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Dark Eden #2
Mother of Eden
We speak of a mother's love, but we forget her power. Power over life. Power to give and to withhold.'
Generations after the breakup of the human family of Eden, the Johnfolk emphasise knowledge and innovation, the Davidfolk tradition and cohesion. But both have built hierarchical societies sustained by violence and dominated by men - and both claim to be the favoured children of a long-dead woman from Earth that all Eden knows as Gela, the mother of them all.
When Starlight Brooking meets a handsome and powerful man from across Worldpool, she believes he will offer an outlet for her ambition and energy. But she has no idea that she will be a stand-in for Gela herself, and wear Gela's ring on her own finger.
And she has no idea of the enemies she will make, no inkling that a time will come when she, like John Redlantern, will choose to kill...
Generations after the breakup of the human family of Eden, the Johnfolk emphasise knowledge and innovation, the Davidfolk tradition and cohesion. But both have built hierarchical societies sustained by violence and dominated by men - and both claim to be the favoured children of a long-dead woman from Earth that all Eden knows as Gela, the mother of them all.
When Starlight Brooking meets a handsome and powerful man from across Worldpool, she believes he will offer an outlet for her ambition and energy. But she has no idea that she will be a stand-in for Gela herself, and wear Gela's ring on her own finger.
And she has no idea of the enemies she will make, no inkling that a time will come when she, like John Redlantern, will choose to kill...
480 pages, ebook
First published May 12, 2015
122 people are currently reading
2081 people want to read
About the author
Chris Beckett
106 books350 followersChris Beckett is a British social worker, university lecturer, and science fiction author.
Beckett was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford and Bryanston School in Dorset, England. He holds a BSc (Honours) in Psychology from the University of Bristol (1977), a CQSW from the University of Wales (1981), a Diploma in Advanced Social Work from Goldsmiths College, University of London (1977), and an MA in English Studies from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge (2005).
He has been a senior lecturer in social work at APU since 2000. He was a social worker for eight years and the manager of a children and families social work team for ten years. Beckett has authored or co-authored several textbooks and scholarly articles on social work.
Beckett began writing SF short stories in 2005. His first SF novel, The Holy Machine, was published in 2007. He published his second novel in 2009, Marcher, based on a short story of the same name.
Paul Di Filippo reviewed The Holy Machine for Asimov's, calling it "One of the most accomplished novel debuts to attract my attention in some time..." Michael Levy of Strange Horizons called it "a beautifully written and deeply thoughtful tale about a would-be scientific utopia that has been bent sadly out of shape by both external and internal pressures." Tony Ballantyne wrote in Interzone: "Let’s waste no time: this book is incredible."
His latest novel, Dark Eden, was hailed by Stuart Kelly of The Guardian as "a superior piece of the theologically nuanced science fiction".
Dark Eden was shortlisted for the 2012 BSFA Award for Best Novel.
On 27 March 2013 it was announced that Julian Pavia at Broadway Books, part of the Crown Publishing Group, had acquired the US rights to Dark Eden and Gela's Ring from Michael Carlisle at Inkwell Management and Vanessa Kerr, Rights Director at Grove Atlantic in London, for a high five-figure sum (in US dollars).
Beckett comments on his official website: "Although I always wanted to be a writer, I did not deliberately set out to be a science fiction writer in particular. My stories are usually about my own life, things I see happening around me and things I struggle to make sense of. But, for some reason, they always end up being science fiction. I like the freedom it gives me to invent things and play with ideas. (If you going to make up the characters, why not make up the world as well?) It’s what works for me."
Beckett was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford and Bryanston School in Dorset, England. He holds a BSc (Honours) in Psychology from the University of Bristol (1977), a CQSW from the University of Wales (1981), a Diploma in Advanced Social Work from Goldsmiths College, University of London (1977), and an MA in English Studies from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge (2005).
He has been a senior lecturer in social work at APU since 2000. He was a social worker for eight years and the manager of a children and families social work team for ten years. Beckett has authored or co-authored several textbooks and scholarly articles on social work.
Beckett began writing SF short stories in 2005. His first SF novel, The Holy Machine, was published in 2007. He published his second novel in 2009, Marcher, based on a short story of the same name.
Paul Di Filippo reviewed The Holy Machine for Asimov's, calling it "One of the most accomplished novel debuts to attract my attention in some time..." Michael Levy of Strange Horizons called it "a beautifully written and deeply thoughtful tale about a would-be scientific utopia that has been bent sadly out of shape by both external and internal pressures." Tony Ballantyne wrote in Interzone: "Let’s waste no time: this book is incredible."
His latest novel, Dark Eden, was hailed by Stuart Kelly of The Guardian as "a superior piece of the theologically nuanced science fiction".
Dark Eden was shortlisted for the 2012 BSFA Award for Best Novel.
On 27 March 2013 it was announced that Julian Pavia at Broadway Books, part of the Crown Publishing Group, had acquired the US rights to Dark Eden and Gela's Ring from Michael Carlisle at Inkwell Management and Vanessa Kerr, Rights Director at Grove Atlantic in London, for a high five-figure sum (in US dollars).
Beckett comments on his official website: "Although I always wanted to be a writer, I did not deliberately set out to be a science fiction writer in particular. My stories are usually about my own life, things I see happening around me and things I struggle to make sense of. But, for some reason, they always end up being science fiction. I like the freedom it gives me to invent things and play with ideas. (If you going to make up the characters, why not make up the world as well?) It’s what works for me."
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April 7, 2025
3,5/5 stars
May 11, 2015
3 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.com/2015/05/10/b...
Mother of Eden certainly wasn’t a bad book, not bad at all. Still, I have to say it’s a far cry from the first book, which I absolutely adored.
First, it’s important to know that Mother of Eden isn’t exactly a direct follow-up to Dark Eden, taking place roughly five or six generations in the future. Be aware that if you are thinking of reading it as a stand-alone though, you’ll miss out on a lot of the background information in the first book. Remember how I’d ended my review of Dark Eden with the theory that characters like John Redlantern, Tina, Gerry and Jeff would eventually become the stuff of legends to their descendants, much like how “First Couple” Angela and Tommy became revered by Family? Turns out that is exactly the case, so it wouldn’t hurt to be familiar with the events of book one.
Still, the world of Eden has changed a lot since John Redlantern first destroyed Circle of Stones and took his supporters away from Circle Valley and over Snowy Dark. There are now thousands of humans living across the planet, divided into two main groups: Johnfolk, those who were descended from John and his followers; and Davidfolk, descendants of those who remained with the original Family led by David, John’s greatest rival. There are quite a few offshoot populations as well, and our protagonist Starlight Brooking is a young woman from one such tribe, a member of the Kneetree Folk who live on a tiny island far away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of Eden.
