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Echoes of Tomorrow #1
Synthetic Eden
When Earth falls to a devastating fungal plague, geneticist Dr. Samara Makinde joins humanity’s desperate bid for survival on DaVinci, a distant exoplanet meant to be their fresh start. But DaVinci has a it harbors spores that wipe out every pregnancy, threatening to erase the colony before the next generation is born.
Samara believes she can save them with gene therapy, reengineering human DNA to live in harmony with the alien fungus. But psychologist Dr. Ayesha Basu sees only the shadow of her family’s past, genetic “enhancements” that led to madness, and vows to stop Samara at any cost.
Defying the colony’s laws, Samara risks everything to secretly engineer her own child. Her daughter, Phoebe, should be a miracle. Instead, she becomes a spark for paranoia and revolt. When the ruins of DaVinci’s first settlement reveal a mass grave of genetically altered children, fear turns to fury, and the colony fractures into zealots and outcasts.
As Samara fights to protect Phoebe from those who would destroy her, a darker truth the first settlers aren’t entirely gone. Something twisted survived in the forests beyond the colony, watching…and waiting.
Now Samara must navigate betrayal, fanaticism, and an alien threat older than humanity’s second chance. If she fails, Phoebe won’t just be the last child of DaVinci; she’ll be the last child of mankind.
Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves meets Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary —with a haunting edge of Raised by Wolves .
Samara believes she can save them with gene therapy, reengineering human DNA to live in harmony with the alien fungus. But psychologist Dr. Ayesha Basu sees only the shadow of her family’s past, genetic “enhancements” that led to madness, and vows to stop Samara at any cost.
Defying the colony’s laws, Samara risks everything to secretly engineer her own child. Her daughter, Phoebe, should be a miracle. Instead, she becomes a spark for paranoia and revolt. When the ruins of DaVinci’s first settlement reveal a mass grave of genetically altered children, fear turns to fury, and the colony fractures into zealots and outcasts.
As Samara fights to protect Phoebe from those who would destroy her, a darker truth the first settlers aren’t entirely gone. Something twisted survived in the forests beyond the colony, watching…and waiting.
Now Samara must navigate betrayal, fanaticism, and an alien threat older than humanity’s second chance. If she fails, Phoebe won’t just be the last child of DaVinci; she’ll be the last child of mankind.
Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves meets Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary —with a haunting edge of Raised by Wolves .
- GenresScience FictionAmazon
520 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 9, 2025
About the author
Alexander Titus
5 books6 followersTitus is a scientist, strategist, and storyteller working at the edge of technology, where humanity itself is the experiment. Through his novels, he explores how science reshapes not only our tools, but our values, choices, and future as a species. His career spans biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and global innovation, giving his fiction both authenticity and urgency. He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, Maggie, where he writes, builds, and ventures into the wild.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
October 13, 2025
Humans have screwed Earth and the only option is to rush outwards into the stars, ad astra per aspera style. Oh wait, you’ve heard this one? Synthetic Eden really hopes you haven’t. Alexander Titus and Sean Platt have crafted a space colonization narrative that isn’t so much planetary romance as it is planetary horror, with a side order of social breakdown thriller. It has its moments, and I kept reading until the end because I wanted to see how it shakes out. Unfortunately, it also has some serious issues and could really have used queer and autistic sensitivity readers. I received an eARC from NetGalley and publisher Sterling and Stone in exchange for a review.
Dr. Samara Makinde is a geneticist, which kind of has a bad rep these days ever since some of them got too trigger happy with their CRISPR machines and engineered a fungus that’s now spreading over Earth in a grey-goo-style apocalypse. The end is nigh, but Samara has reluctantly accepted a berth aboard one of the few interstellar colony ships. She knows her skills will be necessary to help the colonists survive on their new home, for she can engineer adaptations to food sources or even create new medicines. Except when they make planetfall and start setting up their colony, the threats are even stranger and more existential than anyone anticipated. When Samara runs afoul of a fundamentalist psychologist who turns her into public enemy number one, she has to make decisions that could jeopardize not only her own life but perhaps the last humans in existence….
