Reviews

The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky

ihateprozac's review against another edition

3.0

This had a lot of elements I should love: queer and trans rep, multiverse/parallel worlds, diverging evolutionary branches.... but something about it just never really grabbed me. I wasn't terribly invested in any of the characters - and boy, are there a lot - and often it read like a very tedious textbook.

It often feels like a hodge podge of existing sci-fi tropes and titles (hell, there's even a conscious reference to Jurassic Park) but lacks the heart of any of those titles. There were genius science-y moments that I wish had spanned more of the story (helloooo

Spoiler

space whale thing and an ice queen living in the matrix?!!

, but instead we got bogged down in the minutiae of conversation between 20 characters I didn't give a shit about.

Perhaps Tchaikovsky just isn't for me.

calvin21's review against another edition

adventurous funny inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

What an amazing read! It took me awhile to finish not because I couldn't put it down but because I had to with life being busy. The way the book flows is quick enough to keep interesting new turns coming but slow enough to understand it. The amount of information given and the way it is given is very well done. I did not know what to expect from this book but boy it did not disappoint. The multiple earth's and their backgrounds and different evolutions were vivid and thrilling. The amount of characters and their different ways of life and how they all mixed was done so well. This book leaves me wanting a whole series expanding on all the characters and how this universe unfolds.

matt_taff's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

bretrwarner's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

mumblingdan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

klhitt's review against another edition

3.0

3.5

simmyzee's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

homomorphiesatz's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

bumblebear82's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

skylerbunn's review against another edition

3.0

Like Tchaikovsky’s excellent “the Final Architecture” and “Children” trilogies, this story also explores a wildly ambitious idea—it just doesn’t do it as well. It gets much better in the final 200 (out of ~600) pages, when the pieces come together, but the setup felt like a slog and the payoff was less potent because of it. Tchaikovsky excels at plunging head-first into big sci-fi ideas, but this book lacked the intellectual focus of the “Children” books and the character development of “the Final Architecture” books—which also explored a huge idea with surprising depth. “The Doors of Eden” has charm and fun ideas, but it tries to follow too many threads to be compelling.