User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
ARC provided by the publisher—Tor UK—in exchange for an honest review.4.5/5 stars
Children of Time has won the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2016, and Children of Ruin won the “best novel of the year” in The British Science Fiction Association Award a few days ago. Tchaikovsky’s newest work, The Doors of Eden, will definitely continue to win him more prestigious SFF awards in the future.Tchaikovsky has written a LOT of books, and I’ve read only
Children of Time and
Children of Ruin prior to reading this book. This upcoming statement may not mean too much, but
The Doors of Eden triumphed over both
Children of Time and
Children of Ruin; this novel is, to me, undoubtedly the best book by Tchaikovsky that I’ve read so far.
“We’re here and they trust us.” Mal chuckled. “It’s a million-to-one long shot, and these two desperate lesbians can save the world. Perfect action movie material.”
Four years ago, Lee and Mal—lovers, and young cryptid hunters—went looking for the Birdmen on Bodmin Moor. Only Lee came back from this hunt; Mal vanished. But four years later, in the present timeline, Lee suddenly receives a phone call from someone that sounded exactly like Mal. What exactly happened that day on the moors that caused Mal’s disappearance? Where has she been for the past four years? These are a very small set of questions that teases the large-scale adventures contained within this standalone. When I first started
The Doors of Eden, I didn’t expect that the story would end up reaching the grand scale of events it conceived. What started as a simple disappearance story, eventually leads to parallel worlds, timelines, and worlds-changing conflicts. I guess this shouldn’t have come as a surprise; this is Tchaikovsky, after all. And Tchaikovsky did give us hints and information about in the prologue and interludes that the story would end up becoming this big. But wow, the story executions were really well done.
Evolution, biology, diversity, time, science, history, are some of the central themes of
The Doors of Eden. I’m not a scientist, but I got the sense that the novel was very well-researched, and most importantly, this book isn’t only about science; it also has heart and emotions. Tchaikovsky uses six—and one interlude narrator—POV to tell this story of exploration, spectacle, and danger. Although half of the main characters took longer than I preferred for me to click with, all the main characters—three of them are LGBT characters, for those who want to know—were fleshed out characters; I found Lee and Mal to be the fastest for me to feel invested in, but I grew to care for the other characters as well the more I progressed through the book. In a way,
The Doors of Eden is a large-scale standalone adventure about the fascination with time, worlds, science, cooperation, and saving the world. However, if you’ve read
Children of Time or
Children of Ruin, you’ll notice that both of those books focus on cooperation as its utmost significance of topic; this applies to
The Doors of Eden, too, and I loved it.
“When you told people they were the inheritors of the world, none of them imagined sharing.”
The book also felt very well-researched; every “what if” scenario displayed in this book showed that Tchaikovsky took a lot of care to make sure that he gets his world-building right. He kinda has to, the story he’s trying to tell here would be filled with plot holes. The ending—specifically the last 100 pages— was insane and quite frankly superbly written. That’s all I’m gonna say on this; read and find out for yourself. There’s no stopping Tchaikovsky. At the rate and quality of storytelling he produces, he’s guaranteed to win awards annually.
The Doors of Eden is an imaginative, wonderful, and cracking adventure filled with hope and excitement. Need to hear more? I’ll close this review with what Tchaikovsky himself has to say about this book:
“From a young age I’ve been fascinated by the idea of deep time, the millions of years of life that passed before ever a human eye opened to examine the world. I’ve been fascinated, too, by all the many ‘What if?’ scenarios inherent in that span of time. I’ve been inspired by books like Stephen J. Gould’s Wonderful Life and Dougal Dixon’s After Man, looking at the process of evolution and asking ‘Did it have to go this way?’
The Doors of Eden takes the evolutionary world-building I used for Children of Time and Children of Ruin and applies it to all the ‘What ifs’ of the past. It’s a book that feeds on a lot of my personal obsessions (not just spiders*). The universe-building is perhaps the broadest in scope of anything I’ve ever written. At the same time, The Doors of Eden is a book set in the here and now, and even though there’s more than one ‘here and now’ in the book, I spent most of a summer trekking around researching locations like a film producer to try and get things as right as possible. Sometimes, when you plan a journey into the very strange, it works best if you start somewhere familiar.
Writing the book turned into a very personal journey, for me. It’s the culmination of a lot of ideas that have been brewing away at the back of my mind, and a lot of obsessions that have had hold of me for decades. I have quite the trip in store for readers, I hope.”
—Adrian Tchaikovsky on The Doors of EdenLastly, do remember that this is Tchaikovsky’s book, you might as well prepare yourself to meet terrifying creatures. And spiders.
Official release date: 4th August 2020You can order the book from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository (Free shipping)The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel NotionsSpecial thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!
My Patrons: Alfred, Devin, Hamad, Joie, Mike, Miracle, Nicholas.
Rating: really liked it
“How many times can you watch the world end, after all, even if it’s not your world?”