But Starlight has always wanted something more out of her life than just catching fish and making boats. She convinces her uncle, brother and a couple friends one day to travel with her to Veeklehouse, a kind of trading port where many of Eden’s tribes converge to buy and sell their goods. There she meets handsome Greenstone Johnson, a Johnsfolk man from across Greatpool who came in his colorful wraps and mighty sail boats to trade his shiny metal. Greenstone is drawn to Starlight right away and asks her to return with him to his home of Edenheart, and sensing her chance for a great adventure, she agrees. After all, Greenstone isn’t just a descendent of John, he’s the great-great-grandson of John himself, and is a prince of sorts among his people. Starlight is even more excited when she discovers that as Greenstone’s “Housewoman”, she’ll get to wear the legendary Gela’s Ring and take on the mantle of Mother of Eden.
As she soon discovers though, living in Greenstone’s home of New Earth isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. In fact, life is downright unpleasant if you’re not one of the “Big People”, and even “Small People” make themselves feel bigger by pressing semi-intelligent creatures into slave labor. If you’re a Batface or have any other type of physical or mental deformity, you’re immediately relegated to the lowest rungs of society and it’s the metal digs for you! Greenstone himself isn’t a bad guy, but his father the Headman as well as Edenheart’s Chiefs and Teachers will throw you to the Fire if your beliefs deviate from the “correct” version of history, and if you’re a woman you’ll have no say in how Edenheart is run because your opinion means nothing.
This is how Starlight quickly realizes that even though she is the Ringwearer and the beloved Mother of Eden, she actually holds little to no power at all. And that is NOT all right with her, and neither are all of New Earth’s injustices. Starlight’s character is probably my favorite part of this book; she plays a similar role to John Redlantern’s from the first book, but for one key difference to me: while both John and Starlight are initiative-taking people who are constantly seeking something more, John sought glory only for himself, versus Starlight whose ultimate goal was to better the lives of others. Huge respect. I found myself rooting for her every step of the way.
Now for the book’s not-so-great parts. Like Dark Eden, it carries on its commentary on the evolution of civilization and culture, language, religion, etc. But whereas the social-fiction elements in the first book were more understated and nuanced, Mother of Eden has a clear message and it is delivered with the subtlety and grace of a wrecking ball. Never mind that I agreed with and admired Starlight for everything she tries to do for New Earth, like fighting to give better quality-of-life for Small People and a voice to women, or the fact that I loved this book for its heartfelt attempt to honor the role of motherhood and the power of a mother’s love. All that’s fine and good but only when it doesn’t affect the quality of writing or give rise to frequent character actions and dialogue choices that feel incredibly awkward or out-of-place. Too bad that in this case, I felt it did.
My biggest problem with Mother of Eden though was the ending. Even if I hadn’t found it unsatisfying – and it really was off-putting – I still probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it. The thing is, “unsatisfying” endings I can live with, but “incomplete” is a whole other matter. Unfortunately, everything after the climax felt rushed and not entirely all there, with multiple skips of varying degrees in time and a lot of important events happening off the page. Up until that point, the author had more or less kept us in the loop with what’s happening across multiple locations by giving us a wide range of character perspectives. But when it came to the ending where it really mattered, the scope narrowed so much that I was left wondering what happened to a major character, whose fate was only then mentioned in passing in one of the final chapters in Afterwords section (and I felt that character totally deserved to be handled better than that).
Maybe a sequel to Dark Eden really wasn’t needed, but nevertheless I’m not sorry I read the book. It was fascinating to see what Eden has become. If Chris Beckett were to write a third Eden book I would likely still read it. Hopefully it would redeem that disheartening ending.
Mother of Eden certainly wasn’t a bad book, not bad at all. Still, I have to say it’s a far cry from the first book, which I absolutely adored.
First, it’s important to know that Mother of Eden isn’t exactly a direct follow-up to Dark Eden, taking place roughly five or six generations in the future. Be aware that if you are thinking of reading it as a stand-alone though, you’ll miss out on a lot of the background information in the first book. Remember how I’d ended my review of Dark Eden with the theory that characters like John Redlantern, Tina, Gerry and Jeff would eventually become the stuff of legends to their descendants, much like how “First Couple” Angela and Tommy became revered by Family? Turns out that is exactly the case, so it wouldn’t hurt to be familiar with the events of book one.
Still, the world of Eden has changed a lot since John Redlantern first destroyed Circle of Stones and took his supporters away from Circle Valley and over Snowy Dark. There are now thousands of humans living across the planet, divided into two main groups: Johnfolk, those who were descended from John and his followers; and Davidfolk, descendants of those who remained with the original Family led by David, John’s greatest rival. There are quite a few offshoot populations as well, and our protagonist Starlight Brooking is a young woman from one such tribe, a member of the Kneetree Folk who live on a tiny island far away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of Eden.
But Starlight has always wanted something more out of her life than just catching fish and making boats. She convinces her uncle, brother and a couple friends one day to travel with her to Veeklehouse, a kind of trading port where many of Eden’s tribes converge to buy and sell their goods. There she meets handsome Greenstone Johnson, a Johnsfolk man from across Greatpool who came in his colorful wraps and mighty sail boats to trade his shiny metal. Greenstone is drawn to Starlight right away and asks her to return with him to his home of Edenheart, and sensing her chance for a great adventure, she agrees. After all, Greenstone isn’t just a descendent of John, he’s the great-great-grandson of John himself, and is a prince of sorts among his people. Starlight is even more excited when she discovers that as Greenstone’s “Housewoman”, she’ll get to wear the legendary Gela’s Ring and take on the mantle of Mother of Eden.
As she soon discovers though, living in Greenstone’s home of New Earth isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. In fact, life is downright unpleasant if you’re not one of the “Big People”, and even “Small People” make themselves feel bigger by pressing semi-intelligent creatures into slave labor. If you’re a Batface or have any other type of physical or mental deformity, you’re immediately relegated to the lowest rungs of society and it’s the metal digs for you! Greenstone himself isn’t a bad guy, but his father the Headman as well as Edenheart’s Chiefs and Teachers will throw you to the Fire if your beliefs deviate from the “correct” version of history, and if you’re a woman you’ll have no say in how Edenheart is run because your opinion means nothing.
This is how Starlight quickly realizes that even though she is the Ringwearer and the beloved Mother of Eden, she actually holds little to no power at all. And that is NOT all right with her, and neither are all of New Earth’s injustices. Starlight’s character is probably my favorite part of this book; she plays a similar role to John Redlantern’s from the first book, but for one key difference to me: while both John and Starlight are initiative-taking people who are constantly seeking something more, John sought glory only for himself, versus Starlight whose ultimate goal was to better the lives of others. Huge respect. I found myself rooting for her every step of the way.
Now for the book’s not-so-great parts. Like Dark Eden, it carries on its commentary on the evolution of civilization and culture, language, religion, etc. But whereas the social-fiction elements in the first book were more understated and nuanced, Mother of Eden has a clear message and it is delivered with the subtlety and grace of a wrecking ball. Never mind that I agreed with and admired Starlight for everything she tries to do for New Earth, like fighting to give better quality-of-life for Small People and a voice to women, or the fact that I loved this book for its heartfelt attempt to honor the role of motherhood and the power of a mother’s love. All that’s fine and good but only when it doesn’t affect the quality of writing or give rise to frequent character actions and dialogue choices that feel incredibly awkward or out-of-place. Too bad that in this case, I felt it did.
