The Gates of Eden

by Brian M. Stableford

Despite the development of a faster-than-light drive, Earth’s space program has been in the doldrums for centuries, as has Earth itself. Hyperspace being impossible to navigate without beacons at which to aim, there is no alternative but to wait for vessels sent out at sub-light speed decades previously to find somewhere worth going.

Unfortunately, when a worthwhile planet finally turns up, it doesn’t take long for political conflicts to materialize over its exploitation. Then, when an entire survey team perishes, the problems intensify.

Lee Caretta is the man most likely to solve the problem—if his conflict-ridden employers will let him, if he can keep his tendencey to suffer unexplained blackouts under control, and if the world really is sufficiently Earth-like not to be deadly to the explorers.

And then the humans begin to die once more!

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

176 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Brian Michael Stableford was a British science fiction writer who published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published under the name Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped the middle initial and appeared under the name Brian Stableford. He also used the pseudonym Brian Craig for a couple of very early works, and again for a few more recent works. The pseudonym derives from the first names of himself and of a school friend from the 1960s, Craig A. Mackintosh, with whom he jointly published some very early work.

Reviews

[mark monday · Rating 2 out of 5]

Six scientists are sent to the newly discovered planet of Naxos to investigate the deaths of its first group of explorers and so hopefully open up this muddy but verdant world for colonization. Unfortunately, one of the group has an undisclosed history of going into strange fugue states. Even more unfortunately, the planet's amphibian inhabitants are not the most welcoming of species.

A biology-focused story of dangerous aliens sits uneasily beside the New Wave trappings that Stableford gives to his protagonist's various dreams and (perhaps) hallucinations. The former would have made for an interesting short, but felt unnecessarily stretched out when presented at novel length. And the latter really has no place in the book. All that italicized hyperventilating and obsessiveness over imaginary vampires only led to some spectacularly bad timing for one of our hero's blackouts to occur, and then the unveiling of a tragic backstory of a home invasion/witnessed rape that was awkwardly and perhaps disrespectfully shoehorned into the narrative. It felt as if Stableford was trying to jazz up his dry story with the occasional spurt of modish New Wave prose.

Certainly not a badly written nor uninteresting tale, but just as certainly not essential reading.

[Henry Hobbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting little sci-if novel I picked up at a local used book store. For being so short, it explored some really interesting concepts, philosophically speaking. I felt like it told a complete story - though I would have been interested to see more - I feel satisfied with the overall story. Interesting planet and life forms. Felt like an episode of the twilight zone. 4 stars.

[Kat Hooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

will review at www.fantasyliterature.com

[Horus · Rating 1 out of 5]

It has been a couple of decades since I read this and I still cannot manage to expunge exactly how awful this book was. I have no idea if it is par for the course for him, but I have never bothered to look for another book by him. Blech.

[James Hogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh yes. A classic old-school sci-fi that I was delighted with the whole way through. I forgot how much I like Stableford's writing! He writes simple yet dreamy prose and has such fascinatingly weird ideas that he writes about! Honestly, this book is old-fashioned in the best of ways. Parts of it reminded me of pieces of old classic Star Trek episodes (the good ones!!) and parts were just Stableford indulging himself and writing over-the-top dream sequences and parts were prolonged conversations about cellular/evolutionary biology and wow it was all wonderfully ridiculous in the best of ways. While I'm not sure all the biology details holds up perfectly well, the little knowledge I do have made me smile as I tracked with the scientists as they're having their debates on the quirks of this new world that has been discovered. If you want a good old-fashioned sci-fi novel that still has heart and human at the center of it, read this book. Please don't be put off by the somewhat trashy-appearing cover art. This is an intellectually deep and introspective read. I really need to find more Stableford novels as he hits the sweet spot for me of writing somewhat hard sci-fi while also writing characters that feel surprisingly human. Of course, your mileage may vary. I love classic sci-fi and I love geeking out on cellular biology and I love discussion of space flight. I love exploring strange new worlds and discovering new life and new civilizations. This kind of book is my guilty pleasure and actually I don't feel guilty at all about loving it.

[Jim Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gates of Eden is a pulp fiction sci-fi space opera grafted onto a noir detective story, giving it a cynical hard-boiled edge. The familiar motifs are all there—it is the year 2444 and a new Earth-like planet is discovered, a crew is sent to check it out why the first explorers mysteriously died, and a new dangerous species is discovered. The protagonist works with a sensible green alien named Zeno (the author has a lot of fun with the philosopher's names in the book), a Soviet (!!) pathologist who is a cliché of monosyllabic gruffness, and a couple of beautiful female scientists. This creaky framework allows Stableford to discuss biological differences, the limitations in man’s ability to progress, and his character’s psychological disturbances. The plot is rather throw-away, but the author’s skills as a writer and thinker make this worth it.

[Jorgon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite a terribly dated setting (Soviets in space in 25th century? despite Stableford's attempt to justify it, it doesn't really make much sense) and an occasional attempt at new-wavish stream-of-consciousness, this is not bad at all, although far from his best. The biological puzzle at the centre of the plot is quite nifty (he is really one of the masters of such things), as are discussions of evolutionary theory, and the narrator's voice is that of a smart-alec Brit, which I still find quite sympathetic. All in all, there could be worse things to read in a couple of hours.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you watched the movie Alien Covenant, you've basically read this story. Humans discover an alien planet, they think it's fine and set up camp, it's not fine. With a hefty dose of 19th-century angst, as explored in The Time Machine, and more Lovecraftian monsters than you can shake a stick at.

[Jack R.]

Stableford has a great horror short story hidden in "The Gates of Eden" (a slimy, survival trek through an alien swamp planet full of gelatinous creepy-crawlies) but that fun escapade is crowded out by incessant jibber jabber on faux sf chronology, biology, and psychology. It's quite shocking how little happens in this novel and how much Stableford needs to cram in so the paperback doesn't breach past 175 pages (DAW needs to reserve the paper for the 800ths GOR book!).

Also, Stableford's broader physio-philosophical gestures towards a reconsideration of evolutionary development for humans (see the final few page) is all but kneecapped by the existence of friendly, humanoid aliens who exist our homo sapienprotagonists.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and fun read.