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Cover of Shroud

Shroud

Adrian Tchaikovsky (2025-06-03)

Subgenre
Age groupAdult 18+
Content ratingPG-13
Pages374 (Standard (250-400))
Setting
CSM age13

Content levels

ViolenceModerate
Sexual contentNone
LanguageMild

Trigger warnings

DeathCaptivitySurvival Peril

Positive tags

SurvivalAdventureFirst ContactFriendship

Tropes

First ContactSurvivalFish out of WaterAlien PlanetStrandedDuo ProtagonistsEnvironmental HazardNon-Human Intelligence

Themes

SurvivalFirst ContactUnderstanding the OtherCommunication Across SpeciesHumanity's FutureExploitation vs CoexistenceEnvironmental Adaptation

Synopsis

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 . . .

Tags

Hard Science FictionPlanetary RomanceSurvival StoryScience Fiction Thriller