My biggest problem with Mother of Eden though was the ending. Even if I hadn’t found it unsatisfying – and it really was off-putting – I still probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it. The thing is, “unsatisfying” endings I can live with, but “incomplete” is a whole other matter. Unfortunately, everything after the climax felt rushed and not entirely all there, with multiple skips of varying degrees in time and a lot of important events happening off the page. Up until that point, the author had more or less kept us in the loop with what’s happening across multiple locations by giving us a wide range of character perspectives. But when it came to the ending where it really mattered, the scope narrowed so much that I was left wondering what happened to a major character, whose fate was only then mentioned in passing in one of the final chapters in Afterwords section (and I felt that character totally deserved to be handled better than that).
Maybe a sequel to Dark Eden really wasn’t needed, but nevertheless I’m not sorry I read the book. It was fascinating to see what Eden has become. If Chris Beckett were to write a third Eden book I would likely still read it. Hopefully it would redeem that disheartening ending.
February 29, 2016
The sequel to one of my recent favorite SF debuts proved to be mildly entertaining, but failed to recapture the enchantment and the thrill of discovery that attracted me to the setting in the first place. I liked the original idea of writing a "Lord of the Flies" set on a distant planet with an incredibly rich and alien biosphere, adapted in particular to a dark and mostly frozen planet (bioluminescence, heat sinks dropped by plants into the volcanic core, etc). I also liked the extrapolation of the desert island dillema over several generations, where the characters have to reinvent social structures from scratch in the complete absence of any support from history, technology and tradition.
"Mother of Eden" skips several generations more, seeing the original settlers (the Family) spreading out in to the Dark and multiplying into several competing settlements, past the tribal phase and into several attempts at hierarchical organizations. The leaders of the first book exodus from Circle Valley (John Redlantern, Jeff the Watcher, David) have become cult figures, prophet-like ancestors who are revered and lionized by their respective offsprings. The religious aspects of the plot are much more clearly underlined in this second book, with a Chosen One, Messiah-like figure being central to the plot.
Starlight is a young woman from an almost forgotten place - Knee Tree Grounds - whose inhabitants live in a sort of socialist commune, sharing equally in all activities like food production, raising children, political decisions. Starlight is not the sort of person to accept the status-quo, the stagnating and frankly boring existence in this iddylic and isolated community:
What's the point of life if as soon as we stop being kids all we think about is having kids? That's like going round and round in a circle, and never getting anywhere at all.
Her restlessness takes her to the next big settlement (Veeklehouse), where she catches the eye of a handsome and rich young aristocrat from across the world's ocean (Greenstone). Starlight accepts his proposal of marriage and crosses over into new territory, to New Earth where she becomes both the consort of the future Headman and the figurehead of the local religion - the bearer of the only true Earth artefact surviving the original crash, a gold ring belonging to Gela, the mother of all people on Eden.
Starlight is now torn between her socialist upbringing and the tyranny of the new place, a feudal society where the nominal king (Headman) is indebted to his warlords, and where the Teacher sect is perverting the histories of the Family to negate the role of women in society and to affirm the supremacy of men and the rightness of slavery for the lesser races and for the poor. By going against the Teachers and the warlords, Starlight and her husband Greenstone are setting themselves up as martyrs of a new revolution.
No one in that pile could do what they liked, not even the Headman. Everyone was weighed down by someone above, or kept from falling by someone below.
The ideas proposed here by Chris Beckett are cool in principle, and the New Earth is still a spectacular world to explore, but the shortcomings of the first novel are raised to uncomfortable levels here. The exposition has all the finesse of a charging rhinoceros, with cardboard characters and predictable plot. This lack of subtlety brings down what I hoped would be a great addition to a promising new science-fiction epic, and makes me wonder if I should bother with the third installment (a lot of threads are left hanging from a high cliff by the last page).
I don't like to end my review on the last bitter comment, so I will include last one of the few quotable and intriguing ideas prposed by the followers of Jeff the Watcher:
Whoever we are, we're really just the world looking out at itself, aren't we?
May 20, 2015
This is apparently a sequel to 'Dark Eden,' which I have not read. However, I felt that this book worked perfectly as a stand-alone - I didn't feel I was 'missing' critical information at any point.
'Eden' is a colony world - one founded by a small group who apparently stole their ship - the details are lost to history, and hotly contested by different factions of the inhabitants of 'Eden.'
The original colonists' descendants are severely inbred, and their way of life has reverted to a primitive, tribal existence. One young woman, Starlight Brooking, is from a tiny, isolated village even more primitive than most of the planet's settlements.
Starlight's forebears created her hidden village to find safety and peace away from factional infighting - but Starlight has a deep longing to see more of the world. Will her chafing at boundaries and desire for more out of life end up destroying her community's hard-won safety?
The book had a bit of an old-fashioned feel to it. There are many vividly original details, but also many familiar elements - such as that of seemingly 'ordinary' items being elevated to religious status, the theme of lost knowledge, the exploitation/abuse of alien life, &c. Those who love the sci-fi subgenre of tales of colony worlds will find a lot to enjoy here. I'd recommend particularly for fans of Sheri S. Tepper.
Many thanks to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. As always, my opinions are solely my own.
'Eden' is a colony world - one founded by a small group who apparently stole their ship - the details are lost to history, and hotly contested by different factions of the inhabitants of 'Eden.'
The original colonists' descendants are severely inbred, and their way of life has reverted to a primitive, tribal existence. One young woman, Starlight Brooking, is from a tiny, isolated village even more primitive than most of the planet's settlements.
Starlight's forebears created her hidden village to find safety and peace away from factional infighting - but Starlight has a deep longing to see more of the world. Will her chafing at boundaries and desire for more out of life end up destroying her community's hard-won safety?
The book had a bit of an old-fashioned feel to it. There are many vividly original details, but also many familiar elements - such as that of seemingly 'ordinary' items being elevated to religious status, the theme of lost knowledge, the exploitation/abuse of alien life, &c. Those who love the sci-fi subgenre of tales of colony worlds will find a lot to enjoy here. I'd recommend particularly for fans of Sheri S. Tepper.
Many thanks to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. As always, my opinions are solely my own.
December 2, 2025
A fascinating, very different kind of Sci-Fi. Just as compelling as the 1st book.
May 6, 2016
I’d hesitate to call the ending of Chris Beckett’s ‘Dark Eden’ a cliff-hanger, but certainly it’s an ending that leaves you wanting to know what happens next. It was therefore somewhat disconcerting to pick up the follow up ‘Mother Eden’ to find Beckett intent on wrong-footing the reader. Yes, we do find out what happens next, but this novel is set hundreds of years after ‘Dark Eden’. All the original protagonists are dead, and yet the consequences of their actions have reverberated down through the years. I was a bit discombobulated, I admit that, but once I got my head around it I realised it was absolutely brilliant. Beckett is excellent at creating compulsive characters, but it’s society which is his main subject.
