Birds of Paradise

by Oliver K. Langmead

Many millennia after the fall of Eden, Adam, the first man in creation, still walks the Earth – exhausted by the endless death and destruction, he is a shadow of his former hope and glory. And he is not the only one. The Garden was deconstructed, its pieces scattered across the world and its inhabitants condemned to live out immortal lives, hiding in plain sight from generations of mankind.

But now pieces of the Garden are turning up on the Earth. After centuries of loneliness, Adam, haunted by the golden time at the beginning of Creation, is determined to save the pieces of his long lost home. With the help of enlisting Eden's undying exiles, he must stop Eden becoming the plaything of mankind.

Adam journeys across America and the British Isles with Magpie, Owl, and other animals, gathering the scattered pieces of Paradise. As the country floods once more, Adam must risk it all to rescue his friends and his home – because rescuing rebuilding the Garden might be the key to rebuilding his life.

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Fiction, Mythology, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Magical Realism

269 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 16, 2021

Reviews

[Brandon Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason it took me weeks to get into this at first, but once I finally hit page 100 I was hooked!
Birds Of Paradise follows Adam. He’s been alive for so long that he’s starting to lose his sense of self, and his mind and memory are starting to fade.
Comparing this to John Wick is kind of a stretch, as it’s a very slow novel, but there are many moments of graphic violence and brutality, and it does kind of have a revenge plot. The writing was beautiful, but for some reason I had a hard time picturing some of the scenery/scenes in my head. It was also VERY sad.

But, overall I definitely recommend if you can handle animal violence and lots of religious themes!!

[Gabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and sometimes quite brutal story about the last occupants from paradise. Adam, the first man, goes through life and centuries and hunts down those who killed the animals of paradise who roam the land as humans.
It is a dark, slow and often depressing tale of beings who lived too long and slowly lose their purpose of living.

I wouldn't draw any parallels to Narnia, as stated in the blurb, but the vibe of American Gothic is there.

[Doomscribe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary: Birds of Paradise stars Adam, the first man, as he joins with the animals he helped name to recover pieces of the garden of Eden in the present day. It is a beautiful exploration of death, grief and immortality, and probably the best book I’ve read so far this year.

-Recommended for those who enjoyed Neil Gaiman’s American Gods
-Not recommended if you want an upbeat read
-Recommended if you like books with a strong emotional core
-Not recommended if you cannot read books that include violence against animals

Birds of Paradise opens with a strong one-two punch. First, Adam and Eve exchange their own beating hearts in the garden of Eden. Then cut to the present, where Adam, working as a bodyguard, brutally murders someone harassing his starlet client. From there, Adam is saved from prison by his friend Raven, who acts as a lawyer and fixer for the remaining refugees from the garden of Eden (in this novel, all the animals from the garden of Eden can move from animal to human form, as well as a form that is a mix of both). Along with haunted Crow and bestial Owl, he is sent to the UK to find Magpie, who’s been spending a fair amount of Corvid and Corvid’s (a law firm ran by Raven) funds.

Adam is a broken, weary man. Many of his memories are hidden behind thorns of grief, brought on by the deaths of his friends, the original animals in the garden of Eden. Since they are all immortal, they can only be killed through violence, inevitably by Adam’s own descendants, the men and women that walk the earth. He spends much of the book in a haze, occasionally recalling some distant memory. I found it hard to connect with Adam at first – for the early sections of the book, he is merely going through the motions. Once I started to understand the motivations behind his grief and rage things clicked into place. When he finds that Magpie is collecting pieces of the garden of Eden, he becomes more driven – although he never truly shakes off the haze of sorrow. Given his experiences, it would have felt cheap for him to do so.

The supporting characters are where this book shines – Magpie is an absolute delight, mercurial and whimsical, yet deeply driven underneath. Raven, Crow and Owl are all well realised too, coming in and out of the story as things progress. Some of the animals we meet later are also firm favourites of mine. It’s especially impressive that with each character you feel the impact of the millennia upon them, and each is affected in different ways by the time. They’ve all had to live many, many different lives to avoid being noticed as immortals (facilitated by Corvid and Corvid).

