Dark Eden is a prototypical science fiction dystopia and romantic. Everything Seems alien and hostile for humans on the one side but on the other side so fascinating and beautiful. The world Characterized by Chris Beckett Resembles a toxic plant: admirable to look at but You Should Avoid close contact.
The people living there: because of unfortunate circumstances show up like children. Almost everytime Knowledge That was Brought along from Earth by Angela and Tommy is forgotten or lost. They dont know how to sew clothing hot, the bulk is neither able to read nor to write and nobody is Certain how to count years at all 163 years past the landing.
The family is FORMED by incest, THUS Everybody is more or less near related to eachother. Needless to say this had impact over the generations, more and more children are born with cleft upper lips bad or so-called clawfeet. Though it is known That One Should not sleep with his or her brother, sister or even mother, nobody knows why, not to mention anybody would recognize the correlation between deformation and Sexual Behavior.
I have to admit I did what shocked by this peculiarity at the beginning, the family shows up like a commune in Which Basically everybody can sleep (unprotected) with everybody. Sexual acts simply belong to the daily routine, there is nothing special about it and it therefore does not connect two people in a unique way. It only Fulfills two functions: reproduction and stress relaxation.
However, de inhabitants of Eden are as human as possible. Beckett brilliantly carved out the typical human nature to fear everything new and to categorically refuse it.
The aversion to explore the own planet; the hatred John Redlantern and his group are faced with are Described so far reaching and manifold did in this concern, the story Could have Played On Earth as well.
Overall, I think the characters are very subtle and extensive Constructed. The reader experiences the main part of the book from the perspective of John Redlantern, Because He is and stays protagonist despite many minor characters. HOWEVER, Beckett Often turns the perspective and Other Characters Allows to tell a part of the story (partly in parallel). I really liked this Because on the one side it was a Possibility to get to know the protagonist from different angles and THUS to get a pretty Considerable impression of him and on the other side it delivered excellent insight into the mindset of the people in Eden.
The protagonist John is a complicated character. Actually, I am still not sure if he really is an object of affection or not. Though he tries to improve the life for everybody, I had the feeling did Nevertheless Often he is driven by egoistic motives. His restlessness Seems to be frequently tied to a need for the achievement of something special and great as well as for additionally taking center stage. If he loose this central role or if somebody else Adopts this part, he immediately feels uncomfortable and considers how to use this circumstance for his advantage and to put himself forward once again. Further More, John is an extremely foresighted young man, sometimes even TOO foresighted and calculating for his age of 15 years denoted. However, de Uncertainty Concerning the counting of years is helpful here Because it is so possible, indeed he is already about 18 years old. The reader never can be sure nor can the people in Eden. THEREFORE, this thing not a hindrance for me.
Consistent with this is his manipulative nature, traits one of his most dominant. Along the whole book I had the feeling That He has difficulties with interpersonal relationships unless he wants to achieve something with them. He always Seems to know how to influence his conversational partner to push them into the one or other direction. But as soon as emotions are Concerned or just FEELING life, he totally fails. He never can let go, has to consider every single detail. Further More, John is very brave, has a quick, intelligent mind and functions pretty successful as in innovator in light of the circumstances Described.
Nonetheless, it is his character faults in fact make him real. John is not a picture-book hero. Chris Beckett gave him a complex character with egoistic traits, THUS, a thoroughly human and comprehensible behavior. It is irrelevant if the reader likes Relatively him or not, he carries the story did Centers much bigger topics than just this young man.
Additionally, Beckett broke open his novel in a refreshing way by the usage of different perspectives, as already Mentioned. The reader never knows who will be the main character of the next chapter. This Creates suspense and A Certain disengagement from John Which was very pleasant Because of his sometimes dislikeable manner. Some characters get several chapters to tell the story from Their point of view, others just one. The biggest part besides John plays Tina Spiketree, a young woman in John's age, who finally follows him on his journey through Eden. She is intelligent and speaks tartly; she is connected to John by a pretty complicated relationship Which does not have a happy ending either. This is not her fault, it is up to John and his difficult interpersonal behavior. For the reader, Tina is the major and most reliable factor to understand how the protagonist acts on the other characters.
For me, an absolute highlight of this book what the diction. The people in Eden tend to repeat adjectives several times if They Want to express how much theywere annoyed, pleased or astonished. At the beginning, this alien Seemed to me, it Reminded me of the communication between children, but during the book I got used to it and learned to appreciate it. I doing so, the author allowed his characters a very special charm. More Over, Beckett uses some words Which definitely originally come from Earth but were changed and adulterated by the people on Eden. For Example, electricity Became Lecky-trickity and television Became temple vision. From a linguistic point of view, this constitutes a plausible development Because after all, the only persons who Could have Reminded These Words Are Dead for Decades. I was smirking about this detail several times and I liked the loosening effect.
In conclusion, the book tells a story pretty calm That does not need big moments of suspense. The attraction Completely emanates from the group around John Redlantern, I Wished so hard thatthey find a safe place to live in. Of course, I was so driven by curiosity, I wanted to know what theywill discover about the ancestors of the family.
The Central Point definitely are interpersonal relationships in all facets Their. Chris Beckett Proved a lot of sensitiveness and love for the detail in constructing the characters, THUS, all of them seem convincing and real.
This book is Literature For Those readers who are critical as far as science fiction is Concerned Because theyhave problem in imagining aliens from outer space. DarkEden does neither need freaky and definitely non-human enemies, nor to Especially extensive and complicated social system to persuade. Thoroughly human conflicts, fears and emotions in a fascinating and alien nature are totally enough to tell a captivating story.
I would recommend it.