It’s hundreds of years later, the population of New Eden has grown and people being people they have spectacularly fallen out with each other – grouping themselves into little tribes, each believing that they are the ones who carry the truth of their world. Yes, New Eden has entered the feudal, religious war part of its evolution. Having grown up in a rural backwater, a young lady by the name of Starlight Brooking steps onto the nation stage and – through a combination of soul-deep certainty and naivety – sets about shaking up the male dominated order.
It’s a great read, although perhaps not as brilliant as the first volume. It gives us a story on a bigger stage which is admirable, but with the numerous different societies introduced it only manages to paint one or two in detail – the rest are pencil sketches. Having picked ‘the nature of society’ as its specialist subject, it needs to commit fully and not skimp. That superficiality leads to an ending which feels sketchy and rushed, landing nowhere near as powerfully as the ending of the original. However I can see how it will work perfectly to set up the next hundreds of years in the future volume. And, actually - despite the flaws here - there's enough that's damned good to make me really look forward to it.
It’s hundreds of years later, the population of New Eden has grown and people being people they have spectacularly fallen out with each other – grouping themselves into little tribes, each believing that they are the ones who carry the truth of their world. Yes, New Eden has entered the feudal, religious war part of its evolution. Having grown up in a rural backwater, a young lady by the name of Starlight Brooking steps onto the nation stage and – through a combination of soul-deep certainty and naivety – sets about shaking up the male dominated order.
It’s a great read, although perhaps not as brilliant as the first volume. It gives us a story on a bigger stage which is admirable, but with the numerous different societies introduced it only manages to paint one or two in detail – the rest are pencil sketches. Having picked ‘the nature of society’ as its specialist subject, it needs to commit fully and not skimp. That superficiality leads to an ending which feels sketchy and rushed, landing nowhere near as powerfully as the ending of the original. However I can see how it will work perfectly to set up the next hundreds of years in the future volume. And, actually - despite the flaws here - there's enough that's damned good to make me really look forward to it.
January 29, 2015
Chris Beckett's forthcoming novel MOTHER OF EDEN is the sequel to DARK EDEN, which won the Arthur C. Clarke prize several years ago, and which I discussed on my blog. In that blog entry, I give a larger discussion and background of Beckett's work than I will provide here.
MOTHER OF EDEN is set in the same world as its predecessor: a "dark" planet, not circling any sun, warmed by geothermal heat from deep inside its core, and with the only light provided by the plants and animals who natively live there (the plants do not photosynthesize, obviously; they draw their energy from the planetary core, and thereby provide the basis for the whole ecosystem). Two astronauts were stranded on the planet years ago, with no way to get back to Earth, or even to send a message. All the human beings in this world are their descendants. Beckett provides compelling stories with interesting characters in this world; but his real aim is to construct a kind of speculative anthropology, exploring how both human and natural forces, including economic and ecological constraints, drive social change.
DARK EDEN told the story of how the initial society on Eden changed from an egalitarian, and highly traditionalist matriarchy to something else: to social forms that were on the one hand innovative and exploratory, and even "entrepreneurial." This is necessary for the continued flourishing of the folk on the planet, but it brings very serious downsides with it: patriarchy, hierarchy, militarism, bitter conflict, and the first rapes and murders seen in this world.
MOTHER OF EDEN picks up the story four or five generations later. The inhabited world is bitterly divided between two large societies: on the one hand, the descendants and followers of John Redlantern, who ruptured the initial Edenic society by breaking away, innovating and exploring; and the descendants and followers of those who claimed to stand for the old ways, but who really formed a patriarchal militarist society, destroying the old order just as effectively in the name of saving it as John did in the name of changing it. Both of these societies are now heavily armed, deeply repressive, with rich wealthy "chiefs" on top, and most of the others reduced to the status of little better than slaves. The descendants of John are more organized, and more advanced technologically, than the other side; but both groups have similarly oppressive social forms.
There are also groups of people who continue to live in smaller and more egalitarian groups, subsisting at a lower technological level. But they are always being increasingly menaced by the larger societies, which wish to subsume and enslave them. The novel's heroine, Starlight Brooking, comes from one of these smaller groups. She feels stifled by the conservatism and limited prospects of the group she is in; she is adventurous and smart, and wants to see the larger world.
As with the previous book, we get a succession of multiple narrators, which helps us to see the strange world of Eden from various different perspectives. But the novel is really the story of Starlight's adventures, as she gets to experience the full range of social forms on the planet. I won't discuss any plot details here, in order to avoid spoilers. But she finds that more luxurious living standards, at least for some, together with more advanced technologies, are accompanied by a particularly vicious patriarchy, by extremes of hierarchical power and privilege in ways that she never would have dreamed of had she stayed at home. She becomes an active political player, and is forced to come to terms with both the sheer ugliness of political infighting and scheming and betrayal, and with the difficulties of shaking things up or fomenting anything like a revolution. She escapes with her life, but just barely.
The novel is powerful and incisive both because of the vividness with which it describes the physical and mental experiences of living on this strange planet, and because of the subtlety with which it reflects upon social formations. The novel is not a utopian one, as it forces us to see a lot of harsh truths about patriarchy and class domination (in what is still basically a pre-capitalist setting; there is money, and there are mines and even the beginnings of factories; but economy is still subordinated to social power and prestige).
But MOTHER OF EDEN is also not a dystopian fiction, because it continues to insist that the forms of power relations that it largely depicts are not inevitable, that other ways of life are possible. Social forms of oppression are ultimately contingent, even though they work by self-reinforcing mechanisms, so that it is very difficult to dislodge them once they are firmly in place. Starlight continually finds her passionate idealism blocked by the harsh forces of realpolitik. But she is never crushed, and the novel ends with several hints of an elsewhere in which a more humane and egalitarian form of life is possible without having to revert to the conditions of low technology, low comfort, and not much more than subsistence. Beckett wisely does not depict these alternatives in any direct way in the novel; they sort of float in the margins, giving us a fragile sort of hope.
All in all, this is a powerful book, and a worthy successor to DARK EDEN. It once again shows how science fiction can work as social theory (and even as ontological speculation).
MOTHER OF EDEN is set in the same world as its predecessor: a "dark" planet, not circling any sun, warmed by geothermal heat from deep inside its core, and with the only light provided by the plants and animals who natively live there (the plants do not photosynthesize, obviously; they draw their energy from the planetary core, and thereby provide the basis for the whole ecosystem). Two astronauts were stranded on the planet years ago, with no way to get back to Earth, or even to send a message. All the human beings in this world are their descendants. Beckett provides compelling stories with interesting characters in this world; but his real aim is to construct a kind of speculative anthropology, exploring how both human and natural forces, including economic and ecological constraints, drive social change.
DARK EDEN told the story of how the initial society on Eden changed from an egalitarian, and highly traditionalist matriarchy to something else: to social forms that were on the one hand innovative and exploratory, and even "entrepreneurial." This is necessary for the continued flourishing of the folk on the planet, but it brings very serious downsides with it: patriarchy, hierarchy, militarism, bitter conflict, and the first rapes and murders seen in this world.
