Edenborn

By: Nick Sagan

Narrated by: Holter Graham, Clayton Barclay Jones, Jenna Lamia, Full Cast

A microbial apocalypse has wiped humankind from the globe, with the exception of six survivors. Edenborn continues what Neil Gaiman called a "roller-coaster ride of fusion fiction".

What if humanity had the chance to start over? In the follow-up to Idlewild, his brilliant debut novel, Nick Sagan invites us back into his hyper-imaginative world.

Edenborn begins with a stark vision: Humankind is nearly extinct. Only six people have survived the devastating planetary epidemic known as Black Ep. All are now committed to rebuilding a peaceful civilization, but not everyone shares the same vision. Soon, two very different societies begin to form.

As we follow a child from each "family", someone, or something, begins to threaten their innocence. Meanwhile, a mutant strain of Black Ep makes a deadly return. Now the architects who gave breath to this new world must scramble to protect their children from a two-front assault. It's a race against extinction, and we're in it until the end.

©2004 Damned If I Don¿t Productions (P)2004 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"Sagan's sharp observations and rich imagination entertain." (Publishers Weekly)
"A genuine page-turner....Gripping...the kind of book you don't want to stop reading." (Neil Gaiman)

Prozac popper

The first 1/2 of the book just drags on and on. You keep waiting for Halloween to do something great, to come back and save this terrible story. The last 1/2 of the book is actually really good, but by the end, I was reaching for my bottle of prozac. Good god, could it get any more depressing than Idlewild was? YES!

Listen to the WHOLE book

To Bryan who wrote a review on a book that he had not finished, you should have listened all the way to the end. All the "diary" entries build up to an entremely unexpected and exciting conclusion. I also was kind of plodding a bit through the first half of the book, but it was necessary to get to know and care about all the characters. For the last couple of hours I could not "put the book down." I also think that I would not have liked this book as much if I had not read the first book in the series.

A fun listen

I respect the author for the choices they have the characters make, and the consequences therein.

I can't wait for the third book in the trilogy!

If you were a fan of Idlewild, you'll love Edenborn! If you haven't listened to Idlewild yet, go do that first, then listen to Edenborn. Put together, these are two of the best books that I've come across in many years. This is smart fiction that requires some thought. I very highly recommend them!

Edenborn is the second book in what is intended to be a trilogy. Although Edenborn stands on its own, and is a great story by itself, you won't grasp the sheer scope of the bigger story without listening to both books.

Edenborn takes place 18 years after the end of the story told in Idlewild. It picks up with many of the characters introduced in Idlewild, and introduces a whole new generation. The story is every bit as complex as that told in the first book. And while many questions left open in Idlewild are answered, don't expect them to be wrapped up in a neat tidy package. This is not a feel-good story, but rather a story that will make you think. Many of the biggest questions are left for you to ponder.

Any time a book is as good as Idlewild was, I always fear that a sequel will disappoint. Never fear! Edenborn is a very worthy second chapter in what is turning into a fascinating plot. You'll finish Edenborn eager for the third and final story, Everfee, which is supposed to be out in 2005.

Only marginally better than Idlewild

I bought both Idlewild and Edenborn at the same time because one reviewer for Idlewild said Edenborn was much better... I'd say it is better, but not much. My major complaint about Idlewild was that it feels like what should be the first couple of chapters of a book was stretched out to be an entire book so that the author could write more than one book from basically one story. The same is true of this book, except it is the middle chapters. Idlewild and Edenborn and (presumably) a third and/or fourth book should have all been combined into a single book. In my opinion, the editor should never have let this happen. That having been said, there is a little more plot and character development here than in Idlewild. Ultimately, however, the story is slow at the beginning and choppy and rushed at the end (again, I can only blame the editor for not monitoring the pace). The end feels like a setup for yet another book in the series. My grades for both Idlewild and Edenborn - B+ for concept, C- for execution.

Excellent Middle Book

While in the first book they had mostly just one narrator, in this one they have several and that made sense for a style difference (and they got some good familiar voices!). The book is divided up into quite a few perspectives but it doesn't come across as annoying. There's quite a bit of build-up in the book for you to get to know the children that have been created by the originals. It is interesting to see how their different perspectives contributed to what type of children they made (human or not) and what methods were used in their child-rearing. It's not really until pretty close to the end that much happens though. Since it's such a short book that didn't really bother me. But I do see this mostly as a book that forwards the plot but, besides some shocking action parts, didn't really reveal much. I did enjoy the book and love how Sagan can write different types of people so well. Now the question is - can he close the deal?

Like beautiful music. . .

Listen to Idlewild before you touch this book!

If you are like me you were probally a little dissapointed in the way this book starts (especially after the start in Idlewild), the charaters that you loved in the first book are left by the wayside and their children are given free reign, but as the book progresses you are sucked into the work that Mr. Sagan has created. As the characters take shape you can see the care and work the author put into them, giving you just enough information to start to know them but not enough to really understand them until the end, and WHAT A ENDING!

The book is written masterfully in all first person diary entries and he shows you the same scene from two or even three different peoples eyes. You will be dissapointed when the book ends.

Listen to this book, listen to Idlewild.

LOVED IT

This book is amazing, it's a different style than Idlewild, and wow, what an effective way to both tell a story and develop the characters! I felt like these people were my extended family, and I really cared about their lives and their fates. And the narrators were perfect for their characters. I hated it to end, and I eagerly await the next book in the series. (wish he wouldn't kill so many people off, tho...I hope some of them will come back, somehow.) This book hung on my mind for about a week after I finished it, very profound and poignant.

Wonderful ensemble cast

If not my favorite audio book, this one is close. I've replayed it several times already. Not realizing this was the second of a trilogy, I listened to Edenborn before Idlewild and can vouch for the story standing on its own. The narrators are all wonderful, but I was especially taken with Jenna Lamia's charming (at first) and believable portrayal of the teen-aged Penny. Having multiple narrators to match the four storytellers really brought something to the listening experience and I do not believe I would have enjoyed reading this book half as much as hearing it (and I don't think that about many books). In any case, the book was thought-provoking and I cared deeply about its characters. Can't wait for Everfree.

Along with Idlewild, excellent books

I highly recommend "Edenborn" but first read it's excellent predecessor "Idlewild". Involving ideas of virtual reality and artificial people, these books do an excellent job of painting very heartfelt pictures of humans and their very real frailties. Great cast reading. Worth it.