Let’s get my major criticism out of the way. There are two serious issues with representation in this book (and there are likely others I’m just less sensitive to): autism and queerness.
There’s a character who is initially portrayed as autistic-coded but then gets revealed to be—you’ll never predict this—an android and … sigh. I’m not going to speak on behalf of autistic readers, but just as us ace people are tired of being compared to robots, I am pretty sure autistic people are exhausted. Were there any sensitivity readers on this project?
I can speak on queer rep though, and I would love to do that, except apparently in Synthetic Eden, queer people do not exist! Very early on, it’s established that every single person on the colony ship had to agree to be partnered up with someone of the opposite sex so they could make babies and, you know, propagate humanity. On the surface this makes sense in a cold and logical way—if you can somehow ignore that some queer people are a thing. Which is exactly what Titus and Platt do; there is zero attempt to reconcile the At Least One Child Policy with the possible presence of lesbians, gays, aces, and other folx. Everyone who gets to survive the apocalypse is very straight, I guess. What else is new?
This also speaks to an even larger spectre looming just behind these pages: eugenics. For as much as Titus and Platt want Samara and Ayesha to debate the pros and cons of gene-editing their descendants, no one wanders close to this uncomfortable issue. Once you start talking about gene-editing people, inevitably someone starts thinking there are certain traits we should edit out. I don’t know if they just thought this would distract from the rest of the narrative or they were reluctant to open that can of worms, but either way, it’s a glaring omission from a book that otherwise bravely tackles contemporary ethical issues around genetic engineering.
If you can somehow see past these issues, then Synthetic Eden has a decent narrative, I guess. Titus and Platt’s characterization is nothing to write home about, but the plotting is tight and the pacing creates a good level of suspense as the story moves forward. None of this is enough to allow this book to achieve escape velocity from mediocrity, however.
Colonists land on planet fleeing doomed Earth. Planet tries to eat them. Colonists’ social fabric frays even as mysteries abound. Secrets! Deception! Conflict! Repeating the same mistakes of Earth’s past: humans, aren’t we so treacherous and reactionary and short-sighted?
Yawn. Been there, Coyote ’ed that.
I had finished Synthetic Eden by the time I wrote my review of Semiosis, and therein I took a casual sideswipe of this book. Both deal with a last-gasp colonization effort of a planet notably indifferent to human life. Yet they strike a sharp contrast in terms of philosophical and narrative quality. Semiosis plunged into a creative and fascinating exploration of animal versus plant psychology. Synthetic Eden, on the other hand, retreads worn out paths without much to make it stand out. It may well use cutting-edge science, but the story it tells is nothing we haven’t seen before.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews.
Dr. Samara Makinde is a geneticist, which kind of has a bad rep these days ever since some of them got too trigger happy with their CRISPR machines and engineered a fungus that’s now spreading over Earth in a grey-goo-style apocalypse. The end is nigh, but Samara has reluctantly accepted a berth aboard one of the few interstellar colony ships. She knows her skills will be necessary to help the colonists survive on their new home, for she can engineer adaptations to food sources or even create new medicines. Except when they make planetfall and start setting up their colony, the threats are even stranger and more existential than anyone anticipated. When Samara runs afoul of a fundamentalist psychologist who turns her into public enemy number one, she has to make decisions that could jeopardize not only her own life but perhaps the last humans in existence….
Let’s get my major criticism out of the way. There are two serious issues with representation in this book (and there are likely others I’m just less sensitive to): autism and queerness.
There’s a character who is initially portrayed as autistic-coded but then gets revealed to be—you’ll never predict this—an android and … sigh. I’m not going to speak on behalf of autistic readers, but just as us ace people are tired of being compared to robots, I am pretty sure autistic people are exhausted. Were there any sensitivity readers on this project?