MOTHER OF EDEN picks up the story four or five generations later. The inhabited world is bitterly divided between two large societies: on the one hand, the descendants and followers of John Redlantern, who ruptured the initial Edenic society by breaking away, innovating and exploring; and the descendants and followers of those who claimed to stand for the old ways, but who really formed a patriarchal militarist society, destroying the old order just as effectively in the name of saving it as John did in the name of changing it. Both of these societies are now heavily armed, deeply repressive, with rich wealthy "chiefs" on top, and most of the others reduced to the status of little better than slaves. The descendants of John are more organized, and more advanced technologically, than the other side; but both groups have similarly oppressive social forms.
There are also groups of people who continue to live in smaller and more egalitarian groups, subsisting at a lower technological level. But they are always being increasingly menaced by the larger societies, which wish to subsume and enslave them. The novel's heroine, Starlight Brooking, comes from one of these smaller groups. She feels stifled by the conservatism and limited prospects of the group she is in; she is adventurous and smart, and wants to see the larger world.
As with the previous book, we get a succession of multiple narrators, which helps us to see the strange world of Eden from various different perspectives. But the novel is really the story of Starlight's adventures, as she gets to experience the full range of social forms on the planet. I won't discuss any plot details here, in order to avoid spoilers. But she finds that more luxurious living standards, at least for some, together with more advanced technologies, are accompanied by a particularly vicious patriarchy, by extremes of hierarchical power and privilege in ways that she never would have dreamed of had she stayed at home. She becomes an active political player, and is forced to come to terms with both the sheer ugliness of political infighting and scheming and betrayal, and with the difficulties of shaking things up or fomenting anything like a revolution. She escapes with her life, but just barely.
The novel is powerful and incisive both because of the vividness with which it describes the physical and mental experiences of living on this strange planet, and because of the subtlety with which it reflects upon social formations. The novel is not a utopian one, as it forces us to see a lot of harsh truths about patriarchy and class domination (in what is still basically a pre-capitalist setting; there is money, and there are mines and even the beginnings of factories; but economy is still subordinated to social power and prestige).
But MOTHER OF EDEN is also not a dystopian fiction, because it continues to insist that the forms of power relations that it largely depicts are not inevitable, that other ways of life are possible. Social forms of oppression are ultimately contingent, even though they work by self-reinforcing mechanisms, so that it is very difficult to dislodge them once they are firmly in place. Starlight continually finds her passionate idealism blocked by the harsh forces of realpolitik. But she is never crushed, and the novel ends with several hints of an elsewhere in which a more humane and egalitarian form of life is possible without having to revert to the conditions of low technology, low comfort, and not much more than subsistence. Beckett wisely does not depict these alternatives in any direct way in the novel; they sort of float in the margins, giving us a fragile sort of hope.
All in all, this is a powerful book, and a worthy successor to DARK EDEN. It once again shows how science fiction can work as social theory (and even as ontological speculation).
December 19, 2024
Oof I've already finished the last book but forgot to review this one, so it's not as fresh in my mind. However this was a big jump in time, scale and complexity for the inbred inhabitants of Dark Eden. We meet the expanded host of Davidfolk and Adamfolk adn the brewing unease between them. There is so much social commentary in this book, it's such a wonderful mirror to our complex lives. The simple small people are as usual enslaved and taken advantage of by the Big People.
It's a great story, and it just gets consistently bigger and better and the social and political commentary gets more real.
It's a great story, and it just gets consistently bigger and better and the social and political commentary gets more real.
August 9, 2016
What to do when you crash on an alien planet and there is two of you left? You have a few babies, but hey what next? Yes, euww. And then 400? years later there are a lot of people on this planet, and they are all related. There are some major birth defects too, and those without them are treated better. It is a stone age society that in some parts have gone over to the iron age.
And it is a fascinating world. In the last book we saw how John Redlantern wanted to explore more of the world. Now 200 years later people have spread, and built more villages. But as society changes things also gets worse. It is a world who is all Mother Gela would have wanted us to this! And also a society where men now have taken power and looks at women as lesser. As society changes it is not always for the better. Now they also kill those who do not think like them.
In this world we have Starlight, a woman from a tiny fishing village. But she wants more from life, and who can blame her, there is a whole world to explore, and she is stuck on a tiny island. She is naive, but so are they all. She is impulsive in her quest for more. But she was smart.
Greenstone, oh poor guy, he was just too kind and they meet and she gets to explore the world across the Pool. Which takes out to another society, and one of the bad ones. When people make rules there are always those who suffers.
There are actually many POVS in this one. We follow Starlight, but we gets bits and pieces from others around her and how they feel about things. Those she left behind. Those who rule. Those who follow.
People are idiots. Not all, Starlight's village was a good one, they treated each other fairly and felt like everyone is equally important. They had fled the others and the squabbling. But the rest, oh people.
There will be another book, and I look forward to that one. I wonder where that book will take us. I do wonder if Earth will finally get here and what they will think of these inbred idiots who think they rule the world....
A great sci-fi. Even the language had evolved. So interesting.
And it is a fascinating world. In the last book we saw how John Redlantern wanted to explore more of the world. Now 200 years later people have spread, and built more villages. But as society changes things also gets worse. It is a world who is all Mother Gela would have wanted us to this! And also a society where men now have taken power and looks at women as lesser. As society changes it is not always for the better. Now they also kill those who do not think like them.
In this world we have Starlight, a woman from a tiny fishing village. But she wants more from life, and who can blame her, there is a whole world to explore, and she is stuck on a tiny island. She is naive, but so are they all. She is impulsive in her quest for more. But she was smart.
Greenstone, oh poor guy, he was just too kind and they meet and she gets to explore the world across the Pool. Which takes out to another society, and one of the bad ones. When people make rules there are always those who suffers.
There are actually many POVS in this one. We follow Starlight, but we gets bits and pieces from others around her and how they feel about things. Those she left behind. Those who rule. Those who follow.
People are idiots. Not all, Starlight's village was a good one, they treated each other fairly and felt like everyone is equally important. They had fled the others and the squabbling. But the rest, oh people.
There will be another book, and I look forward to that one. I wonder where that book will take us. I do wonder if Earth will finally get here and what they will think of these inbred idiots who think they rule the world....
A great sci-fi. Even the language had evolved. So interesting.
October 22, 2016
Mothers are all good but somehow low status whereas men have an overwhelming tendency to bullying, lying, slavery, mutilation, despoliation of nature, accrual of wealthstatus/armies etc. but it's all because they miss their mothers!!
Oh yes and wherever you go in the universe a jesus/madonna-like figure will arise to cure all ills.
Sheesh
Oh yes and wherever you go in the universe a jesus/madonna-like figure will arise to cure all ills.
Sheesh
September 11, 2017
Sehr gut erzählte und gleichzeitig thematische Geschichte darüber, wie sich Gesellschaften (nicht) verändern, auch wenn sie eigentlich erst kurze Zeit bestehen. Ausführliche Rezension: http://weltenfluestern.de/23
April 3, 2020
hell yea
starlight is my queen, everything she does in this book. HER CHARACTER ARC OMG GENIUS.
THATS it
thats the review
starlight is my queen, everything she does in this book. HER CHARACTER ARC OMG GENIUS.