It’s only natural - and very conceitedly tempting - to think of humanity as if not the pinnacle of evolution then at least the inevitable and logical result of its natural progression. From the unicellular organisms deciding that strength is in numbers to the ill-fated trilobites of the Cambrian explosion, to Devonian Age of Fishes, to the devastation of the Great Dying of the Permian extinction, to the ill-fated dinosaurs side-eyeing that mercilessly approaching asteroid, to mammalian dominance until finally, elbowing out of the way our less fortunate Neanderthal cousins we, humans, emerge onto the global scene as the ultimate lottery winners.
“The Earth tried to kill us in our cradle, but the timelines you have seen survived it, or at least bequeathed a relic of themselves to the future.
[…]
The lesson here is that the Earth doesn’t care; that bad things happen; that it could so easily have been us.”
But imagine - just imagine that this was only one possibility out of multitude of others. Imagine that life took different forms and shapes and paths. Imagine sentience awakening over and over and over again - but in different creatures altogether, on the Earths that are not ours (and don’t tell Peter Watts of Blindsight fame about that). And these parallel timelines sometimes bleed into each other, to the delight of cryptid hunters and derision of the scientific minds — at least for a while.
“You ever get the feeling there are cracks in the world?” “What if—bear with me—a civilization of gigantic immortal spacefaring trilobites didn’t evolve? I know, it seems hardly credible, but imagine, if you will.”
And for every beginning there also usually is an ending.
Seems natural — but a bit chilling when what you talking about is the universe. “I mean, this is affecting the whole universe. There isn’t exactly a safe place to watch from.”
—————
Adrian Tchaikovsky is among my favorite science fiction writers, a prolific writer maintaining brainy inventive quality in all of his works, not afraid of venturing out into difficult concepts and making them fascinating. And his exceptional forte seems to be exploration of sentient life different from what we are used to, going past the humanoid bipedal relatable lifeforms and venturing into the worlds of spacefaring spiders and technologically advanced octopuses —
and why not the worlds of spacefaring trilobites and frozen fish computers? Apparently, the man studied (not “read”, but studied (view spoiler)
[ “Lee was studying zoology at Reading, Mal was reading English Lit at Oxford—an establishment so exclusive that they had a whole other verb for what you did there” (hide spoiler)]) Zoology for a reason.
“In this world, long ago, something awoke.”
His story here starts small and quickly works up to dizzying stakes. The more straightforward present-day Earth plot - weaved in itself out of many parallel story threads that eventually coalesce to create a very satisfying whole - are punctuated with interconnected stories of parallel evolution on Earths that are not ours, and all together it creates a truly epic tapestry that is just a pleasure to read. There is a sprinkle of hard science concepts, but Tchaikovsky still makes it a very accessible and easy read without dumbing it down much. He’s just got the skill for making stories flow while encompassing within all that stuff about evolution, science and psychology as well as a suspenseful adventure (partially playing out within a spacefaring trilobite. Seriously).
“When you told people they were the inheritors of the world, none of them imagined sharing.”
And cooperation. That is Tchaikovsky’s common theme, and it is done well.
His societies tend to do better when stark individualism is put aside and a hand (or a tentacle, or a claw) is extended across the Us-Them divide, not holding a weapon but an offer of help, the acknowledgment of something common in us rather than what divides us. Because there are things much worse than a bit of an existential crisis at the whole
“We’d lost our place at the centre of the universe” bit, that whole fear of the “other” overtaking the self-proclaimed great power of the universe.
“You are gullible. Surrounded by people you don’t know, with your leaders even less knowable, and you are gullible. Someone says a thing to you strongly enough, you believe them. You take confidence for truth.”
4.5 stars (docking half a star for a couple of very annoying humans out of a very large cast of characters), rounding up to 5 (because wonderful story makes up for that many times over). A science fiction classic, indeed.
“Everywhere, a garden of life arises—the very first Eden. But it doesn’t support life like ours, or even our ancestors’. This is life of another caste entirely. A world of quilt-bodied things that lie supine upon the sea floor, or inch slowly across the bacterial mats without limbs or muscles, feeding upon them without mouths. They are a global community of organisms alien to us, and they live without tooth or claw, without eyes, without organs.
Our world was like this once. Go back six hundred million years and you wouldn’t know the difference. But this is not our world.
In this world, something awoke.”
————
Buddy read with carol and Phil.————
My reviews of other books by Adrian Tchaikovsky:
Children of Time
Children of Ruin
The Expert System’s Brother
Firewalkers
Walking to Aldebaran
One Day All This Will Be Yours
Shards of Earth
Rating: really liked it
I've been told, by a mostly reliable source, that as long as your ending is
satisfying, you just can't complain too much. As much as my instinct is to argue, I've mulled it over and find myself unable to substantially disagree. Perhaps it all comes down to preferences: is it the lure of a story that arouses emotion through admiration and joy, or one that uses the frisson of aggravation as a road to pleasure?
The Doors of Eden most definitely chose frustration as it followed a group of mostly exasperating humans as they attempt to decipher strange incursions into their lives.
