Customer Reviews

Fires of Eden

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Knowing what I know of the writing of Dan Simmons, I expected this to be a science-fiction novel when I picked it up a couple of years ago. I never even read the synopsis, and promptly forgot I owned it. Turns out I was about as far off as i could be. I wouldn't exactly call it fantasy, and I wouldn't exactly call it horror, and I wouldn't exactly call it an environmental novel (though that's probably closest to the truth, with shades of such ecodisaster scenarios Prophecy, the Godzilla movies, and suchlike running through it). It has aspects of all of them, but never turns into a full-blown anything, preferring to defy categorization like many of Simmons' best books do.

Byron Trumbo is a billionaire with an attitude, a pending divorce, two young lovers who don't know about each other, and a money-pit Hawaiian resort he's trying to palm off on a group of Japanese investors who want to make it into a golf club. The problem is, people keep disappearing at Mauna Pele, and pieces of them turn up at the worst possible times. Add to this two intrepid adventurers who have come to Mauna Pele for different reasons (spoilers, again...) and who band together to try and solve the murders, an overly curious treehugger art curator who was hired after threatening to sue Trumbo for bulldozing over duck ponds, a crazed, murderous Hawaiian separatist, and a dimwitted pair of security guards, and the scene is set for a rollicking good time. All of the major characters are well-done and believable, if a little over the top sometimes (while I'm not usually one to balk at such things, the seemingly constant use of profanity in the book threw me for a loop; I could have done with less of it). Add cuts where we read sections of the main character's great-great-aunt's diary; the main character, Eleanor, is following in her aunt's footsteps, recreating a journey Aunt Kidder took with Samuel Clemens to the volcanoes on the Big Island (back when Americans knew Hawaii as the Sandwich Islands).

This was one of the conceits that annoyed me in the book, and it wouldn't have annoyed me if it hadn't been done so many times: we find ourselves at a cliffhanger and the diary narration takes over again. The first time, I liked it. The second time, I liked it. The third time, I liked it a little less. And so on. However, that was the only real mark against the novel, and I have to say it certainly held my interest up to the very last page. Definitely worth looking out for.

Fires of Eden gain points for sheer nerve. There's a story about awful things happening at a tropical resort, and it seems awfully familiar- although I was pleased that a goodly number of characters survive the carnage, instead of the one or two who usually live to see the dawn in stories like this. But at the heart of the novel is a journal which recounts a rousing adventure in which one of the main characters is Mr. Samuel Clemens. Ever since "Ragtime" came out in the 70's writers have felt free to have characters from history come into their novels and do their bidding. Mr. Clemens is a very believable character, and the adventures he has a century before the comtemporary action of "Fires of Eden" are, as a reviewer of his day might have said, a ripping yarn.

If Simmons wasn't such a darn good writer this probably could have been an absurdly silly book, all the warning signs are there. Giant talking god animals, people dropping like flies, nature rebelling against man's injustice to it, stuff like that. And yet Simmons pulls it all together and manages to make something good of it. The setting here is appropriately Hawaii at a hotel that billionaire Bryan Tumbo is trying to desperately sell to the Japanese, unfortunately for him, his few guests keep dying off, killed by some utterly sadistic and vaguely supernatural forces. Into this mess come our heroes and as things escalate (as you know they will) the puny humans trying to stay alive around the erupting volcanoes becomes a backdrop for the conflict of god versus god. And really it all works. Simmons has a knack for making even the patently silly (giant talking pigs with eight eyes) sincerely frightening and while the book probably isn't horror so much as old time adventure (it's pretty scary toward the beginning but once you know what's going on the fright factor goes away) with a bit of a feminist slant you're having too much of a grand old time to really care. Even better he intersperses the narrative with another narrative taken from someone's diary about similar events in 1866, featuring none other than Samuel Clemens (psst . . . Mark Twain) who Simmons writes so well that if he didn't talk like that, he should have. The diary also gives Simmons the opportunity to create twice the suspense by flashing back and forth between the two (though less so in the diary, she's obviously writing it after it's all over so you know she has to live to write it). Of course the story feels more suited for the old fashioned nineteenth century setting but Simmons' gift for description (especially of the contrast between the lush Hawaiian surroundings and the primal violence of the volcano) and his ability to immerse you in that setting. Events get so over the top after a while that you have no choice but to be swept away with it and his plotting is as deft as ever. And while I thought the climax lacked a bit in suspense it's still entertaining as all heck. Yeah it won't win him any awards but that's not the point here, he's just out to spin a good yarn and that's what we got...Track it down if you can to see an excellent author cutting loose and having some (admittedly well researched) fun with a story.

After finishing this novel, I'm still not 100% sure what I think about it. First off, it takes place in Hawaii, a place I have never been nor do I know all that much about. There is a tremendous amount of Hawaiian mythology in this book and to be honest with you, I have no idea if Simmons made it all up or not. I'll give him credit, if he made it up, it certainly sounds plausible for Hawaiian mythology. Simmons' writing style is high quality, but there are bits and pieces that detract from the book as a whole.

The one paragraph synopsis is as follows: An enormous resort was built in Hawaii by a real schmuck of a businessman (Trumbo). He's demolished quite a bit of nature to construct the thing and now wants to unload it on a group of Japanese buyers. They all meet at the resort to seal the deal, unfortunately two of the local volcanoes begin erupting and people start disappearing and reappearing in bits at pieces. Trumbo's soon to be ex-wife, soon to be ex-girlfriend, and current fling all show up to make things worse for him. Add in a professor with a diary from her distant relative that seems to follow the same series of events from over a hundred years ago, a plump little housewife from the Midwest with a gun and a foul mouth, and an assorted cast of other guests and you have quite the mix of personalities. The lava starts flowing, business negotiations heat up, and the number of people in the resort dwindles while a select few try to solve the "mystery" by using the diary.