THATS it
thats the review
April 1, 2015
If you haven't read "Dark Eden" by Chris Beckett do not buy this novel; you will find yourself a bit lost and you really will not be able to appreciate how the world and the peoples in it have developed. In the first novel the focus was the planet itself -- how it differed from Earth, how is challenged the survivors, and how their situation drove them back into a primitive state. This novel is generations (unknown) in the future and we are focused on how different groups of humans have created various cultures that can differ widely even though the are still drawn from the same original survivors and their "stories."
My greatest problem with this novel is that once more we have far too many viewpoint characters -- 9 this time, one of whom only has just six pages out of the entire 468 to show us the world through her eyes; was that really necessary? The second problem is that we switch back and forth between locations without my preparation if you don't remember where various characters are living at the moment. Given that the book is divided into seven "parts" if seems like we should be able to separate viewpoints and locations in a more organized and easy to follow fashion.
These two problems are easy to work through because of pacing and character development. The pacing of the plot is fast, sometimes a bit too fast at the end; maybe this is just a setup for a third book? The principle character is Starlight Brooking and she goes from a curious but headstrong young woman to a woman of conviction and with a mission. Unfortunately she can't control how her own past is being used by those she's encountered so I suspect that if there is another book, it will show a further widening of cultures on Eden.
Toss into this a strong commentary on government, sexism, violence, and speciesism all told in a very matter-of-fact way and you get a very thought-provoking dark tale of humanity.
My greatest problem with this novel is that once more we have far too many viewpoint characters -- 9 this time, one of whom only has just six pages out of the entire 468 to show us the world through her eyes; was that really necessary? The second problem is that we switch back and forth between locations without my preparation if you don't remember where various characters are living at the moment. Given that the book is divided into seven "parts" if seems like we should be able to separate viewpoints and locations in a more organized and easy to follow fashion.
These two problems are easy to work through because of pacing and character development. The pacing of the plot is fast, sometimes a bit too fast at the end; maybe this is just a setup for a third book? The principle character is Starlight Brooking and she goes from a curious but headstrong young woman to a woman of conviction and with a mission. Unfortunately she can't control how her own past is being used by those she's encountered so I suspect that if there is another book, it will show a further widening of cultures on Eden.
Toss into this a strong commentary on government, sexism, violence, and speciesism all told in a very matter-of-fact way and you get a very thought-provoking dark tale of humanity.
March 17, 2015
While not as stirring or captivating as its predecessor, Dark Eden, this sequel still manages to be quite a read. I'm a sucker for religious allegories, for novels that map their own distinct personalities, landscapes, concerns and philosophies onto well-known religious figures, archetypes and situations. Starlight Brooking feels a touch underdeveloped, as a protagonist, prior to her narrative arc dovetailing with Greenstone's -- too much a one-note headstrong little sister (Beckett doesn't spend enough time developing the world of Knee Tree Grounds, let alone Starlight) -- but when Beckett introduces her to New Earth, moving her among its castes like a chess piece, she picks up traces of Moses, traces of Christ. And before we know it, she's moving herself through the castes and their stories: her volition is breathtaking. There are sections that brought me close to tears. What I love best about these novels is Beckett's vision of human fate as both circumscribed and aspirant. There is a yin and yang at work: compassion and oppression, the consolidation of power and the yearning to roam, the instinct for dignified relationships (for sexual impulse to be governed according to love and singular devotion) and the compulsion to reconfigure social networks into gender hierarchies (the suppression of female authority -- in narrative and in practice). That he manages to explore these ideas against a fictional world as wild and wondrous as Eden is an achievement. Dark Eden is the best sci-fi novel I've ever read; Mother of Eden is a worthy follow-up.
I hope we'll see a concluding third volume.
I hope we'll see a concluding third volume.
November 12, 2021
Mother of Eden is Chris Beckett’s follow up to the Arthur C Clarke Award winning Dark Eden. I’ll admit this novel wrong-footed me at first. I was expecting to return to the characters of Dark Eden, which ended on something of a cliffhanger. Instead, Beckett begins a new story, one which is still profoundly influenced by the events of the previous instalment.
John, Jeff, Tina and their enemy, David, are all long dead and generations have come and gone when Mother of Eden begins. As a result, I found it took me a while to get into the story, which centres on Starlight Brooking’s journey to the settlement of New Earth, founded by John Redlantern. When she falls in love with Greenstone, the kind, handsome son of New Earth’s leader, Starlight seizes the chance of a better life, far from her home in simple, dull Knee Tree Grounds.
However, John’s desire to improve the people of Eden and strive for something better has slowly been corrupted over the generations. As with Dark Eden, Beckett uses the fantastic and alien setting of the planet of Eden to explore the true nature of humanity. On New Earth, the strong have grown powerful, keeping their position through the exploitation and oppression of the weak and those deemed to be ‘different’.
Beckett deals with many difficult and complex issues in the book. The power that comes from the control of knowledge and the suppression and manipulation of history is handled well, as is humanity’s exploitation of nature. These themes are contrasted with Starlight’s innocent view of the world, reflecting the earlier generations who inhabited Eden. She challenges the conventions and established order in New Eden. Slowly her influence begins to grow as Starlight assumes the title of ‘Mother of Eden’, as Greenstone’s bride. With this title comes the power of celebrity, setting in motion a chain of events that changes the future of New Earth.
The other aspect I enjoyed was how Beckett filled in the gaps in Eden’s history between Dark Eden and Mother of Eden. Small snippets and recollections sketch out why John, Tina and Jeff ultimately went their separate ways, each of them establishing their own communities. Just as the haunting backstory of Tommy and Angela was brought to life in Dark Eden, Beckett pulls off the same feat in this book with considerable skill.
Mother of Eden takes a while to get going but Beckett slowly builds up the tension with each chapter, deftly moving the plot forwards. The final quarter is a compelling read and I had no idea how the story was going to end, which kept me turning the pages. Two books in, the Eden trilogy is proving to be an ambitious sci-fi masterpiece.
John, Jeff, Tina and their enemy, David, are all long dead and generations have come and gone when Mother of Eden begins. As a result, I found it took me a while to get into the story, which centres on Starlight Brooking’s journey to the settlement of New Earth, founded by John Redlantern. When she falls in love with Greenstone, the kind, handsome son of New Earth’s leader, Starlight seizes the chance of a better life, far from her home in simple, dull Knee Tree Grounds.
However, John’s desire to improve the people of Eden and strive for something better has slowly been corrupted over the generations. As with Dark Eden, Beckett uses the fantastic and alien setting of the planet of Eden to explore the true nature of humanity. On New Earth, the strong have grown powerful, keeping their position through the exploitation and oppression of the weak and those deemed to be ‘different’.
Beckett deals with many difficult and complex issues in the book. The power that comes from the control of knowledge and the suppression and manipulation of history is handled well, as is humanity’s exploitation of nature. These themes are contrasted with Starlight’s innocent view of the world, reflecting the earlier generations who inhabited Eden. She challenges the conventions and established order in New Eden. Slowly her influence begins to grow as Starlight assumes the title of ‘Mother of Eden’, as Greenstone’s bride. With this title comes the power of celebrity, setting in motion a chain of events that changes the future of New Earth.
