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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Mixed feelings about this book. The first half would've scored 5 stars, but the second half isn't as good.
I adored the mini chapters, detailing the development of alternative intelligences on other Earths. This is what Adrian does best.
The first half is fast paced, with characters all acting out their own stories in a wider narrative, eventually crossing paths and lining up. Sadly, the moment this happens, the story slows down and becomes less interesting, and strangely less funny.
The book reminded me of the His Dark Materials series, but with a sci-fi angle.
The first half is fast paced, with characters all acting out their own stories in a wider narrative, eventually crossing paths and lining up. Sadly, the moment this happens, the story slows down and becomes less interesting, and strangely less funny.
The book reminded me of the His Dark Materials series, but with a sci-fi angle.
Tchaikovsky does it again. I'll be honest, the interludes weren't making sense to me, so I skipped them until I found the place where they fit into the plot, and then I went back and listened to them until I was caught up. It worked better that way for me. Another 'many worlds' story, but I loved the characters and enjoyed the "aliens," and in general appreciated the imagination of the story. I think my biggest issue was that the evil mastermind was a little too flat of a character.
Many parts of this were superior to one of my favorite books, Children of Time, but on the whole it doesn't quite measure up. 4.5 stars.
Many parts of this were superior to one of my favorite books, Children of Time, but on the whole it doesn't quite measure up. 4.5 stars.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The beginning of the book is like a sci-fi thriller, but the Interludes being the momentum to a screeching halt. The last half has an interesting concept but more hard sci-fi.
Originally posted on Just Geeking By.
Trigger warning:
Please note that the villain of the piece is a horrible bigot who throws around homophobic and transphobic slurs as well as deadnaming a transgender character at one point and forcing them to wear the clothes of their former gender. The Doors of Eden is an LGBTQ+ positive novel and this character is the one exception. I just don’t want anyone to be caught unaware.
There are some authors that draw me in by their name only and Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of them. As soon as I saw one of his books listed on NetGalley I hit apply. I’ve only read one other book by Tchaikovsky (Empire in Black and Gold, the first book of his Shadows of the Apt fantasy series), however, I've had the pleasure of interviewing him and got to see the mind of a creative writer at work. From that point, I knew that any new releases I was going to check out because I knew they would be incredible.
So yes, I did go into this book with a high level of anticipation. As the synopsis states, Tchaikovsky is an Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author, after all, and there is a certain level of writing you expect from that even if you aren’t familiar with the author. Familiarity aside I’d have picked The Doors of Eden up based on the synopsis anyway. It’s filled to the brim with a mystery which is something I love and poses so many questions that I would just keep coming back to it wondering about the answers. Missing people, MI5, powers, parallel earths and… theoretical physics?! It’s a delicious mix of questions, plots and intriguing characters and that’s just the synopsis!
The Doors of Eden is an imaginative science fiction novel that asks the ultimate question of “what if?”. If one tiny thing went differently at the very start of existence what would that mean? It’s a question I hadn’t really considered until I read The Doors of Eden and afterwards I was a little overwhelmed by the colossal ramifications suggested by Tchaikovsky. It’s all fictional, yet it’s also completely theoretically possible and that is the part that gets to you.
I’m no stranger to the idea of alternate timelines. To the idea that for every decision we make there’s an alternative timeline where we made the opposite one. In The Doors of Eden Tchaikovsky has not gone beyond that concept; it’s gone before it. The events that split the timeline happen before sentient species even occur and they significantly shape the species of each of the parallel earths. Some of them are species you may have considered as possibilities before, and some of them you won’t have come up with in a million years. That’s the beauty of a creative genius at work and this is Tchaikovsky at his best with no holds barred.
Alongside the parallel earths is something just as remarkable; everyday people. Yes, I’m saying that ordinary people are interesting and the reason for that is because Tchaikovsky’s human characters are as skillfully written as the rest of the novel. They’re also wonderfully diverse with the cast featuring a lesbian couple, a transgender character, and a character with severe anxiety. Through these everyday characters, Tchaikovsky reminds us that the British secret service can be anyone; they’re not all James Bond super agents. In fact, it’s mostly filled with analysts and investigators.
As they are drawn into a mystery surrounding top physicist Kay Amal Khan the agents find their investigation going beyond the scope of anything they could ever have imagined. Unlike the other characters, these are the two outsiders, and it’s through their experiences, their feelings that the reader is able to truly feel the fascination, wonder and at times horror of what is happening. There is no review that can prepare you for that aspect of this book; you will come out with more questions than answers. With more thoughts regarding the world we live in and the possibilities of science than you ever thought possible.
As The Doors of Eden is a science-heavy book, specifically physics, there is a lot of mathematics and jargon in the book. I have dyscalculia so I fully understand if that sentence has just made anyone reading this think ‘uh, no this one isn’t for me’. I don’t just dislike numbers; they terrify me. They’re completely alien and unyielding. With that in mind, I still stand by my 5 star rating of The Doors of Eden because while it is a book about calculations, it’s not only about calculations. They are a fundamental part of the plot, and if you finish the book you’ll understand exactly what I mean, but this is still very much a book about life and people.
Despite my initial excitement and interest in this book, it took me a long time to finish it. There are several reasons for that and I wanted to talk about this because it’s something that can easily dissuade people from finishing the book. The Doors of Eden has multiple moving parts which for quite a while seems really fragmented. While there are the separate narratives of the different players (Lee and Mal, Julian Sabreur, Kay Amal Khan and others you meet along the way) there are scientific interludes in-between them. These are excerpts from a Professor from the University of California and some of them can be quite dense, full of scientific jargon and if you’re not interested in that kind of thing, really dull. I found the early ones difficult to read and scanned through them quickly (a skill I picked up at University), and as the book progressed I found the later ones really fascinating.
They seem utterly random, a fun little add-in by the author until you get to the final stages of the book. That is the ultimate beauty and skill of Tchaikovsky’s writing. All those random stories, facts and bits of information come together and suddenly it all makes sense. So my advice to anyone reading The Doors of Eden, if you’re struggling with it; keep going! It’s one of those books that has a very slow buildup.
The Doors of Eden is simply mindblowing. It has everything you want from a science fiction thriller, and then even more. It’s a mystery, it’s a story about people and their search for answers, and it’s about saving everything before it’s too late. If you’re looking for a book that will keep stick with you after you’ve finished it, and open a whole new world to you, then The Doors of Eden is for you.
Trigger warning:
Please note that the villain of the piece is a horrible bigot who throws around homophobic and transphobic slurs as well as deadnaming a transgender character at one point and forcing them to wear the clothes of their former gender. The Doors of Eden is an LGBTQ+ positive novel and this character is the one exception. I just don’t want anyone to be caught unaware.
There are some authors that draw me in by their name only and Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of them. As soon as I saw one of his books listed on NetGalley I hit apply. I’ve only read one other book by Tchaikovsky (Empire in Black and Gold, the first book of his Shadows of the Apt fantasy series), however, I've had the pleasure of interviewing him and got to see the mind of a creative writer at work. From that point, I knew that any new releases I was going to check out because I knew they would be incredible.
So yes, I did go into this book with a high level of anticipation. As the synopsis states, Tchaikovsky is an Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author, after all, and there is a certain level of writing you expect from that even if you aren’t familiar with the author. Familiarity aside I’d have picked The Doors of Eden up based on the synopsis anyway. It’s filled to the brim with a mystery which is something I love and poses so many questions that I would just keep coming back to it wondering about the answers. Missing people, MI5, powers, parallel earths and… theoretical physics?! It’s a delicious mix of questions, plots and intriguing characters and that’s just the synopsis!
The Doors of Eden is an imaginative science fiction novel that asks the ultimate question of “what if?”. If one tiny thing went differently at the very start of existence what would that mean? It’s a question I hadn’t really considered until I read The Doors of Eden and afterwards I was a little overwhelmed by the colossal ramifications suggested by Tchaikovsky. It’s all fictional, yet it’s also completely theoretically possible and that is the part that gets to you.
I’m no stranger to the idea of alternate timelines. To the idea that for every decision we make there’s an alternative timeline where we made the opposite one. In The Doors of Eden Tchaikovsky has not gone beyond that concept; it’s gone before it. The events that split the timeline happen before sentient species even occur and they significantly shape the species of each of the parallel earths. Some of them are species you may have considered as possibilities before, and some of them you won’t have come up with in a million years. That’s the beauty of a creative genius at work and this is Tchaikovsky at his best with no holds barred.
