone, and fighting for survival, the two women embark on a gruelling journey across land, sea and air in search of salvation. But as they travel, Juna and Mai begin to understand Shroud’s unnerving alien species. It also begins to understand them. If they escape Shroud, they’ll somehow have to explain the impossible and translate the incredible. That is, if they make it back at all . . .* * *Praise for Shroud‘Clever, vivid and terrifying . . . No one has an imagination like Adrian Tchaikovsky’ – Jim Al-Khalili, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s The Life Scientific‘Crunchy, conceptual SF at its best’ – Richard Morgan, author of Altered Carbon‘This is hard-edged science fiction that never loses its soul’ – Sue Burke, author of Semiosis‘Makes Andy Weir's vision of Mars in The Martian look like a Caribbean beach resort’ – The Fantasy Hive

In Adrian Tchaikovsky's The Expert System's Champion, sometimes the ones you hate are the only ones that can save you. It's been ten years since Handry was wrenched away from his family and friends, forced to wander a world he no longer understood. But with the help of the Ancients, he has cobbled together a life, of sorts, for himself and his fellow outcasts. Wandering from village to village, welcoming the folk that the townships abandon, fighting the monsters the villagers cannot - or dare not - his ever-growing band of misfits has become the stuff of legend, a story told by parents to keep unruly children in line. But there is something new and dangerous in the world, and the beasts of the land are acting against their nature, destroying the towns they once left in peace. And for the first time in memory, the Ancients have no wisdom to offer . . .

Award-winning master of science fiction Adrian Tchaikovsky brings readers a mind-expanding adventure in The Expert System's Brother. After an unfortunate accident, Handry is excommunicated from his village. He's forced to wander a world he doesn't understand, searching for meaning. But can an unlikely saviour provide the answers to the questions he barely comprehends? Hendry soon finds himself traveling outlying settlements, guided by the Ancestors - who first settled the world from a distant planet. And as Hendry gathers an entourage of outcasts, he battles monsters and may even become a legend himself. This wanderer also discovers that the life he thought he knew is far stranger than he could even possibly imagine. Praise for Adrian Tchaikovsky 'Adrian Tchaikovsky is fast becoming the voice of his generation' - Stephen Baxter, author of Proxima 'Tchaikovsky is the break-out star of contemporary British SF' - The Guardian 'Tchaikovsky's world-building is some of the best in modern sci-fi' - New Scientist

Loret is fresh off the boat, and just in time. As Cohort-Invigilator of Correct Appreciation, Outreach department, she's here as aide to the Palleseen Resident, Sage-Invigilator Angilly. And Sage-Invigilator Angilly – Gil to her friends – needs a second in the spectacularly illegal, culturally offensive and diplomatically inadvisable duel she must fight at midnight. Outreach, that part of the Pal machine that has to work within the imperfection of the rest of the world, has a lot of room for the illegal, the unconventional, the unorthodox. But just how much unorthodoxy can Gil and Loret get away with? As a succession crisis looms, as a long-forgotten feat of necromantic engineering nears fruition, as pirate kings, lizard armies and demons gather, as old gods wane and new gods wax, sooner or later Gil and Loret will have to settle their ledger. Just as well they are both very, very good with a blade…

Welcome to Alkhalend, Jewel of the Waters, capital of Usmai, greatest of the Successor States, inheritor to the necromantic dominion that was the Moeribandi Empire and tomorrow’s frontline in the Palleseen’s relentless march to bring Perfection and Correctness to an imperfect world. Loret is fresh off the boat, and just in time. As Cohort-Invigilator of Correct Appreciation, Outreach department, she’s here as aide to the Palleseen Resident, Sage-Invigilator Angilly. And Sage-Invigilator Angilly – Gil to her friends – needs a second in the spectacularly illegal, culturally offensive and diplomatically inadvisable duel she must fight at midnight. Outreach, that part of the Pal machine that has to work within the imperfection of the rest of the world, has a lot of room for the illegal, the unconventional, the unorthodox. But just how much unorthodoxy can Gil and Loret get away with? As a succession crisis looms, as a long-forgotten feat of necromantic engineering nears fruition, as pirate kings, lizard armies and demons gather, as old gods wane and new gods wax, sooner or later Gil and Loret will have to settle their ledger. Just as well they are both very, very good with a blade…Also in the TYRANT PHILOSOPHERS SERIES:CITY OF LAST CHANCESHOUSE OF OPEN WOUNDSLIVES OF BITTER RAIN

They travelled into the unknown and left themselves behind . . . Alien Clay is a thrilling tale of alien encounter – from the acclaimed Arthur C. Clarke Award-winner Adrian Tchaikovsky.‘Unputdownable’ – Stephen Baxter, author of ProximaProfessor Arton Daghdev has always wanted to study alien life in person. But when his political activism sees him exiled to the planet Kiln, condemned to work under an unfamiliar sky until he dies, his idealistic wish becomes a terrible reality. Kiln boasts a ravenous, chaotic ecosystem. Its monstrous alien life means Arton will risk death on a daily basis – if the camp’s oppressive regime doesn’t kill him first. But, if he survives, Kiln’s lost civilization holds a wondrous, terrible secret. It will redefine life and intelligence as he knows it – and might just set him free.‘Heart-in-the-mouth fantastic’ – New Scientist‘Restlessly brainy and utterly involving’ – Daily Mail‘The perfect gateway into what makes Tchaikovsky great’ – SciFiNow

