Mother of Eden cover art

Mother of Eden

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 Months Free

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Get this deal
Offer ends on 15 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
More purchase options

Mother of Eden

By: Chris Beckett
Narrated by: Jessica Martin, Oliver J. Hembrough
Get this deal

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £15.28

Buy Now for £15.28

We speak of a mother's love, but we forget her power. Power over life. Power to give and to withhold.

Generations after the breakup of the human family of Eden, the Johnfolk emphasise knowledge and innovation, the Davidfolk tradition and cohesion.

But both have built hierarchical societies sustained by violence and dominated by men - and both claim to be the favoured children of a long-dead woman from Earth that all Eden knows as Gela, the mother of them all.

When Starlight Brooking meets a handsome and powerful man from across Worldpool, she believes he will offer an outlet for her ambition and energy. But she has no idea that she will be a stand-in for Gela herself and wear Gela's ring on her own finger. And she has no idea of the enemies she will make, no inkling that a time will come when she, like John Redlantern, will choose to kill....

Chris Beckett is a university lecturer living in Cambridge. He has written over 20 short stories, many of them originally published in Interzone and Asimov's. He is the winner of the Edge Hill Short Story competition, 2009, for "The Turing Test", as well as the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award, 2013, for Dark Eden.

©2015 Chris Beckett (P)2015 Audible, Ltd Dystopian Fiction Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Continue the series
Daughter of Eden cover art
Daughter of Eden By: Chris Beckett

Critic reviews

"A classic theme, beautifully told." (Sunday Telegraph on Dark Eden)
"This is a world I'm desperate to return to." (Guardian on Dark Eden)
"There's no justice if Dark Eden, with its beautiful, terrifying planet, slowly revealed, fails to bring Beckett awards." (The Sunday Times on Dark Eden)
All stars
Most relevant
This is a good continuation of the more innovative first installment. The main character's trajectory is not plausible and this book offers fewer surprises than the first. Nevertheless, it lives well within the parameters of Beckett's world. The audiobook has very good performances throughout and brings the text alive.

Solid sequel

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

If you could sum up Mother of Eden in three words, what would they be?

get to the point....4 words

Would you be willing to try another book from Chris Beckett? Why or why not?

yes

Any additional comments?

Dark Eden was amazing.The second book Mother of Eden lacked the surprises the first book had in dark shovels. The first book had some element of Sci Fi the 2nd book was anthropology and a form of history of ancient religions. I didnt empathise with any of the characters unlike the first book where I felt I was with them. Heavy going

heavy going

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I listened to all three of the audio books in this epic trilogy and enjoyed each one, although I struggled a bit with some of the language at the start, before accepting that the vocabulary of the inhabitants of the planet fitted well with the storyline.
The story considers the follies of humankind and poses some interesting questions about the relationship between men and women, how we deal with power and our constant desire for "something better." How do we make progress as a society while respecting the lives and wishes of our fellow beings?
There are strong female characters and an equally strong feminist message, which appealed to me as a fan of feminist sci-fi.

Well constructed story with a feminist slant.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Three generations later the story of humans in Eden continues with new protagonist and very different aims from the world we first encountered, some of them have discovered metals and some are big traders, with a form of money to make easy exchange for different technologies or goods, slavery and divisions of social casts are prevalent in some tribes, others try to hold on to their first aims but this world is changing fast fast.
Starlight Brooking our heroine in this story is complex and driven, smart, machiavellian, soft and hard, and like this book never just what you expect, there are no good or just bad characters but people driven by their aims and providence and circumstances deciding what will be the ultimate pass, there is no gods, no magic just reality and the manipulation of all in the game power.
This book exposes what is the best of us and the worst in us. our capability to love and hate with total abandonment of morals and understanding of our ultimate aim, or the price that we will pay for attaining it.
For me this is the kind of science fiction I love, magic is non existent and good and evil are not forces but just shades of desire, impulses that motivate and destroy in equal parts and technology is a double edge blade hidden in a dark bag of destinies and possibilities.

The past is always changing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What made the experience of listening to Mother of Eden the most enjoyable?

It was great to hear how the colony had advanced since Dark Eden. It is very absorbing story and enjoyed it a lot.

What other book might you compare Mother of Eden to, and why?

Dark Eden

Which character – as performed by Jessica Martin and Oliver Hembrough – was your favourite?

Greenstone Johnson

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Greenstone was contenplating death on the waterfall

Any additional comments?

Cant wait for Audible to bring out the next book - daughter of Eden

Enjoyable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews