442:, 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. 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
396:. But that didn't matter: "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." He had high praise for the character of John Redlantern, who was a
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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"). 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
238:
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
225:
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
230:
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
34:
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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."
465:
won the 2013 Arthur C. Clarke Award for the best science fiction novel published in the United
Kingdom in 2012. 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,
327:. 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
335:) 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.
453:
thought the novel "hew 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.
299:
bunch of kids and two adults... . There's no external adult world as a reference point". With the two adults constantly speaking baby-talk to their children, pre-teens and teens never adopted more adult ways of speaking.
250:
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
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magazine, described the plot as uninventive but "so splendidly it feels brand new and remade". He pointed out that the novel's "harsh oasis" plot device resembled the work of
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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."
432:, an anonymous reviewer called it "bsorbing if often familiar, inventive and linguistically adept but less than fully satisfying... Enjoyable but no blockbuster." Author
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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"). The
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consisted of "small domestic stories elevated to a mythical level", and he established the social norms, rituals, and myths of Family around similar stories.
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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
258:
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
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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
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called it a "superior piece of theologically nuanced science fiction", although he noted that the novel drew a little heavily on
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response. Only later does it lead to social upheaval in ways some characters predict (most notably Tina
Spiketree's fears of
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originally set down, and is supposed to return to and bring them back to Earth. Social norms are strongly adhered to in this
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was author Chris
Beckett's second novel. Reviews were generally very positive in the United Kingdom. Stuart Kelly in
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voice by various characters, and each short chapter is told from a different character's perspective.
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529:"Brooklyn, Baby Talk, and the Dialect of 'Dark Eden': Exclusive From Author Chris Beckett"
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children, forming a new society which becomes known as "Family". Frequent and regular
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sometimes requires not only "transgressive" but extremely "cruel" behavior, he told
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in 2012. The novel explores the disintegration of a small group of a highly
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for best science fiction novel published in the United
Kingdom in 2012.
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Beckett also wanted to explore themes about making hard choices. To
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quest for a land "over Cold Dark" where Family can grow and thrive.
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people, descendants of two individuals whose spaceship crashed on a
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290:"very" has dropped from the language, and emphasis is created by
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they call Eden. It is the first in the Eden trilogy, followed by
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pre-adolescent, thoughtful Jeff), John engages in a series of
428:. American reviewers were much more critical of the book. In
306:...turned on its head", one in which people are "expelled to
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310:". He conceived the novel after realizing that much of the
715:"Science Fiction: Jeff VanderMeer's 'Authority,' and More"
603:"Chris Beckett wins Arthur C Clarke award for Dark Eden"
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was published in the United States in April 2014 by
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660:"Paul Di Filippo Reviews Chris Beckett"
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302:Beckett intended the novel to be "the
629:"Dark Eden by Chris Beckett - review"
568:"Interview: Chris Beckett, Author of
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684:Langford, David (19 January 2012).
294:("bad bad" instead of "very bad").
740:"Dark Eden; Chris Beckett, Author"
566:Goldschlager, Amy (2 April 2014).
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658:Di Filippo, Paul (19 July 2013).
627:Kelly, Stuart (13 January 2012).
247:can be easily seen at all times.
527:Beckett, Chris (10 April 2014).
400:(in De Filippo's mind) for both
1053:Dreams Before the Start of Time
1121:British science fiction novels
1:
713:Jemisin, N.K. (30 May 2014).
339:Critical reception and awards
1005:The Testament of Jessie Lamb
686:"Sci-Fi roundup: January 15"
601:Flood, Alison (1 May 2013).
254:which opens his eyes to the
1126:2012 science fiction novels
1077:The Animals in That Country
38:Original UK cover from 2012
16:2012 novel by Chris Beckett
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235:, and innovation is rare.
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1136:Novels based on the Bible
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436:, reviewing the novel in
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188:, first published in the
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1045:The Underground Railroad
19:Not to be confused with
989:The City & the City
885:The Calcutta Chromosome
1131:Social science fiction
917:Perdido Street Station
793:Arthur C. Clarke Award
256:Malthusian catastrophe
215:Arthur C. Clarke Award
175:social science fiction
68:Social science fiction
319:think outside the box
296:Linguistic relativity
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408:. David Langford in
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805:The Handmaid's Tale
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1085:Deep Wheel Orcadia
813:The Sea and Summer
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1021:Ancillary Justice
901:Dreaming in Smoke
821:Unquenchable Fire
746:. 3 February 2014
744:Publishers Weekly
505:. 1 February 2014
499:by Chris Beckett"
450:Publishers Weekly
213:The book won the
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198:rogue planet
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941:Quicksilver
909:Distraction
893:The Sparrow
390:Larry Niven
329:reactionary
304:Bible story
260:club footed
1110:Categories
965:Nova Swing
533:Yahoo News
474:References
333:patriarchy
233:matriarchy
27:Dark Eden
1061:Rosewater
1013:Dark Eden
973:Black Man
877:Fairyland
570:Dark Eden
497:Dark Eden
468:Dark Eden
463:Dark Eden
422:Dark Eden
416:Dark Eden
372:. Author
364:Will Self
344:Dark Eden
268:messianic
245:Milky Way
170:Dark Eden
148:869300938
113:Paperback
74:Publisher
997:Zoo City
750:16 April
724:16 April
695:16 April
669:16 April
638:16 April
612:16 April
581:16 April
538:16 April
509:16 April
398:metaphor
252:epiphany
109:Hardback
54:Language
21:Darkover
845:Synners
184:author
182:British
107:Print (
58:English
1096:(2023)
1088:(2022)
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1072:(2020)
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808:(1987)
458:Awards
392:, and
288:adverb
274:Themes
228:incest
194:inbred
161:
111:&
78:Corvus
44:Author
869:Fools
664:Locus
414:said
402:Moses
378:Locus
178:novel
173:is a
120:Pages
64:Genre
861:Vurt
752:2015
726:2015
697:2015
671:2015
640:2015
614:2015
583:2015
540:2015
511:2015
406:Cain
404:and
362:and
308:Eden
206:and
142:OCLC
129:ISBN
89:2012
957:Air
366:'s
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180:by
123:400
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