Structured with a dual narrative, it alternates more 'academic' pieces with a third-person limited viewpoint from one of a handful of characters. Although multiple narratives are a technique that often annoy me, Tchaikovsky uses it to good effect. The academic pieces are usually short, while the character narratives are full of action and conflict. He's also kind enough to avoid leaving the reader on a cliff-hanger with each section. The academic writings are taken from an imaginary book,
'Other Edens: Speculative Evolution and Intelligence,' and while they have a drier, more academic tone, each explores a world where what humanity understands as evolution followed a more divergent path.
"To win the arms race of this Cambrian is to have the strongest shell. It is to be hauled up from the sediment by the the anomalocarids' fearsome arms, ground between their spines, gnamed at by their toothed ring of a mouth, then abandoned for flimsier prey. From such a forge, here is what will fight its way to dominance... When at last they take to the land, their shells fend off the killer radiation of the sun and their respiratory surfaces hold enough water for brief seaside strolls. Their articulated legs are initially only strong enough to drag their jointed bellies in the sand, but that will change." It is an extraordinarily long book that doesn't feel long at all, which says something for Tchaikovsky's ability to balance those edges with plotting. I found myself remembering the sympathetic spiders and irritating humans in Children of Time and wondered if he was making a similar point here.
"He lost most of the journey to that familiar adult tension that was a mix of “I should be doing something” and “I have possibly screwed up” with a side order of 'I have just generated so much damn paperwork for someone, and that someone is probably me.'"
I'll be honest: there were parts where I was so very vexed with characterization. Part was Tchaikovsky's inconsistent and potentially sloppy characterization, while the other part was all me. There's one young woman, Lee, whose character did not feel consistant. She routines goes 'monster-hunting' experience with bestie and lover, continues after her lover disappears, and yet is absolutely flummoxed and overwhelmed when monsters turn out to be 'real.' Then there's ethics: our intrepid and supposedly moralistic intelligence agents have children, but
literally give almost no thought to them. They have the kind of 'children' that harken back to imaginary, pre-social revolution times, where they are mentioned in books as a way of giving character 'background,' but seem to have absolutely no bearing on ethics or decision-making. There's a reason main characters are often childless--it's so we don't have to realize the characters are failing in being responsible to their progeny.
"She could feel herself teetering over a great well of despair. She had worked herself up for this; she had borrowed hope at a ruinous interest rate—one that she had no chance of paying back. She had, she forced herself to admit, been spectacularly stupid from start to finish."
The all-me part? Oh, that's because I like my characters to do a bit of learning, maybe have a bit of an arc. These people are largely static, despite great discoveries and supposed learning experiences, where horizons are, sometimes quite literally, opening around them. Lee is the only one who has any growth; Mal, Julian and Kay are all largely static, which is particularly frustrating as Tchaikovsky seems to take pleasure in showing us exactly where they could grow.
You're sensing my irritation, right? You should. At one point, I was actually reading for the academic interludes, which featured fascinating ideas on other evolutionary paths and tipping points. Creative and clever thought experiments that had their own drama, despite the faux-academic tone. I imagine if one had a whole book of these mini-epochal adventures, it might become dull (see Ursula LeGuin's Changing Planes), but cut between the action-filled human scenes, I found them intriguing. (mild spoilers) (view spoiler)
[ There were trilobites in the Cambrian, nautilus-like orthocones in the Ordovician ("Over ten thousand years, the ocean fills with their conversational flatulence.", the warrior sea-scorpion relatives of the Silurian seas (yes, I thought he was having fun with alliteration), the Devonian mudskippers and their climate correction, the Carboniferous cockroaches and their closed system, the aerial culture of the Permian pterosaurs, the weasels coming out of the Paleogene, the cats (I know he was laughing), the inbred, tribal lemurs and a few more. (hide spoiler)]I couldn't quite walk away: he'd tease me with an idea, so I'd read a little farther, become irritated, and then tickle my imagination again. He's good at stringing one along, that T. Then came the tipping point where I was hooked, and thoughts of leaving evaporated.
"This is a world where hard borders never existed: not between plant and animal, not between single and multicellular, not between species or individuals. It is a frontier town kind of world where the rules don’t apply. Something awoke when these creatures achieved a certain acreage, and what came to an awareness of itself was all of it. The world is a garden and the garden is a brain."
All that build up lead to an absolutely amazing final quarter. It looked to be heading one way, then he'd magician another possibility out of the sci-fi hat. What a pleasure it must have been for a writer, getting to play with all those possibilities! (spoiler!) (view spoiler)
[ Seriously, mind blown starting at the space-faring trilobites. And Fungus as God. Oh, and what an eye-roll at that pandering cat-world! (hide spoiler)] Everything more I could say would be spoilers, so I won't. As an aside, if you thought Dark Matter failed to live up to the sci-fi premise, this is the book for you. I went from considering abandoning it, to a better mood, to wondering if it was another entry by T. into Sci-Fi Canon.
Because when he stops the teasing and it all comes together, it's just that good.
