Shroud
Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor)

The latest novel by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Shroud, examines the question of whether, faced with an alien intelligence, we would actually perceive it as intelligent. That and whether the aliens would recognise us as anything above pond life.

The setting is the far future and a foray by a commercial vessel into a new star system. The ship’s culture is cruel, petty and highly corporate – that is, entirely recognisable to humans alive today. The crew are unfrozen, used as needed, then summarily refrozen.…