Green City Wars by Adrian Tchaikovsky

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

Green City Wars by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Genre: Science Fiction

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Tor Books (June 23, 2026)

Length: 368 pages

Author Information: Website

Fans of Adrian Tchaikovsky know that he has made a career out of taking ideas that sound completely ridiculous and somehow making them work, and half the fun of picking up his books is wondering what you’ll be in for this time. Chances are, it’ll be something no one else would even think to write. Take his knack for nonhuman protagonists, for example. Even when they are spiders, in the case of Children of Time, he makes you sympathize with them, love them, cheer for them. So, given the countless different creatures he’s brought to life over the years, is a noir detective story starring a genetically engineered raccoon private investigator really that much of a stretch? Coming from anyone else, maybe. Coming from Tchaikovsky, not so much.

The story takes place in a highly advanced future where humanity has figured out how to genetically engineer animals into doing the background work required to keep its gleaming urban eco-centers running. In these “green cities,” the creatures, or the Gehirner, are like invisible servants running logistics, keeping things clean, and generally doing the jobs that their human overlords would rather not do. But while the people go about their comfortable lives largely oblivious to it all, the Gehirner have developed a thriving society of their own, complete with complex hierarchies, political factions, and even a criminal underworld. It’s in this setting that we meet Skotch, a down-on-his-luck raccoon who recently left his office job to become a freelance P.I. Not exactly in a position to be picky, he takes on a job to track down an errant mouse who recently fell off the grid.

But what seemed like an easy missing-rodent case quickly snowballs into something more complicated. Routine investigative work and simple questions suddenly lead to Skotch running from violent gangs and hired killers, not to mention the insane squirrel militia. It seems he is not the only one interested in locating the missing mouse, who is apparently a brilliant scientist rumored to possess the secret to reshaping the power balance in Gehirner societies. Such knowledge can be dangerous, Skotch discovers as he bounces between allies and enemies while trying to solve his case, all while fighting for survival in a morally gray world built on an uneasy balance between humans and the creatures engineered to serve them.

On paper, Green City Wars is a hardboiled noir detective story, just starring unconventional characters. The entire cast list is made up of talking animals, and this is a concept that Tchaikovsky commits to so wholeheartedly that after a while, it almost seems normal. It’s also probably no surprise that the biggest draw here is the worldbuilding. The novel presents the setting in a way that feels strange and alien while still making perfect sense structurally, from the corporations that created the Gehirner and the processes that sustain their enhancements to the societal classes that have developed organically among different species.

Just as interesting was the way the animals were handled. While Skotch can think and speak like a human, at the end of the day he is still all raccoon, and the same goes for the various characters that flit in and out of the plot. Unique biological instincts and behaviors give the world of Green City Wars an authenticity, so it never feels like you’re simply reading about humans wearing animal suits.

That said, the mystery itself didn’t feel as involved. Don’t get me wrong, the premise was fantastic, but Skotch’s investigation was relatively on rails, consisting of moving from one faction to another, asking questions, rinse and repeat. He doesn’t so much solve the mystery as get carried along by it, with each new encounter nudging him closer to the truth. Granted, it kept the pages turning, but as a detective story, it was on the more mediocre side.

But ultimately, Green City Wars is another example of why I keep coming back to Adrian Tchaikovsky, especially every time he unveils a new high-concept idea, because I just get so damned curious. Few authors can take an idea this bizarre and build an entire believable society around it. While this wasn’t one of my favorites, I still had a good time exploring its strange corners and meeting its wonderfully eccentric cast.