Eden

by Phil Rossi

The tree is beautiful and they call her Eden. Her branches reach for the stars. She is like all other trees on planet Earth save for her enormous size. Still, she has leaves and she has bark. She turns sunlight into life. But this tree does not sprout from the dirt. Eden fills the sky, high in orbit above the blue expanse of Uranus. There she changes humanity's very concept of extraterrestrial life. Dr. Malcolm Green is sent to Eden to audit a science team studying this extraordinary tree from the dark confines of space station Lola. But with unexplainable accidents plaguing the team, tensions are mounting between scientists and custodial staff. Is there a future for this project and Lola? Only Malcolm Green can make that call. From the second he sets foot on Lola, Malcolm’s own future becomes at stake. He soon finds that love, friendship, and his own mortality tremble like a leaf at the sound of Eden's call.

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Fantasy, Fiction, Thriller

Audiobook

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Phil Rossi--writer, musician, and an embracer of "new media"--has a passion for story-telling matched only by the pleasure he derives from keeping his fans awake at night. Crescent, Rossi's debut novel, was originally released as a podcast in 2007 and has since lured 20,000 listeners into a dark, twisted world of nightmares and things that go bump in the night. Phil Rossi's writing has been paralleled to Stephen King, Philip K. Dick, and HP Lovecraft. He has a flair for vivid and often chilling imagery that lends itself to engrossing narratives and an undertone of inescapable, creeping dread. Phil Rossi is a professional musician in the Washington DC metropolitan area creating and performing music spanning from solo acoustic, to industrial, to techno. His the father of two little storytellers. The job he takes most serious of all.

"CRESCENT is the last stop at the intergalactic crossroads of gritty scifi and pucker-inducing horror--Blade Runner as written by H.P. Lovecraft, a horrific hard scifi express-ride." -- Scott Sigler, New York Times Best-Selling author of Contagious

"Crescent is the ultimate sci-fi / horror mashup. It's a wicked blend of the claustrophobia seen in Ridley Scott's Alien, and the viral demonology of Carpenter's Prince Of Darkness -- with the hard-drinkin' bad attitude of Battlestar Galactica added for good measure. The future has never been so frightening. Phil Rossi brings it." --J.C. Hutchins, author of Personal Effects: Dark Art and 7th Son: Descent

"Space opera - of the Sweeney Todd or Phantom of the Opera variety. That's right. Phil Rossi has crafted a space station tale with sex, horror, and vibrant attention to tech and human detail. Evocatively served, highly recommended." --Paul Levinson, author of The Plot to Save Socrates

"...sexy and full of scares. Harvey is dark, well-crafted, and downright menacing." -Philippa Ballantine, award-winning author of Geist

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Eden doesn't drag you through the chapters with blood pumping in your ears and air rasping in your throat like Crescent. Rather, you find yourself being led, trying to turn away, your stomach a hollow pit, afraid of where the next turn is going to lead you, and cursing Malcolm for his crippling self-pity."

Read the rest of my review here:

http://freshly-ground.blogspot.com/20...

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr Rossi likes to take you out in the cold and dark and then scare the heck out of you. In space. He's very good at it. This means less sleep and more time to do other things, like wonder what's really out there, if it could be here, what that noise was, why it got so cold. Why the lights won't go on.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it but I really want more back story on the tree and it's properties.

[Pandora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, that was weird and unsettling and ultimately... pretty damn good. I wasn't expecting it to be that good. The whole thing is so very well woven. And for such a short story it's remarkable how developed and rounded all the characters were, how much I felt for them in the end. All but the protagonist, that is, but I did a fine job of not letting him annoy me.
Anyway, it is not the book of my lifetime, but I'm happy I gave this a chance!

[Ami Y. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Spooky, sci-fi. I could imagine every scene the write described.

[Dianne Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Science Fiction (Psychological with traces of Horror)

Well, I have finally got around to finishing one of Phil Rossi‘s stories, and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with how well Phil writes. Not only that, but the production qualities were outstanding. His style was slightly different than McClanahan’s, but I am at a loss to decide whose writing I prefer most.

When former research botanist Malcolm, arrives at prefab Space Station Lola to determine the viability of studies into the enormous space tree dubbed Eden, he begins to notice that things aren’t as they appear on the surface. People are hearing and seeing things, including Malcolm, and it soon becomes obvious that the entire crew on-board are in danger.

This novel is a first-person account by Malcolm into the occurrences leading up to major catastrophe on the space station. It also offers a psychological insight into how people deal with experiencing things out of the scope of scientific classification.One of the things that I really dig about this novel, is that the character isn’t oblivious to the bizarre stuff going on around him. Even though some of the problems could have been addressed by the supporting cast sharing notes about what they were experiencing, you can understand where they are coming from. The story was paced well, and I found that I liked all of the characters on some level. I also liked the way that the author concluded the story, which was a great change from what I anticipated. All in all, Eden was a great introduction to Phil Rossi’s fiction. I will be adding Harvey and Crescent to the reading schedule in the not-so-distant future.

