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heather1023's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
rj6578's review against another edition
4.0
Started out a little strange but got really good. Some of the words they made up I still have no idea what they mean lol. By then end of the book I was really into it and will not read the next one after this. It reminds me of a weird Journey to the end of the world.
laurahonest's review against another edition
4.0
Dark Eden is the story of a small group of humans living on an alien world with no sun. There was an accident and two humans were left behind on Eden while their three companions went back to earth for help. The two left behind started a family and told their children to wait by the circle where their space ship had landed. Now it is 160ish years later, the family has grown 532 members and food is getting scarce for them. The oldest members of Family want to continue staying by the circle of stones and wait. John Redlantern is just a teenager but he knows that if food is scarce now, it will only get harder to find the bigger Family gets. John can't stand sitting still and waiting, he wants to make things happen. John dares to do what no one else before him ever has. His actions have consequences far bigger than he ever could have imagined.
The first third of this book moved really slowly. It set up the basis for the story, showcasing how different life on Eden is from the life that the reader knows. It showed how dull and boring it is just to live day to day waiting for something that may never happen and struggling to find food for 532 people every single day. Once the set up was over and things started to happen this book was really good. Chris Beckett did an excellent job portraying human nature. His characters aren't perfect, they have good and bad traits. The impatience of youth is shown really well but not demonized. Beckett did a good job showing that just because something is different doesn't mean it is bad, just because someone has a different way of thinking doesn't mean they are wrong. The world that Beckett created here is fascinating, the creatures that live on this dark planet with no sun, the amazing trees that have flowers that bloom with light. The animals are similar to ours and yet completely alien.
This book takes a long hard look at what would happen if two humans were left alone on an alien world with little technology and had to rebuild from the ground up. What things get left behind and forgotten and what gets carried on? Do you sit and wait for rescue or do you do the best you can with what you have?
I would definitely recommend this book. It is less Star Trek and more primitive humans but very good. It is worth a read. Once I got past the set up for the story I had a hard time putting it down!
I received this book for free from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.
The first third of this book moved really slowly. It set up the basis for the story, showcasing how different life on Eden is from the life that the reader knows. It showed how dull and boring it is just to live day to day waiting for something that may never happen and struggling to find food for 532 people every single day. Once the set up was over and things started to happen this book was really good. Chris Beckett did an excellent job portraying human nature. His characters aren't perfect, they have good and bad traits. The impatience of youth is shown really well but not demonized. Beckett did a good job showing that just because something is different doesn't mean it is bad, just because someone has a different way of thinking doesn't mean they are wrong. The world that Beckett created here is fascinating, the creatures that live on this dark planet with no sun, the amazing trees that have flowers that bloom with light. The animals are similar to ours and yet completely alien.
This book takes a long hard look at what would happen if two humans were left alone on an alien world with little technology and had to rebuild from the ground up. What things get left behind and forgotten and what gets carried on? Do you sit and wait for rescue or do you do the best you can with what you have?
I would definitely recommend this book. It is less Star Trek and more primitive humans but very good. It is worth a read. Once I got past the set up for the story I had a hard time putting it down!
I received this book for free from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.
andicbuchanan's review against another edition
This is a compelling read and I loved the construction and description of the natural world. Overall it was a bit hit and miss for me; it felt like at times the author wasn't sure if they were telling a "lone hero sees through the restrictive dysfunction of society" story or a critique of that story, and so it kinda missed the mark on both. There were some interesting moments of insight and human behaviour, but the plot was fairly predictable and not nearly what the back cover matter led me to expect.
gillothen's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting exploration of the nature of society through a Lord of the Flies meets The Dispossessed account of a tiny human population marooned for generations on a desert island an extrasolar planet with its own intriguing ecology (though quite how humans are able to digest food from this planet is of no interest to the author, so never explained.) There are biases - egalitarian, matriarchal societies are, it would seem, by definition static and claustrophobic, and the young hero and his enemy more or less create patriarchy as a side-effect of their search for viable food sources and lebensraum.
The narrative technique allows us to see multiple internal monologues, some more successful than others in terms of characterisation, while there are also some intriguing linguistic devices to emphasise a sense of alienation. ot wholly successful, but a fascinating attempt.
The narrative technique allows us to see multiple internal monologues, some more successful than others in terms of characterisation, while there are also some intriguing linguistic devices to emphasise a sense of alienation. ot wholly successful, but a fascinating attempt.
blevins's review against another edition
4.0
Dark Eden is an extremely enjoyable bit of science-fiction from English writer Chris Beckett. I was captivated by Beckett's alien world quasi-adventure tale from the very start and had a tough time stopping myself from reading it when I should be sleeping. That is the ultimate compliment--reading over rest. The world that he has created in Dark Eden is slightly familiar yet foreign enough to keep the reader off balance in terms of what you might expect in a sci-fi book such as this. I will be seeking out Beckett's second novel Mother of Eden and hope it is as strong as his first book.
miracletonic's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
silea's review against another edition
This read like it was written for children about children, except for the sex and stillborn babies.
In a world without a sun in the sky, i understand keeping time in 'wombtimes' instead of years, counting 'wakings' instead of days, but why on earth was it 'slip' instead of 'sex'? Why did they apparently lose the word 'very' and have to make do with repetition, calling things 'old old' or 'quiet quiet'? I get that the hum of the forest is the background to their lives, but describing it with repeated onomatopoeia makes it sound like a children's book. "The cow says 'moo moo', the trees say 'hmmph hmmph hmmph'."
I also have trouble believing that, in 200 'wombtimes', John was the first to ever wonder what was outside the circle. And that a Family all descended from two people could have one clan that's dark-skinned while all the rest are fair-skinned.
The author made a relatively complex world, but filled it with boring people, and the Point Of View tosses randomly between them. I was fundamentally uncomfortable reading this book because the characters all seem like children except that they have sex all the time. It reminded me of the scene in Brave New World, with the sexually active children, that was designed to make readers squeamish.
Having read the spoilers in some other reviews, i'm confident i would not like the book any more in the latter two thirds than i did in the first third.
In a world without a sun in the sky, i understand keeping time in 'wombtimes' instead of years, counting 'wakings' instead of days, but why on earth was it 'slip' instead of 'sex'? Why did they apparently lose the word 'very' and have to make do with repetition, calling things 'old old' or 'quiet quiet'? I get that the hum of the forest is the background to their lives, but describing it with repeated onomatopoeia makes it sound like a children's book. "The cow says 'moo moo', the trees say 'hmmph hmmph hmmph'."
I also have trouble believing that, in 200 'wombtimes', John was the first to ever wonder what was outside the circle. And that a Family all descended from two people could have one clan that's dark-skinned while all the rest are fair-skinned.
The author made a relatively complex world, but filled it with boring people, and the Point Of View tosses randomly between them. I was fundamentally uncomfortable reading this book because the characters all seem like children except that they have sex all the time. It reminded me of the scene in Brave New World, with the sexually active children, that was designed to make readers squeamish.
Having read the spoilers in some other reviews, i'm confident i would not like the book any more in the latter two thirds than i did in the first third.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
4.0
Not your typical colonization book, nor your typical ya. There is the extrapolated changes in language which read kind of simple, a bit of a dumbing down. There is the absolute inclusion of kind of in your face sex though far from explicit. Oh and it's not much of a spoiler and it's not hidden, there is the incest. The characters are a bit cardboard and obvious. And the science is perhaps not all that good. But still it is an interested setup for a story and readable and worth reading. 3.5 of 5.
gmerrall's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25