The antagonists in this story, are of course, the people. Specifically a group of older rich people lead by a couple called Mr and Mrs Sinclair. These people covet the pieces of Eden, and believe strongly in the idea of man’s dominion over beast. They are resourceful and ruthless, and Adam has to find himself defending both the pieces of Eden and the creatures of Eden from them.

There’s something about the tone of the book that really drew me in – this perfect interweaving of mythic and mundane. At times the story feels biblical, in the way that the old testament stories might be interpreted today, all wrath, and pain and sacrifice. The only thing missing is God, which the book neatly sidesteps, although the implication is given that God left the beings of earth to their own devices once the apple was eaten.

I’m not sure if I’ve done this book justice in my review, but as one of my final thoughts, I’ll say this – I was drawn in emotionally to the characters on a very visceral level, which happens rarely for me. In particular the final chapters brought tears to my eyes, with a catharsis that, if not revelatory, was perfectly framed to impact me in just the right way.

I absolutely loved Birds of Paradise, only let down in that the beginning that was slower to grab me than I would have liked. It’s at different times thoughtful, visceral, touching and whimsical, effortlessly shifting and mixing in a result that resonated with me strongly. I would recommend Birds of Paradise to pretty much anyone.

Rating: 9/10

Thanks to Netgalley and Titan Books for providing me with an e-arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

For reviews like this and more visit my blog

[Sunyi Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I requested this book mostly on the basis of the cover, which I thought was gorgeous, and the fact that I quite liked Metronome (a previous Langmead book.) I wasn't sure how I'd find it, but I ended up really enjoying it.

Adam is the ancient, world-weary version of the First Man, who wanders the earth aimlessly and a bit hopelessly, doing various things and leading various lives. His memory doesn't work well, partly because he has just been alive so long.

The Adam/Eve retelling has bene done a lot, but I always welcome a fresh interpretation, and enjoyed this one--perhaps because, for once, it focused more on the animal figures and their sense of family with Adam.

The whole book is extremely sad. It is about loss, grief, decay, the passage of time, the futility of morality; it is about rebuilding hope and life from the ashes, again and again and again. Biblical myth and other myths are gently interwoven into the characters and their story, and there's an echo of Noah's arc in Adam's quest to rebuild paradise for his animal 'family'.

The abscene of God (who does get a mention) is stark, somewhere between damning and just sad.

Interestingly, Adam is a passive MC (reactive, not a driving force in the plot; that role belongs more to magpic). That works better than it sounds, and passive MCs are fairly rare. Last time I read a trad pub novel with a notably passive MC was China Mievill's "Embassytown". But it still works and is a good example of how to do it well. Adam is simply trying to survive, endure, and find happiness in his day to day, for much of the book, although of course many more serious events spring out of those efforts.

Some reviews have compared this to American Gods and I think that's accurate. It medidates on some of the same issues and has the same long, wandering journey feel, but through a distinctly British landscape rather than an American one.

[imyril is not really here any more · Rating 4 out of 5]

Birds of Paradise is many things: a surreal roadtrip, a heist, a grief-driven vendetta, a study of hope and friendship. Dreamy reveries of days past and bemused interactions with the modern world are punctuated by violence that I can only call Biblical: an eye for an eye, meted out without hesitation or remorse. It’s contrasted with moving moments of great beauty, showing a softer, warmer side to its timeless outsiders.

A beautifully written fable of love and grief, rage and friendship as the first man tries to come to terms with a past too heavy to bear, and find the energy to build a future for those he loves.

3.5 stars

Full review

I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Yazmin · Rating 3 out of 5]

e-Arc granted by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This one is not straightforward.
I was a bit conflicted about how I felt about the story, it reminded me to a passive version of American Gods, without the smart remarks of Odin, Adam's voice is contemplative and a bit dull at times, like you have to wade through a mudded pond that are his thoughts.

