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Dark Eden

A Novel

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Dark Eden

Written by: Chris Beckett
Narrated by: Various
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About this listen

 On the alien, sunless planet they call Eden, the 532 members of the Family shelter beneath the light and warmth of the Forest’s lantern trees. Beyond the Forest lie the mountains of the Snowy Dark and a cold so bitter and a night so profound that no man has ever crossed it.

The Oldest among the Family recount legends of a world where light came from the sky, where men and women made boats that could cross the stars. These ships brought us here, the Oldest say—and the Family must only wait for the travelers to return.

But young John Redlantern will break the laws of Eden, shatter the Family and change history. He will abandon the old ways, venture into the Dark…and discover the truth about their world.

Already remarkably acclaimed in the UK, Dark Eden is science fiction as literature; part parable, part powerful coming-of-age story, set in a truly original alien world of dark, sinister beauty--rendered in prose that is at once strikingly simple and stunningly inventive.

Reader List:
"John Redlantern" Read by Matthew Frow
“Tina Spiketree” Read by Jayne Entwistle
“Sue Redlantern” Read by Ione Butler
“Gerry Redlantern” Read by Robert Hook
“Gela Brooklyn” Read by Heather Wilds
“Mitch London” Read by Nicholas Guy Smith
“Carolyn Brooklyn” Read by Hannah Curtis
“Jeff Redlantern” Read by Bruce Mann Coming of Age Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Science Fiction Emotionally Gripping

What the critics say

Winner of the 2013 Arthur C Clarke Award for the Best Science Fiction Novel of the Year

“Poetic . . . Beckett renders the terror of the darkness beyond the forests with a riveting deftness that evokes all primordial fears of the unknown. . . . There’s plenty here to intrigue and entrance.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Dazzlingly inventive . . . superbly well paced and well written . . . packed with ideas.”—Reader’s Digest

“Brilliantly imaginative . . . a superb entertainment, a happy combination of speculative and literary fiction. Not to be missed.”—Booklist (starred)

“A fantastic novel . . . Beckett has created a bizarre world of astounding imaginative vision, grounded by fundamental human conflicts.”—Shelf Awareness

“Riveting . . . a keenly imagined vision of the interaction between human nature and a truly alien world.”—BookPage
All stars
Most Relevant
Loved this book.
The characters were well developed ..The narratation was very entertaining without "stealing the show"

Unlike anything I've listened to/read

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Very interesting story. Good world building. Reveals parts at a time... Not a big dump at the beginning of descriptive writing. The thoughts of the characters are very very well done. This author understands people. In that way reminds me of the thoughts of Ender in Orson Scott Card's books.

Great story. Characters well developed.

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I picked up this book without knowing what I am getting into. Sure, the description provides some hint that this is about a bunch of human and their descendants stranded in an alien world. But I was not prepared for how much I like the book in the end.

It started off rather unremarkably as the story set up the main characters. The characters are good (If unremarkable). Yes, there is a plot and a climax to the story. And the plot actually did not unfold in one of the 4 ways I thought it will unfold. But that's not what drew me in ... it is the nuanced details of how the group come to understand and interact with each other in their strange world that captivated me. Overall, very compelling story telling.

Unexpectedly good

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