FORMAT: HARDCOVER (REVIEWED) + DIGITAL | RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 20TH
Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of those sci-fi and fantasy authors that always delivers. His books are consistently good and yet he also seems to relish exploring new ideas and approaches. The Doors of Eden is nothing like Children of Time, Dogs of War or Cage of Souls, except for the fact it’s as delightful and engaging as all of those titles.
The Doors of Eden is the tale of two very close friends, Lee and Mal, who are fascinated by all things Fortean and strange. These amateur monster hunters find themselves looking for beasts on Bodmin Moor. Mal goes missing, and when she returns, nothing is ever the same again. Slowly we discover the truth behind what lurks on the Moors and what the girls actually discovered. It’s a compelling story crammed with mystery and some amazing ideas.
This tale is a heady mix of strange new lands, weird science, and conspiracy. There are some lovely moments of physics gone wrong and Tchaikovsky’s signature fascination with more bizarre elements of nature gives us some truly memorable moments. The world-building is excellent, and the pacing is compelling and steady throughout.
Gateways to other worlds are a staple of science fiction, but many of those stories fail to find the balance between the fascination we all have with other realities and mechanics behind such things. The Doors of Eden gets the balance just right, taking the reader to many worlds without losing sight of the plot. Unforgettable.