The narrative felt thick but with a good pace, I deeply enjoyed a few of the action packed scenes because they were more dynamic, but I understand why is is written like that in it's majority, allowing you to acknowledge the deep grief that invades each of Adam's thoughts, but I must be honest, I only discovered that in the very last page.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The nitty-gritty: Another beautifully written, carefully crafted tale from Oliver K. Langmead, Birds of Paradise is an imaginative glimpse into what became of the Garden of Eden.

Oliver Langmead is such an underrated author and he needs a wider audience. Every time I read one of his books I’m reminded of how talented he is, and I’m so happy I have another opportunity to rave about him! I’ll have to admit I was a bit hesitant about Birds of Paradise when I heard it was about Adam and Eve, since I’m not that keen on religious themes and stories. But if you’re like me, don’t let that stop you from reading this book. Langmead does use some Biblical imagery at times, but mostly this is a poignant and heartwarming story about friendship and loyalty, beautifully written.

The story revolves around Adam—yes, the first man—and his very long life after he was cast out of the Garden of Eden. In the present day, Adam finds himself reluctantly pulled into a quest to find and gather pieces of the original Garden, scattered all over the world and hiding in plain sight. After running into his old friend Rook—who runs a law firm with his brother Magpie called Corvid & Corvid—Adam agrees to Rook’s odd request: to locate Magpie and find out why he’s spending so much money. Adam’s journey to Edinburgh, Magpie’s last known location, leads him to a miraculous discovery. Magpie has been scouring the earth, looking for scattered bits of the Garden of Eden, and buying or stealing them to rebuild the Garden, now located in an abandoned sports arena in Manchester.

But Magpie’s latest target—a beautiful rose that never dies—sets off a series of events that could threaten their carefully preserved existence. The rose in question is being held by a man named Frank Sinclair and his wife Ada in their large complex, tucked away in an impenetrable greenhouse, and that’s not the only piece of the Garden that Frank has acquired. Along with their loyal friends—Crow, Butterfly, Pig, Owl and Crab—Adam and Magpie find themselves embroiled in a war to save the last miraculous pieces of the Garden.

Adam is such an interesting character, although I’ll admit it took me some time to warm up to him. His character comes across as apathetic and uninterested in everything that’s going on around him, but little by little the reader comes to understand that Adam is much more complex than that. The story is told from his point of view, and Langmead dips back into the past to show various points in his past, how he fought in wars and survived, how he moved from continent to continent, always searching for something and trying to remember what happened to Eve. And in fact, Eve’s existence is an ongoing mystery. She’s not part of this story, but Adam is forever tied to her, since they exchanged hearts many years ago before the Garden was destroyed (and I mean they literally exchanged hearts!) Adam has many such hurts and mysteries that he’s trying to figure out, and he describes each one as a thorn burrowing into his skull. These “thorns” are part of the reason Adam seems so bitter and sad, and I longed for those times when he would break out of his grief, even if only for a moment.

And then there are the “birds of Paradise” from the title, Crow and Magpie and the other birds and animals, who added so much to this story. Each animal can change to a human form and back again, and in this way the animals have been able to lead interesting lives by integrating themselves into society. But they've only survived so long because they keep their true identities a secret. The relationships between them were so wonderful and sweet, and each one wormed their way into my heart for different reasons. Magpie is the jolly one, always upbeat and funny and positive. I absolutely loved his personality! Crow has a sad backstory and only one leg, and I loved her as well. Then there is Butterfly, who is just what you would expect: colorful, flighty and delicate. Butterfly and Pig have a wonderful relationship, and I loved her devotion to Pig, especially when things get tense later in the story. But not all of Eden’s creatures are still alive, as we find out. Adam is shocked to see Ada Sinclair wearing Fox’s fur around her neck like a scarf—which is the trigger for much of what happens in this story—and we learn of other animals who met their own fates throughout time (more thorns in Adam’s painful “crown”).

