Content levels
Trigger warnings
Protagonist archetypes
Tropes
Synopsis
A crew of six crash-land on Eden, fourth planet from another sun. They set forth into a strange world that grows ever stranger. The sun is not completely circular. The desert ground is soft, spongy, it exudes acrid vapors. Thickets of plants are shaped like hanging spiders; trees, violet and blue, breathe noisily; flower petals lift into the air like a flock of startled pigeons. The men come to a wall that moves in rhythmic waves; they enter an automated factory where mysterious objects are created, destroyed, and created again in a meaningless cycle. They meet an inhabitant of Eden, a large, humped, pearl-colored, naked torso from which protrudes another, smaller torso with a child's head and two small arms -- a "doubler," they call him. One doubler leads to another, to whole communities, to a world of flying saucers and genetic engineering. And everywhere, death. Swollen bodies in ditches and in wells, a beehive structure filled with clusters of glass eggs -- a skeleton within each egg.
Is Eden appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 16 and up.
Contains disturbing imagery including descriptions of swollen corpses, skeletons in glass eggs, and grotesque alien anatomies. The pervasive atmosphere of death and biological horror is suited for mature readers.
What to know going in
This book has strong violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include death, mass death, and body horror (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Teens who enjoy science fiction mysteries with creepy alien worlds and unsettling discoveries will find this exploration thriller compelling.