The Apples of New Eden

by Mars Adler

Two brothers struggle to reunite for the holidays under the thumb of an oppressive military government in a distant, war-filled future.

Ripley Pitt is a mechanic in the terraformed space colony of New Eden. He should be celebrating Christmas military leave with his half-brother, Archimedes, but word comes through last minute that he's been stationed elsewhere.

There's unrest in New Eden; unhappy citizens and dying crops. Ripley has avoided getting involved to save himself and his brother from being punished by the Commonwealth, the all-seeing eye of the military and government that controls New Eden and several other planets across the galaxy. This news ignites old anger and fear that nothing will ever get better, so Ripley reluctantly agrees to band together with other disgruntled citizens.

In an unexpected twist, Archimedes shows up late on Christmas Eve. He's injured, on the run, and brings news that will change the fate of New Eden and all of its residents forever.

Christmas Day turns into a quiet rebellion as Ripley and Archimedes plan what to do with the others. Tension and emotions run high as they discover more about their relationship with each other and how rebellion can bring them closer to happiness the Commonwealth seems hell-bent on stealing from them.

Genres: Science Fiction, Transgender, Queer

251 pages, ebook

Published December 24, 2024

About the author

mars adler is a queer and trans author in their mid-twenties. they currently reside on the side of a mountain in Colorado with their dog, and unfortunately hold a corporeal form. they write speculative fiction with a focus on things that terrify them (absolutely everything), and morally grey queer characters. when not writing, they can be found painting, making tea, and trying to become part of the forest on hikes.

Reviews

[Smutty Sully · Rating 5 out of 5]

On sale for $2.50 through 31 July!

mars adler is one of many queer authors and artists that itch.io fucked over by removing their work. Queer indie artists have lost their income from itch, their books have gotten yanked, books people have purchased have been deleted from the purchaser's dashboard (means you can't download what you bought), all because an Australian anti-porn extremist group (Collective Shout) got MasterCard and Visa to cater to their moral panic.

Now is a great time to support indie authors by buying from them directly and to give your middle finger to censorship.

This is in my top ten incest books and I recommend all of their work, 6 books are $2.50 and under right now!


Loved this book! Now I want a sequel about the massive wolf-like creatures.

Dystopian SciFi with a rebellion and incest, I couldn't ask for a better combination.

Also, I love that I'm excited to use a word I'd never and have never used, just because I can sandwich it with incest. Halfsies bro-cest 🤣

I'm ending this year on a high note after months of slumps!

MC Names: Ripley & Archimedes 

Tags: Taboo space horror, dystopian SciFi, halfsies incest (half-brothers), trans MC, trans author, Christmas, mechanic/military pairing, rebellion, anti-establishment, well-written women, on the run, war, food rationing, government propaganda & brainwashing, military force, genocide (off page, mentioned), chemical warfare, colonization & terraforming of an inhabited planet, graphic violence & gore, murder (both on & off page), mention & use of guns & knives, tools used as weapons, graphic cybernetic prosthetic maintenance, torture (mentioned, off-page), death of a parent (mentioned, off-page), strangulation (non-sexual), misuse of dead bodies (off-page, non-sexual), alcohol, masturbation, cybernetic prosthetic wires used for sexual stimulation, sex under the influence of drugs (not to the point of impairment, but it affects how the character acts), light D/s dynamics, talk of choking in a sexual context, thigh riding, hands-free orgasms, topping from the bottom, trans man using terms like 'cunt, cock' to describe his genitals. 

[Jude · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think Mars Adler cracked open my brain and somehow engineered my ideal book. Holy shit, I loved this so much. If a sci-fi dystopian with a creeping sense of dread, beautiful writing, and a yearning, smutty, gay taboo relationship sounds like your cup of tea, do yourself a favor and pick this up. But definitely read the content warnings before getting into it.

Ripley and Archimedes were so lovable and complex, the setting was fantastically realized, the plot was interesting and compelling, and the smut was top tier. I really couldn't have asked for anything more. Actually, I would love for about 1,000 more pages in this story, but I feel like maybe that's a bit unrealistic, hehe.

I don't know how to be smart about my love of this, just thank you Mars Adler.

