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Dark Eden (2014)

by Chris Beckett(Favorite Author)

3.76 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0804138680 (ISBN13: 9780804138680)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Broadway Books

series

Dark Eden

review 1: Dark Eden was a page-turner for me. The story is well thought out and original. A family of 532 people, descendants of those who were marooned many years before, survive on an alien, sunless world. The live in a sheltered valley surrounded by mountains and glaciers. Outside the valley is a frozen land, the Dark that no one has ever crossed. They barely subsist on food from the local plants and animals. They get warmth and dim light from the forest of lantern trees. Water is provided by the glaciers. From their traditions they follow the rules of their ancestors to stay nearby until someone from Earth returns for them. For 5 generations, the family has waited to return to the Earth that they've only heard about from stories passed down to them. Young John Redlantern questi... moreons their traditions and thinks there can be more to life. He wants to know what lies beyond the frozen Dark.
review 2: I found this book to be a well-crafted, engrossing study of the human condition. John Redlantern is on a quest for something new, outside his stifling existence. Living with an oral history of the first inhabitants of the alien world (and what totally _alien_ world it is) who have come from a land called "Earth", the characters are mired down with the necessity of survival. They relive traditions that were passed down through 5 (so far) generations, celebrating "Any Virsries" of the day that the "Landing Veekle" arrived on Eden bringing with it the one mother and father of them all. Linguistically, the slow change and use of old-Earth slang is thoroughly engrossing as is the decline of the (Earth-like) civilization (re)created by Angela and Tommy (the original mother & father). As John grows less content with the sameness he has always known, he has a wild and unheard of thought - what will happen tomorrow? Where does he want to be tomorrow? Who does he want to be tomorrow? This innovative realization causes conflict with the staid traditions of Family and leads to a horrifying turn of events and eventually to a conclusion that is vast in its implications. I found the shift in POV somewhat disconcerting at first, but came to enjoy the alternate viewpoints - shifting from John's desire to go go go and move on back to the more traditional, frightened POV of those in Family that do not share his infatuation with the outside world. Coming from a Cultural Anthropology background and dabbling in linguistics, I really thoroughly enjoyed this book on many levels. less

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