I do want to address the Biblical themes in the story, which were beautifully done. I am not religious at all, and I have never read the Bible all the way through, but of course I recognized many of the stories. Langmead infuses Birds of Paradise with such gorgeous imagery, like Adam’s metaphorical crown of thorns. There’s another scene in the story that evoked the tale of Noah’s Ark, but my favorite recurring theme was that of the garden, and how Adam is the original gardener, having been created inside a garden, after all. Throughout his life, Adam creates many gardens, collects seeds and is always trying to make things grow. He reminisces about past events that had an impact on him, like the time he first met Pig because of a peach tree and why the Garden’s cherry tree is so special. Adam imagines that all the seeds he’s collected will be spread across the land by birds, as as way to keep his Garden alive and continuously growing.

But despite these themes, the story itself isn’t religious, so please don’t be turned off by any of the things I’ve mentioned. Adam has become jaded over the years, and he sees God as nothing more than an absentee father of sorts. Ironically, it’s Frank Sinclair who turns out to be the religious zealot, while Adam has seen how awful the world can be and merely wants to live a quiet life among his trees and animal friends.

The story is full of quiet, introspective moments, as Adam delves back into his memories and tries to make sense of his life. This made the beginning very slow to take off, and it wasn’t until about a third of the way in when Adam meets up with Magpie to start the quest that I really became invested. Langmead throws the reader into the deep end without much explanation of what’s going on, but I’m so glad I stuck with the story because the payoff was so good. Adam appears to be a mild mannered man, but he’s also full of rage and unexpected violence, and I was not prepared for some of the scenes in this story! By the end I could really appreciate how well Langmead balanced those quiet moments with bursts of exciting action.

The ending was both emotional and heartwarming, just the kind of ending I love. Langmead wraps up all his loose ends, and yet there is a sense that there are many pieces of the Garden still out there, just waiting to be found. An unending quest, I guess, that brought a smile to my face. That sense of wonder in a book is such a rare delight, and I’m not surprised at all that Oliver Langmead captured it perfectly.

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.

[Lukasz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Birds of Paradise follows Adam. Yes, this Adam. The first man. Created before Death, Adam has lived countless lives. When his last job ends in a disaster, he takes on a new identity. This time, however, things get more complicated than usual. After meeting with The Rook, Adam starts a quest to recover scattered elements from the Garden of Eden.

The narrative moves smoothly between meditative and explosive. Adam is a HUGE man who loves gardening and peace but has no issues with a brutal fight. Exhausted by the endless death and destruction (of the Earth, of his past lives amongst humans), he misses Eve and his long-lost home.

Besides Adam, the story features his friends - Edenic creatures able to transform into humans at will. Most of them lead successful lives. Some, like Butterfly, Crab, or Pig prefer freedom and arts. No one should underestimate any of them. Those who do, suffer. Or die. Owl or Pig’s ferocity and ruthlessness in the fight result in a high body count. The Rook destroys his enemies through his lawyers. As a Senior Partner in Corvid & Corvid law office, he’ll own your life and wealth in a blink of an eye, having you on your knees begging for mercy.

The story focuses on the characters and their longing for Paradise. As the country floods once more, they cooperate to rebuild the Garden and stop bad people from doing bad things. In Birds of Paradise, antagonists are arrogant people positioning themselves above the rest of the creation.

I loved how the story connected mythology with everyday life and sorrows. While strongly influenced by Christian mythology, the book doesn’t feature god. It uses elements of fantasy, thriller, drama, and magical realism to tell an emotionally engaging and unique story. Highly recommended for readers looking for something fresh.

ARC through NetGalley

[Robin Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great read! Highly recommend. The story is both grounded and ethereal, with a beautiful, gentle feel (even as some terrible things happen). Quite unique.

[THE BIBLIOPHILE (Rituranjan) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deconstructed tale of Milton's Paradise Lost, but with the flora and fauna as its main characters and focus of the story. It takes us back to a mythic age when Eden was real, and like all perfect things the garden was broken in time. Keeping aside all the theological and metaphysical speculations, Langmead gives us a botanical view of God's first deathless creations. It's raw, visceral, and filled with a sense of wonder, loss, and sorrow. The story asks the most fundamental questions about the universe - What do you do with an eternity without any change to yourself? What do you do with the memories that tangles and pierces you with painful thorns like a chaotic rosebush which has grown and embedded its roots within your heart for eons? What do you do with a life without Love?

