Dark Eden

A Novel

By: Chris Beckett

Narrated by: Matthew Frow, Jayne Entwistle, Ione Butler, Robert Hook, Heather Wilds, Nicholas Guy Smith, Hannah Curtis, Bruce Mann

Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

On the alien, sunless planet they call Eden, the 532 members of the Family shelter beneath the light and warmth of the Forest's lantern trees. Beyond the Forest lie the mountains of the Snowy Dark and a cold so bitter and a night so profound that no man has ever crossed it.

The Oldest among the Family recount legends of a world where light came from the sky, where men and women made boats that could cross the stars. These ships brought us here, the Oldest say - and the Family must only wait for the travelers to return.

But young John Redlantern will break the laws of Eden, shatter the Family and change history. He will abandon the old ways, venture into the Dark…and discover the truth about their world.

Already remarkably acclaimed in the UK, Dark Eden is science fiction as literature; part parable, part powerful coming-of-age story, set in a truly original alien world of dark, sinister beauty--rendered in prose that is at once strikingly simple and stunningly inventive.

Reader List:

"John Redlantern" Read by Matthew Frow

"Tina Spiketree" Read by Jayne Entwistle

"Sue Redlantern" Read by Lone Butler

"Gerry Redlantern" Read by Robert Hook

"Gela Brooklyn" Read by Heather Wilds

"Mitch London" Read by Nicholas Guy Smith

"Carolyn Brooklyn" Read by Hannah Curtis

"Jeff Redlantern" Read by Bruce Mann

©2012 Chris Beckett (P)2014 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

• Winner of the 2013 Arthur C Clarke Award for the Best Science Fiction Novel of the Year

"A linguistic and imaginative tour de force." (The Guardian [UK])

"Captivating and haunting…human plight and alien planet are both superbly evoked." (Daily Mail [UK])

"Captivating and haunting…human plight and alien planet are both superbly evoked." (Daily Mail [UK])

I hated this book at first!

Where does Dark Eden rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's just below Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles

Which scene was your favorite?

I don't want to giveaway anything!

Any additional comments?

I hated the pronunciation of the words in the beginning but I'm so glad I stuck with it. Once you get used to the pronunciation it's not as annoying. Really well told. I really liked that there were so many actors.

Good, very unique, but sometimes boring

Overall I enjoyed this book. It was one of the most creative and imaginative stories I've listened to in a long time... but at the same time, oddly enough, I found it a bit boring at times. I found that the description of Eden was the most unique part (and I would LOVE to see this as a movie) - it reminded me a little bit of Dr. Seuss.

Not a 5 star book

What did you love best about Dark Eden?

The concept of the book is very interesting. Without giving any spoilers, I must say that it raised some questions about human personality and human society.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The variety of narrators for each chapter was a very pleasant experience

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes and no. It failed to grab me in the beginning, bu towards the last 8 chapters or so that changed dramatically.

Any additional comments?

The ending was awful, I expected some more development.

great idea, poor execution

I enjoyed the story, after I struggled through a good bit of it to actually hear it. the double use of words to imply emphasis was just annoying and redundant. as if over 150 years people forgot the word "so" or "really"? oral history and tradition were the only things guiding them. I get that. but they couldn't properly pronounce radio and vehicle and electricity? like really???? I also thought the dialect was a bit much, as if trying to mix NYC accents with London accents because of the origin of the parents... not every word applied and I think that was my problem with it. also this is not a book for children- the constant "slipping". the almost rape scene? give me a break. I enjoyed the world the author created though, even though the story was predictable and hard to get through. could have used a lot more "show" and a lot less "tell". also, the characters were essentially omnipotent when told from their perspective which I thought was overdone. overall, I'd say to skip it.

pay close attention at the beginning

the story is great, but listening at the beginning you have to pay closer attention to catch on to the vernacular. out really makes the story.

Long, long

Very interesting concept- How would humans live in a world with no sun? What native life would evolve in that environment? This book is about twice as long as needed- It's repetitive, repetitive and 20 hours long,long!
Where are the men? The population seems to be women, old men and adolescent boys & girls.

