Eden2

In Eden2, author Mathew J. Drury introduces us to Cristian Stefansson, a cryogenically frozen, twenty-first century man who awakes 476 years later to a world alien to everything he had known. Mankind has struggled through an apocalyptic era in history leaving the globe divided into twelve major city factions, all controlled by one god-like figure shrouded with a dark hood and metallic mask, known only as lord Damarus.

During the course of the story Cristian learns that he plays a major role throughout the course of history and unveils what his fate will be in this new world. The most important question raised is, does he possess the freedom to choose his own fate, or is he locked into a predestinated will beyond his own?

The Good and the Bad

Every book has its weaknesses; there were a few in this book, but the most glaring and impactful to the reader was the author’s repetitive use of a specific character trait action. It would seem that every time Cristian was surprised, his response was to blink, if he was confused he blinked, scared, blinked. The excessive blinking didn’t only apply to main character Cristian, but to all the characters, making the story seem, at times, amateurish.

After seeing that there was so much blinking going on, I began to count. I quickly lost track as it became excessive. It progressed from being amusing to being funny, then annoying, until finally it became outright frustrating to the point I thought if anyone else blinked I would instantly delete the book from my kindle.

Of course, the blinking continued. But I did not delete the book. After all, one thing Eden2 had going for it was intrigue. Though it was quite predictable, seeming to pre-foil all of its surprises, it was capable of keeping readers genuinely interested in how it would play out.

Eden2 is Drury’s first full-length book and it has met with some pretty good fanfare. March 2012 showed it as the fifth best selling sci-fi book for Amazon Kindle in the UK. It has ranked as high as eleventh in the United States and second in Germany. That is commendable success, especially for a new author. Drury’s writing career in the sci-fi genre may be bright as Eden2 is just the first book of a planned chronicle of the same title. The second book, Veil of the Empyreal Sun, is not yet out and is reportedly at a very early stage of development. It might be worthwhile to keep an eye on this new author and the Eden2 series.