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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
EVERYTHING THEY SAID, AND SO MUCH MORE! What an amazing experience this has been. It's evolutionary sci-fi, alternative biology, unlikely heroes, crime thriller banter, a grand adventure with a strong voice. All THAT - but also make it fucking Narnia. That's my best attempt at describing without ruining the experience with my endless raving.
Full of sparking, speculative invention . . . The Doors of Eden is a terrific timeslip / lost world romp in the grand tradition of Turtledove, Hoyle, even Conan Doyle. If you liked Primeval, read this book
Stephen Baxter
The Doors of Eden shows a combination of tight, evocative prose combined with erudition. In a story whose scope is the broad canvas of the history of all life in the universe, Tchaikovsky manages to zoom in on human moments without breaking a sweat. Inventive, funny and engrossing, this book lingers long after you close it
Tade Thompson
What a ride . . . talks like big-brained science fiction and runs like a fleet-footed political thriller
John Scalzi
Full of sparking, speculative invention . . . The Doors of Eden is a terrific timeslip / lost world romp in the grand tradition of Turtledove, Hoyle, even Conan Doyle. If you liked Primeval, read this book
Stephen Baxter
The Doors of Eden shows a combination of tight, evocative prose combined with erudition. In a story whose scope is the broad canvas of the history of all life in the universe, Tchaikovsky manages to zoom in on human moments without breaking a sweat. Inventive, funny and engrossing, this book lingers long after you close it
Tade Thompson
What a ride . . . talks like big-brained science fiction and runs like a fleet-footed political thriller
John Scalzi
"We tell stories; all sentient life tells stories."
- From The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
A friend had posted earlier this year, about a jigsaw puzzle she received as a gift, where the image that had to be assembled, was not the same as the image on the box. But the image on the box contained clues for the image that would emerge when the pieces were put together. Reading The Doors of Eden is, I imagine, something like trying to put together that jigsaw puzzle.
I thought I had a handle on the plot. I thought I'd figured out where it is going. But this book is far too clever for that. And being surprised like that is always a delightful experience!
And it's not just twists for the sake of twists.
There are expectations that are intentionally subverted, and "clues" scattered across chapters.
And yet, it's not a purely intellectual exercise. It made me think about what makes us who we are, and about what else we could be. About what we should aspire to. At the heart of it all is something incredibly human and hopeful, and that is what ultimately made reading this book such a pleasure.
- From The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
A friend had posted earlier this year, about a jigsaw puzzle she received as a gift, where the image that had to be assembled, was not the same as the image on the box. But the image on the box contained clues for the image that would emerge when the pieces were put together. Reading The Doors of Eden is, I imagine, something like trying to put together that jigsaw puzzle.
I thought I had a handle on the plot. I thought I'd figured out where it is going. But this book is far too clever for that. And being surprised like that is always a delightful experience!
And it's not just twists for the sake of twists.
There are expectations that are intentionally subverted, and "clues" scattered across chapters.
And yet, it's not a purely intellectual exercise. It made me think about what makes us who we are, and about what else we could be. About what we should aspire to. At the heart of it all is something incredibly human and hopeful, and that is what ultimately made reading this book such a pleasure.
Adrian Tchaikovsky has always been one of my "must read" authors. Part of the reason why is that he is so incredibly adept at creating magnificent and compelling stories across multiple genres. Over the years he has written some excellent science-fiction, space opera, as well as epic fantasy. If you get a chance to check out some of his previous works, you will see exactly what I'm talking about.
I had no idea that Adrian had a brand new book coming out this Spring (May 28th to be precise) until it showed up one day on my doorstep. Thank you to publisher Tor for graciously sending me a copy of his latest, THE DOORS OF EDEN. As soon as I saw the stunning cover and read the summary on the back, I just couldn't wait to dig in.
THE DOORS OF EDEN begins as partners and best friends Lee and Mal are embarking on a bit of a road trip adventure to Bodmin Moor. You see the two, besides being very much in love, are are also very much cryptid enthusiasts and have been interested in legendary monsters like Nessie, Bigfoot, Yeti, etc... for as long as they can remember. One day while looking at some online cryptid videos, they come across one showing a farm not too far from their home. As the video is about to cut out, a creature appears in the background for just a few seconds. The image is somewhat difficult to make out and could very likely be a hoax, but it is so haunting and nags at them enough that they eventually decide to pay a visit to Bodmin Moor to see for themselves.
