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A review by gillothen
Dark Eden by Chris Beckett
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.