Release Date: August 20th 2020
Publisher: Tor Books
Pages: 608
Find it on: Goodreads. BookDepository. Waterstones.
Source: The publisher kindly sent me a copy of this book to review
Rating: 4.25/5 stars

Synopsis

They thought we were safe. They were wrong.

Four years ago, two girls went looking for monsters on Bodmin Moor. Only one came back.

Lee thought she’d lost Mal, but now she’s miraculously returned. But what happened that day on the moors? And where has she been all this time? Mal’s reappearance hasn’t gone unnoticed by MI5 officers either, and Lee isn’t the only one with questions.

Julian Sabreur is investigating an attack on top physicist Kay Amal Khan. This leads Julian to clash with agents of an unknown power – and they may or may not be human. His only clue is grainy footage, showing a woman who supposedly died on Bodmin Moor.

Dr Khan’s research was theoretical; then she found cracks between our world and parallel Earths. Now these cracks are widening, revealing extraordinary creatures. And as the doors crash open, anything could come through.

Review

The Doors of Eden is the clever and compelling tale of two girls who looking for monsters on a remote moor. While there something strange happens and only one comes back. Reeling from the loss of her friend, Lee is shocked when she discovers that Mal has returned from where she disappeared too. Whilst Lee is attempting to understand what’s really going on, MI5 agent Julian Sabreur is working on discovering who is behind an attack on physicist Kay Amal Khan. He has very little clues except that whoever is behind it might not be human. As Julian begins to learn more about Khan’s research into parallel Earths, they soon learn that their Earth might not survive much longer.

This is my first time reading a full length novel from Adrian Tchaikovsky – I’ve read his novella Firewalkers and some of his short stories – and it was such a wild ride of a tale. This is a fast paced and complex tale, full of incredibly creatures and mind bending science. Tchaikovsky has such a brilliant writing style and the story is packed to the brim with action, adventure and humour – the story grips you from the very first chapter and doesn’t let you go till the very last page.

The story is told from the points of view of several different characters and each one was well developed. I really liked Lee and Mal, it was really interesting seeing them attempt to reconnect after all these years as well as deal with everything going on around them. My favourite character was definitely Kay Amal Khan though – she’s a brilliant scientist but she’s also an incredibly sarcastic and kick ass character.

The world building is well executed in this story and despite there being multiple threads to the story Tchaikovsky weaves them together seamlessly. There is quite a lot of science involved but it’s also really accessible for those that don’t read too much science fiction. The Doors of Eden is a gripping read and one that takes the reader on an adventure though many worlds, encountering many brilliant creatures. If you’ve been curious about this one I’d definitely recommend picking it up.