Alongside the parallel earths is something just as remarkable; everyday people. Yes, I’m saying that ordinary people are interesting and the reason for that is because Tchaikovsky’s human characters are as skillfully written as the rest of the novel. They’re also wonderfully diverse with the cast featuring a lesbian couple, a transgender character, and a character with severe anxiety. Through these everyday characters, Tchaikovsky reminds us that the British secret service can be anyone; they’re not all James Bond super agents. In fact, it’s mostly filled with analysts and investigators.
As they are drawn into a mystery surrounding top physicist Kay Amal Khan the agents find their investigation going beyond the scope of anything they could ever have imagined. Unlike the other characters, these are the two outsiders, and it’s through their experiences, their feelings that the reader is able to truly feel the fascination, wonder and at times horror of what is happening. There is no review that can prepare you for that aspect of this book; you will come out with more questions than answers. With more thoughts regarding the world we live in and the possibilities of science than you ever thought possible.
As The Doors of Eden is a science-heavy book, specifically physics, there is a lot of mathematics and jargon in the book. I have dyscalculia so I fully understand if that sentence has just made anyone reading this think ‘uh, no this one isn’t for me’. I don’t just dislike numbers; they terrify me. They’re completely alien and unyielding. With that in mind, I still stand by my 5 star rating of The Doors of Eden because while it is a book about calculations, it’s not only about calculations. They are a fundamental part of the plot, and if you finish the book you’ll understand exactly what I mean, but this is still very much a book about life and people.
Despite my initial excitement and interest in this book, it took me a long time to finish it. There are several reasons for that and I wanted to talk about this because it’s something that can easily dissuade people from finishing the book. The Doors of Eden has multiple moving parts which for quite a while seems really fragmented. While there are the separate narratives of the different players (Lee and Mal, Julian Sabreur, Kay Amal Khan and others you meet along the way) there are scientific interludes in-between them. These are excerpts from a Professor from the University of California and some of them can be quite dense, full of scientific jargon and if you’re not interested in that kind of thing, really dull. I found the early ones difficult to read and scanned through them quickly (a skill I picked up at University), and as the book progressed I found the later ones really fascinating.
They seem utterly random, a fun little add-in by the author until you get to the final stages of the book. That is the ultimate beauty and skill of Tchaikovsky’s writing. All those random stories, facts and bits of information come together and suddenly it all makes sense. So my advice to anyone reading The Doors of Eden, if you’re struggling with it; keep going! It’s one of those books that has a very slow buildup.
The Doors of Eden is simply mindblowing. It has everything you want from a science fiction thriller, and then even more. It’s a mystery, it’s a story about people and their search for answers, and it’s about saving everything before it’s too late. If you’re looking for a book that will keep stick with you after you’ve finished it, and open a whole new world to you, then The Doors of Eden is for you.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Este libro me ha dejado un poco descolocado, ¿es Ciencia Ficción Hard si la ciencia en cuestión es biología? Porque la historia empieza describiendo un Planeta Tierra paralelo en que el camino de la evolución fue por otro lado, y esto es algo que seguirá como fondo del resto del libro.
Los personajes son bastante variados: una pareja de investigadoras de "criptofauna", una matemática experta en un campo muy específico, y el jefe de seguridad de un magnate entre otros. Por supuesto, todos se van a acabar relacionando con los demás.
El tono de la historia tiene algún cambio bastante importante, pero (menos en el tramo final) es todo muy ágil pero fácil de seguir.
Lo más parecido a este libro que he leído es la saga de [b:La Tierra Larga|18480073|La Tierra Larga (La tierra larga, #1)|Terry Pratchett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1378845806l/18480073._SY75_.jpg|18164154], aunque el tratamiento de la premisa sea muy diferente.
Los personajes son bastante variados: una pareja de investigadoras de "criptofauna", una matemática experta en un campo muy específico, y el jefe de seguridad de un magnate entre otros. Por supuesto, todos se van a acabar relacionando con los demás.
El tono de la historia tiene algún cambio bastante importante, pero (menos en el tramo final) es todo muy ágil pero fácil de seguir.
Lo más parecido a este libro que he leído es la saga de [b:La Tierra Larga|18480073|La Tierra Larga (La tierra larga, #1)|Terry Pratchett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1378845806l/18480073._SY75_.jpg|18164154], aunque el tratamiento de la premisa sea muy diferente.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes