This was so interestingly written, we have so much world building with a multiverse of different versions of Earth, and you can tell research has been done by the author to write this. There were a lot of different character point of views, and in some books this can get confusing, but the way Tchaikovsky has made each character so different, it’s very easy to follow and differentiate between them all. They have relatable, real life issues which make it easy to connect with them while also having to cope with this new knowledge they’ve discovered of other worlds and having aliens and other beings thrust into their daily lives.
This is the first book I’ve read by this author, but with the detail included in this book to help build the world and the story, it definitely will not be the last.

The audiobook was narrated by Sophie Aldred and I think that was probably the best choice they could’ve made for this book. She narrates the whole story so well, she’s known for sci-fi worlds already after working with the Doctor in Doctor Who past and present so she’s no newbie to aliens.

I ended up not finishing this one, it just wasn't for me, thanks anyway for taking the time to accept my request.

AT can do no wrong! His writing is amazing as always, his imagination out of this world! I mean, if you are reading this book, you know! ;)

Recommended

Adrian Tchaikovsky never fails to tell a brilliant, utterly absorbing tale and The Doors of Eden is no exception. Weird, wonderful and (almost) out of this world, this is a fantastic read which had me hanging on the edge of my seat.

I wasn't able to finish this book because it was more hard sci-fi than I'd expected and I felt lost. However, it is an amazing story that I will recommend to fans of the genre, it just wasn't for me specifically. But that doesn't mean that it wasn't good, as Adrian Tchaikovsky is a well established name in the genre.

Thanks very much to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. I struggled with the audiobook on the NetGalley app, so, unfortunately, was unable to finish the book. From what I listened to it was great, and I'll be picking up a copy to finish reading.

Tchaikovsky never fails to push the boundaries with his work.

Multiple timelines and different species make for a fascinating sci-fi/fantasy with a modern London setting.

Young cryptid hunters Lee and Mal are searching for the Birdman of Bodmin when Mal mysteriously disappears in a freak weather event. Years later, Lee finds herself entangled in more weird events featuring MI5 agent Julian and kidnapped scientist Dr Kay Amal Khan. Just when things seem to be weird enough, Mal reappears on the scene and introduces a sentient rat race who are working to save the system.

As always, Tchaikovsky has covered all bases in his research for this book, even down to the highly scientific interludes. While a work of fiction, the story is very immersive with vivid imagery and very realistic.

The book does require the reader to pay attention at all times and this can be lost a little when listening to the audiobook. The narrator has done a fantastic job but some differentiation between characters and perspectives was a little lost and may have been better suited to multiple narrators.

Many thanks to the publisher and Adrian Tchaikovsky for the audiobook copy of The Doors of Eden.

Adrian Tchaikovsky's work is always high up on my list of priorities when it comes to choosing what to read next, and The Doors of Eden did not let me down. Exciting, smart and interesting sci-fi, with a many worlds structure to run parallel with its many worlds story. Sophie Aldred does a fantastic job with a large and extremely varied cast of characters while keeping the pacing good and the listener emotionally invested.

Epic and wonderfully twisty, it will keep me thinking about it for a long time.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an audio copy of this book. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this one.

The narrator is great but I found the story line to be very jumpy and difficult to follow.

I may try a re-read at some point to see if it makes more sense the second time around but I didn't like this.

I received this audiobook from the publishers via Netgalley for a review.. A sweeping novel of alternative earth's. A well thought-out novel. The narrator has done a remarkable job of bringing this book to life

I found the Doors of Eden quite confusing to keep up with as a audiobook - I didnt like the inbetween chapters about the evolution of other ceatures etc and I'm sure reading it would be easier as a book but the story of parrallel universes was good and if you are a fan of Sci Fi then this will be great for you

Really enjoyed this auditiobbok. Took longer to listen to thna expended as I had to keep going back to get the story. A massive world woke of the best I've listen to since Tolkien

I’m enjoying the concept but finding it difficult to follow along with the audiobook so I will be switching to a paperback version.

Thanks for this opportunity

4.5 stars

Doors of Eden follows the story of Lee and Mal, two girls who stumble into parallel worlds of the unknown. A masterpiece of evolutionary world building and biological fascination, this novel manages to capture the readers imagination whilst also exploring some incredibly relevant socio-political themes and asks the question - how might evolution have been different if even a tiny factor had been different?

This book was a reread for me and I have to say while I enjoyed it the first time, I appreciated it so much more on reread - the humour, the characters, the science - just everything was so great! I really love Lee and Mal's storyline especially, two girls who don't really fit in by societies standards who are just trying to get by and get back to each other. 4 years prior to the start of the book Mal (Lee's girlfriend) goes missing on Bodmin Moor after a mysterious encounter with the supernatural, after both of them being obsessed with monster hunting and the weird and wonderful world of the unexplainable growing up. At the start of the book Lee is mysteriously contacted by Mal and is thrown into a conspiracy surrounding corporate dickheads, MI5, strange creatures from other worlds and the end of the known universe. I love Lee and Mal's relationship and exploring the new worlds through their eyes was great!

On second read I also appreciated the other characters a lot more. Kay Amal Khan, a renown sciencist and expert in a certain field of physics/maths that makes her integral to the saving of the universe is an outspoken icon who truly makes every scene she is in. The only thing I was slightly iffy about is a trans woman being written by a cis man, there is some quite significant transphobia - this does serve somewhat of a purpose in the story to highlight how assholey some of the characters are but it still made me a bit uncomfortable, but on the other hand she is an amazing character and it is great to see a trans woman and two lesbians saving the world. We also follow Julian and Alison, who both work for MI5 and also end up embroiled in the mess, they grew on me also a lot more this time and I really like how all the storylines tie together.

I really like how at the start of each chapter we get a little speculative evolution of other worlds section, and while the true revelance of this is revealed later in the book, I think these sections are just a fascinating bit of science looking at how ecosystems and societies develop, which creatres become dominant and what conditions create this.

The system of parallel worlds Tchaikovsky has created is such a interesting concept and I loved seeing how character from other worlds were pulled into the central conflict and influenced events - the different perspectives they brought and also the intrinsic prejudices of the humans in how they react to otherworldly creatures.

There are also some despicable villains who very much mirror certain political figures from our world, and I liked the exploration of human greed and how certain people would put themselves and their agenda as priority to the rest of the universe and bulldoze everything they don't accept as 'normal'.

In conclusion a fantastic science fiction novel, with a focus on biology (rather than physics/astronomy - which I love!!), with a great cast of characters, clever writing and an uplifting message about how sometimes it takes being different to save the world.

I read quite a lot of multiple world books, both fantasy and sci-fi and at first I was expecting just more of the same tropes here, but coming straight off of reading Tchaikovsky's action packed Cage of Souls I wanted to read another ASAP and I'm very glad I was. This is up there with Long Earth or Proxima. Tchaikovsky seems to be able to write any kind of SF. Eon spanning galactic stuff? Check. Dying world stuff? Check. Military? Check. And now multiple worlds. He's an outrageously talented writer and now on my must read list.

Lee’s girlfriend Mal went missing years ago after they two of them were exploring reports of a strange creature on Bodmin Moor. Suddenly, she returns. MI5 agents are investigating an attempt on the life of scientist Kay Amal Khan and come across individuals involved who appear to be non human. Doors between worlds seem to be opening and leading to more, stranger activities and various parties strive to understand, undo and exploit them.

I am only occasional science fiction reader and hadn’t read anything by the author before but have heard great things about his previous work, Children of Time.

Doors of Eden follows several characters as the rifts between world start to widen and cause problems in many worlds. The book is high in action and is rather fast paced, it starts off in quite an adventurous way and put me in the mind of Michael Crichton. The characters were likeable, particularly Dr Khan. There were some more science heavy parts which I felt were executed really well in the audiobook and suspect they would have felt a little dry in print.

I did feel like the story did peter out a little towards the end and the ending didn’t quite feel as satisfying as I’d hoped. It was overall enjoyable though and I’d read more by the author.

I thought the narration by Sophie Alfred was excellent. She kept me engaged and was adept at providing individual voices to the characters. As stated above, I thought she brought life to what may have been less interesting parts of the book and I’d be happy to listen to something narrated by her again.

I received an ARC (in audiobook format) of this book in exchange for an honest review.
So on to the book. I haven’t read any Adrian Tchaikovsky before, but as a fan of science fiction and fantasy he’s been on my radar, so this seemed as good a time as any to add him to my collection.
The blurb reads
“They thought we were safe. They were wrong.
Four years ago, two girls went looking for monsters on Bodmin Moor. Only one came back.
Lee thought she'd lost Mal, but now she's miraculously returned. But what happened that day on the moors? And where has she been all this time? Mal's reappearance hasn't gone unnoticed by MI5 officers either, and Lee isn't the only one with questions.
Julian Sabreur is investigating an attack on top physicist Kay Amal Khan. This leads Julian to clash with agents of an unknown power - and they may or may not be human. His only clue is grainy footage, showing a woman who supposedly died on Bodmin Moor.
Dr Khan's research was theoretical; then she found cracks between our world and parallel Earths. Now these cracks are widening, revealing extraordinary creatures. And as the doors crash open, anything could come through.”


This blurb really does fall short of letting you know what you’re in store for when you start this book. Without sounding too obscure the aspect of Parallel Earths is at the same time the main plot of the story but at the same time such a small part. You do get so involved in the characters and their journey that it’s not until later in the book when the real parallel earth travelling starts that you realise that this IS the whole motivation behind everything.
I just loved the characters, and was very impressed by the little glimpses into their psyche. Specifically Kay Amal Khan (one of my favourite characters) She’s an upfront, bolshie foul mouthed Trans Woman and you can’t help but love her. At one point in the book Dr Khan is captured by a group of people with very distinct and narrow minded views. This puts her in a position where she is made to remove her make-up and wear men’s clothing. Another character, witness to these events, observes how she appears physically diminished by this situation. It is, to me, quite clever to slip such a poignant observation into a story about parallel worlds and monsters.
Another thing I particularly enjoyed, not so much a character that but more of a plot device, is the trilobite ‘living ship’. It was very reminisce of a TV show I used to watch years ago called Farscape, so I had a little twinge of nostalgia travelling on that ship.
Talking about “nostalgia” this book is also narrated by a voice from my childhood, Sophie Aldred, one of my most favourite Doctor Who companions. She has such diversity she really did bring an extra level to the characters, both male and female.
Add all this to the way Tchaikovsky weaves the different threads of his story with such finesse and what is there not to love about this book; parallel worlds, technologically advanced rats, living spaceships et al.

The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor, 20/08/2020) is a solid mix of fantasy and science fiction with parallel worlds. Lee and Mal went to explore rumours of monsters in a moor, but only Lee came back. Now, four years later, she is drawn in to a story bigger than anything she ever expected. Another strand of the story focuses on Kay Amal Khan, a trans physicist who is the only one who can help an alien race and is abducted. The Doors of Eden includes six or so points of view in an epic story that spans multiple worlds. It is interesting, smart and well-researched. However I had issues connecting to the story and characters, which led to me not enjoying this one as much as I’d hoped. I think it’s a very good book, though a bit too much on the hard science fiction side for me personally.

A brilliant storyline of worlds between worlds.

We start the journey with Lee and Mal on an adventure looking for monsters on Bodmin Moor. Lee manages to get home, but Mal goes missing. Four years later Mal appears just as Lee is trying to escape the being interrogated by MI5.

Julian Sabreur is an MI5 agent. He is investigating an attack on Kay Amal Khan, a physicist, but he becomes aware of Mal and Lee in his investigations.

Kay Amal Khan is studying cracks in our universe which seem to point to another earth, manned by creature like “humans”.

This is a complicated but fascinating look at the earth and a parallel universe. I loved every moment spent listening to the book.

Sophie Aldred is an astonishingly good narrator. So easy to follow. She manages to capture each character brilliantly.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the audiobook to review.

Unfortunately I couldn't get into this one and had to dnf. I think it was a problem with my reading mood rather than the book and I'll try reading it again in the future.