The premise is fascinating enough to tell a deeply personal story about the first man and woman, and the creatures they cared for. Adam is sort of the antihero suffering from amnesia and apathy who goes from one life to another like a homeless vagrant. The only thing he cares about are plants and animals, and when he comes across the Rose of Eden, and his wayward creatures from Eden, Adam reevaluates the purpose of his own existence. I loved the worldbuilding, and the shapeshifting aspects of Eden's birds and animals. Langmead shows the instinct of human greed and ambition, and how nature and culture is always in conflict throughout history, and how the postmodern civilization has violated the environment and damaged the ecology of the world. It's a harsh reminder of the fact that, once everything was pristine and untainted by war, greed, and death.

The characters were grey and complex enough to drive the story forward. It's impossible to see them as inhuman, rather they show a complicated range of human emotions and experience. My most favourite was Butterfly. She's like spring and summer balanced together in a perfect harmony of beauty, vitality, and joy. The others like Rook, Crow, Magpie, Pig, and Crab are also individuals with their own set of moral standards, however harsh that might be. They are strong and tough, and brutal when life demands of them, but, they're also kind and considerate trying to live their lives freely and enjoying life as they can. This is the story of finding a home, a home that's a safe haven gathered from the broken remnants of an one lost Eden.

Langmead has written something that's memorable. This tale has a quiet pensive grandeur that speaks about unparalleled beauty, and also terrifying brutality that governs life. It is a story of struggle and survival in a world that views the "other" as something deviant, something to be cleansed and dominated. It's also about love, memory, and death, which is reflected in the poetic ending that has a poignant sublimity to it. There's a message here - If only we humans saw the world as a garden and took care of it, nurtured it, as it nurtures us in return, we could've had our own Eden, we could've had our own paradise on this broken Earth.

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Think Neil Gaiman's American Gods but Biblical rather than mythological. Adam (the original) is just getting by as sercurity to the famous, but is exhausted and weary of life. When he snaps and overreacts in procecting his latest client he has to be rescued by another original inhabitant of Eden, Rook. As he goes in search of Rook;s missing brother Magpie, he stumbles into a very human plan to track down the remaining pieces of the Garden of Eden.
This is not a religous book hiding in fantasy but a novel that uses the religous setting to tell a wonderful story, filled with loss, and violence.

[Madalena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley for an honest review. I absolutely loved the reading experience and would like to thank the author and publisher for the opportunity.


Immortal individuals or groups, making their way through different lifetimes, faking identities in the process are often encountered in fantasy. The genre likes to ask what would happen if an individual, human or not, went on living through different eras, rather than dying. Birds of Paradise, attempts to answer even harder questions: what if the first man never died? What would living not through some, but through all eras would look like? As you might have guessed from my rating, I really enjoyed finding out the answers.


In Birds of Paradise we follow Adam, the first man, still living. He works as a security guard but overall he lacks purpose. Living since the beginning of time, losing many loved ones - even ones he knew since his time in Eden - and become increasingly disenchanted with the choices of his descendants, he's a shadow of his former self. His memories have become blurry and unreliable, and while he's immortal, his condition is something less than living.


But Adam isn't completely alone in his exile. Fellow residents from the Garden of Eden, such as Rook, Owl, Butterfly and other animals he named also live in the contemporary world, hiding in human form. Some are relatively content while other struggle after so many years. Each has a vibrant, unique personality with mannerisms and traits inspired from their animal form without being stereotypical. Their backstories and quirks make the reader care and root for them. Crow, Rook and Magpie were my personal favourites. In their interactions with Adam, there is humor and banter of people who have literally known each other forever, but also bitterness and nostalgia for the long lost paradise.


The full review will become available on my blog ladyofbooklot.wordpress.com.