I can speak on queer rep though, and I would love to do that, except apparently in Synthetic Eden, queer people do not exist! Very early on, it’s established that every single person on the colony ship had to agree to be partnered up with someone of the opposite sex so they could make babies and, you know, propagate humanity. On the surface this makes sense in a cold and logical way—if you can somehow ignore that some queer people are a thing. Which is exactly what Titus and Platt do; there is zero attempt to reconcile the At Least One Child Policy with the possible presence of lesbians, gays, aces, and other folx. Everyone who gets to survive the apocalypse is very straight, I guess. What else is new?
This also speaks to an even larger spectre looming just behind these pages: eugenics. For as much as Titus and Platt want Samara and Ayesha to debate the pros and cons of gene-editing their descendants, no one wanders close to this uncomfortable issue. Once you start talking about gene-editing people, inevitably someone starts thinking there are certain traits we should edit out. I don’t know if they just thought this would distract from the rest of the narrative or they were reluctant to open that can of worms, but either way, it’s a glaring omission from a book that otherwise bravely tackles contemporary ethical issues around genetic engineering.
If you can somehow see past these issues, then Synthetic Eden has a decent narrative, I guess. Titus and Platt’s characterization is nothing to write home about, but the plotting is tight and the pacing creates a good level of suspense as the story moves forward. None of this is enough to allow this book to achieve escape velocity from mediocrity, however.
Colonists land on planet fleeing doomed Earth. Planet tries to eat them. Colonists’ social fabric frays even as mysteries abound. Secrets! Deception! Conflict! Repeating the same mistakes of Earth’s past: humans, aren’t we so treacherous and reactionary and short-sighted?
Yawn. Been there, Coyote ’ed that.
I had finished Synthetic Eden by the time I wrote my review of Semiosis, and therein I took a casual sideswipe of this book. Both deal with a last-gasp colonization effort of a planet notably indifferent to human life. Yet they strike a sharp contrast in terms of philosophical and narrative quality. Semiosis plunged into a creative and fascinating exploration of animal versus plant psychology. Synthetic Eden, on the other hand, retreads worn out paths without much to make it stand out. It may well use cutting-edge science, but the story it tells is nothing we haven’t seen before.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews.
March 21, 2026
Wow, brilliant, I really loved this book. Earth is doomed. We follow the trials of humanities last hope, a ship of colonists trying to establish life on a new world. Good pacing, well written, definitely recommend.
February 25, 2026
Synthetic Eden by Alexander Titas and Sean Platt puts the “science” in science fiction and leaves few questions unanswered. The authors use punchy prose to drive the pace, even in scenes that rely heavily on technical details. Without a full understanding of the science at play in the story, the reader would be lost to the central conflict, so the authors take their time explaining the planet’s biology and, therefore, the stakes while keeping the story moving.
From the first page, humanity must leave a doomed planet to rebuild itself as the chytrid fungus rapidly takes over Earth. Dr. Samara Makinde, geneticist, boards the Borlaug, one of many ships taking select people, two by two as the animals did in Noah’s ark, to DaVinci, a planet deemed capable of hosting human life.
Aurelius Hofstadter, a Jeff Bezos/Elon Musk type, granted Samara passage on the ship because of her research on frog hibernation, the baseline for which enabled cryosleep on the journey. “Off screen,” Samara made it clear early on that she did not want to bear children, so to keep suspicions low, Hofstadter paired Samara with the ship’s captain, Lucas Mercer, who also had no plans to explore parenthood. Once aboard, Samara’s curiosity about Mercer grows, and through their connection, the book introduces a background pseudo-romance, leaning appropriately on "will they/won’t they” and “fake dating” tropes.