Something terrifying happens though when they investigate the farm and Mal inexplicably vanishes into thin air. There is no body found. It's as if she was there one second and gone the next. Lee struggles to understand exactly what happened on that night and after four years go by with no answers or clues as to Mal's whereabouts, she gives up any hope of ever seeing her again. That is until Mal calls her one day. Could it really be her after all these years? Or is it just a prankster playing some sick joke on Lee? It really sounds like Mal though, but that can't be possible. Can it?
Coupled with the story of Lee and Mal is that of MI5 government employee Julian Sabreur, former army grunt Lucas May, and physicist Kay Amal Khan. They have been aware for years of something otherworldly happening on the Moors as well as other locations around England. They believe that they may have discovered a crack in this world that allows people to travel to a parallel Earth where hideous monsters live. The problem is these cracks can also allow those monsters access to our world too. As these cracks keep getting bigger and greater in number the race to discover how to close them, if that is even possible, could ultimately determine the fate of humanity.
Wow, was that a thrill ride that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time that I was reading it. It is kind of difficult to pinpoint what genre this book falls into. It's also what I loved about it quite frankly. Part science-fiction novel, part portal fiction, part bio-thriller, part mystery, all combining to make one heck of an epic story in the end. It delivers on every front. This was so refreshing and came at exactly the right time for me as I have been reading a lot of standard fantasy and SF lately. But THE DOORS OF EDEN simply defies convention as Adrian Tchaikovsky once again proves that he can't be pigeon-holed into any one genre category.
Being a bit of a cryptid fan myself, this book was the best of both worlds for me as it scratched that itch as well as gave me a fascinating SFF story to digest as well. The characters are so well done and each has their own motivation (some not exactly ethical) for discovering what happened on that fateful night on Bodmin Moor. This book is also creepy as hell in certain parts and it kept me completely engaged as I couldn't believe what I was reading sometimes. In my opinion this is one of the more brilliantly inventive SFF books to come along in a long time. It reminded me of some of my favorite Neal Stephenson books, but unlike Neal's novels, Adrian Tchaikovsky really knows how to ramp up the tension and always delivers a stunning conclusion that satisfies.
Be forewarned that there are a lot of big ideas within these pages and at times things can get pretty involved. So you very much have to pay attention to every detail as the story unfolds. Another thing I should mention is that there are some brief interludes that appear every few chapters. These interludes explain the biological evolution and history of a mysterious race of creature spanning thousands of years. This has an essential bearing on the story so you definitely do not want to skim through these. I just can't say enough about how awesome this book was and I hope that everyone decides to check out THE DOORS OF EDEN by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It is a wild journey that I highly recommend to everyone who loves a phenomenal story that you can really sink your teeth into!
I had no idea that Adrian had a brand new book coming out this Spring (May 28th to be precise) until it showed up one day on my doorstep. Thank you to publisher Tor for graciously sending me a copy of his latest, THE DOORS OF EDEN. As soon as I saw the stunning cover and read the summary on the back, I just couldn't wait to dig in.
THE DOORS OF EDEN begins as partners and best friends Lee and Mal are embarking on a bit of a road trip adventure to Bodmin Moor. You see the two, besides being very much in love, are are also very much cryptid enthusiasts and have been interested in legendary monsters like Nessie, Bigfoot, Yeti, etc... for as long as they can remember. One day while looking at some online cryptid videos, they come across one showing a farm not too far from their home. As the video is about to cut out, a creature appears in the background for just a few seconds. The image is somewhat difficult to make out and could very likely be a hoax, but it is so haunting and nags at them enough that they eventually decide to pay a visit to Bodmin Moor to see for themselves.
Something terrifying happens though when they investigate the farm and Mal inexplicably vanishes into thin air. There is no body found. It's as if she was there one second and gone the next. Lee struggles to understand exactly what happened on that night and after four years go by with no answers or clues as to Mal's whereabouts, she gives up any hope of ever seeing her again. That is until Mal calls her one day. Could it really be her after all these years? Or is it just a prankster playing some sick joke on Lee? It really sounds like Mal though, but that can't be possible. Can it?
Coupled with the story of Lee and Mal is that of MI5 government employee Julian Sabreur, former army grunt Lucas May, and physicist Kay Amal Khan. They have been aware for years of something otherworldly happening on the Moors as well as other locations around England. They believe that they may have discovered a crack in this world that allows people to travel to a parallel Earth where hideous monsters live. The problem is these cracks can also allow those monsters access to our world too. As these cracks keep getting bigger and greater in number the race to discover how to close them, if that is even possible, could ultimately determine the fate of humanity.