[Craig Slater · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this a lot more than i thought i would and that mostly comes down to it being very well written. It's rewarding reading a book that takes its time and explores the humanity of each situation, especially if it's written beautifully. It's nice to have a scene or a sentence you can savor. You can take a breath and enjoy the subtle details of a small moment, riding on the back of the characters emotion. It's human and relatable and that makes the story all the more engrossing.

[Runalong · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unusual but memorable road trip involving heists and immortals - fans of weirder fantasy will love this

Full Review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting book, more in a good way than bad. It took a while for me to grasp what the story was about and where it was going. I didn’t understand the main character, Adam, in terms of his appearance until halfway into the book. As I say this, this is just me. I believe the writer made it clear who Adam was from the beginning.

What I liked:
I liked Adam as a character and how he was very aware of the world he lived in and how it has changed since leaving Eden. It was a story that made me think about life and humanity, what was, and what could have been.

The story followed Adam on a journey, where he reconnected with friends from Eden. They all had the ability to transform from human to animal, allowing them to do certain things to their advantage. I thought that was a neat aspect of the book.

What I didn’t like:
The plot was challenging to understand at first. It seemed to not have a destination and was all over the place. But as I read the story, things started coming together, so though I didn’t like the set up to begin with, I understood it later on.

While I didn’t understand the plot of the book, what Adam was trying to accomplish, that sort of became clear towards the end of the story. I knew what Adam wanted and at the very end, what he was looking for. The author definitely knows how to write a thought-provoking adventure in a creative way. I would recommend this story to those who love fantasy and are looking for an entertaining read with something positive, even insightful, to take away from it.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Rating: PG
Language: minimal swearing/curse words. Some in beginning, then very few throughout book.
Content: Moderate violence, some gore in a couple scenes in the end
Age: teen and up (13+)

[Whisper19 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool idea but there were some problems. Full review to come.

Full review from blog

ARC provided by NetGalley and Titan Books. Thanks.


The official blurb: „Many millennia after the fall of Eden, Adam, the first man in creation, still walks the Earth – exhausted by the endless death and destruction, he is a shadow of his former hope and glory.”

After walking the Earth for millenia, Adam is almost a shadow of himself. He is still stronger than your average man, and yeah, he’s immortal, but mentally he is almost ready to give up on everything. After a violent incident while in the employ of a Hollywood star, Adam is contacted by one of the birds from the Garden and he is given an assignment.

The Animals from the Garden in this story are still here on Earth. They are representatives of their individual species, of course, but they can also take human form. While in human form they still keep some of the more characteristic traits of the animal they truly are.

Adam is tasked with finding one of the animals who has been spending strange amounts of money. After a road trip across America and a flight to England, he finds his quarry, but he also finds something unexpected – a plant from the Garden. A rose.

Adam and the Animals set out to find as many pieces of the Garden as possible. Of course, there are obstacles along the way.

The idea behind this book is really interesting. The concept of searching for the pieces of the Garden is enough to make one go out and buy this book. I also loved the animal/human characters in the book. Despite the fact of them being butterflies, pigs and ravens they were real. At times more real than Adam himself. And there we come across a problem.

Adam.

Adam is basically a brute force that is just along for the ride at times. I hope that was the point. Some disguised commentary on the superiority of animals over humans (?) perhaps. He could have been shown as more of a person. Just as the animals kept their traits when in human form, and plants from the Garden were almost Platonic ideals of each species, Adam should have been the most human human to ever human. He sadly is not. There were moments where it seemed he could be, but then the plot took off in another direction and all was lost.

While we are at the plot, there are issues there as well. Some of the lines of the blurb are misleading. There isn’t really a treasure hunt like element to the plot. Trying to gather two pieces of a Garden hardly a hunt makes.

Last but not least – the digressions. There are times in this book where it was obvious that the author wanted to give more character, colour and emotion to our protagonist through flashbacks, but all it served here, in my opinion, was to distract from the main plot and to make the reader care less for poor Adam. If those flashbacks had been moments when Adam had been on the verge of seeing a piece of the Garden perhaps, then that would have been better. But, then that would have been a completely different book and not the one we have before us.

