Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was just telling my good buddy reader how much I wanted to see something like Scavenger's Reign on my bookshelf, and here, lo-and-behold, it arrives!

Of course, there are a number of really great books that go the whole bio-punk route, but either way -- I really, really appreciate them whenever they come my way.

Here, we have an alien world, with tons of exploration, science, MYSTERY, more science, and a whole world of political, anti-authoritarian goodness. In my humble opinion, I think we need a whole lot more.

Wherever there is a boot heel on the neck of people, or specifically on scientists, artists, or any portion of the population that would naturally rebel against the CONTROL gets out of control, I do find it rather fascinating just how much the authoritarians go gaga over those rare scientists (or artists) who functionally sell themselves out to the boot.

Those who sell out aren't the majority. Most will reluctantly or angrily work within the system, or not at all, but then there are those who throw in with the boot -- dragging everyone else down to pavement.

Suffice to say, I would rather like to see mother nature (or mother alien nature) give us a potent tool against such CONTROL. It's the main reason I love this novel.

Such fascinating ideas.

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