Conflict arises first among the leadership team, a clear example of “too many cooks” with an elected colony leader, Katherine Buratti, who refuses to make decisions that are not voted unanimously among the group. Dr. Ayesha Basu, the ship’s psychologist and chaplain, first presents as diplomatic but quickly becomes the novel’s main antagonist. Each character brings a clear and authentic backstory to the present setting that reinforces their motivations, no matter how infuriating they may be (in the best way—you will want to fist fight these characters, and there will be some catharsis on that front, too). The dialogue between them was fast-paced, necessary, and believable.
A twist about halfway through the book can be spotted from the first fourth of the novel by avid readers of science fiction, but because this isn’t the central or pivotal reveal, it’s easily forgiven. That said, the twist is one of the few details not explicitly outlined in the book’s blurb, which covers most of the plot points too closely, taking away some of the fun of discovering the planet as the characters do. However, the “how” can carry the reader through to the end of the book if not the “what.” The descriptions of DaVinci as well as its alien environment and creatures were vivid and rich, enabling the reader to envision a clear picture of the world.
By the end, most of the questions to grapple with are ones of ethics in scientific advancements, and those are for the reader to sit with and contemplate. Thank goodness Synthetic Eden is the first installment in the Echoes of Tomorrow series, since we do not know what happened to the other ships that left Earth for other inhabitable planets, particularly the one that housed Aurelius Hofstadter.
Note: I received an advanced reader copy for Synthetic Eden through Reedsy Discovery.
From the first page, humanity must leave a doomed planet to rebuild itself as the chytrid fungus rapidly takes over Earth. Dr. Samara Makinde, geneticist, boards the Borlaug, one of many ships taking select people, two by two as the animals did in Noah’s ark, to DaVinci, a planet deemed capable of hosting human life.
Aurelius Hofstadter, a Jeff Bezos/Elon Musk type, granted Samara passage on the ship because of her research on frog hibernation, the baseline for which enabled cryosleep on the journey. “Off screen,” Samara made it clear early on that she did not want to bear children, so to keep suspicions low, Hofstadter paired Samara with the ship’s captain, Lucas Mercer, who also had no plans to explore parenthood. Once aboard, Samara’s curiosity about Mercer grows, and through their connection, the book introduces a background pseudo-romance, leaning appropriately on "will they/won’t they” and “fake dating” tropes.
Conflict arises first among the leadership team, a clear example of “too many cooks” with an elected colony leader, Katherine Buratti, who refuses to make decisions that are not voted unanimously among the group. Dr. Ayesha Basu, the ship’s psychologist and chaplain, first presents as diplomatic but quickly becomes the novel’s main antagonist. Each character brings a clear and authentic backstory to the present setting that reinforces their motivations, no matter how infuriating they may be (in the best way—you will want to fist fight these characters, and there will be some catharsis on that front, too). The dialogue between them was fast-paced, necessary, and believable.
A twist about halfway through the book can be spotted from the first fourth of the novel by avid readers of science fiction, but because this isn’t the central or pivotal reveal, it’s easily forgiven. That said, the twist is one of the few details not explicitly outlined in the book’s blurb, which covers most of the plot points too closely, taking away some of the fun of discovering the planet as the characters do. However, the “how” can carry the reader through to the end of the book if not the “what.” The descriptions of DaVinci as well as its alien environment and creatures were vivid and rich, enabling the reader to envision a clear picture of the world.
By the end, most of the questions to grapple with are ones of ethics in scientific advancements, and those are for the reader to sit with and contemplate. Thank goodness Synthetic Eden is the first installment in the Echoes of Tomorrow series, since we do not know what happened to the other ships that left Earth for other inhabitable planets, particularly the one that housed Aurelius Hofstadter.
Note: I received an advanced reader copy for Synthetic Eden through Reedsy Discovery.
October 14, 2025
I received an ARC for this book!
This was a page-turner... I was surprised at how long it was (e-reader, page-count hidden) given how fast it went. I really liked the premise, and it left me on the edge of my seat for the next one. This is the rare sci-fi-ish book that I would recommend to my non-sci-fi friends, as it had a lot of great world-building and interesting backdrop.
