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Edenborn by Nick Sagan
01/01/2005 . Source: Paul Skevington 
pub: Bantam Press. 279 page hardback. Price £12.99 (UK). ISBN: 0-593-05191-2. 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 websites: www.booksattransworld.com and www.nicksagan.com
'Edenborn' is the sequel to Nick Sagan's excellent debut novel 'Idlewild'. If you haven't read the latter, I would recommend picking it up before perusing the rest of this review as I am not going to be able to avoid slapping down some pretty big spoilers for the first book. You can read on if you want to, but it's your ritual celebration of the period immediately following your death.
Right, on to business. 'Edenborn' takes place eighteen years after the end of 'Idlewild', wherein it was revealed that the teenage inhabitants of an unusual boarding school had actually been locked inside virtual reality pods, caught within a fictional existence since the day they were born. They awoke to find a world empty of human life, destroyed by a horrific disease named 'Black Ep', a nightmarish contagion: 100% communicable and 100% fatal. The students had been genetically engineered to survive this plague, their creators placing the burden of humanity's fate on their shoulders.
As the tale continues, Halloween is still in North America in self-imposed exile from his fellow pupils whilst Isaac, Champagne and Sloane have established communities composed of children capable of withstanding the disease. Champagne and Sloane accomplished this by genetically engineering their children using methods similar to those applied in their own creation. Isaac's kids are bog-standard humans but are given drugs to suppress the effects of the disease. Pandora has placed herself in charge of managing the virtual world the original group formally inhabited, which now serves as a valuable tool in the guidance and education of Champagne and Sloane's progeny.
The tale is told principally from the perspective of the new generation, who have been raised in wildly varying ways. On one side, we have Champagne and Sloane's girls, secular and studious, well represented by the narrative voice of the paranoid and narcissistic Penny. On the other hand, we have Isaac's group including Haji, a strong and genuinely good person, raised by Isaac as a Sufi Muslim. The interaction of these differing cultures is particularly significant as this eclectic group of people is deciding the fate of humanity.
Rounding out these characters is Pandora, hopelessly in love with Halloween, and a mysterious individual named Deuce, who manipulates events from behind the scenes. The return of the cynical and rebellious Hal is a joy in itself.
Sagan eschews chapters and presents each section by labelling them with the name of the narrator. This allows him to describe the events of the unfolding story from several different perspectives, creating an unparalleled sense of closeness between the reader and the characters. Each voice is distinctive. I don't believe that I've cared so much about a collection of fictional individuals in a very long time. The dialogue is natural and enjoyable, the descriptions of worlds both imaginary and real are stunning and the novel contains some of the most poignant and moving scenes I've had the pleasure to read. The book is full of ideas and discussion. It poses many questions for the thoughtful reader. Sagan examines the importance of religion and spirituality versus the practicality of secularism. The influence of sex in human culture is also considered, as is the nature of what we would term 'reality'. A surprise twist near the end of the novel creates complications for those who would adhere to simplistic definitions of what constitutes 'life' and 'intelligence'.
I'm not going to hold back on this one, I believe that 'Edenborn' is the finest book that I have read this year. 'Idlewild' was impressive but Sagan has beaten it with a work of such depth it positively echoes. It's one of those few books that I literally could not put down, leaving me red-eyed but happy as I greeted the dawn, half comatose through lack of sleep. Sagan's mantelpiece deserves to be heaving with shiny metallic awards and I certainly do not think it would be wrong to mention the word 'Hugo'. This is not something that I say lightly. Sagan is an adrenaline shot straight into the heart of SF. Do yourself a favour, don't miss these books.
Paul Skevington
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