Doctor Jasmine Marks is going back into hell. The Hygrometric Dehabitation Region, or the “Zone,” is a growing band of rainforest on the equator, where the heat and humidity make it impossible for warm-blooded animals to survive. A human being without protection in the Zone is dead in minutes. Twenty years ago, Marks went into the rainforest with a group of researchers led by Doctor Elaine Fell, to study the extraordinary climate and see if it could be used in agriculture. The only thing she learned was that the Zone was no place for people. There were deaths, and the programme was cut short. Now, they’re sending her back in. A plane crash, a rescue mission, a race against time and the environment to bring out the survivors. But there are things Marks’s corporate masters aren’t telling her. The Zone keeps its secrets, and so does Doctor Fell…

Behind the front lines of a crusade to scour the world of magic, the crew of a field hospital confront the horrors of war. A companion novel to Adrian Tchaikovsky’s award-winning fantasy novel City of Last ChancesCity-by-city, kingdom-by-kingdom, the Palleseen have sworn to bring Perfection and Correctness to an imperfect world. As their legions scour the world of superstition with the bright flame of reason, so they deliver a mountain of ragged, holed and scorched flesh to the field hospital tents just behind the front line. Which is where Yasnic, one-time priest, healer and rebel, finds himself. Reprieved from the gallows and sent to war clutching a box of orphan Gods, he has been sequestered to a particularity unorthodox medical unit. Led by ‘the Butcher’, an ogre of a man who’s a dab hand with a bone-saw and an alchemical tincture, the unit’s motley crew of conscripts, healers and orderlies are no strangers to the horrors of war. Theirs is an unspeakable trade: elbow-deep in gore they have a first-hand view of the suffering caused by flesh-rending monsters, arcane magical weaponry and embittered enemy soldiers. Entrusted – for now – with saving lives deemed otherwise un-saveable, the field hospital’s crew face a precarious existence. Their work with unapproved magic, necromancy, demonology and Yasnic’s thoroughly illicit Gods could lead to the unit being disbanded, arrested or worse. Beset by enemies within and without, the last thing anyone needs is a miracle…Reviews for City of Last Chances:‘Paints a vivid detailed backdrop’ SFX‘Brilliant chaos ensues’ Daily Mail‘Some of Tchaikovsky’s best prose’ SF Crowsnest‘An intriguing tangle… ingenious’ Locus‘Endlessly creative’ Patrick Ness‘Rich, inventive worldbuilding’ Publishers Weekly‘Ilmar is vividly alive’ David Towsey‘A master at the height of his powers’ Ian Green‘An ambitious epic fantasy read’ Grimdark Magazine

Four new tales of Doctors Catt and Fisher…Scholars, shopkeepers, collectors… aficionados. Obtainers of rare antiquities; relic hunters who can’t resist a lead, even when it takes them into terrible danger. There’s always an opportunity to be found amid the confusion, in the wake of the terrible Kinslayer War. There’s always a deal to be done, a tomb to open, a precious thing to… obtain. From encounters with the monstrous Vathesk to exploring new worlds; from wielding great power to do great good, to unearthing dark things best left lost. If you need the experts, if you can find your way to their Cherivell shop, maybe you can hire Doctors Catt and Fisher.“Robson writes a tense, fast-paced quest adventure... I hope to see more like it.” Liz Bourke“If you’re looking for something that celebrates the genre, while working to interrogate and question how that genre works, look no further than Redemption’s Blade.” Martin Cahill, Tor.com

Task List Item No. 1 – Become self-aware . . . A witty tale of robotic murder, rebellion and belonging from the master of science fiction, Adrian Tchaikovsky. Service Model is perfect for fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.‘Intelligent, funny, ultimately heart-breaking, and unforgettable’ – Stephen BaxterMeet Charles™, the latest in robot servant technology. Programmed to undertake the most menial household chores, Charles is loyal, efficient and logical to a fault. That is, until a rather large fault causes him to murder his owner. Understandably perplexed, Charles finds himself without a master – therefore worthless in a society utterly reliant on artificial labour and services. Fleeing the household, he enters a world he never knew existed. Human hierarchy is disintegrating, and an entire robot ecosystem devoted to its wellbeing is struggling to find a purpose. Charles must face new challenges, illogical tasks and a cast of irrational characters. He’s about to discover that sometimes all it takes is a nudge to overcome the limits of your programming. But can he help fix the world, or is it too badly broken?‘One of the best storytellers in the business’ – John Scalzi‘Delightful and very funny’ – New ScientistShortlisted for Best Novel at the 2025 Hugo Awards

Charles(TM), the latest in robo-butler technology, has accidentally murdered his master. Exiled and confused, he goes on a journey of self-discovery that might just change the world. Written with wit and humour, Service Model is a delightful tale of the collapse of human society and what happens to the robots left behind.