I was sad that this did not live up to my expectations, but it was still a very intriguing read, for the idea if nothing else.

[Lou Hughes]

This book has been moved to did not finish and although marked as read, I am going to keep an eye out for a physical copy of this book. I borrowed this book using the BorrowBox app, which is usually pretty good for books. It was absolutely unreadable. I got to page 10 struggling to flick through pages and know what page exactly I was on, the text was bizarrely small. So let me get this straight- my library paid for the ebook but the Borrowbox app is severely buggy?

What I could read sounded good. It sounded fresh and new. Borrowbox on the other hand needs to sort its application out and make sure books can actually be read. If I knew how to file a complaint with the app I would. It was so agitating trying to get through those 10 pages. Hence why I've not left a rating because- how can you rate a book based on the digital download on your local library's rubbish app, being so useless?

If I can't find the physical at any of the libraries near me, I will buy it. I do not care. What an absolute joke of a reading experience.

[John Rennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book takes a fascinating idea and uses it well. The biblical Adam is still alive and passes his time doing menial jobs. This isn't an entirely new idea as Steven Sherrill does something very similar in The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break (also an excellent read), but here Langmead uses it very well to create a thoroughly enjoyable book.

The plot is somewhat rambling but it doesn't really matter as the book is all about the characters. Alongside Adam various animals and plants from the Garden of Eden are still around and doing their best to blend into the modern world, and the story is really just about these characters and how they interact. Adam himself has become a rather primal character prone to solve problems by hitting them with whatever comes to hand.

This is an unusual book, and won't be to everyone's taste, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and I strongly recommend it to every fan of fantasy and science fiction.

[Jasmine Banasik · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are twists that you see coming, but just like Adam, I didn't want to believe it.

I loved this book far more than I thought I would. I highly suggest this book as it is such a poignant and touching look at the Original Man and trauma he has held. Adam is a tortured figure and while he often comes across callous and cold, the book makes it clear how so much pain has hardened him. And how much he still truly feels, especially for all the Original Animals.

I wept, I laughed, I cheered, I read with bated breath.

All my homies hate the Sinclairs.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the blurbs on the back of the book describes it as "John Wick meets Plato", and that is an odd and very accurate description.

A slow read for me, but one I enjoyed through the weirdness. It has a similar feel to 'American Gods'.

[Will Diedrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story with interesting characters, but sometimes the motivations and story become muddled.

[Chanel Elyse · Rating 5 out of 5]

A slow start but nonetheless still a great book! I couldn’t put it down. Some moments made me think about humanity today and how we should all be a little nicer. And the ending ??? Im not crying you’re crying !! ❤️❤️❤️

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

I suppose if I were immortal, I too would spend it reading books and even, perhaps, go to Scotland.

[Walden Effingham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This took a little while to get going....as ever, not helped by initial sporadic reading. However, it becomes quite charming. Gives new perspectives on gardening, longevity, and bludgeoning people to death. I was attracted by the novel idea. So although I thought at the half way point that it was going to be a 3 star rating, by the end it comfortably made a 4 star mark. So, pretty good!

[Jacob Rundle · Rating 5 out of 5]

BIRDS OF PARADISE had me at the beginning. The story centers around Adam, the first man in creation, who is still walking around in modern day. The emotional and mental journey of Adam is unlike anything I've read in an Adult Fantasy book in a long time. Twists. Turns. Smooth prose. Elegant plot.

[Drika · Rating 5 out of 5]

The portrayal of Adam as the everlasting caretaker drifting through the centuries, hardening himself against his own children, and discovering a way to revive the Garden made this book a phenomenal read.

[JaMaDa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK. It took wayyyyy too long to finish, but it was ok.