First, this book is billed as horror, but other than people disappearing and pieces of them reappearing at in-opportune times, it never really felt like a horror book. So if you are looking for a nail biter, look elsewhere. Second, it becomes very apparent what is going to happen about a chapter before it happens, so there are no surprises. Perhaps I've just over-read the horror genera and have developed a "sixth sense" about horror novels, but nothing in here surprised me, there were no shockers. I would have to say that my biggest complaint with the book is that the "present day" characters are almost ridiculously stereotypical. It almost started to remind me of "Scooby Doo 2" (the live action one). You have the big bad business man, his 3 stereotypical women, the blatantly obvious good guys, your standard plethora of henchmen, and the native people who want to protect their lands. The most interesting parts of the book were the Diary excerpts; unfortunately their placement in the text of the main story left a little to be desired. Not only were the breaks between the two stories at inopportune times, but the diary chapters pretty much told you exactly what would happen in the following "present day" chapter. I was fairly disappointed with that.

I know that I have pointed out a lot of negative, but have given the story 4 stars. Simmons is a brilliant writer, his words (even the profanities) flow with beauty and even if you don't like the story, or hate the characters, you can't help but to admire his prose. I don't think this was one of his better books, but I still think it was an excellent book on the whole.

**Random Note - Someone in another review stated that this was an over 500 page book, I don't know what version they were reading, but mine was 408 pages**

While this story is certainly well crafted, and is the best modernized version of Hawaiian myth I've ever read, its ending is awfully formulaic for a writer who's created such masterpieces in the past.
Simmons does prove here that he can tell a "double story" as well as anyone, skipping back and forth between the present and the past.

Having read most of Dan Simmons work (his SF being the best), I felt he was going the way of Stephen King and getting lazy in his writing, his last few books being less than stellar. So, I picked up Fires of Eden with a little trepidition. I was more than thrilled to find the book extremely engaging and actually educational! The characters are well developed and interesting, the story well structured and thought out (and engaging), and the atmosphere moody and interesting.

Its a lot like Jurassic Park in that its about a large resort overcome with Hellish monsters, except that here they weren't meant to be the main attraction.

Overall, I recommend this book to anyone interested in the horror genre who wants something more than simplistic monsters and a plot that will keep you reading well into the night.

Dan is one of my favorite authors, and this book certainly helps maintain his position there. Not being a real feminist one of the main underlying themes didn't really catch me up in it's swirl but I still thought it was a great book. Call me slow but I really had a hard time working out how the native names were pronounced, eventually I just gave them mental shorthand names and that solved that problem. I love Dan's style that plays two stories at once his switching back and forth REALLY adds to the suspense, someone should suggest to him to write in natural breaks so that I can get stop and get some sleep! One question though, how did Cordie get off a commercial plane with a large handgun? Ahh well, I guess I'll just have to read it again to see what I missed.

I found this book at a Borders just after I finished Children of the Night by Dan Simmons. The man is such a brilliant author. This book is fascinating and worth looking for. Mark Twain pops up as a main character. After reading this book, I can't help but watch a Discovery channel program about volcanoes and Pele. Simmons is mesmirizing and hypnotic. Read any of his books. This book is over 500 pages and I finished it in 3 days, I could not put it down!

Hawaii is in the midst of a historic volcanic eruption. The new Mauna Pele luxury resort should be packed full of tourists, but a series of murders and disappearances plagues the location. Byron Trumbo would like to unload the money pit as soon as possible, but bad publicity and a growing number of bodies may hamper his efforts. Things only get worse as he tries desperately to cover up the events. Meanwhile, Eleanor Perry has just arrived, set on following the path laid out in her great aunt's journal. Aunt Kidder visited the same spot back in 1866 and experienced something similar to the events of today. Along with Cordie Stumpf (nee Cooke -- of Summer of Night) and a local with more than a passing knowledge of Hawaiian folklore, Eleanor will do everything in her power to stop the inevitable disaster at Mauna Pele.

Amongst the ever growing list of Simmons's accomplished novels, Eden no doubt earns its fair share of criticism. It's a fun story, though, packed with Hawaiian lore that many are probably not familiar with. Simmons also ties in Samuel Clemens' (Mark Twain) writings on the area, making him a main character in the 1866 flashbacks of Kidder's journal.

One review referred to the book as a sort of environmental horror story, which is kind of appropriate. Hawaiian gods and goddesses wreaking havoc on a greedy developer's golf resort sure makes for great entertainment and a really quick read.

This Hawaiian adventure was one of the better spin-offs from _Summer of Night_. Though Cordie Cooke's description borders on the outright grotesque, she remained just as likable - if not more so - than in her first appearance. There is just something bluntly charming about her. I liked the way Simmons intertwined the historical aspect of Mark Twain's visit to Hawaii through Aunt Kidder's journal entries.
Full of excitement, and even with a cameo appearance by Mike O'Rourke, I had a lot of fun reading this. Basing everything off Hawaiian mythology made it even more unique and giant pigs, sharks and volcano eruptions aside, makes me want to go back there! A fun and summery adventure, and a welcome addition to Simmons' versatile bibliography. Simmons is very talented, but he really shines with the historical sections.