Many thanks to Phil and Nataliya for roles as wingmen
Rating: really liked it
Re-read 5/15/21:
Still love it! :) It's just as good the second time as the first.
And you know what? It's VERY good for the imagination. For us, as readers, to think through the implications and dream and dream about what all those others that might/could/should become a vast side-series.
You now, like Farscape on steroids. *sigh*
I WANT more of this book. I don't know how it'd be pulled off, but I still WANT more and more and more. :)
Original Review:
I just read one of my new favorites not just for this year... but perhaps for this entire decade.
Or rather, let's just scratch that and say it's one of my favorites.
Period.
Adrian Tchaikovsky himself said, about this book, "I have quite the trip in store for readers," and he wasn't joking around. The opening seems rather scientific and dry, and perhaps some people will appreciate the little primer on evolutionary science through deep time, the first building blocks of life through Earth's current cycle.
Hell, I was personally wondering what the hell it had to do with anything. Of course, with a little patience, it turns out to have EVERYTHING to do with EVERYTHING.
Adrian Tchaikovsky has repeatedly brought OTHER intelligent life to us in so many different forms and thought patterns. Just look at Children of Time (intelligent spiders butting heads with humans) or Children of Ruin (that includes intelligent squid) in a full space opera. Or let's look at his fantasy series with tons of animals (and insects) with their own societies in an epic fantasy! He has a thing for biology. And he takes it further in Doors of Eden than he's taken it anywhere else.
This book is simultaneously MORE accessible, more down-to-earth Modern Earth, than any other book (not including novellas) that he's ever written. But it is ALSO one of the hardest SF novels he's ever written.
Yeah. That tickles me to death, too. How can it be light and heavy at the same time? Because he pulls in real science, truly fantastically creative speculation on how Earth's own species could arise to intelligence if luck had JUST been on their side, and he wraps it all up with excellent modern technothriller sensibilities.
I can't even begin to count how many tropes Tchaikovsky brings in to stand on their head, change forms, and then come back out like a cyborg of its original form.
Or, I COULD, but then I'd be simply listing all the fantastic ideas and how he made them even more fantastic and how the novel kept growing and growing and growing in scope until I felt like it had forever ruined the best aspects of Sliders for me while also sticking a fork in the best First Contact novels I've ever read. :)
To sum up... this book should win all the awards. It's not only accessible, but it does all the Hard-SF ideas justice.
Rating: really liked it
I received an uncorrected proof copy of The Doors of Eden in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Adrian Tchaikovsky and Tor for the opportunity.
Four years ago, young lovers Lee and Mal went in search of the Birdman of Bodmin. The girls were cryptid hunters and they were fascinated by the unexplained including creatures such as the aforementioned Birdman, the Sasquatch and the Loch Ness Monster. During their hunt on the moors of Bodmin, events took a turn for the worse and only one of the girls returned from that holiday expedition. In current day London, Mal miraculously resurfaces yet Lee has no idea what transpired that day on the moors or where her girlfriend has been all this time. No contact. No phone calls. No messages.
"You ever get the feeling there are cracks in the world... my girlfriend fell into one somehow."
The back of the novel states that:
These strange disappearances have taken place since time began, as the unwary have fallen through the cracks between our worlds and others. But now these cracks are widening, and it's not just Mal who returned to Earth.
The Doors of Eden is truly epic is ambition and scale. The novel follows its main characters across many alternative Earths. Each world has changed - and creatures have evolved differently - across these multiple timelines. In Tchaikovsky's science fiction masterclass Children of Time, we were presented with highly intelligent spiders. Here, we're witness to extremely advanced rat-creatures, bird-like tribal dinosaurs, and science-savvy cavemen too. There are even village-sized insects that can act as flying vehicles. Tchaikovsky's imagination is bizarre, mindboggling yet at the same time is utterly brilliant.
The novel follows approximately six human point of view perspectives. These include the already mentioned Lee, MI5 agent Julian who is nothing like James Bond, transgender genius scientist Dr Kay Amal Khan, and ex-army type Lucas May. We, as readers, learn about the multiple different species, societies, advancements and Earths from very human perspectives. However, you could say that there is one viewpoint from a species that is not human but I will not go into any further details regarding this. The characters' stories cross over as the walls between Earths become thinner, meaning potential outcomes could be drastic and even Earth(s)-shattering. The majority of the characters are a pleasure to follow. They are likeable, well-developed and relatable. In addition to the main characters, I had a soft spot for the awesome Dr Rat and his translator, and also Mal's "cousin" friend Stig.
When reading Tchaikovsky's science fiction work I always get the feeling that I am reading something that is extremely special. The Doors of Eden come across as intelligent, well-researched, and incredibly detailed. Some of the science-specific language and the interludes written by the fictional Professor Ruth Emerson were a bit "over my head" at times yet this is possibly intentional because as a reader I learned to understand the complexities just as the characters themselves did. I'm afraid that I did skim-read a couple of the interludes to return to the main bulk of the story until I understood their importance and how they actually fit with the overall narrative. If I reread this novel I will not make this mistake again.