[Leigh Gaskill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This. Was. FANTASTIC. This was everything I never knew I wanted to read! Ripley and Archimedes are so perfect and the story is so delightfully horrific.

I want to point out how extremely significant it felt to read this now in our current political climate. The messages in this story run deep if you’re willing to search for them.

[Kai · Rating 5 out of 5]

i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again - Mars never misses

for such a short read, the details in the world building here really captivated me. i want to know everything about the Commonwealth, New Eden, the dogs, the rebellion, all of it.
Ripley and Archimedes? omg. cybernetically enhanced super soldier brother and fully human mechanic/tinkerer brother is a combo i’m gonna need more of, to be honest. it adds such a viscerally intimate dynamic that i may or may not have drooled over. who’s to say?

anyway, what a banger. merry crisis.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chefs kiss….. gimme 50 more of em. i loved this so much!!

[Liseth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ughh, I loved this book so much. I don’t really know how to phrase it to make it justice.

First, Adler has a way with words, I really enjoy his writing style, and here is no exception: Cold recycled air slips into your lungs, metallic water coats your tongue, fake meat sticks to your teeth, and the snow smells of iron never meant for humans. The style pulls you straight into New Eden: glass domes, ration lines, red horizons, and the creatures beyond the walls... briefly seen, always felt, constant proof that you don’t belong.

But New Eden is no paradise. The ground is sick, the Commonwealth promises cures, but do they care?

The plot starts like a match burning in secret. Chapters pass while you hold your breath without noticing, then Christmas Eve explodes and you read on heartbeat alone. The twist lands clean and brutal.

Ripley and Archimedes aren’t twisted; they’re forged by a system that weaponises every kind of love. Their taboo love isn’t shock value, more like the product of their circumstances. Each time Archimedes leaves, the air thins. Ripley’s ache is real, yet it never swallows the story.

If you crave codependency that smells of engine grease and tastes like blood, this book will get you high. Page after page, their shared obsession pulses: They're just two guys who’ve misplaced their heartbeats inside each other’s ribs, where neither can tell where his own pulse ends and the other’s begins.

“He wants to claw his way inside of Archimedes and take up residence inside his ribcage so he can never leave him behind again.”

[m · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crying and screaming! I want more!!!

Ripley - trans mechanic just trying to get by in a farming community on an uninhabitable planet.

Archimedes - older brother fighting for the Commonwealth.

When Ripley gets told that his brother won’t be home for Christmas he gets suspicious and joins the rebels only to find his brother waiting for him with a dead mechanical arm and secrets that could get both of them killed. Will they survive to see a future where they can finally give into the feelings they’ve been dancing around for years?

It’s just incredible. So well written and utterly enthralling. I could not put this down and I need to have a copy for my shelf one day 😍

[Aiden Messer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mars Adler crafted a bleak yet fascinating world full of amazing characters! I absolutely loved it

[Theo Zukowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent offering from one of my favorite indie authors! The Apples of New Eden has such an amazing setting, and the perfect amount of taboo spice. I would definitely love to see more set in this universe.

[Zack Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Apples Of New Eden
Rating; ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

An amazing world building with really intresting main characters that are developed well even with it been short. Big world with sci-fi dystopian elements without getting too complicated and with a really cool badass trans main character [which we love to see]

Taboo relationship with it been incest which is not something I would normally read but it diddnt bother me in this one and I still enjoyed reading about their relationship and rooting for em.

Tropes;
-mm with trans man mc
- anti establishment
- taboo brother relationship
- sci-fi dustopian war filled world
- space horror
- badass mc

CW's;
-war/government propaganda/military
- violence/gore/murder
- guns
- alcohol
- incest between half siblings [mcs]

NSFW Tropes;
-thigh riding
-hands free organsms
- masturbation
- sexual stimulation with cybernetics

[asa · Rating 5 out of 5]

one million billion infinity stars. i was completely and utterly immersed in this world. i was hooked on every word. mars' writing is literally juicy, so moody and atmospheric and i just wanna BITE IT.
if you want futuristic dystopian outer-space vibes with lots of plot and political upheaval and a satisfying helping of 'cest, please look no further. i'm sufficiently gagged.

[Nicki Robbins · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing read with a lot of eerie similarities between life in New Eden and today.

This quote really resonates with me: He’s spent so much time waiting for something to give, hoping that he doesn’t have to be the first one to crack the perfect veneer of the paradise New Eden has never been. Maybe he’s the thing that has to give.

[india :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

mars adler did such a great job at making me want to kill myself. little did i know the couple WAS GOING TO BE TWO BROTHERS. i was thoroughly gagged. since the beginning, in the back of my head I was thinking how the way Ripley described his "brotherly connection" with Archimedes was a little intense but then wow. it fucked with my head so much because the sex scenes were written so beautifully but then they say 'little brother' and then youre like dazed and confused. maybe that was the point? it makes you so fucking confused and uncomfortable, like he did a great job absorbing me into these scenes and then smacking me in the face with incest. it was like a whirlwind. the part where he's getting off Archimedes by touching his wires WAS CRAZYYYYY literally genius and goated. and then Archimedes praise kink, yessirrrrr. there were just so many good lines and the way they talked about their love for each other was just gut wrenching and beautiful and all consuming but then i remembered incest so I only included a couple quotes just because I can. the book itself was written great and i like how the plot ended. I wish when they had left new eden, they would have left the doors open to the tunnel systems so the native creatures could just come back to their home. I was slightly confused on why they were killing away the residents of new eden and why that had happened before and the politics of it all.

Quotes:
- 'Who knew that he'd be so turned on by how well his brother can follow orders?'
- ' "I can't believe I have to save the planet with cum drying in my underwear and barefoot," he says. "Do you think anyone will go easier on me if I tell them that?" '
- ' "When I saw you with blood on your hands," Archimedes says, unprompted, and now it's Ripley's breath catching... "I wanted to lick them clean. I wanted to drop to my knees in front of you and put your fingers in my mouth." '

[Natalie Sypeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I'm trying to remember if I knew this was an incest romance when I put it on my TBR, cause I sure didn't remember it when I bought it until I read the trigger warnings. Anyways this is a trope I don't have much experience with; I will say one of my all time favs is between cousins, so I can't really say I have an issue with this form of taboo romance (in the fiction world...in the real world...that's a different story) Anyway, I was surprised by how much I loved this romance, at the start I kept shying away from the strong "brotherly love' that was going on, but eventually I had to accept that I was eating up the forbidden wrongness that came with this relationship...it was hot...we listen and we don't judge lol.

Aside from the romance element, I think the author did a really great job with the plot. It was short and concise, I'm not someone who often loves short stories, but I found myself pretty satisfied with what we got. I would have liked some more horror aspects, it was definitely giving more social horror rather than like monsters and gore, despite the story having a bit of both. I think one could argue that the author could have fleshed this story out, talked about the monsters outside the colony or the war more, but I liked that we got just this little glimpse of a colony facing a massive change and the people who fought to make that happen. I wouldn't say no to more books in this universe, Shrike the war robot was intriguing for sure. I really enjoyed the authors writing so I'm sure I'll check out some more of their work!

[Kassu · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐

Ooh. This was definitely for me. Dystopian sci-fi world, taboo cyborg love interest, danger and unraveling of mysteries. I wish this was longer. It works like this very well, there's enough of everything to make this a proper book as it is, but I really would have wanted for it to be double length. There were still so many things that could have been expanded. This is an author for me to check out properly.

[c · Rating 5 out of 5]

panting quivering shaking DRIPPING. that was some of the most beautiful writing i’ve ever read AND one of the hottest things ever. 10 out of fucking 10.

[Caelen Fae · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a slow burn…s-l-o-w. Lots of angst but also a really great story with transgender representation.
My brain is still processing some of it and I will be rereading it.

[Morgan Sandberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty good! Its not easy finding good stories with this subject matter, probably just given that it's more difficult to find an editor and you can't host them on Amazon, but this one was nice! The story was pretty simplistic and imo could have used more fleshing out (the creatures seemed pointless with how little they were utilized, would have liked more of them). It was a fun read.

(The content warnings were goofy - "thigh riding" and "masturbation" next to "genocide"??? My partner joked: "I'm fine with incest, but I draw the line at thigh riding! 🤬")

[RestlessPages · Rating 5 out of 5]

"They never understood," he says. "When I'm in the mud and blood and filth of whatever planet the Commonwealth tells us we have to conquer this time, the only thing I can think of is getting home to you. They never understood how much that mattered to me, how much of my hope of survival I pinned on hearing your voice just one more time. After mom died, you were the only thing that kept me going."

So damn good.

Ripley, a trans mechanic just trying to get by on inhabitable planet, receives news that his half-brother Archimedes, a Commonwealth's cybernetically enhanced super soldier, isn't coming home for Christmas. Supicious, Ripley joins rebels, only to reunite with Archimedes and discover a secret that might lead to their death unless they act quickly.

If you are a fan of sci-fi dystopian, with a bit of horror and a taboo relationship, then this is a book for you. Engaging writing, codependent relationship between half-brothers that is shaped by environment they grew up in, delicious pining and some spice.

I'll have to say, the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book is what made me take so long to start this book, but it wasn't as heavy for me as I expected. Maybe because the disturbing parts don't linger, or maybe I simply can handle more than I expected lol.

Highly recommended.

Archimedes watches him for a few moments, eyes skipping between his. He reaches out, slowly, carefully, like he expects Ripley to pull away. His hand settles on Ripley's shoulder, then slides higher, to cup the back of his neck. Ripley suppresses a shiver as Archimedes' fingers tangle in the short hairs at the base of his skull. "Sorry I don't have a present for you this year," he says. His voice comes low and rough in the space between them.
Ripley leans his cheek against Archimedes' forearm. "You're the only present I need."

°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*⁀°•*
*General Notes*
-sci-fi, dystopian, horror
-taboo (half-brothers)
-trans MC
-Ripley is 28 years old; not sure about Archimedes, but he's older than Ripley.
-detailed CWs listed at the beginning of the book.

*Intimacy Notes*
-Top/bottom/verse: strict? Only one scene; Ripley bottoms (power bottom), Archimedes tops, but they have mild D/s dynamics where Ripley is more in control.
-Kinks/sex notes: mild D/s, thigh riding, coming untouched, sexual stimulation with cybernetics, penetration, praise kink...
-Other:
・protectiveness
・'Touch him an I'll kill you' vibes (and "Did he hurt you? Did he touch you?" scene)
・praise

[Hoyt · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25, rounded to 3 for GR. This was billed as a "taboo space horror romance", and is my first experience reading a taboo (incest) romance. And TBH, this particular taboo is not something I would seek out in the future. But, since it was listed in the blurb and content warnings, I'm trying not to have that factor in the rating. Overall, this was an interesting, quick-reading bleak bit of sci-fi spicy dystopia. I personally would have enjoyed it more if the romantic relationship had been anything else BUT the taboo one, but then it wouldn't have been this book, I suppose. The world building gave a cool background for the drama to play out against (although I really wanted to know more about the creatures outside the domes), and the plot twist near the end was great. The main character was well fleshed out (it's always great to see a trans person living and accepted in a world with no big deal), although I would have liked to learn more about the other characters in this world. This was my first read from this author, but I'd definitely be interested in seeing what else they have to say.

[Sam Sonderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Apples of New Eden is an engaging, emotional read. I couldn't put this book down, and when I had to, all I wanted was to read it some more. The relationship between the brothers is so caring and also so believable. The setting is interesting and the history of it is, too. The author wastes no time: this is a book that is exactly as long as it needs to be. Of course, I wish it was longer. I will reread. That is a promise.
I'm glad to say I own a paper copy of this book, through Lulu.

[may · Rating 5 out of 5]

my second 5 ⭐️ of the year and all it took was brothers fucking

no but for real this books has EVERYTHING I love and god I already want to re-read it.
I wanted it to be longer but I think it was nearly wrapped!

“You’re perfect, I can’t get enough of you, like you were made for me, like someone knew that the only one who would be perfect for me would be you.”

[Fay · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh my god this was so fucking good, i was hooked in the first two pages and that NEVER happens.

i need anything and everything in this universe stat, and the brain worms this book has given me are out of control!!!!!!!!

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love mars’ writing so much! for such a short read the world was very cool and i really liked how complex ripley’s emotions were portrayed.