It's pretty much Adam and his bird friends maneuvering the world trying to recover parts of Eden while facing modern-day [old] people dumb enough to think they can take on shape-shifting beings who've walked the world for centuries.

yes! That's what I got from this. I was more intrigued with the action and gory parts than Adam's exploration of earth or thoughts of Eve. For the longest time, I was looking for Eve until the reveal at the end, and I was like... Oh, that's why. 👀

[Denise Heffernan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a while to get into the story. It was a bit far-fetched, but I enjoyed the unique take on biblical characters and their immortality.

[Ollie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long ago cast out of the Garden of Eden, Adam wanders the Earth, having lived hundreds of lifetimes amongst his innumerable children. Occasionally, he is accompanied on his long journey through existence by the creatures of Eden, who are able to take human form, their presence comforting but tinged with the sadness of what they have all lost. When Adam is tasked by Rook to track down his brother, Magpie, he discovers a piece of Eden, and with it a possible path to recovering some of what he has lost.

Before he can find any peace, however, Adam’s quest will take him from the United States and up the length of the UK, and it’s clear early on that this will be a journey to remember. Langmead’s prose is clear and direct almost to the point of starkness, not a word wasted as he steers the reader between moments that stun with their poignancy, vibrancy and beauty - often all at once. Everything is granted a kind of mythic resonance through his economy of prose, whether it be people, events or settings. One early scene, for example, in which Adam is transported in a prison truck and briefly regaled by his guard with the man’s life story, is particularly affecting, Adam feeling his own self almost subsumed by the guard’s and believing momentarily that he has become him. It’s an early demonstration of Adam’s complex relationship with humanity too, as he “feels for them” in both the sense that he appreciates their struggles and also, it seems, feels on their behalf. Adam is many things to humanity; father or primogenitor of course, but also so much more.

There’s a very doomed, tragic feeling that seems to cling to Adam, his inability to die whilst those around him wither and fall undoubtedly a curse rather than a blessing. He is tormented by grief and loss, usually until the actions of his children stir him from his dispassionate numbness and inspire him to acts of bloody fury and vengeance. He is larger than life in every sense, superhuman strength and resilience casting him as some kind of unforgiving force of nature. His moments of violence are bleak acts of blind rage that are shocking without being gratuitous, meted out as utterly uncomplicated and highly concentrated biblical-style wrath against those who wrong him or his friends. Make no mistake, Adam is not in the business of handing out moral lessons or wisdom to humanity, but that’s not to say there aren’t moments of hope and joy for him to experience as he goes about his quest.

Serving as a counterpoint to Adam’s more morose attitude is an eclectic collection of shapeshifters; the original menagerie of the Garden of Eden, which Adam was given authority to name, they add much charm to the story. Whether it’s the stalwart figures of Pig and Crab, or the eager and affectionate Butterfly, the supporting cast are varied and loveable, the virtues we whimsically impart to their animal incarnations resulting in personifications that feel distinct from one another but never sink into caricature. The birds of paradise themselves - Crow, Rook, Magpie and Owl - each have their own personalities when they are in their human form too, personalities which are likewise wrapped up in their true, animal forms. Magpie, for instance, is a little bit of a rascal, obsessively collecting expensive items more for the love of acquisition than anything. They frequently have their own stories too, perhaps about incidents in their past, which are delivered as fleeting, fable-like glimpses into lives well lived.

It’s difficult to overstate just how good Birds of Paradise is. There is a poetry to not just the prose but the plot itself, the events which unfold memorably potent and incredibly moving. It is immensely readable yet packed with subtlety and sharply defined imagery, a mesmerising work of sorrowful beauty and uplifting joy. Adam’s words are imbued with power; so too are those of Oliver K. Langmead. A stunning achievement.

[Peg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was three stars for me right up until Adam had a touching lil moment at Pride and that heartbreaking ending that did indeed make me cry, even if I kinda saw it coming

I’ve learned that long ass descriptions of non-scifi/fantasy settings arent really my cup of tea. It was beautifully written tho, and the characters were are very :’) I would take several bullets for Magpie, crow, and butterfly

All and all a beautiful exploration on grief, a loss of identity from immortality, callus violence, and religious fanaticism