This was a page-turner... I was surprised at how long it was (e-reader, page-count hidden) given how fast it went. I really liked the premise, and it left me on the edge of my seat for the next one. This is the rare sci-fi-ish book that I would recommend to my non-sci-fi friends, as it had a lot of great world-building and interesting backdrop.
March 29, 2026
One night read, while honestly into the next morning. Captures attention until the end. Interesting case for human behaviors.
August 29, 2025
Loved it.
Right from the beginning I enjoyed the story, the characters; the location.
This reminded me of “Murderbot” the tv series; I have not yet read Martha’s book series that show is based on.
In many ways I felt these people wanted to die more than they wanted to thrive. You need to read this story to find out why.
Right from the beginning I enjoyed the story, the characters; the location.
This reminded me of “Murderbot” the tv series; I have not yet read Martha’s book series that show is based on.
In many ways I felt these people wanted to die more than they wanted to thrive. You need to read this story to find out why.
September 26, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
I went into this expecting some cool science and characters grappling with ethical dilemmas. And, for what it's worth, I did get that!
The good: I enjoyed the conflict of living in a hostile environment that humans haven't adapted to. Everything about the discovery of the fibers in all the animals, the ominous dust storms with the occasional odd figure looming, and trying to develop new medications in an alien world was really fun to read. I also liked the complications of the ethics surrounding gene alteration in the beginning, especially considering the very reason the characters undertook this journey in the first place. I found it initially thought provoking and a great way to sow conflict both externally and internally.
The not so good: Obviously the main issue is pregnancy, but some of the characterization around it as a conflict is just odd.
The OK: I want to say that the villainy also veered toward the cartoonishly evil, but unfortunately it was actually accurate to the real world. It made for a mind-numbingly annoying read in certain scenes with antagonists, but I can't say I haven't met people exactly like that. I just would have preferred more subtle conflict on a personal level.
I also wish more had been done with the slow, looming mystery of the figures in the dust storm. I thought it would be a fun build-up of a creepy hovering unknown, but it gets revealed a bit abruptly.
I went into this expecting some cool science and characters grappling with ethical dilemmas. And, for what it's worth, I did get that!
The good: I enjoyed the conflict of living in a hostile environment that humans haven't adapted to. Everything about the discovery of the fibers in all the animals, the ominous dust storms with the occasional odd figure looming, and trying to develop new medications in an alien world was really fun to read. I also liked the complications of the ethics surrounding gene alteration in the beginning, especially considering the very reason the characters undertook this journey in the first place. I found it initially thought provoking and a great way to sow conflict both externally and internally.
The not so good: Obviously the main issue is pregnancy, but some of the characterization around it as a conflict is just odd.
The OK: I want to say that the villainy also veered toward the cartoonishly evil, but unfortunately it was actually accurate to the real world. It made for a mind-numbingly annoying read in certain scenes with antagonists, but I can't say I haven't met people exactly like that. I just would have preferred more subtle conflict on a personal level.
I also wish more had been done with the slow, looming mystery of the figures in the dust storm. I thought it would be a fun build-up of a creepy hovering unknown, but it gets revealed a bit abruptly.
May 27, 2026
I’m not that far in (chapter 5), but I’m already seeing things I’m not looking forward to.
First, our geneticist has nothing to do but clear plants after arriving on an alien planet bc the cataloguing won’t be done till later? That kinda seems like a thing she should be doing right away. That’s literally why she’s there and will help the colony adapt faster.
Pregnant lady’s story line I can already see is gonna be some selfish drama.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say the MC’s pilot partner is just a straight robot/AI and she’s making assumptions about autism. I’m not interested enough to figure out if I’m right.
I’m sure there’s supposed to eventually be some sort of moral dilemma about messing with genetics being the reason earth got f’d but yet it will be a necessity on this new planet?
Idk I guess I’ve read too many things that maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised that none of these things happen, but I’m not going to continue reading just to find out. If I’m feeling this much wariness of finding the same old cliches this early on, they usually show up in some form or another and there’s other things to read.