The imagery Tchaikovsky creates is sensational throughout, especially when depicting these alien worlds. Some of the set pieces are phenomenal. One moment springs to mind instantly which is when two Earths cross over when members of the ensemble are on the ninetieth floor of a skyscraper. The ending sequence(s) were intriguing and presented in a very clever way. Overall, The Doors of Eden was an outstanding and entertaining thriller that deserves to be Tchaikovsky's next science fiction megahit. Highly recommended.
"We're here because they trust us." Mal chuckled. "It's a million-to-one long shot, and only these two desperate lesbians can save the world. Perfect action movie material."
Rating: really liked it
Adrian Tchaikovsky has always been one of my "must read" authors. Part of the reason why is that he is so incredibly adept at creating magnificent and compelling stories across multiple genres. Over the years he has written some excellent science-fiction, space opera, as well as epic fantasy. If you get a chance to check out some of his previous works, you will see exactly what I'm talking about.
I had no idea that Adrian had a brand new book coming out this Spring (May 28th to be precise) until it showed up one day on my doorstep. Thank you to publisher Tor for graciously sending me a copy of his latest, THE DOORS OF EDEN. As soon as I saw the stunning cover and read the summary on the back, I just couldn't wait to dig in.
THE DOORS OF EDEN begins as partners and best friends Lee and Mal are embarking on a bit of a road trip adventure to Bodmin Moor. You see the two, besides being very much in love, are are also very much cryptid enthusiasts and have been interested in legendary monsters like Nessie, Bigfoot, Yeti, etc... for as long as they can remember. One day while looking at some online cryptid videos, they come across one showing a farm not too far from their home. As the video is about to cut out, a creature appears in the background for just a few seconds. The image is somewhat difficult to make out and could very likely be a hoax, but it is so haunting and nags at them enough that they eventually decide to pay a visit to Bodmin Moor to see for themselves.
Something terrifying happens though when they investigate the farm and Mal inexplicably vanishes into thin air. There is no body found. It's as if she was there one second and gone the next. Lee struggles to understand exactly what happened on that night and after four years go by with no answers or clues as to Mal's whereabouts, she gives up any hope of ever seeing her again. That is until Mal calls her one day. Could it really be her after all these years? Or is it just a prankster playing some sick joke on Lee? It really sounds like Mal though, but that can't be possible. Can it?
Coupled with the story of Lee and Mal is that of MI5 government employee Julian Sabreur, former army grunt Lucas May, and physicist Kay Amal Khan. They have been aware for years of something otherworldly happening on the Moors as well as other locations around England. They believe that they may have discovered a crack in this world that allows people to travel to a parallel Earth where hideous monsters live. The problem is these cracks can also allow those monsters access to our world too. As these cracks keep getting bigger and greater in number the race to discover how to close them, if that is even possible, could ultimately determine the fate of humanity.
Wow, was that a thrill ride that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time that I was reading it. It is kind of difficult to pinpoint what genre this book falls into. It's also what I loved about it quite frankly. Part science-fiction novel, part portal fiction, part bio-thriller, part mystery, all combining to make one heck of an epic story in the end. It delivers on every front. This was so refreshing and came at exactly the right time for me as I have been reading a lot of standard fantasy and SF lately. But THE DOORS OF EDEN simply defies convention as Adrian Tchaikovsky once again proves that he can't be pigeon-holed into any one genre category.
Being a bit of a cryptid fan myself, this book was the best of both worlds for me as it scratched that itch as well as gave me a fascinating SFF story to digest as well. The characters are so well done and each has their own motivation (some not exactly ethical) for discovering what happened on that fateful night on Bodmin Moor. This book is also creepy as hell in certain parts and it kept me completely engaged as I couldn't believe what I was reading sometimes. In my opinion this is one of the more brilliantly inventive SFF books to come along in a long time. It reminded me of some of my favorite Neal Stephenson books, but unlike Neal's novels, Adrian Tchaikovsky really knows how to ramp up the tension and always delivers a stunning conclusion that satisfies.
Be forewarned that there are a lot of big ideas within these pages and at times things can get pretty involved. So you very much have to pay attention to every detail as the story unfolds. Another thing I should mention is that there are some brief interludes that appear every few chapters. These interludes explain the biological evolution and history of a mysterious race of creature spanning thousands of years. This has an essential bearing on the story so you definitely do not want to skim through these. I just can't say enough about how awesome this book was and I hope that everyone decides to check out THE DOORS OF EDEN by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It is a wild journey that I highly recommend to everyone who loves a phenomenal story that you can really sink your teeth into!
Rating: really liked it
Thank heaven that’s over! It was so awful that I am afraid to pick up another book, lest I be put off reading all together. I look at the five star ratings and wonder what book that was, because surely anyone who has read more than five books in a lifetime can identify this as a lot of borrowed bollocks.
