Content levels
Trigger warnings
Protagonist archetypes
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.
This science fiction novel contains disturbing imagery including dead bodies, grotesque alien biology, and unsettling genetic experimentation. The atmosphere is dark and surreal with body horror elements throughout.
What to know going in
This book has moderate violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include death, mass death, and body horror.
Who'll love this
Readers who enjoy weird, atmospheric science fiction with bizarre alien worlds and mystery will be drawn to this strange exploration story.