Dark Eden (novel)

Last updated
Dark Eden
DarkEden by ChrisBeckett.jpg
Original UK cover from 2012
Author Chris Beckett
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre Social science fiction
Publisher Corvus
Publication date
2012
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages400
ISBN 9781848874640
OCLC 869300938
Followed by Mother of Eden  

Dark Eden is a social science fiction novel by British author Chris Beckett, first published in the United Kingdom in 2012. The novel explores the disintegration of a small group of a highly inbred people, descendants of two individuals whose spaceship crashed on a rogue planet they call Eden. It is the first in the Eden trilogy, followed by Mother of Eden and Daughter of Eden.

Contents

The book won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for best science fiction novel published in the United Kingdom in 2012.

Plot summary

The novel begins about 160 years after two human beings, Angela and Tommy, are stranded on Eden. Their three companions—Mehmet, Michael, and Dixon—have left in a damaged spaceship to get help. Years have passed, and although Angela and Tommy initially held out hope for rescue, they begin to raise children, forming a new society which becomes known as "Family". Frequent and regular incest among their descendants is common, with few children knowing who their father is. Social life centers around powerful rituals: Retelling of story of the stranding, the worship of what few relics remain, myths about Earth, and the need to stay close to Circle—the place where the landing vehicle originally set down, and is supposed to return to and bring them back to Earth. Social norms are strongly adhered to in this matriarchy, and innovation is rare.

Family lives in Circle Valley. Resources are stretched but they believe that leaving will make it hard for them to be found when Earth returns for them. Eden's animals each have two hearts, green-black blood, huge and lidless eyes, six legs, and tentacled feelers around their mouths. Trees tap into the heat just below Eden's surface, bringing up warmth and providing fruit and other food. Nearly all plant and animal life on Eden is bioluminescent, allowing the humans to see, while overhead the Milky Way can be easily seen at all times.

The novel centers around John Redlantern, a "newhair" (teenager) who begins to resent the deep social and technological conservatism of Family. Killing a deadly leopard proves to be an epiphany which opens his eyes to the Malthusian catastrophe facing Family, which has grown too large for its tiny valley. Supported by pretty Tina Spiketree and John's cousins (the passive Gerry and the club footed pre-adolescent, thoughtful Jeff), John engages in a series of iconoclastic acts which lead to the "breaking" of Family. Exile of John and his teenaged followers is only the first of many ramifications, as John leads a messianic quest for a land "over Cold Dark" where Family can grow and thrive.

Themes

The novel is told in the first-person voice by various characters, and each short chapter is told from a different character's perspective. [1] Linguistic drift has given the people of Eden unique nouns ("police veekle", "rayed yoh", and "Jesus Juice" instead of "police vehicle", "radio", and "Jesus and the Jews"). [1] The adverb "very" has dropped from the language, and emphasis is created by reduplication ("bad bad" instead of "very bad"). [2] Linguistic relativity has yet to set in, so that Family lacks words to describe much of their world ("Cold Dark" instead of "high, dark mountain wreathed in glaciers"). [3] Beckett said he adopted the unsophisticated, childish language of the Edenites after realizing he had crafted a society in which "the Eden settlers were a bunch of kids and two adults... . There's no external adult world as a reference point". [3] With the two adults constantly speaking baby-talk to their children, pre-teens and teens never adopted more adult ways of speaking. [2]

Beckett intended the novel to be "the Bible story...turned on its head", [3] one in which people are "expelled to Eden". [3] He conceived the novel after realizing that much of the Old Testament consisted of "small domestic stories elevated to a mythical level", and he established the social norms, rituals, and myths of Family around similar stories. [3]

Beckett also wanted to explore themes about making hard choices. To think outside the box sometimes requires not only "transgressive" but extremely "cruel" behavior, he told Kirkus Reviews . [3] The ramifications of John Redlantern's transgression, he noted, also has a wide number of unintended ramifications. The novel explores a socially and theologically conservative society's reaction to this transgression, which at first leads to a reactionary response. Only later does it lead to social upheaval in ways some characters predict (most notably Tina Spiketree's fears of patriarchy) but in ways no one can anticipate. Beckett said much of the latter part of the novel is about how positive, creative new ways of thinking can still harm people badly, and force people to make sacrifices they do not wish to make. [3]

Critical reception and awards

Dark Eden was author Chris Beckett's second novel. [4] Reviews were generally very positive in the United Kingdom. [1] Stuart Kelly in The Guardian called it a "superior piece of theologically nuanced science fiction", although he noted that the novel drew a little heavily on Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker and Will Self's The Book of Dave . [5] Author Paul Di Filippo, reviewing the book for Locus magazine, described the plot as uninventive but "so splendidly [written] it feels brand new and remade". [6] He pointed out that the novel's "harsh oasis" plot device resembled the work of Fritz Leiber, Stephen Baxter, Larry Niven, and Karl Schroeder. But that didn't matter: "[A]ll this heavy categorizing misses the essence of the reader’s first contact with the book, which is pure astonishment and pleasure, a storytelling ride full of brio and wonder. ... The reader is swiftly seduced by two things that are intrinsic to, but separate from, the powerful plot: the Carrollian language, and the freaky ecology." [6] He had high praise for the character of John Redlantern, who was a metaphor (in De Filippo's mind) for both Moses and Cain. [6] David Langford in The Daily Telegraph said Dark Eden contained "A classic theme, beautifully told". [7]