I accept that authors borrow from each other, to some extent. At least this one acknowledges as much, although the frequent mentions of Narnia eventually made want to scream and find a wardrobe to hide from this miserable story telling regardless of what world I might end up in.
The premise of multiple timeframes - multiple worlds - is familiar from other SF and actual science. Quantum physics could allow for such, if you want to stretch your mind that way and see how far you get before it breaks. However, the author makes no attempt to explain anything at all. We’re just supposed to buy into all of it anyway. Man I miss Crichton! He mixed science and science fiction so incredibly well! And yes, there are “Jurassic park” references in this book too.
“Good Girl”. [cringe]
If you like long, boring science fiction stories that mixes a lot of books and movies you are already familiar with, go ahead. You won’t find any interesting characters, only a happy lot of politically correctly diverse ones, without this bringing anything to the plot whatsoever. The author tries too hard here. Way too hard! If I got it correctly, they even tried to explain “transgender” to an alien entity. Oh, which reminds me, every alien creature from another earth with any kind of intelligence is smart enough to get human language and culture through fancy translation devices. Right.
You got this far, you know what’s coming: NOT recommended! Unless you are a masochist, in which case, go ahead and frolic in the misery.
I’m going to go look for a tooth paste I can brush my brain with to wipe this out permanently.
Rating: really liked it
UPDATE: $2.99 on Kindle US today 1/14/20
Rating: really liked it
Netgalley.
Bullet points:* Tchaikovsky is a “will read anything” author for me.
* This has parallel worlds and is mostly science fiction.
* Lots of evolutionary biology. If evolutionary speculation and analysis of how life on our world could have evolved differently isn’t your jam, this probably isn’t for you.
* If you always wanted to know what the world could look like if there were more lemurs or giant centipedes, this is for you.
* lesbians, trans characters and more diversity.
* Possibly a bit on the nose politically, but not more so than Children of Time.
Full review:Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of my must-buy authors. He effortlessly moves between science fiction and fantasy, and he makes it look easy. His vast imagination is mindblowing, and his ideas always turn into fascinating thought experiments.
Unlike Children of Time, Doors of Eden probably isn't considered hard science fiction since it deals with parallel worlds and some of what slips through the cracks and into our world is beyond what we can possibly imagine.
Those familiar with Tchaikovsky's work won't be surprised to hear that there's an immense amount of evolutionary biology within these pages. And some of the creatures have far too many legs.
Let me be blunt: if evolutionary speculation and the analysis of how life on our world could have evolved differently isn't your jam, then this book is not for you. If, however, you enjoy evolutionary thought experiments and always wanted to know what the world would look like if there were more lemurs or giant centipedes, then pick Doors of Eden up right now!
Tchaikovsky delivers a very diverse cast. I always enjoy reading about lesbian and trans characters that feel fleshed out and three-dimensional.
I'd argue that Doors of Eden is possibly a bit on the nose politically. Tchaikovsky's worldviews basically drip from the pages, but I'd say the same is true for Children of Time and its sequel.
While the plot and especially the many parallel worlds are complex, Doors of Eden never feels overwhelming. My knowledge of science is a tad lacking to say the least, yet Tchaikovsky never lost me. It's a compelling read and despite its size I read it in two days because I simply didn't want to put it down.
I recommend this book to everyone who has an interest in parallel worlds and sometimes stands in front of the mirror wondering how different the world might look today if evolution had gone a different way. (Yes, yes, I do that. Poor mirror probably thinks I'm a bit...odd.)
I mean the New Scientist reviewed it and that is not the place I usually look for my next read.
Basically: read this! It's one hell of a ride!
Rating: really liked it
Terrific. Parallel worlds SF based on "what if intelligent life had evolved at earlier points in the world's history" which plays about with how it would look in the case of, you know, mats of plankton, or squiddy things in an endless ice age, and so on. I've been doing a bit of non fiction reading about the various eras of the world which made this hugely enjoyable. The characters are interesting and engaging (and, not unrelated, majority female, some queer/trans, not all white), and the plot structure is ingenious and has some important things to say. A pleasure to read and very thoroughly up my street.
Rating: really liked it
‘If it was Narnia, it was a Narnia where the White Witch had won. Always winter, forever and forever, in a world that had died a hundred million years before lions might have evolved.’
I’ve heard it said that Adrian Tchaikovsky is an incredible writer. I’ve heard The Doors of Eden hailed on Goodreads as ‘an extraordinary feat of the imagination’. Well, I’m here to say I wholeheartedly agree.
This is a multiple of firsts for me, as not only was this my first novel by Tchaikovsky, but this was also the first contemporary sci-fi I have read. I must note, I had some reservations to begin with - I’ll freely admit to not really being a fan of contemporary settings as I like to escape into worlds that have very little connection to our present. Yet I found Tchaikovsky’s prose to have a captivating quality to it, one that slowly drew me in and allowed me to vividly visualise the scene and the characters. There was also an underlying atmosphere of creepiness, a sort of haunted feeling, which held my curiosity.
The Doors of Eden begins with two best friends and secret lovers - Lee and Mal, deciding to take an expedition to Bodmin Moor. You see, Lee and Mal had an unusual passion, they were both Cryptid fanatics, who loved going in search of legendary fantastical monsters. You know the sort, BigFoot, Loch Ness, Abominable Snowmen, that kind of thing. So naturally, when they discover a YouTube video of a farm where a mysterious creature appears, their need to investigate could not be held back. Without giving away too much, I’ll say that their investigation goes direly wrong when one of the young girls disappears without a trace. What follows from that is the passing of four years, at which point the girl unexpectedly returns. But where has she been? And why is she eerily not like herself?
As we meet more characters along the way we see that Tchaikovsky creates a tapestry of interwoven plots, and that the scope is far grander than it once appeared to be. Our world is in peril, but it is not just our world, but every world; every earth that exists, spanning many timelines, is on the brink of destruction, and it lies upon humans, aliens and monsters to save the day. Tchaikovsky deftly brings in themes of evolution, prejudice, he explores the Many Universe Theory, and he blends together multiple genres seamlessly. Part sci-fi, part portal fantasy, even part thriller, Tchaikovsky brings these elements all together to deliver quite an epic, thought-provoking novel indeed, and it is one which entirely awed me.
Although at first glance all these notions may feel overwhelming, or overly complex - I personally never found myself lost. My knowledge of physics and maths is lacking to say the least, and yes there is a lot of those ideas and technical terminology flying around here, but Tchaikovsky handles it with skill. For example, Dr Khan is a renowned physicist, and she is a fundamental character in the cause for saving the multiverse, so naturally she would explain her theories in a very technical way. Yet there were characters like our two young girls, Lee and Mal, who would either have Khan explain things in terms they understood, or they would explain in their own, more accessible words, relaying essentially what Khan was meaning. My point is, I felt compelled to read on as it is a fascinating journey, and everything does eventually become clarified. There is also much humour peppered throughout, which made even the more complex scenes highly entertaining.
‘Eclipsing the sky like a sign of the end times was a... goddamn gigantic woodlouse thing. Lucas stared and found that it didn’t matter. Things were already so sincerely fucked up that adding extra impossible monsters couldn’t ruin his day any more than it already was.
I mean, why the hell not?’
Yet despite this immense narrative arc, Tchaikovsky doesn’t compromise on his characterisation. Throughout the book, I gained the impression that he is adept at writing characters in a realistic, and emotive manner. They each are diverse, have flaws and vulnerabilities, and we grow to understand their motivations - even the villains. I feel that with multiple POV’s we were given enough space to really get under the skin of each character, to feel for them, and learn what makes them tick. However, it is the monsters which stole my heart. And I use the term ‘monster’ very lightly here because a lot of these alien creatures were less monstrous, and less deadly, than some of the humans were!
Hold onto your butts, I’m about to get a little gushy here!
I cannot express enough how amazing, creepy and crazy the world-building was in this novel! I was told that Tchaikovsky has a love for bugs, and yes a giant woodlouse and cockroaches and centipedes do appear, and also yes, they most definitely are gross, but my god, he makes them so cool! Then as we discover other earths, the reader is treated to an array of birdmen, dinosaurs, colonies of super enhanced rats, aliens, monsters, even killer cats and highly developed lemurs. Sure at times things got pretty bizarre, but frankly, I loved it because of its weirdness. For a reader who adores monsters and outlandish creatures, this was simply phenomenal.
‘These creatures could meet a thing as alien as a human on their home turf and be curious, not murderous.’
When I began reaching the end of The Doors of Eden, I realised that this ending could possibly be a complete hit or a miss for me, as I’m not usually fond of open endings. You can imagine my relief then, when I actually felt satisfied by the turn of events, even though I was left with many questions. I do believe that the ending was actually quite fitting, I admired its boldness, and it left a myriad of ideas which Tchaikovsky could possibly return to in the future, and so I was content. In fact you could call me mindblown, because well... I was and still am!
ARC provided by UK Tor in exchange for an honest review. All quotes used are taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication. The Doors of Eden will be released on 20th August 2020 - you can pre-order your copy here; https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doors-Eden-A...
Rating: really liked it
A fucking reality grenade! *lol*
Imagine a universe in which there are myriad Earths. Every parallel Earth is different with different dominant species. Imagine all these branching timelines being done on purpose to find what works best. You know, evolution but on a whole new level. This is the universe of this book.
In the beginning, two English girls are in love and love hunting monsters (think Nessie or Big Foot). One day, they go to Bodmin Moor and one of them, Mal, disappears. But she‘s not dead as everyone had feared. However, when she resurfaces 4 years later, she‘s changed and she hasn‘t come alone.
Suddenly, „agents“ walk our Earth and there appear to be more and more cracks between the different Edens/Earths resulting in different dominant species clashing with each other. Because
something is coming and it will end every single Eden/Earth if not stopped. But for anyone to be able to stop it, one must first know what „it“ is. You know, knowledge being power.
