Eden: The Novel by Ken Wisman
01/03/2005 . Source: Andy Stout 
pub: 1st Books. 182 page paperback. Price: $14.95 (US). ISBN: 1-4140-8888-4. ISBN: 1-4140-8889-2 (e-book). Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.1stbooks.com
When an author chooses to open a book with a five page recounting of his own
hallucinogenic experiences before getting to the fiction proper, you know you're
in for a slightly bumpy ride. Wisman pulls this trick not once but four times
in four separate sections which recount his own hallucinations, address the
nature of God and Man and explore the philosophy of the belief system (which
he calls the impetus-to-life) that was revealed to him while tripping. Meanwhile,
'Eden: The Novel' rumbles on alongside, reflecting and refracting quasi-mystical
thoughts as it goes.
Now this reviewer has nothing in particular against recreational pharmaceuticals,
far from it. But there is a time and a place for them and their creative fruits,
very much like teenage poetry, should be kept under lock and key forever more
unless your name is Hunter S Thompson. Music is the honourable exception to
this rule, but even then there's a lot of 60s psychedelia that's either frankly
unlistenable or just very very weird (as anyone that's ever heard Pink Floyd's
'Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving
With A Pict' can testify).
Perhaps the worst of it though is that in these passages the book argues a passionate
case for hallucinogens firing the creative process and then wraps that argument
in a startlingly pedestrian SF novel. It has its flashes, sure, but 'Eden: The
Novel' is nothing that wouldn't spring full-fledged in your mind after a couple
of pints of real ale and a packet of pork scratchings to be honest.
Alepha is an artist, one of seven embarking on a project to create a new Eden
on a hidden planet that's been stripped of life. Headed by uber-magnate, Calif
De'Alsace, the idea behind Project Eden is that the artists will imagine living
beings to populate the planet. These are then tested for viability by a team
of scientists before finally being moulded out of some form of genetic Play-Doh
and let loose in the wild. There will be no predators, no insects, no natural
nastiness. Eden will indeed be a paradise.
Ah, such hubris. The inevitable problem is that one of the artists, Iamoendi,
turns out to be a bit on the unbalanced side. He falls in love with Alepha,
who has already fallen in love with Gammeo, is spurned, becomes steadily more
unhinged, starts messing with the Play-Doh and the rest unfolds with a certain
degree of predictability.
Now, there are some things Wisman does very well in 'Eden'. The sections where
the scientists assess the validity of new biological specimens are good and
there's some terrific descriptive prose in the book. It could in fact have been
a good read despite the paeans to chemical adventuring, but the book is too
interested in making allegorical points to really pay attention to the story.
The characterisation is flat, most of the members of Project Eden simply being
two-dimensional vehicles for the novel's various arguments for and against 'impetus-to-life',
the plotting is wooden and some of the dialogue is extremely cheesy to say the
least. The whole thing is reminiscent of Philip Jose Farmer at his most mystically
extreme but unfortunately without the degree of style and wit that leavens PJF's
work.
In fact, 'Eden: The Novel' is a powerful argument against ingesting various
leisure-oriented pills and potions. Wisman is reportedly working on a sequel.
You can only hope that the novel pays more attention to the storyline next time
round.
Andy Stout 
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