Dark Eden: A Novel

Chris Beckett

Apr 2014 · Dark Eden Book 1 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Various

About this audiobook

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

Ratings and reviews

World Building is the summary of this series, the HOW we came to be today from the very beginning. How decisions and ignorance can lead to corruption or inspiration through the Adam and Eve scenario. Fun read.

not for young but excellent read

About the author

Chris Beckett is a university lecturer living in Cambridge. His short stories have appeared in such publications as Interzone and Asimov’s and in numerous “year’s best” anthologies.