“We speak of a mother’s love, but we forget her power.” Civilization has come to the alien, sunless planet its inhabitants call Eden. Just a few generations ago, the planet’s five hundred inhabitants huddled together in the light and warmth of the Forest’s lantern trees, afraid to venture out into the cold darkness around them. Now, humanity has spread across Eden, and two kingdoms have emerged. Both are sustained by violence and dominated by men – and both claim to be the favored children of Gela, the woman who came to Eden long ago on a boat that could cross the stars, and became the mother of them all. When young 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 inkling that she will become a stand-in for Gela herself, and wear Gela’s fabled ring on her own finger—or that in this role, powerful and powerless all at once, she will try to change the course of Eden’s history. Read by: Jayne Entwistle Bruce Mann Heather Wilds Suzan Crowley Nicholas Guy Smith Lucy Rayner Hannah Curtis Katharine McEwan Emma Bering
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“This sequel to Dark Eden continues the story of a civilization started by astronauts from Earth who were stranded on a distant planet…The detailed world-building and strong characters beautifully illustrate the usefulness of myths as a tool for keeping power in the hands of a few. This sequel will resonate with teens who meet resistance when questioning the status quo.”
— School Library Journal
“Readers delighted by the first book will certainly wish to renew their acquaintance.”
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Chris Beckett is a university lecturer living in Cambridge, England. His short stories have appeared in such publications as Interzone and Asimov’s Science Fiction and in numerous “year’s best” anthologies. In addition to the Arthur C. Clarke award for Dark Eden, he won the Edge Hill Prize, the UK’s premier award for short story collections, for his collection The Turing Test.