Kraken of Eden

by George Moakley

Staring into your eyes, savoring every moment as they eat you alive . . . Earth is no longer home. Earth’s ecology has been devastated, and her human inhabitants fled to the stars. After centuries of life on sterile space stations and under artificial domes, at last, a glimmer of hope is found in a distant galaxy. In the wake of a breath-taking discovery, Captain Lubandi leads her crew and passengers across the desolation of interstellar space to Eden, a pristine and wild planet. Is this planet humanity’s chance at redemption? Or will humanity fall victim once again to the metaphorical snake in the garden? Survival depends on science, on unraveling the mystery of a hidden and horrific predator, before the monsters can breed and destroy Captain Lubandi’s ship, her crew, and their second chance at a planetary home.

Genres: Science Fiction

368 pages, Paperback

Published January 18, 2023

About the author

My first novel, 'Kraken of Eden', came from my fascination with biology and exploration. I love monster stories, and I prefer science fiction grounded in what's really possible. In fact, the original inspiration came while explaining to one of my (then quite young) kids why the alien monster in the movie they just watched couldn't possibly happen.

I grew up a biology nerd and was originally trained as a theoretical ecologist. During my graduate studies, in a fit of pragmatism, I took an entry level job in the tech industry, which led to a nearly 40 year career in technical management, strategic planning, research and development, and product development.

All through those years, I fed my fascination with biology with a camera on hiking trails and in underwater housings.

Reviews

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty good for a debut novel, i loved elke sm omg i bet she's the hottest human being to ever exist. i just know it in my heart that she is idc 🤚

john and george both slayed, john being in a relationship w elke lowkey spooked me a bit,
got me shocked..like it makes sense a bit towards the end looking back, but i feel like there should've been more hints yk?

i do think, including my beloveds mentioned before, that the main core characters should've been fleshed out a bit. like...i honestly didn't care when anyone died ngl. and i usually cry for that stuff. there was so much info dumping for the main group in the beginning, and i feel like it should've been more spread out or at least sprinkles of it brought up again, yk? like...make me like them. like i care about john, elke, and george, as i've mentioned .. but i don't care enough for them to even feel the tiniest bit sad if they die and i don't think that should be happening ykwim

but i did love the idea and the concept of all of this. but i didn't really get the excited feeling that a lot of the characters were feeling. or any of the adrenaline rush. the action was kinda tough to get through, the discussions were also kinda tough

also jenna was such a stupid character. her being a social media lady irked me the wrong way first off, and then her complaining and bitching came out of nowhere and her arguments were just repetitive which gave her no depth. i get her purpose was to be annoying, but i personally don't think it was executed correctly. she's was annoying in a badly written way which made it more annoying whenever she did anything. they could've easily had her on the squad if she wasn't a social media person and just was the designated people lady. like we got the biologists, engineers, medic, governor/captain who keeps all those things in order, you can easily have someone who's designated to be in charge of the people w/o them having to do social media stuff. or at least make it sound like she's a journalist ?? something that actually kinda matters ??

also a lot of the stuff about the ship thing they were on and where it was in relation to eden confused the hell outta me. could've easily put some of the description about this world, took it away, and used that time to describe wtf they were flying in space on, or at least include a diagram in the actual book yk

[George Moakley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I confess; I'm writing a review of my own novel.

What can I say? When I started writing, I told my friends that I was writing the book I've always wanted to read.

So, it has everything I love about science fiction. It's a speculative look forward. It's 'hard' science fiction, in that I researched thoroughly to ensure everything is feasible. That's especially true of the biology; every impossible aspect of the 'kraken' hunting the colonists is based on a very possible, very real Earth organism.

The lead character is a woman modeled after the two best managers of my career. She role models everything I've learned about leadership from them and my own experiences in the tech industry.

Beyond that, I wrote based on real experiences extrapolated to what exploring a pristine world would be like.

Scuba diving in an alien ocean. Hiking through an alien rain forest. Roaming an alien desert.

I loved writing the book, and, I admit, I've read it because, while writing, I fell in love with Eden and the characters and, darn it, I've missed them. So much so that I've decided to write another novel.

Thank you for reading this review, and, if it's intrigued you enough to read the book, thank you for that as well!

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was unhinged in a good way. the body horror was great. I will say, that there were just too many names to keep track of in the beginning, and I dont think they really mattered? but overall I liked this book.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely not your feel good space exploration book. The vivid and detailed descriptions of everything that happens helps build up to a finally of watching everything burn down. This book does a wonderful job of building hope, drama, and chaos in a way that makes the end all the more satisfying.

[Jmortiff · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the scariest novels I’ve ever read.

The sci-fi horror takes place in the twenty-sixth century when mankind has made Earth uninhabitable. We have found a new planet that may shelter human life and have named it Eden.

If only we knew what was lurking in the garden!

Honesty, after we got through a lot of the technical and scientific jargon of the first few chapters this became a page-turner. An exceptional thriller. A masterful sci-fi horror I, unfortunately, won’t be forgetting soon 😂

For what he said is his first novel, I’m deeply impressed. Outstanding work! This has the scariest, grossest, creepiest creatures I’ve ever heard of. Bravo!

[Arlynn Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a thrilling sci-fi read! The accuracy of the scientific references in this book are exceptionally amazing, and the monster in this book is one that will haunt my nightmares and continue to make me question the habitation of other planets. Such a captivating read, once I started to read I found it really hard to put down. So amazing it’s the author’s first book, I can’t wait for the next one!

[Kirk Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story and not at all what I envisioned from the title. The book starts out slow and introduces a lot of characters. There's a lot of hard science crammed in to this book with detailed explanations so I can tell George did his research. But with all of the set-up in the beginning it quickly changes gears and trouble explodes onto the scene rather quickly. And gruesomely! The kraken are some nasty buggers. While the story is complete it is apparent that George isn't done with Eden yet. I look forward to seeing what he has next in store for the readers when we all return to Eden later this year.

[Miku · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved how the author incorporated evolutionary biology. The Alien creaters were actually unique and alien. It was fascinating to see some parts of the narrative from the Kraken's perspective.

My only complaint is that I found most of the characters a bit shallow. I wish there was more drama between the characters as I found them oddly agreeable (with the exception of Jenna) in a time of crisis on an alien planet in unprecedented circumstances. That would have at least doubled the book though.

Overall the world building was excellent and I think there is so much more to be explored in the world of Eden.

[Eric J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I met the author, George, as SLC Comic Con Fan X and he is a great guy. I did enjoy the book, it's a solid story and drew me right in. The science was good, though I did find some parts of the text a little too repetitive for my taste. I'm excited to start his second book, Tides of Eden.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not My Favorite Book

Interesting story, but numerous distracting typos and multiple annoying instances of repeats of the exact same information throughout the book.

[Allyssa Asselin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Basically Alien, but a bit more brutal. Only complaint I have is how heavy the physical book is, but understandable given the material used.