Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
A good start for what I hope to be an interesting series. I only wish more were available on Audible. Baker seems to have thought out a lot of implications of immortality and time travel and made a universe that still has very personal stories.
Recommended by Jackie Kashian via numerous podcasts.
Recommended by Jackie Kashian via numerous podcasts.
Originally posted on fortheloverofbooks.wordpress.com
Number of pages:329
Number of times read (including the time before this review): 1
Rating (out of five stars): 0
Warning spoilers! If you have any interest in reading this book (which I do not recommend), do not continue reading this post.
I honestly tried so hard to like and finish this book, but I just couldn’t do it. Normally, I wouldn’t have even considered reading In the Garden of Iden as it is a Science-fiction book, but as it was given to me by my aunt I decided to give it a try.
Firstly, In the Garden of Iden was boring. I didn’t exactly think that the saving endangered plants aspects would be all that interesting, I did however, think that the time traveling immortal parts would be at least moderately entertaining. This book made being immortal and traveling back in time to Tudor era England (which is a time period that I find fascinating) boring. Even for a person who is not a Sci-fi fan the premise of time traveling immortals sounds pretty cool. In reality, basically all this main character did that was of any slight importance was collect plant samples and make out with a guy.
Secondly, In the Garden of Iden does the same frustrating thing that Cinder by Marissa Meyer does by inventing futuristic objects and not explaining what they look like and what their purpose is. The reader is left sitting there saying “I have no idea what a (insert futuristic name here) is or what it does, but apparently it melts”.
Lastly, I’m not really sure why, as a human, I would want to read a book where the characters believe that all humans are worthless, horrible and stupid “monkeys” (In the Garden of Iden, roughly every other page). I understand that most of the characters are high and mighty immortal cyborgs (who were once human themselves) and that humans have done some pretty terrible things in the past, but why on earth would I want to read a book like that.
In conclusion to this rant disguised as a review, I couldn’t bring myself to finish In the Garden of Iden. It was boring, the characters were unlikable and it was (at times) confusing. Because of this, I give In the Garden of Iden 0 stars.
Number of pages:329
Number of times read (including the time before this review): 1
Rating (out of five stars): 0
Warning spoilers! If you have any interest in reading this book (which I do not recommend), do not continue reading this post.
I honestly tried so hard to like and finish this book, but I just couldn’t do it. Normally, I wouldn’t have even considered reading In the Garden of Iden as it is a Science-fiction book, but as it was given to me by my aunt I decided to give it a try.
Firstly, In the Garden of Iden was boring. I didn’t exactly think that the saving endangered plants aspects would be all that interesting, I did however, think that the time traveling immortal parts would be at least moderately entertaining. This book made being immortal and traveling back in time to Tudor era England (which is a time period that I find fascinating) boring. Even for a person who is not a Sci-fi fan the premise of time traveling immortals sounds pretty cool. In reality, basically all this main character did that was of any slight importance was collect plant samples and make out with a guy.
Secondly, In the Garden of Iden does the same frustrating thing that Cinder by Marissa Meyer does by inventing futuristic objects and not explaining what they look like and what their purpose is. The reader is left sitting there saying “I have no idea what a (insert futuristic name here) is or what it does, but apparently it melts”.
Lastly, I’m not really sure why, as a human, I would want to read a book where the characters believe that all humans are worthless, horrible and stupid “monkeys” (In the Garden of Iden, roughly every other page). I understand that most of the characters are high and mighty immortal cyborgs (who were once human themselves) and that humans have done some pretty terrible things in the past, but why on earth would I want to read a book like that.
In conclusion to this rant disguised as a review, I couldn’t bring myself to finish In the Garden of Iden. It was boring, the characters were unlikable and it was (at times) confusing. Because of this, I give In the Garden of Iden 0 stars.
Quite an interesting premise for immortality, with humorous bits in between. The main character, Mendoza, however, is somewhat whiny, and could grate upon the nerves.´
Also, it was strange to read this--the first of a long series--while the author was laid upon her deathbed. Definitely affected my level of appreciation for this book...
Also, it was strange to read this--the first of a long series--while the author was laid upon her deathbed. Definitely affected my level of appreciation for this book...
The first of a series about time travelers who go back in time and make selected children immortal (the process only works on children). These people are then tasked with preserving and caching fortunes, great works of art, extinct animals and plants, that sort of thing, for the future. The story is about a Spanish child (Mendoza) who is immortalized, trained as a botanist, and at the ripe old age of about-19 inserted into Tudor England to preserve extinct plants. The religious upheavals of the time, her love affair with a local, and the difficulty of living a double life combine to push this book towards a sobering ending. This is the kind of book I really sought out when I was younger but I thought I had grown out of. But Baker writes so well--lyrically and wittily, with appropriate depth--that this enchanted my adult self as well. This is the first of "The Company" series and you may be sure I will read all of them.
KB never wrote anything to equal this first outrageous book. Meg loved it, too.
Time travel + cyborgs + 16th c. England = you can't go wrong!
It had great a great beginning and a wonderful world background, but got tediously boring in the middle. Then I stopped reading it.