Sus

The narrators are all great. The story is a little difficult to believe, humans are curious by nature. The society backslid and stagnated way too quickly. I did like seeing the language progression, I thought it was well done.

A Masterpiece in Science Fiction and Fiction

I have just finished this wonderful book. The characters are so well delineated and described, and the tour de force is the special language so well performed by the numerous narrators/actors. It is easy to believe and shows in a simple yet very complex way so many things that we think about in profound moods: the role that gender plays in our decision making and the course of history, the "telephone game" way that oral history is passed forward through time, the ways that major incidents can be changed through lies and prejudices, biology and inbreeding, and more. The language that is created is infectious, both easy and hard to understand. I highly recommend this novel because it is thought provoking, and the journey it takes you on is both obvious and convoluted. It helped me to understand my life in some ways, and it took me into the "Family" and offshoots who brave a dark world in different ways through fear, pride, eloquence and deep character development. The narrators are spectacular compared to many books I've listened to. No one in the book is perfect, no one is too hard to understand either, and the interactions between the inhabitants of this Dark Eden are understandable, unpredictable and fascinating. The ending is a bit confusing, honestly, but perhaps opens us for a second book from Dark Eden?? A+++ book! Great read! I hope this is helpful to other readers. I couldn't put the book down. Was up all night listening! Enjoy:) and learn in a different way than most books are configured.

More family drama instead of scifi

Five humans from Earth left on a space mission but due to their space craft breaking down, they landed on what came to be known as Eden. It’s been 150 years since their landing and of the five humans arrived on Eden, three of them decided to fix the spacecraft and go back to Earth. The other two decided to remain which led to them populating the planet. Now the 538 people/families are waiting to be saved by the people on Earth. Eden residents believe that the three who returned to Earth in the space craft will send someone to rescue them. After generations, it seems John Redlantern is the only who wants to think and be different, he wants to try something novel, he doesn’t want to wait, he thinks they themselves should try to find a way to go to Earth.

Redlantern is a rebel of sorts, he has definite opinions on what the family should be doing and going. Breaking the rules, he goes to the dark side of Eden to learn the planets secrets. Redlantern is a strong, heroic type of guy in a over the top way. Tina, a staunch supporter of anything Redlantern does, follows him everywhere. She is not portrayed as his sidekick or a main character. In fact, any or all women mentioned in the story do not have much of a significance.

The concept of another planet is nicely created and the human language is tweaked in such small and different ways that it takes time getting used to the “difference of language” while listening.

The differences are repetition and use of words differently such as: I was dreading dreading. I was so tired tired. Swearing is more like “Harry’s dick” and the humans have evolved so much that there are bat faces and club foots in the population.

Although, these linguistic modifications are interesting at first; they alone won’t keep you engaged for long enough. The sexual innuendos and the concept of women being just baby factories were not really imperative to the story so their presence didn’t add any new angles.

Although there are interesting revelations at the end, it is a little hard to get through as there is more of family drama and family fights rather than the sci-fi stuff with small chunks of mystery. Getting started with the actual story of undertaking the endeavor of going back to Earth is long and becomes banal.

Since there are multiple characters in the book, there are multiple narrators and all of them have done a fairly good job, although the production and the sounds of forests and trees, alarms and horns, is different and true to what is expected, they do not add to the story but rather takes away from it. The sound seems hollow throughout, the female narrators did put a great twist while expressing emotions but were a little squeaky.

Audiobook was purchased for review by ABR.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Interesting, but forget lofty expectations

When I started the book, I was hoping for some deeper imagery: Biblical Eden turned on its head, hints of parable retold. I'm convinced using the name 'Eden' was the only tie to larger themes. This story follows a thread we have seen many many times, stifled society and a teenager wants more. It felt like it was a young adult novel dressed up and presented as a work of literary art. The culture presented in Eden was actually the most interesting part of the book to me, how inbreeding and oral history had shaped the society. Beckett did a great job of building a vocabulary scheme that illustrated the limitations of family, and this was fun in an audio book, but I suspect it would have annoyed me in print.
I really enjoyed the multiple first person narrative, but would have liked more from the others, instead of relying so heavily on John and Tina.