Dark Eden was published in the United States in April 2014 by Broadway Books. American reviewers were much more critical of the book. In Kirkus Reviews, an anonymous reviewer called it "[a]bsorbing if often familiar, inventive and linguistically adept but less than fully satisfying... Enjoyable but no blockbuster." [1] Author N. K. Jemisin, reviewing the novel in The New York Times , praised Beckett's method of rendering "the terror of the darkness beyond the forests with a riveting deftness" and the way he "cleverly" introduced new challenges and threats to keep the reader interested. [8] But she strongly criticized the plot for being predictable and hackneyed and the characters for being clichéd. She had harsh words for what she saw as "the 1950s ethos underpinning the whole thing. The Family has developed into a relatively peaceful communal society that venerates its elders and has necessarily relaxed sexual norms; the society John seeks to create instead is monogamous, individualistic, rife with subtle bigotries and rooted in murder. Survival and progress, the story seems to suggest, require these things." [8] Publishers Weekly thought the novel "hew[ed] too closely to historical patterns", and declared the climax very unsatisfying. The reviewer still found the changing narrative viewpoints, ecological setting, and linguistic devices interesting, however. [9]

Awards

Dark Eden won the 2013 Arthur C. Clarke Award for the best science fiction novel published in the United Kingdom in 2012. [4] Clarke Award judge Andrew M. Butler, noting why the judges gave the award to a new author rather than an established writer, said of the book, "Dark Eden fuses rich biological and sociological speculation. Beckett really makes you care for characters who are stranded light years from an Earth they have never really known." [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gothic fiction</span> Romance, horror and death literary genre

Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name refers to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of early Gothic novels.

<i>The Puppet Masters</i> 1951 SF novel by Robert A. Heinlein

The Puppet Masters is a 1951 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, in which American secret agents battle parasitic invaders from outer space. It was originally serialized in Galaxy Science Fiction.

Transgressive fiction is a genre of literature which focuses on characters who feel confined by the norms and expectations of society and who break free of those confines in unusual or illicit ways.

Michael Lawson Bishop was an American author. Over five decades and in more than thirty books, he created what has been called a "body of work that stands among the most admired and influential in modern science fiction and fantasy literature."

<i>Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell</i> 2004 novel by Susanna Clarke

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is the debut novel by British writer Susanna Clarke. Published in 2004, it is an alternative history set in 19th-century England around the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Its premise is that magic once existed in England and has returned with two men: Gilbert Norrell and Jonathan Strange. Centred on the relationship between these two men, the novel investigates the nature of "Englishness" and the boundaries between reason and unreason, Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Dane, and Northern and Southern English cultural tropes/stereotypes. It has been described as a fantasy novel, an alternative history, and a historical novel. It inverts the Industrial Revolution conception of the North–South divide in England: in this book the North is romantic and magical, rather than rational and concrete.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Bohjalian</span> Armenian-American novelist

Chris A. Bohjalian is an Armenian-American novelist and the author of over 20 novels, including Midwives (1997), The Sandcastle Girls (2012), The Guest Room (2016), and The Flight Attendant (2018). Bohjalian's work has been published in over 30 languages, and three of his novels have been adapted into films. Bohjalian's The Flight Attendant has been adapted for a television drama starring Kaley Cuoco.

<i>Bones of the Moon</i> 1987 novel by Jonathan Carroll

Bones of the Moon is a novel by American writer Jonathan Carroll, depicting the real and dream life of a young woman. Like many of Carroll's works, it straddles the horror and fantasy genres.

Chris Beckett is a British social worker, university lecturer, and science fiction author. He has written several textbooks, dozens of short stories, and six novels.

<i>Liveship Traders</i> Trilogy of fantasy novels by Robin Hobb

The Liveship Traders is a trilogy of fantasy novels by American author Robin Hobb. A nautical fantasy series, the Liveship Traders is the second trilogy set in the Realm of the Elderlings and features pirates, sea serpents, a family of traders and their living ships. Several critics regard it as Hobb's best work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">N. K. Jemisin</span> American science fiction and fantasy writer

Nora Keita Jemisin is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. Her fiction includes a wide range of themes, notably cultural conflict and oppression. Her debut novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, and the subsequent books in her Inheritance Trilogy received critical acclaim. She has won several awards for her work, including the Locus Award. The three books of her Broken Earth series made her the first author to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel in three consecutive years, as well as the first to win for all three novels in a trilogy. She won a fourth Hugo Award, for Best Novelette, in 2020 for Emergency Skin. Jemisin was a recipient of the MacArthur Fellows Program Genius Grant in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marlon James (novelist)</span> Jamaican novelist (born 1970)

Marlon James is a Jamaican writer. He is the author of five novels: John Crow's Devil (2005), The Book of Night Women (2009), A Brief History of Seven Killings (2014), which won him the 2015 Man Booker Prize, Black Leopard, Red Wolf (2019), and Moon Witch, Spider King (2022). Now living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the U.S., James teaches literature at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is also a faculty lecturer at St. Francis College's Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing.

Severn House Publishers is an independent publisher of fiction in hardcover and ebooks. Severn House specialises in publishing mid-list authors in both the UK and the USA. Established in 1974, Severn House began republishing out-of-print titles by popular library authors. The publishing house now specialises in providing libraries and the public worldwide with reinforced editions of brand new contemporary fiction, as well as rare or previously unpublished works. Since 2011, Crème de la Crime has been part of Severn House Publishers. In September 2017, Severn House was acquired by Canongate Books.

<i>Ancillary Sword</i> Science-fiction novel by Ann Leckie

Ancillary Sword is a science fiction novel by the American writer Ann Leckie, published in October 2014. It is the second novel in Leckie's "Imperial Radch" space opera trilogy, which began with Ancillary Justice (2013) and ended with Ancillary Mercy (2015). The novel was generally well-received by critics, received the BSFA Award for Best Novel and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, and was nominated for the Nebula and Hugo awards.

Steven Gregory Spruill is an author of horror, science fiction, and thriller novels, best known for his "hemophage" novels: Rulers of Darkness, Daughter of Darkness, and Lords of Light. He has also written under the names Steve Harriman and Steve Lyon.

<i>Mother of Eden</i> 2015 novel by Chris Beckett

Mother of Eden is a social science fiction novel by British author Chris Beckett, first published in the United Kingdom in 2015 and later in the United States in January 2016. It is the sequel to the novel Dark Eden and follows events of the first book several generations later.

<i>The Devourers</i> 2015 novel by Indra Das

The Devourers is a 2015 debut novel by Indian writer, artist, and editor Indra Das. It takes place in Kolkata, India, where Das grew up, and is considered South Asian speculative fiction and dark fantasy, incorporating aspects of historical fiction, fantasy, and horror. It was originally published by Penguin India in 2015, followed by release in North America by Ballantine Del Rey of Penguin Random House in July 2016.

<i>The Stone Sky</i> Novel by N. K. Jemisin

The Stone Sky is a 2017 science fantasy novel by American writer N. K. Jemisin. It was awarded the Hugo Award for Best Novel, the Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 2018. Reviews of the book upon its release were highly positive. It is the third volume in the Broken Earth series, following The Fifth Season and The Obelisk Gate, both of which also won the Hugo Award.

<i>Mass Effect: Andromeda</i> (book series) Novel trilogy

The Mass Effect: Andromeda book series consists of a trilogy of science fiction novels based on the Mass Effect series of video games. The books in the series are Nexus Uprising (2017), Initiation (2017), and Annihilation (2018). All three books are released in paperback, e-book, and audiobook. The audiobook formats of Nexus Uprising and Initiation are narrated by Fryda Wolff, the voice of Sara Ryder, while the Annihilation audiobook is narrated by Tom Taylorson, the voice of Scott Ryder.

<i>The Vanished Birds</i> 2020 space opera novel by Simon Jimenez

The Vanished Birds is a 2020 space opera novel, the debut work by Simon Jimenez. In a plot that spans millennia, the story focuses on the interconnected lives of several characters, including a boy whose special ability may hold the key to unlocking the secrets of the universe. The novel received critical acclaim. It was nominated for the 2021 Locus Award for Best First Novel and the 2021 Arthur C. Clarke Award.

Brock Clarke is an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. His work is known for its satirical, sometimes surreal exploration of the lives of average Americans and the role of fiction in society.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Kirkus Review: Dark Eden by Chris Beckett". Kirkus Reviews. 1 February 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  2. 1 2 Beckett, Chris (10 April 2014). "Brooklyn, Baby Talk, and the Dialect of 'Dark Eden': Exclusive From Author Chris Beckett". Yahoo News. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Goldschlager, Amy (2 April 2014). "Interview: Chris Beckett, Author of Dark Eden". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 Flood, Alison (1 May 2013). "Chris Beckett wins Arthur C Clarke award for Dark Eden". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  5. ↑ Kelly, Stuart (13 January 2012). "Dark Eden by Chris Beckett - review". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 Di Filippo, Paul (19 July 2013). "Paul Di Filippo Reviews Chris Beckett". Locus. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  7. ↑ Langford, David (19 January 2012). "Sci-Fi roundup: January 15". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  8. 1 2 Jemisin, N.K. (30 May 2014). "Science Fiction: Jeff VanderMeer's 'Authority,' and More". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  9. ↑ "Dark Eden; Chris Beckett, Author". Publishers Weekly. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.