Kidnapped scientists, „wayfarers“ between the Edens, mysterious lectures as interludes between the chapters - this book was full of great scientific concepts and fascinating what-ifs.
It‘s really hard trying to sum up this book, especially since I don‘t want to give away too much. Suffice it to say that there is an interesting group of characters of different species all trying to untangle timelines and figuring out the respective evolution for each Eden/Earth. Their interactions are indeed interesting but nothing compared to the discoveries. I seriously loved all the what-ifs, such as a global ice sheet being a supercomputer on one Earth or communist cavemen or one dominant species not actually being the big bad hunter but the big bad hunter being used by a sort of symbiont/parasite.
The truly big question, though, is: is there a plan behind it all? Is there an original Earth? A Universe #0? Is there a sort of creator (don‘t think God, think scientists with a lab experiment or think accident)?
Following the discoveries, the breadcrumbs so to speak, was seriously cool and I adore the author for how he handled the alternate-Earth-trope.
It is noteworthy, however, that on top of all of this the author also managed to include his typical examination of different human psychologies (mostly thanks to Rov). No matter where you look, the story is deep and rich.
Add to that a wonderful array of literary references that always please this little bookworm‘s heart as well as a fast-paced plot that had me hooked from start to finish and you have one of the best scifi books I‘ve read. This should be right up there with the big names, honestly! How this hasn‘t won more than just the one award is a mystery to me but maybe intelligent scifi is out of style right now. I can only hope that will change again and that this book will not have been forgotten until then. It would be a great loss.
Rating: really liked it
Stories involving multiple timelines, i.e. the multiverse, are a well worn sci-fi trope by now, going back decades. For me they always bring to mind the Star Trek mirror universe episodes where the crew meets evil versions of themselves, easily discernible by their sinister goatees. These stories generally riff on our reality in fairly minor ways, though sometimes with interesting and profound implications. Adrian Tchaikovsky, however, takes this concept to the next level, and in a completely original dimension. Ever so deftly, he introduces the notion of timelines divergent not from the point of view of an individual or some historical event, but rather on the much grander and more profound scale of the evolution of life and emergence of sentience on Earth.
They were all living in what was simply a possibility. All of reality, which had seemed so robust and enduring, was merely the fevered dream of a dying god. In much the same way, a single-celled creature might see its drop of water as a vast and eternal ocean even as the sun came out of the clouds to dry it up.The Doors to Eden is essentially a by-the-seat-of-your-pants hard sci-fi thriller, balanced with mind blowing scientific theory on evolutionary biology and Tchaikovsky's wild imagination. It will make you question your understanding of the history of the Earth, our universe and our place in it, as well as the meaning and significance of sentience. The story is not only thrilling, but endearing and humorous, masterfully written with exceptional balance and pacing. A central driving theme, also shared with Star Trek, is the notion of IDIC - Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations - the idea that we are all made better, stronger and smarter, by combining the diverse talents and perspectives of everyone.
Along with Children of Time and Children of Ruin, The Doors to Eden really establishes Adrian Tchaikovsky, in my mind, among the true giants of contemporary science fiction.
Rating: really liked it
THIS. WAS. GLORIOUS! SO DAMN GLORIOUS!
I'll need some time with my English dictionary to get a decent review together. This is definitely one of those books where I wished I could have a category above 5 stars, for the really outstanding, mindboggling works I've read.
Rating: really liked it
* I received this free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review *
This was a book I was really looking forward to as soon as I heard that Adrian Tchaikovsky had written a new SF novel (a.k.a doorstop) and after I had the privilege to hear him and Christopher Paolini discussing their new novels and the research and ideas that went into them. The book did not disappoint, and I ended up doing a combination of reading and also audiobooking it.
The story is a big one, but it starts off fairly small with Mal and Lee who are a lesbian couple who love to hunt for cryptic/supernatural or weird things. They're the best of friends as well as lovers, and every time they have a chance they go together to explore somewhere that weird things could be, like the Bodmin Moor where they are hinting Birdmen. Once there, things are immediately weird and Lee ends up doubting all her memories, whilst Mal is missing for more than 4 years...
The plot which starts as a mystery, grows in the telling with additional characters and plots being brought in. We have a government Physicist, Kay, an MI5 agent, Julien and his friend and co-worker Alison. They all get brought into the story when some sort of veiled threats or maybe alien threats are being brought against Kay, and then weird, weird things start to link them to the disappearance of Mal and the footage they have of that.
Eventually, the plot is spanning all sorts of times and beyond, and it's quite an epic conclusion. I think this is certainly a story which builds in the telling and I really enjoyed the journey through the science and beyond.
There's also dinosaurs, evolution, biology and more. The interludes of the book tell us about all sorts of changing cultures and creatures throughout the ages, and eventually we see how these research interludes connect into the overall plot too.
Having read Tchaikovsky's Children of Time I am confident that if you like one you will like the other, and I definitely recommend this. I ended up giving it 4*s overall, and I think that it's a solid SF standalone which was hard to put down :)