First, our geneticist has nothing to do but clear plants after arriving on an alien planet bc the cataloguing won’t be done till later? That kinda seems like a thing she should be doing right away. That’s literally why she’s there and will help the colony adapt faster.
Pregnant lady’s story line I can already see is gonna be some selfish drama.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say the MC’s pilot partner is just a straight robot/AI and she’s making assumptions about autism. I’m not interested enough to figure out if I’m right.
I’m sure there’s supposed to eventually be some sort of moral dilemma about messing with genetics being the reason earth got f’d but yet it will be a necessity on this new planet?
Idk I guess I’ve read too many things that maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised that none of these things happen, but I’m not going to continue reading just to find out. If I’m feeling this much wariness of finding the same old cliches this early on, they usually show up in some form or another and there’s other things to read.
September 26, 2025
I don’t typically read science fiction, but Synthetic Eden proved to be an engaging and thought-provoking read. The pacing was spot on through the whole book; however, the wrap up felt slightly rushed. I was eager to read more. The story itself was fascinating and made the reader think about how humanity might respond to the dilemmas presented.
Although the themes were rooted from biotechnology, it was written in a way any reader would be able to understand. The author’s descriptions of the exoplanet were vivid and effectively induced the sense of unease intended. I appreciated the multiple plot twists revealed at various points in the story, which kept the read engaging. I especially enjoyed the chapters told from different characters’ perspectives, which added more depth to the story. Synthetic Eden was a well-crafted novel that blended scientific speculation with human emotion.
Although the themes were rooted from biotechnology, it was written in a way any reader would be able to understand. The author’s descriptions of the exoplanet were vivid and effectively induced the sense of unease intended. I appreciated the multiple plot twists revealed at various points in the story, which kept the read engaging. I especially enjoyed the chapters told from different characters’ perspectives, which added more depth to the story. Synthetic Eden was a well-crafted novel that blended scientific speculation with human emotion.
February 21, 2026
I actually enjoyed this story, despite some continuity errors, and the constant time jumps. I do like the idea of colonists landing on a new planet and trying to survive. I loved the intrigue of the first colony.
But why didn't all the ships go to the same planet?
Also, if all the pregnant woman are miscarrying in spore storms, why not lock themselves in the shuttles while the storms are on to prevent being infected? The shuttles are designed for space travel. They have an air lock. All you would need to do, once the warning for a storm came in, was get all the women tucked away inside. They wouldn't breathe the spores. Problem solved? Or take all the pregnant women back to the Borlaug. I mean, if it's life or death/ the fate of the human race, why wouldn't you do that. The ship is right there. And that gives you time to figure out a solution everyone's happy with.
But why didn't all the ships go to the same planet?
Also, if all the pregnant woman are miscarrying in spore storms, why not lock themselves in the shuttles while the storms are on to prevent being infected? The shuttles are designed for space travel. They have an air lock. All you would need to do, once the warning for a storm came in, was get all the women tucked away inside. They wouldn't breathe the spores. Problem solved? Or take all the pregnant women back to the Borlaug. I mean, if it's life or death/ the fate of the human race, why wouldn't you do that. The ship is right there. And that gives you time to figure out a solution everyone's happy with.
September 9, 2025
This book was an absolute joy to read. I read it in 4 days which hasn’t happened in a long time. Working in the healthcare field, it’s easy to pick out unrealistic things in movies and books related to science and healthcare, but this book was spot on the whole time. The author must really know his science. The plausibility of the story made it that much more enjoyable- especially since we recently made it through a global pandemic. I’m very happy there will be more books in the series because the storyline is really intriguing. Will be looking out for book number 2 whenever it’s released!
September 6, 2025
This is not my preferred genre, but knowing the author I was curious.
There are very few books that I found hard to put down. Synthetic Eden had me engrossed from the first few pages. It's easy to get involved with the characters and feel like you are truly sharing their experiences as if you were there.