Wow, was that a thrill ride that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time that I was reading it. It is kind of difficult to pinpoint what genre this book falls into. It's also what I loved about it quite frankly. Part science-fiction novel, part portal fiction, part bio-thriller, part mystery, all combining to make one heck of an epic story in the end. It delivers on every front. This was so refreshing and came at exactly the right time for me as I have been reading a lot of standard fantasy and SF lately. But THE DOORS OF EDEN simply defies convention as Adrian Tchaikovsky once again proves that he can't be pigeon-holed into any one genre category.
Being a bit of a cryptid fan myself, this book was the best of both worlds for me as it scratched that itch as well as gave me a fascinating SFF story to digest as well. The characters are so well done and each has their own motivation (some not exactly ethical) for discovering what happened on that fateful night on Bodmin Moor. This book is also creepy as hell in certain parts and it kept me completely engaged as I couldn't believe what I was reading sometimes. In my opinion this is one of the more brilliantly inventive SFF books to come along in a long time. It reminded me of some of my favorite Neal Stephenson books, but unlike Neal's novels, Adrian Tchaikovsky really knows how to ramp up the tension and always delivers a stunning conclusion that satisfies.
Be forewarned that there are a lot of big ideas within these pages and at times things can get pretty involved. So you very much have to pay attention to every detail as the story unfolds. Another thing I should mention is that there are some brief interludes that appear every few chapters. These interludes explain the biological evolution and history of a mysterious race of creature spanning thousands of years. This has an essential bearing on the story so you definitely do not want to skim through these. I just can't say enough about how awesome this book was and I hope that everyone decides to check out THE DOORS OF EDEN by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It is a wild journey that I highly recommend to everyone who loves a phenomenal story that you can really sink your teeth into!
E-ARC provided through the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
CW: misgendering, discrimination based on gender/sexuality, racism, murder, gun violence, loss of a limb, kidnapping
I did not like this book, at all. When requesting the book I recognized the authors name and remembered some distant chatter about sapphics and parallel Earths. Needless to say I was super dissatisfied with the delivery and I am pretty bummed out. To be completely frank I would have dnfed this with a swiftness if I hadn't been approved for the arc.
From the beginning I immediately struggled with the writing. It was incredibly dense and dry from the start. Any time there seemed to be any sort of flow to the story, the author made awkward perspective changes and input the most stale, overly written chunks of info-dumping I have ever come across. These long-winded passages did not even need to exist! It was definitely supplementary information that could have existed in some sort of appendices (or footnotes if super paired down). This resulted in a terribly stilted and ill-paced story that was deeply tedious to get through.
Let's talk about the characters shall we? Because WOW they were a hot mess. From both a representation and development standing Adrian Tchaikovsky fumbles the bag. The trans woc character in particular I believe was ill-handled and could cause harm to trans readers. When introduced to the reader, her appearance and behaviour is describe pre-transition at great length. This then begins a pattern of misgendering from certain characters-some through their perspective and some via minor characters. At one point in the text she is made to wear men's clothing and is constantly dehumanized from our mustache twirling villain. The text never condemns these actions, which I think is just flagrantly irresponsible. I would like to note I read the uncorrected arc and that things could be changed with the final copy.
In terms of general character development (looks from side to side), where the hell was it? Every single character was flatter than a single sheet of paper. No one had any motivations in particular. Other than (maybe?) wanting the world to not end. We learn not a single thing about any of the six (?!) perspective characters and they are severely disconnected from the narrative. We hardly ever see any one of the characters simply emoting. We have characters (WHO ARE SUPPOSEDLY IN LOVE) separated for four years, with one presumed to be dead have the same emotional output as when I run into someone I vaguely liked in high school.
The plot could have been interesting. The concepts were super cool and had the opportunity to explore some pretty cool ideas/themes However, it simply gets lost with all of the poorly done elements that it never stood a fighting chance. It also happened to be terribly boring. I do think that could have been symptomatic of the bad writing/characters but I am too close (and annoyed) at the moment to make that distinction.
This felt like the worlds longest prequel in which the interesting parts are yet to come. It is not often I actually regret picking up a book, but this may be one of those cases. Obviously I do not personally recommend this story but I do think certain audiences could enjoy this.
CW: misgendering, discrimination based on gender/sexuality, racism, murder, gun violence, loss of a limb, kidnapping
I did not like this book, at all. When requesting the book I recognized the authors name and remembered some distant chatter about sapphics and parallel Earths. Needless to say I was super dissatisfied with the delivery and I am pretty bummed out. To be completely frank I would have dnfed this with a swiftness if I hadn't been approved for the arc.