The other aspect I enjoyed was how Beckett filled in the gaps in Eden’s history between Dark Eden and Mother of Eden. Small snippets and recollections sketch out why John, Tina and Jeff ultimately went their separate ways, each of them establishing their own communities. Just as the haunting backstory of Tommy and Angela was brought to life in Dark Eden, Beckett pulls off the same feat in this book with considerable skill.
Mother of Eden takes a while to get going but Beckett slowly builds up the tension with each chapter, deftly moving the plot forwards. The final quarter is a compelling read and I had no idea how the story was going to end, which kept me turning the pages. Two books in, the Eden trilogy is proving to be an ambitious sci-fi masterpiece.
September 17, 2020
Another absorbing adventure on Eden. At first I thought I knew where the plot was headed but towards the end things started to veer off in a different direction, and the ending isn't what you'd normally expect for this kind of story at all. Which I like a lot.
I've had some suspicions about the true nature of Eden since the first book, so fingers crossed I find out in the final volume.
I've had some suspicions about the true nature of Eden since the first book, so fingers crossed I find out in the final volume.
May 3, 2019
Set many, many generations after the first book, humanity has spread out over a much wider area and is not split into two distinct cultures - the followers of David and the followers of John. Both groups have developed along similar lines: developing hierarchical structures, feudal groups and even simplistic forms of currency. From a smaller group - a vestigial group of followers of Jeff - who still practice simpler ways of living - Starlight ends up marrying the future ruler of the one group and begins fermenting dangerous social change.
As with the first, this is a story of social structures and how dangerous political change can be for its leaders by accelerating our own history into an alien setting. But, while different to the first book, it's not quite different enough to really stand out on its own, and it stands slightly in the shadow of the first book.
As with the first, this is a story of social structures and how dangerous political change can be for its leaders by accelerating our own history into an alien setting. But, while different to the first book, it's not quite different enough to really stand out on its own, and it stands slightly in the shadow of the first book.
June 27, 2015
This sequel to the brilliant Dark Eden is set several generations later. The population on Eden has grown and spread, but is more divided than ever. The book focuses on Starlight, a young woman living in what is effectively a primitive community. But when she meets a remarkable man she ends up in the more developed area New Eden. The people there have metal but in most other ways they are living in pretty much a feudal system, where the majority have nothing and the rulers have everything. Starlight wants to change this but it might be a challenge that is too big.
Although this continues the world on from Dark Eden, it doesn't have quite the same feel about it. There's much less world-building here and by showing how relatively little things have changed on the planet it sort of undoes the feeling of hope and change we get from Dark Eden.
Although this is strictly a sci-fi book, it doesn't actually feel much like one. It many ways it is like Game of Thrones, a sort-of fantasy medieval story. It's clear that Beckett has based the majority of the novel on history and the feudal system of the book is virtually identical to the one of medieval England apart from the titles.
I also felt this was much less well characterised than the first book. Beyond Starlight, most of the characters appear only to tell the story and aren't fleshed out. And there's something a bit off with Starlight too- her narration is a million miles away from her speech and it feels like you've got two characters- the one telling the story and the one in the story.
I thought it was an enjoyable enough book for for me it just didn't live up to the high standards of the original. There is plenty of scope for further tales from Eden but I hope they are only written if the story is worth telling.
Although this continues the world on from Dark Eden, it doesn't have quite the same feel about it. There's much less world-building here and by showing how relatively little things have changed on the planet it sort of undoes the feeling of hope and change we get from Dark Eden.
Although this is strictly a sci-fi book, it doesn't actually feel much like one. It many ways it is like Game of Thrones, a sort-of fantasy medieval story. It's clear that Beckett has based the majority of the novel on history and the feudal system of the book is virtually identical to the one of medieval England apart from the titles.
I also felt this was much less well characterised than the first book. Beyond Starlight, most of the characters appear only to tell the story and aren't fleshed out. And there's something a bit off with Starlight too- her narration is a million miles away from her speech and it feels like you've got two characters- the one telling the story and the one in the story.
I thought it was an enjoyable enough book for for me it just didn't live up to the high standards of the original. There is plenty of scope for further tales from Eden but I hope they are only written if the story is worth telling.
March 20, 2017
Dark Eden was one of my favourite reads of it's year of release, so I've been looking forward to Mother of Eden for a while.
It's set generations in the future from Dark Eden, where the descendants of the original inhabitants have split into various groups - some of which still live the simple way of life, with group decisions and little progress. Others have progressed further - mining metal and developing a hierarchical pyramid structure of leadership with set rules to adhere to.
The story focuses on Starlight, a young woman from a "communal" group who meets a man from the developed group, and she discovers the disadvantages that come with living in the developed community. She leads a revolution of sorts, trying to free the lowly people from the chiefs that hold too much power.
To some degree it's a rehash of the story you've seen before - the special one person who is destined to overthrow those who support tyranny and make it a happy place for all. It works to some degree, though I thought the ending was quite disappointing - no real resolution on some of the conflicts introduced at the start of the book, and just very quick and uninspiring.
Probably 3.5/5 overall, and it does help if you've read Dark Eden first.
It's set generations in the future from Dark Eden, where the descendants of the original inhabitants have split into various groups - some of which still live the simple way of life, with group decisions and little progress. Others have progressed further - mining metal and developing a hierarchical pyramid structure of leadership with set rules to adhere to.
The story focuses on Starlight, a young woman from a "communal" group who meets a man from the developed group, and she discovers the disadvantages that come with living in the developed community. She leads a revolution of sorts, trying to free the lowly people from the chiefs that hold too much power.
To some degree it's a rehash of the story you've seen before - the special one person who is destined to overthrow those who support tyranny and make it a happy place for all. It works to some degree, though I thought the ending was quite disappointing - no real resolution on some of the conflicts introduced at the start of the book, and just very quick and uninspiring.
Probably 3.5/5 overall, and it does help if you've read Dark Eden first.
February 11, 2019
(3.75) This sequel to 2012’s Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning
Dark Eden
sees Gela’s descendants splitting into factions and experimenting with different political systems. Starlight Brooking emerges as a Messiah figure, spreading a secret message of equality. Like in Dark Eden, the narrative alternates first-person accounts from all the characters. Earlier sections get bogged down in anthropological descriptions of societies and political systems, but when Starlight sets out on a fraught journey across the water the novel comes alive and we reclaim the magic of this dark, mysterious planet where trees thrum with life.
Mother of Eden feels closer to our own world and thus is not quite as inventive as Dark Eden, but it once again plays with notions of human evolution and the stories we hold dear.
See my full review at The Bookbag.
Mother of Eden feels closer to our own world and thus is not quite as inventive as Dark Eden, but it once again plays with notions of human evolution and the stories we hold dear.
See my full review at The Bookbag.
July 31, 2017
An uncomfortable read. Basically a treatise on how societies can and should change wrapped up in a simple colonization book. Sure the author is no George Orwell. And this is not a gracefully and beautifully written book, it's actually kind of ugly. But it does have a lot to say about truth. And history. And power. Thought provoking and interesting. But not fun to read. And this is a sequel.
