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Dark Eden
by Chris Beckett
With no preconceptions, I bought this book because it sounded interesting.
Stranded on a planet with no sun, but other sources of light and heat, they name Eden, we are faced with the many descendants of Tommy and Angela. A vast family stemmed from these two marooned people have made a life in a small and reasonably hospitable valley. Split into smaller factions, they number in their hundreds, and they struggle onward with surviving as their numbers increase, but their means to support them do not. All the whole, they tell stories of Earth and dream of the day that someone will come back and rescue them.
John Redlantern is our protagonist, and the story follows him primarily, thought point of view occasionally switches to others to portray particular moments. He is a boy of 15 who it emerges has beliefs and ideas that expand beyond the strict realms that 'Family' expect - primarily that he wishes to go up the mountains, into Snowy Dark, and see what is beyond them. To find more.
The story, perhaps necessarily so, takes a long time to build up to any real momentum. A large part of this is to, I feel, ensure the world has been solidly built for a reader, that they understand this 'Eden', its sounds, creatures, darkness, harshness, and too 'Family', the people that have been forced to build their life there and the stunted way their knowledge has been passed down. Whilst reasonably interesting and interspersed with some musings on John's part, this long beginning to the story dragged somewhat disappointingly for me.
The real turning point of the book remains the moment when John makes a decision that he knows, realistically, will have him out say, and finally gives him the motivational excuse to go off on the adventurous journeys he's dreamed of. Joined by a curious ensemble of characters who join him, the story focuses on the discord of beliefs, as people must make the decision either to part ways or to accept decisions of a leader they do not always agree with.
The book ended perhaps a little hazily, much of the building conflict left at a loss to a solution or conclusion, which grated on me personally. However, the story arc reaches it's end with a startling and gut wrenching moment of understanding for both our protagonist and his group, and whilst I may be simply in observant, I didn't really notice it coming.
Is the novel worth a read? Yes, it's enjoyable and fantastically creative with it's world building - this 'Eden' feels real in all it's absurdity, and the characters are interesting and varied enough that they hold interest. A worthwhile and sometimes very though provoking read.
Stranded on a planet with no sun, but other sources of light and heat, they name Eden, we are faced with the many descendants of Tommy and Angela. A vast family stemmed from these two marooned people have made a life in a small and reasonably hospitable valley. Split into smaller factions, they number in their hundreds, and they struggle onward with surviving as their numbers increase, but their means to support them do not. All the whole, they tell stories of Earth and dream of the day that someone will come back and rescue them.
John Redlantern is our protagonist, and the story follows him primarily, thought point of view occasionally switches to others to portray particular moments. He is a boy of 15 who it emerges has beliefs and ideas that expand beyond the strict realms that 'Family' expect - primarily that he wishes to go up the mountains, into Snowy Dark, and see what is beyond them. To find more.
The story, perhaps necessarily so, takes a long time to build up to any real momentum. A large part of this is to, I feel, ensure the world has been solidly built for a reader, that they understand this 'Eden', its sounds, creatures, darkness, harshness, and too 'Family', the people that have been forced to build their life there and the stunted way their knowledge has been passed down. Whilst reasonably interesting and interspersed with some musings on John's part, this long beginning to the story dragged somewhat disappointingly for me.
The real turning point of the book remains the moment when John makes a decision that he knows, realistically, will have him out say, and finally gives him the motivational excuse to go off on the adventurous journeys he's dreamed of. Joined by a curious ensemble of characters who join him, the story focuses on the discord of beliefs, as people must make the decision either to part ways or to accept decisions of a leader they do not always agree with.
The book ended perhaps a little hazily, much of the building conflict left at a loss to a solution or conclusion, which grated on me personally. However, the story arc reaches it's end with a startling and gut wrenching moment of understanding for both our protagonist and his group, and whilst I may be simply in observant, I didn't really notice it coming.
Is the novel worth a read? Yes, it's enjoyable and fantastically creative with it's world building - this 'Eden' feels real in all it's absurdity, and the characters are interesting and varied enough that they hold interest. A worthwhile and sometimes very though provoking read.