Eden by Tim Lebbon #BookReview

3 Star Book Review

I have a confession. This is my first time reading Tim Lebbon. I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for a review, and I’m so glad I got the chance to experience Eden. I haven’t read a lot of climate change fiction, so this was a bit of a change for me. Here’s the back cover:

From the bestselling author of The Silence comes a brand-new supernatural eco thriller. In large areas of the planet, nature is no longer humanity's friend...

In a time of global warming and spiraling damage to the environment, the Virgin Zones were established to help combat the change.  Abandoned by humanity and given back to nature, these vast areas in a dozen remote locations across the planet were intended to become the lungs of the world. 

But there are always those drawn to such places.  Extreme sports enthusiasts and adventure racing teams target the dangerous, sometimes deadly zones for illicit races.  Only the hardiest and most experienced dare undertake these expeditions. When one such team enters the oldest Zone, Eden, they aren't prepared for what confronts them.  Nature has returned to Eden in an elemental, primeval way.  And here, nature is no longer humanity's friend.

Sounds pretty cool, right?

This is an wild thriller where the Earth gets a chance to fight back against humanity. The Virgin Zones are have been given back to the Earth as a sort of apology for the centuries of abuse we’ve caused. There’s a lot guts and gore, and once bodies start splattering the pages, it’s a red dash to the finish. The second half of the book had a lot to look forward to, and I was much more engaged during those life-or-death moments than the moments of exploration in the first half.

It’s an interesting concept. Groups of adventure seeking extremists independently race across the Virgin Zones for bragging rights as well as to be the first to discover the hidden beauty of Earth untouched by man. But how much exploring and appreciation of the Earth can they do while they’re running thirteen miles a day? It seemed odd to me that these people would take so much risk to get into the Zone and then race, literally, from one side to the next. Also, they had conversations while running. Granted, these are supposed to be high endurance runners, but I know that even at my physical fitness peak, I wasn’t in the mood to have ominous heart-to-hearts while navigating a running path.

In addition to the slow paced nature of the first half, I also wasn’t sure if the “villain” really hit home. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, which was a nice surprise, but at the same time, I was a bit disappointed. I appreciated the attempt to try something new. You’re not going to get killer plants swinging their roots out of the ground and pulling the explorers into the dirt. But what we did get just felt a little…underdeveloped. It’s like the premise was so close to being fleshed out, but never exactly reached full potential.

Also, while I’m not usually a fan of epilogues, I would have liked one in this book. There were introductions to each chapter that suggested there might be something else that happened at the end, but we aren’t given any insight into it. Instead, the last two chapters felt rather abrupt considering all the action that led up to them.

With all that said, I did get a perverse enjoyment out of the death scenes. As a horror writer and avid reader, I loved that the author didn’t hold back. We experience each squish and gash the characters do. But overall, I’m not sure this book worked for me.

That’s just my opinion. Give it a read and decide if it works for you!