SFF Chronicles News
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5th May 2013 07:13 PM
John J Brady
Chris Beckett’s Dark Eden has been garnering many accolades. Having been the 2012 Sunday Times SF novel of the year, it was then shortlisted for the 2012 BSFA award, and now has won the Clarke Award.
It tells the story of the Family, over five hundred descendants of Tommy and Angela, two people who were stranded on an inhospitable, sunless planet 163 years previously. Six generations of inbreeding has resulted in numerous physical deformities and an average IQ heading in only one direction. Innovation and curiosity are stifled by the dictum that they must stay where they are until Earth comes to rescue them. Confined to a small forest of warmth, their growing population means resources have become stretched and hunger is a regular occurrence.
All this changes when one boy, John Redlantern, challenges the status quo. Realising they must move to survive, he shatters the Family’s traditions, leading to division and inevitable violence.
More than a story of a society in flux, this is a character study of a complex individual. The clever use of multiple first person points of view paints a colourful picture of John. A visionary and an agitator, his restlessness and innovation drive the narrative. But we also see his ambition and his need for acclaim, which almost propel him into antihero territory, particularly when imagining his own legend. Pulled along in his slipstream are his supporters: Gerry, the cousin who hero-worships him; Jeff, a “clawfoot” boy whose intellect rivals John’s, but who lacks his ambition; and Tina, his on-off partner, who recognises his potential early on but feels powerless to avoid the path John has started them on.
Their society is forced to change, or if it can’t change, split. And it’s a society which prides itself on honouring its origins, even if it hasn’t lived up to its own expectations. The number of descendants gives lie to the original prohibition of incest; a subject handled in such a matter-of-fact way that it doesn’t evoke the unease it could. In fact, the whole issue of sex – there are no monogamous relationships and nobody knows who their father is – is presented as is, without any judgement, until John suggests there may be another way.
The narrative suffers a little from a sense of inevitability, not helped by the blurb on the inside cover which mentions a critical late event. Once the Biblical parallels become clear – Adam and Eve analogues, a garden of relative plenty – the introduction of original sin and woe upon woe has to follow. Yet, there is so much else going on to occupy the reader, from the progression of the origin story, to the alien ecosystem, that it’s easy to forget the parallels and become engrossed in this version of Genesis.
It is clearly no space opera. The scale is small, the viewpoint limited. It’s science fiction in a stone age environment, with futuristic technology barely mentioned, save a reference to a ship using wormhole generating technology. But despite a stunted vocabulary (the characters double up on adjectives for emphasis, for instance reminding us that the mountain is “cold cold”) Eden is a beautifully-described and intimate world where the only warmth comes from geothermal trees and the only light from isolated flora and fauna. Even Snowy Dark – the lightless, freezing barrier that John believes he must conquer – is vividly brought to life in a horrifying scene where the protagonists are trapped and hunted by predators.
Many reviewers have praised Dark Eden’s literary qualities. If that appeals to you, it will prove a satisfying read. If “literary” is something that might put you off, don’t allow it to. It’s tightly written with a clear storyline, lean, understandable prose, and empathetic characters who act as well as contemplate.
The sequel, Gela’s Ring, is being published as a serial throughout 2013 with the whole book to be released in 2014, and there are also plans for a third book. If it continues as strongly as it started, this series has the potential to be remembered as one of the classics.
John J Brady
Chris Beckett’s Dark Eden has been garnering many accolades. Having been the 2012 Sunday Times SF novel of the year, it was then shortlisted for the 2012 BSFA award, and now has won the Clarke Award.
It tells the story of the Family, over five hundred descendants of Tommy and Angela, two people who were stranded on an inhospitable, sunless planet 163 years previously. Six generations of inbreeding has resulted in numerous physical deformities and an average IQ heading in only one direction. Innovation and curiosity are stifled by the dictum that they must stay where they are until Earth comes to rescue them. Confined to a small forest of warmth, their growing population means resources have become stretched and hunger is a regular occurrence.
All this changes when one boy, John Redlantern, challenges the status quo. Realising they must move to survive, he shatters the Family’s traditions, leading to division and inevitable violence.
More than a story of a society in flux, this is a character study of a complex individual. The clever use of multiple first person points of view paints a colourful picture of John. A visionary and an agitator, his restlessness and innovation drive the narrative. But we also see his ambition and his need for acclaim, which almost propel him into antihero territory, particularly when imagining his own legend. Pulled along in his slipstream are his supporters: Gerry, the cousin who hero-worships him; Jeff, a “clawfoot” boy whose intellect rivals John’s, but who lacks his ambition; and Tina, his on-off partner, who recognises his potential early on but feels powerless to avoid the path John has started them on.
Their society is forced to change, or if it can’t change, split. And it’s a society which prides itself on honouring its origins, even if it hasn’t lived up to its own expectations. The number of descendants gives lie to the original prohibition of incest; a subject handled in such a matter-of-fact way that it doesn’t evoke the unease it could. In fact, the whole issue of sex – there are no monogamous relationships and nobody knows who their father is – is presented as is, without any judgement, until John suggests there may be another way.
The narrative suffers a little from a sense of inevitability, not helped by the blurb on the inside cover which mentions a critical late event. Once the Biblical parallels become clear – Adam and Eve analogues, a garden of relative plenty – the introduction of original sin and woe upon woe has to follow. Yet, there is so much else going on to occupy the reader, from the progression of the origin story, to the alien ecosystem, that it’s easy to forget the parallels and become engrossed in this version of Genesis.
It is clearly no space opera. The scale is small, the viewpoint limited. It’s science fiction in a stone age environment, with futuristic technology barely mentioned, save a reference to a ship using wormhole generating technology. But despite a stunted vocabulary (the characters double up on adjectives for emphasis, for instance reminding us that the mountain is “cold cold”) Eden is a beautifully-described and intimate world where the only warmth comes from geothermal trees and the only light from isolated flora and fauna. Even Snowy Dark – the lightless, freezing barrier that John believes he must conquer – is vividly brought to life in a horrifying scene where the protagonists are trapped and hunted by predators.
Many reviewers have praised Dark Eden’s literary qualities. If that appeals to you, it will prove a satisfying read. If “literary” is something that might put you off, don’t allow it to. It’s tightly written with a clear storyline, lean, understandable prose, and empathetic characters who act as well as contemplate.
The sequel, Gela’s Ring, is being published as a serial throughout 2013 with the whole book to be released in 2014, and there are also plans for a third book. If it continues as strongly as it started, this series has the potential to be remembered as one of the classics.