From the beginning I immediately struggled with the writing. It was incredibly dense and dry from the start. Any time there seemed to be any sort of flow to the story, the author made awkward perspective changes and input the most stale, overly written chunks of info-dumping I have ever come across. These long-winded passages did not even need to exist! It was definitely supplementary information that could have existed in some sort of appendices (or footnotes if super paired down). This resulted in a terribly stilted and ill-paced story that was deeply tedious to get through.
Let's talk about the characters shall we? Because WOW they were a hot mess. From both a representation and development standing Adrian Tchaikovsky fumbles the bag. The trans woc character in particular I believe was ill-handled and could cause harm to trans readers. When introduced to the reader, her appearance and behaviour is describe pre-transition at great length. This then begins a pattern of misgendering from certain characters-some through their perspective and some via minor characters. At one point in the text she is made to wear men's clothing and is constantly dehumanized from our mustache twirling villain. The text never condemns these actions, which I think is just flagrantly irresponsible. I would like to note I read the uncorrected arc and that things could be changed with the final copy.
In terms of general character development (looks from side to side), where the hell was it? Every single character was flatter than a single sheet of paper. No one had any motivations in particular. Other than (maybe?) wanting the world to not end. We learn not a single thing about any of the six (?!) perspective characters and they are severely disconnected from the narrative. We hardly ever see any one of the characters simply emoting. We have characters (WHO ARE SUPPOSEDLY IN LOVE) separated for four years, with one presumed to be dead have the same emotional output as when I run into someone I vaguely liked in high school.
The plot could have been interesting. The concepts were super cool and had the opportunity to explore some pretty cool ideas/themes However, it simply gets lost with all of the poorly done elements that it never stood a fighting chance. It also happened to be terribly boring. I do think that could have been symptomatic of the bad writing/characters but I am too close (and annoyed) at the moment to make that distinction.
This felt like the worlds longest prequel in which the interesting parts are yet to come. It is not often I actually regret picking up a book, but this may be one of those cases. Obviously I do not personally recommend this story but I do think certain audiences could enjoy this.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Tchaikovsky's love and understanding of non-human creatures shines again, he became my favorite sci fi author with Children of Time and with this he's keeping that position.
Content Warnings
There is some brief transphobia and deadnaming/misgendering towards one character by one other character, but the overall narrative is very trans positive
An excellent, fast paced, action packed and gripping mix of sci-fi and techno-thriller that kept me hooked till the last page making me turn pages as fast as I could.
It's not easy to describe in a short review because it's a highly enjoyable read but it's also a great speculative fiction dealing with the "what if there are parallel Earths" dilemma (or the time pantaloon quoting Pratchett).
The world building is amazing, it describes a lot of different civilizations and alien creatures making them lively and realistic. The character development is excellent and I loved Julian, Lee and Dr Khan.
The author is a master storyteller and he manage six differents POV, a fast paced plot and a lot of actions never making you feel confused.
It's an excellent and highly entertaining read, strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
It's not easy to describe in a short review because it's a highly enjoyable read but it's also a great speculative fiction dealing with the "what if there are parallel Earths" dilemma (or the time pantaloon quoting Pratchett).
The world building is amazing, it describes a lot of different civilizations and alien creatures making them lively and realistic. The character development is excellent and I loved Julian, Lee and Dr Khan.
The author is a master storyteller and he manage six differents POV, a fast paced plot and a lot of actions never making you feel confused.
It's an excellent and highly entertaining read, strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
AT is my new fave writer. So glad he's publishing so much. *thumbs up đź‘Ť
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really enjoyed this book - the world-building was absolutely phenomenal, I loved the way the ending played out, the characters felt real and human (I was legitimately surprised after finishing it to find out that the author was a dude - I assumed based on how well written the female characters were that the author was also a woman). My only gripe, which is fairly minor, is that the alternate chapters of the scientific paper detailing all the alternate earths got a little repetitive after a while, and I felt like they lingered a little too long on some of the alternates that didn't end up in the main plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Transphobia
Moderate: Gore, Transphobia
Minor: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism
In the first chapter there's a moderately graphic description of some dead sheep.
There are a couple characters who are given non-consensual body modification offscreen or before the book starts.
There is a period towards the end where the main cast spends a significant period inside a giant trilobite who feeds and houses them by modifying parts of its body
One character introduced approximately half way through is revealed to be a neo-nazi. He is blatantly transphobic (dead-names a character, forces them to wear clothes inconsistent with their gender identity). He is also racist and homophobic but these are not expressed as obviously as the transphobia. He is condemned by the narrative and dies at the end
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Some dead-naming of a trans character, but all done by the “villain”, and not supported by other characters or the narrative