January 5, 2019
9- It's an almost perfect SF-novel. Luckily by reading reviews on here I was already warned about the jump in time between the first book of the 'Dark Eden' series and this one, so I wasn't disappointed when the old characters didn't show up (expect in stories told by the protagonists). Instead of a small community of survivors banding together in a single valley, the people on Dark Eden have spread out over several large areas, and have even crossed the sea. Two cultures have arisen, one still following David, the other following John and trying to recreate Earth on Eden. Both have left the peaceful, non-violent traditions of the original community behind. A girl from a small community still clinging to old values is swept up in events when she catches the eye of the visiting Headmanson of the Johnsfolk across the sea. She goes with him to the other side of the world, but finds out life there is different than what she's accustomed to and to survive she has to play a long game. Again this reads as 'Lord of the flies' on an alien planet, the several groups and communities showing the development of different societal structures, illustrating the development of religious doctrine and heresy, structures of power and their resilience and the way kapitalist culture encroaches on all elements of life. Also how no-one inside of a culture can keep themselves clean of it. No easy answers here, and events develop in a believable way, like they were fated. I liked the new elements of this world we are shown: the cave in Johnsland, the intelligence of the bats, and the ocean. It's an imaginative setting: a rogue planet without a sun, where life pumps warmth from the mantle to the surface and only around the trees can other species (and human beings thrive). I didn't really enjoy all the shifts in perspective, all in first person, and some only there for a very few chapters. I would have liked that to be more streamlined. But it was well written, well thoought out and thorougly engrossing. I for one cannot wait to read the third part of the series.
December 9, 2022
3 1/2 stars. It pains me that this book wasn't as good as the first of the series. The beginning of this book was great- the societal, cultural, and technological changes that were taking place vs. when the first book ended were extremely interesting. I also enjoyed the exploration of more of Eden's environment and landscape. However, once the book was focused on Starlight's role as Mother, it drug on too long. I understand that at first it was necessary to have her role as mother detailed, as this also was describing the political and social layout of New Earth. But after a few scenes highlighting this Mother role, I really did not need to read about her interactions again and again. The issues of New Earth (censoring, rewriting history, social classes, misogyny, etc.) did not need to be as labored and repeated as they were, and Starlight and Greenstone's plans/actions for reforming New Earth similarly could have been condensed. This section of the book was interesting, just too long and repetitive. I also had a hard time imagining the layout of the large cave and even just the communities/houses/rooms inside of it. I did enjoy the addition of the bat issues. I also wonder if it was realistic that Starlight was able to sail her way home. I understand she used the stars as guides, but idk, it just seemed like maybe she would have been lost at sea longer/ had food supply issues... it was an entire ocean she was crossing. The social, political, and technological aspects of this book were very interesting from and anthropological perspective, but the fact that the New Earth section was repeatitive and dragged on for so long took away from the enjoyment of this book.
July 13, 2017
Con esta secuela de "Dark Eden", Chris Beckett logra dar continuidad a una de mis novelas favoritas de los últimos años, trayéndonos una muy digna segunda parte que no sólo está al nivel de la original sino que encima logra traer cosas nuevas y explorar nuevos ángulos de ese fascinante mundo del que apenas se nos ha mostrado una parte muy pequeña. Reconozco que me decepcionó descubrir que no era una continuación directa de la historia de "Dark Eden" sino que tenía lugar muchos años después, con otro grupo de personajes, pero esto pronto se me pasó: el libro no solamente logró seducirme de la misma manera que su antecesor sino que incluso aumentó los elementos de ciencia ficción al explorar en mayor detalle la geografía y vida natural del planeta Edén, y al mismo tiempo hacer un interesante comentario acerca de la consolidación de esa nueva cultura humana y el inevitable conflicto que surge entre sus diferentes castas sociales y, sobre todo, el cuestionamiento de ese sistema patriarcal que subyace como el auténtico "pecado original" de sus habitantes.
Al principio se hace confuso porque el libro está estructurado en capítulos muy cortos de punto de vista que están, además, escritos todos en primera persona, pero vale la pena. No me canso de recomendarlo. Ojalá pronto alguien se anime a editarlo en castellano.
Al principio se hace confuso porque el libro está estructurado en capítulos muy cortos de punto de vista que están, además, escritos todos en primera persona, pero vale la pena. No me canso de recomendarlo. Ojalá pronto alguien se anime a editarlo en castellano.
September 24, 2018
Before anything, note that I read the book in French, so translation quality might have an influence on my opinion.
That said, this is litterary murder. My eyes started bleeding at once, but I trudged on, confident that with such a good note on Goodreads it had to be worth the read, and I probably just needed to get used to it.
Plus the plot seemed truly interesting so I wanted to know.
Reaching the end of the second part took all I had... And being blocked in a train with no backup read. But I just can't get any further. The read it so bad that I even lost any kind of interest I had for the plot. I considered for a second more to force myself into finishing it, but then considered my endless TBR and concluded that I have no time for this kind of "torchon" (can't find the right word in English, but basically means it's barely worth the paper it's printed on).
That said, this is litterary murder. My eyes started bleeding at once, but I trudged on, confident that with such a good note on Goodreads it had to be worth the read, and I probably just needed to get used to it.
Plus the plot seemed truly interesting so I wanted to know.
Reaching the end of the second part took all I had... And being blocked in a train with no backup read. But I just can't get any further. The read it so bad that I even lost any kind of interest I had for the plot. I considered for a second more to force myself into finishing it, but then considered my endless TBR and concluded that I have no time for this kind of "torchon" (can't find the right word in English, but basically means it's barely worth the paper it's printed on).
April 13, 2017
Mother of Eden wasn't a patch on the first book (Dark Eden), but still had redeeming qualities. The evolution of Eden and those living on it has been the best element of Mother of Eden, and the journey of Starlight as she travels the world to find out that the 'grass isn't always greener' held my interest. The story, unfortunately, tailed off significantly towards the end .. I was kind of left with that 'was that it?' feeling, as I got to the last page.
If you loved Dark Eden, then I'd recommend following on with this. If you were indifferent towards it, then maybe give this a miss.
Will probably pick up the final instalment soon, if only to see if (spoiler !!) Earth finally visits Eden and its evolved population.
If you loved Dark Eden, then I'd recommend following on with this. If you were indifferent towards it, then maybe give this a miss.
Will probably pick up the final instalment soon, if only to see if (spoiler !!) Earth finally visits Eden and its evolved population.
December 5, 2018
Matka Edenu to świetna kontynuacja, która zaostrza jeszcze apetyt na trzeci tom, Córkę Edenu. Miejmy nadzieję, że nie będziemy musieli czekać na nią zbyt długo!
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April 3, 2023
Slightly above 2 stars, but not enough for 3. Very uneven, in characters, story, and pacing.
September 1, 2025
Fantastic series, really got under my skin and I couldnt put it down.
February 26, 2020
A messiah story, reminiscent of Frank Herbert's Dune. The world and culture created combined with the voices and obtuse descriptions make this a fascinating series.
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