Match Book
Elder Race
Adrian Tchaikovsky
2021 · 204 pages · Science fiction
How it reads
Elder Race is science fiction (sci-fi novella, specifically), and its dominant mood is dark. It goes to difficult places and doesn't look away. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.
It's set in an invented world, in the future, told in the third person, staying close to one character. Its central concerns are identity, survival and secrets. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.
It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is bittersweet: it resolves, but at a price. At 204 pages it's a quick read. It's moderately known: read by plenty of people, but not a household name.
Pick it up if…
- you're in the mood for something dark
- you like disappearing into an invented world
- you want a complete story in one book
Maybe not if…
- you need something cosy, heartwarming or funny
All 15 dimensions
- Genre
- science fiction
- Author gender
- male
- Author experience
- prolific veteran
- Setting: place
- fictional world
- Setting: time
- future
- Mood / feeling
- dark
- Pace
- moderate
- Tone / weight
- balanced
- Length
- short
- Narrative style
- third person, one viewpoint
- Publication era
- recent
- Popularity
- moderately known
- Series vs standalone
- standalone
- Ending style
- bittersweet
What these mean: the 15 dimensions of a book.
Books with a similar reading
The closest books in Match Book's catalogue across the same dimensions, and what they share.
- SnowglobeSoyoung ParkShares: science fiction, balanced tone, moderate pace, set in an invented world
I, RobotIsaac AsimovShares: science fiction, dark mood, balanced tone, moderate pace- Planet For TransientsPhilip K. DickShares: science fiction, balanced tone, moderate pace, future setting
- FirewalkersAdrian TchaikovskyShares: science fiction, dark mood, balanced tone, future setting
The book of MPeng ShepherdShares: science fiction, dark mood, balanced tone, moderate pace- Artemis AwakeningJane LindskoldShares: science fiction, balanced tone, moderate pace, set in an invented world
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