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A review by italsma
Dark Eden by Chris Beckett
1.0
After reading much critical praise about this book, I was eager to read it and then extremely disappointed by the book itself. A brief list of reasons why... [includes some minor spoilers]
1. Although the book is celebrated for its linguistic style, the dialogue and language felt stilted and unnecessary. For every affected word, there were many reiterations of what the corresponding "Earth word" would be. Becomes redundant and continues throughout the entire book.
2. The majority of the interesting plot developments are left until the last 75 pages, leaving no time to work through them and ending on a rather anticlimactic cliffhanger.
3. Characterization and character development are close to zero. The actions and motivations are introduced within the first several chapters and hardly change through the course of the plot.
4. Complete lack of believable or authoritative female characters.
5. For the amount of praise for the world developing, I found it very lacking. Although there are many interesting creatures suggested, they weren't described with much detail and fell flat in comparison to other science fiction worlds.
Just a few remarks right after finishing. Overall disappointing read and seems unworthy of the critical praise.
1. Although the book is celebrated for its linguistic style, the dialogue and language felt stilted and unnecessary. For every affected word, there were many reiterations of what the corresponding "Earth word" would be. Becomes redundant and continues throughout the entire book.
2. The majority of the interesting plot developments are left until the last 75 pages, leaving no time to work through them and ending on a rather anticlimactic cliffhanger.
Spoiler
Despite the suggested and repeated difficulty of crossing the "Snowy Dark," the characters manage to cross it with relative ease and with a convenient ellipses of action.3. Characterization and character development are close to zero. The actions and motivations are introduced within the first several chapters and hardly change through the course of the plot.
4. Complete lack of believable or authoritative female characters.
5. For the amount of praise for the world developing, I found it very lacking. Although there are many interesting creatures suggested, they weren't described with much detail and fell flat in comparison to other science fiction worlds.
Just a few remarks right after finishing. Overall disappointing read and seems unworthy of the critical praise.