This book was enthralling, engaging, captivating, and fun to read. I'm excited for the next book. I highly recommend adding this to your reading list!
There are very few books that I found hard to put down. Synthetic Eden had me engrossed from the first few pages. It's easy to get involved with the characters and feel like you are truly sharing their experiences as if you were there.
This book was enthralling, engaging, captivating, and fun to read. I'm excited for the next book. I highly recommend adding this to your reading list!
September 9, 2025
I’m grateful this book exists—it’s the most important and engrossing thing I’ve read this year. A lot of sci-fi focuses its lens on otherworldly technologies and beings, and puts its scientists/technologists into one archetype—the oracles who people ignore at their own peril, those who sow disaster with their hubris, the aloof ivory tower types who’ve lost touch with reality, etc. This book understands that science/tech are fundamentally human and social, and uses the otherworldly as a canvas for the whole spectrum of human experience. It refuses to put its characters into one box or another. Instead, it creates new spaces for me to feel my way through our collective futures and surprise myself with my own sympathy, hope, doubt, and frustration. When I say I couldn’t put it down, I mean it — after a few days of trying to read in short bursts on my commute, I got so upset at having to step away from it that I just cleared a whole day to read uninterrupted!
September 3, 2025
This is my sci-fi break from my usual fantasy reading. I'm also coming off a Mass Effect gaming binge and this fills the void.
Humans playing god against our own creations and against our best interest. We just can't seem to learn from our mistakes. This is a really cool read for the scifi and a bit of horror. Let's face it, space is either terifying or depressing. OR BOTH!
Humans playing god against our own creations and against our best interest. We just can't seem to learn from our mistakes. This is a really cool read for the scifi and a bit of horror. Let's face it, space is either terifying or depressing. OR BOTH!
September 9, 2025
This book was fast paced. I stayed up late a few nights to keep reading to see what was going to happen. Without spoiling too much, the sci-fi / biology elements were a fun twist on a lot of classic sci-fi with a few classic tropes thrown in.
Caveat: I know the author, so can't help but be a bit biased!
Caveat: I know the author, so can't help but be a bit biased!
October 11, 2025
As someone who isn’t normally a sci fi aficionado, I loved the book. The characters were well developed and intriguing, sympathetic and some were frustrating. I couldn’t put it down. It’s great to have so many women in the story, and the content reflects many of the scientific tensions we see in the news today.
September 9, 2025
Synthetic Eden was a delightful read. It is short, smart, and full of carefully crafted science. The science feels seamlessly woven into the story, and the villain has a sharp realism that heightens the tension. I would recommend it to anyone looking for thoughtful, engaging sci fi.
October 10, 2025
I loved this book! I don’t usually choose to read sci-fi, but from the start I was really into the story and didn’t want to put it down. I have already read most of the second book in the series and the storyline keeps getting better! Can’t wait to read more!
June 12, 2026
A fairly easy read about humanity populating the universe because of a mutated fungus that they could not contain and was killing earth. They breach ideas of genetic modification and AI. The fears of these advances create the main conflict.
September 9, 2025
A thoughtful and exciting story of survival and human nature in the face of technological and environmental unknowns. A page turner from start to finish. Highly recommend!
September 9, 2025
I loved this book - it’s crazy ride! Great characters, proper sci-fi storyline and some excellent turns of phrase. Highly recommended!
February 6, 2026
I'm not a sci-fi reader but this story kept me interested and looking forward to the next in the series.
March 20, 2026
Synthetic Eden is a wonderful story, with well-formed, believable characters. The premise itself is a refreshing twist on the post-Earth genre of science fiction, where the problem and the solution is based in biology rather than physics. I find elements of Carl Sagan's Contact in the way social constructs of religion govern people's attitudes towards new technologies and affect the trajectory of societies. I was thrilled to find the subsequent books in this series to keep the story going for a long time!
May 27, 2026
Great!
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews