Eden's Return

by Duncan McGeary

Three hundred years ago, a mysterious zone called the Stasis appeared, covering hundreds of square miles of the Pacific Northwest. The area’s human inhabitants suddenly found themselves outside the barrier; inside was a primeval, unspoiled world that proved to be hostile to technology and most man-made things.

Over the years, those who were idealistic or deluded enough to shed all trappings of civilization were able to cross into this new Eden, though few survived for long. But now, the barrier has weakened...just enough for a squad of soldiers to be flown in to investigate.

Meanwhile, inside the Stasis, Shani has been living alone with her mother, at one with nature and oblivious to the world outside. Her past and her future have narrowed to a single point in time. Only this moment exists.

Lieutenant Silas McKinley and his squad are stunned to discover the two women in middle of the Stasis, but their encounter is quickly overshadowed by the area’s deadly rejection of their presence. They must find a way out.

With nature itself rising up against them, Shani and Silas - two people from vastly different worlds - will have to find common ground if anyone is to survive.

Genres: Science Fiction

Audible Audio

Published July 20, 2020

About the author

I've lived in Bend, Oregon my whole life (which is becoming increasing rare in this boom town.) After the U of O, I wrote Star Axe, Snowcastles and Icetowers.

While trying to write full time, I started filling in at a local book/comic book store, Pegasus Books. Eventually, I became full time and then manager, and then 30 years ago, I bought the store.

My wife opened her used bookstore, The Bookmark, ten years ago and is also writing these days. She has a book online called, Telling Tree, which is wonderful, and will publish her the second book of her trilogy, Once on a Blue Moon.

I have two sons, Todd, an artist, and Toby, a chef.

So my writing career took a back seat while I tried to keep the store alive and raise a family.

In the last few years, the store has become stable enough that I've been able to come back to writing and I've been writing like crazy.

I've just sold a four book deal to Books of the Dead Press. Led to the Slaughter has been released e-book and will soon be available in print form on Amazon. I also sold a trilogy, The Vampire Evolution, which consists of Death of An Immortal; Rule of Vampire; and Blood of Gold.

I've been very busy, with several other books in the works.

I hope you guys will check out my books. I try to make them entertaining and fast reads.

Reviews

[Kaora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Between two and a half and 3 stars.

It was a relatively quick read, which echoed Annihilation a lot more initially than I was comfortable with, but thankfully diverged into its own story. I really enjoyed Annihilation and was a bit disappointed that this wasn't so much focused on the mystery of stasis which is what I loved about Annihilation, but more on the people around it.

It is an okay story for the length of the book, but really didn't grab me at all, and the ending really didn't make sense to me and left a lot of loose ends. I wish it was tied up a little more, although I'm not sure if this is the first in a series or what.

[Dean Osborne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book I failed to love but still enjoyed, kinda.

The synopsis for Eden's return grabbed me and did not let go. It instantly struck me as the possible love child of Tim Lebbon's Eden (and no, not because of the name) and Jeff Vandermeer's Annihilation. Two novels I enjoyed. I just had to get my hands on this book and scratch that itch again. However, Eden's Return was a bit of a love/hate situation for me.

I want to start with what I enjoyed about this book. First of all, the plot was right up my alley. A 'mysterious zone' appears and rejects all humans. The zone weakens and humanity sends in a squad of soldiers to investigate and then they are rejected by the area with deadly consequences. What's not to like about a race against time with life and death as the stakes, am I right? Secondly, the character development for the main characters is good. We get to see the characters change according to the pressures put on them and the changes make sense. They react how we would expect a human to react. Thirdly, I liked the questions that come to mind while reading this story. In my opinion, a good book will always have you asking questions during the story, however, and this leads me nicely onto the parts I didn't enjoy about Eden's Return, and that is that a lot of these questions go unanswered. Which is Frustrating. I don't know if this is the intention of McGeary but personally, I needed the who, what and why answered. I can't go into specifics as it will require me to spoil some of the plot and as we know that is a huge no, no. Naughty spoilers. I also found myself hungry for more world-building. The synopsis tells us that the Stasis is 'a primaeval, unspoiled world' and McGeary does well to build on this bearing in mind that this is a short read but I was left wanting more. This isn't a huge deal-breaker and is more of a personal thing as people, as we know, have varying degrees of imagination and some will happily imagine a hostile, primaeval and unspoiled world with little to no description.

Finally, I want to say that I wished this book was a little longer. The parts I liked I wanted more of and I believe that my faults with Eden's Return would not be so if McGeary had room to expand on several parts.

If like me you enjoyed the natural elements of Eden by Tim Lebbon and the mystery of Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer then this story has the same vibes and will keep you entertained for a while. If you can live with some questions not being answered then this is worth a read however if loose ends annoy you then it's probably best to stay clear.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a little weird, but mostly not very polished. The story contradicts itself several times, the world outside the boundary isn't fully explored, and certain elements mature too late to bring much to the plot. The pacing was also weird: I read a bit, wasn't in love, thought about quitting, then noticed what percent my Kindle said was left-- it didn't match up with how far the story "felt" so I kept going. It didn't improve or have any amazing twists, though.

For dystopian survival, look elsewhere: Life As We Knew It or The End of the World Running Club are two suggestions that read better.

NetGalley ARC, miraculously still available 2 years later. Everything written, read, or requested early in the pandemic gets a pass.

[Millennial Book Review · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eden’s Return is an entertaining book. It has an interesting idea at its core and the author did something unique with it, even if it wasn’t what the description suggests. I enjoyed the two main characters and some of the development of the world. At the same time, this book leaves the reader with a lot of unanswered questions which is frustrating, and the ending was a bit of a letdown. The novel is a quick read and has some interesting elements, so I’d recommend it to someone looking for a book they can read without having to get too heavily invested in the story along the way.

My full review can be found here