You can learn more about Phil Rossi and his other works by visiting the Crescent Station. You can also subscribe to this novel and numerous other high quality podcast novel titles by visiting http://podiobooks.com/

[#ReadAllTheBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm kind of torn between giving this 3 stars & giving it 4. As far as books in general go, this was amazing. Good plot, interesting characters, & a great mystery. As far as Rossi's books go, this was good but not great. It wasn't as enthralling as Harvey or as creepy as Crescent was. In the end I figure it's more of a 3.5, so I gave it the extra half a star.

The story for this short story follows auditor Dr. Malcolm Green as he's sent to investigate space station Lola. Doing scientific audits is nothing new for Malcolm, but this isn't your normal audit. Lola's crew is investigating an unusual occurence, something that has no business being in the extremes of space: a tree that grows tall & strong over Uranus. As strange occurrences escalate, Malcolm begins to realize that the tree called Eden is more than just a strange tree growing in space.

There's a lot to like about this story. While some of the character designs were reminiscent of Rossi's characters in Crescent, they were still well done & well rounded characters. Character development in a short story or novella can be difficult to do & Rossi pulled it off wonderfully. Also interesting was the mystery of the tree- I'm not going to post any spoilers, but this was an interesting story & I'm just sorry that this was so short. There's a lot of potential to this story for more.

I heartily recommend this, especially since you can download this for free from either the author's site or from podiobooks.com!

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best way to describe Eden would be to envision the harsh setting of Clarke's Odyssey novels infused wit Lovecraftian suspense. That infusion means the sci-fi aspects aren't necessarily as "hard" as in Clarke's work, but that ultimately doesn't matter, because you're left with a scary, suspenseful tale that really reminds you of how frightening the deep dark would be.

The only drawback to the story would be its brevity - it feels like Rossi wanted to tell a longer, deeper story, so Eden only really hits the high spots. It would be interesting to see him explore this concept and setting further.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started out reading this book with the intention of reading one or two chapters, then calling it a night. One hour later, I looked up at the clock and realized that I had read the entire story completely without intention. Thanks Matt for sending this to me for a Christmas gift! I really enjoyed it. It's a really good science fiction read, with a little bit of suspense and mystery thrown in. It's very unique from other books I've read regarding events in space, so that makes it stand apart from other works by Dan Simmons and Orson Scott Card, for reference.

[Mallory · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this book, though I feel as though I need a second read-through to really get everything. The ability that Rossi had to create a mood through his writing was very impressive, especially considering the brevity of his prose. This story creates such a pervasive sense of unease as you read it that it leaves you wanting to skip to the end just to make it stop, despite knowing that the story isn't going to end up tied in a pretty little bow. And listening to it as an audiobook made it even more powerful, as Rossi's voice and manner of speaking meld well with the mood of the story.

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again an awesome book from Phil Rossi. He never disappoints! Although it was short, it was oh so sweet! I seriously can't get enough of his podcasts.
Eden is a good old fashioned science fiction thriller set in space that kept me hanging on from week to week of the podcast. If you haven't listened to or read one of his books you won't be disappointed.

[Leah Petersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such a treat. The emotion Rossi evokes is real and universal. His hero is flawed and both mourns those flaws and accepts their inevitability. He doesn't let the problems, inside or out, keep him from solving this fascinating mystery. The action here is subtle and suspenseful, inside a world that feels both mind-boggling impossible and painfully real.

Great read.

[Mary Lockett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to give this book a 4 star rating except it only got to 4 stars at the end as the story developed. And then, it simply ended as an incomplete thought. I can imagine a thousand more stories with which to go with this...any of which would have given validation to the intended depth of this story.

[Chrysty uchiha · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's actually an audio book. The story is good, the low rating is because I didn't like the ending.
At the end, it's seemed more like the author was thinking,, "well, I'm in a hurry and this is gonna happen because I'm the author and who cares if the explanation I'm giving doesn't even flow or make sense. "

Overall though, the story is great and enjoyable.

[Rosanna Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phil Rossi proves himself to be more than just a great story teller: but a genuine writer of stark and beautiful prose and imagery.
And his characters, for such a brief story form (novella) are sharply defined and his landscape, of "Eden", is vividly real.

[Anna Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story with a decent plot (despite some meandering and a few holes). Rossi's writing style makes for an easy read and the pages go by quickly. The ending seemed rushed, and has been already noted, is a bit of a let down.

[Jared · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story, possibly my favorite of ROssi's work. The end espicially was great and filled with wonder.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story! Rossi doesn't indulge in a lot of useless detail leaving enough to the imagination.

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting concept. The book seemed very promising in the beginning, but the end of the book left me wanting and I felt like the author just forgot where they were going with the plot.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty great short sci-fi.

[Michael Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started good with some good tension and mystery. Then it was like a timer went off and the author felt like he had to wrap it up NOW. I wanted more of a resolution.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Garden of Eden? The Tree of Life? ...maybe not.

[Star Ibert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short story but so detailed you live through all of it. Rossi has a way of bringing a story to life in a very scary way. One worth reading over and over again.

[Davejohncole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting. I don't regret reading this, its a short story with a bizarre concept. But I just could find myself getting attached to the story, nor the weak style of writing.

[Jessica Caitlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thought this was about magic space tree, turns out it's just about justifying cheating on your wife to yourself?

[Nannika · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry Mr Rossi...I really tried to get into the book, but if I didn't have this as an audiobook, I would not have physically read it.