Eden Green

By: Fiona van Dahl

Narrated by: Fiona van Dahl

Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

In a single drop of contaminated blood, there writhe millions of needle-shaped cells. When introduced to a host, they spread - healing wounds, replenishing fluids, patching bone. The host becomes unstoppable; even complete destruction of its brain isn't necessarily the end. All their cells are gradually replaced, enhanced.

Eden Green is the third human to see the needles in action, after her best friend Veronica accepts them without thinking. Patient Zero is Tedrin, a shady manipulator who offers the corruption as a path to immortality. Only Eden, a rationalist by nature, questions Tedrin's motives; she can't help imagining an eternity as a human weapon trapped in a body made of needles.

Armed with reason, humor, and a shotgun, she sets out to learn as much as she can about the parasite - and how to save her sanity, Veronica, and the world.

©2015 Fiona van Dahl (P)2015 Fiona van Dahl

Overall recommendable

Overall quite recommendable! Definitely an interpersonal and emotionally driven book. This flavors the pretty terrifying and overwhelming science fiction elements in a unique and satisfying way. I would describe my experience listening to it as "The good kind of stress." There are some elements of the world building and science I would have liked to have seen more of, however I feel the book was mostly about the characters, who have a cohesive plot of their own. I wasn't a huge fan of the start of this story. The first scene in particular didn't quite feel right. However by chapter four I was pretty invested. By that point in the plot, the style of pacing was constantly engaging, and information was presented in ways I really enjoy. I found the emotion came through strong and unique to me, far more in the forefront than I'm used to. Others have commented on the horror elements being a concern, but I found they were presented well by the author.

Eden Green review

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, this is an excellent story.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Eden Green?

The beginning when it's revealed what Veronica is marked with.

Which scene was your favorite?

The beginning scene.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The same about Veronica.

Any additional comments?

An excellent story.

A Great Debut Effort

Eden Green is a pretty impressive debut novel, narrated by the author. It is good when occasionally you come across something that feels new, but in the ideas in the story, and the execution. More so that this was a contained novel, a done-in-one, not the start of some perpetual series to be metered out over the next ten years. The story felt pretty fresh to me, with some interesting concepts, and good character development. I must say, Veronica would be the worst excuse of a friend you could hope for, and the scene where Eden finally tells her off after so many years of being used by her was so well done I was nearly cheering. Initially I thought the book seemed a bit short, but the both the narration pace and the kinetic first person writing style was pretty rapid, it conveyed a lot, and I was unable to listen at my normal fast listening speeds. It was also devoid of extraneous filler material, and was all main story, even to the point of the sudden but fitting/expected ending. The writing style was impressive, and not something I can really recall encountering before. It felt very alive, but not to the point of ever being hard to follow or disjointed. The build up to the sudden ending was excellent, and I felt the way it ended was great, and something more authors should be game to try.

The author was also the narrator, and I think she did a fantastic effort, both with voice acting, pace, clarity, and accuracy. Even if she doesn't publish any more books, she should definitely consider more narration. I did get this book as a free review copy, but I'd definitely be interested in purchasing other works, written and narrated by her.

Solid Freshman Debut

Any additional comments?

I received a free audio copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I'd actually give this book 3 1/2 stars. Eden Green is a sci-fi thrill ride with an interesting concept - a needle-like parasite infects the host and provides healing abilities, leading to what seems like immortality. The titular character, Eden Green, is infected against her will. She also discovers there are monsters lurking in her world. As a scientist, she's interested in what this all means and how to stop it.

The book is a compelling read. I was hooked immediately. There are influences from John Dies at the End, Harry Potter, Twilight, and Lord of the Rings. It's billed as a sci-fi/horror novel. I typically find horror novels to be somewhat campy, and this one is no different. Unfortunately it lost a bit of steam after the first few chapters. I found myself rolling my eyes at some oft-repeated phrases and themes and thinking, "Get on with it already!" The plot thinned out a bit and it felt repetitive in spots, and I wasn't in love with any of the characters. The pace picks up towards the end, however, in the culminating action scenes. Despite feeling a tad too long, I was still curious to see how it all wrapped up.

Listening to the book, there were a few times I was wishing I had a hard copy to refer to. More than a few times the author cuts thoughts off in the middle of sentences, which I found to be a bit distracting. I kept wondering if I'd enjoy the book more had I actually read it versus listened to it.

Another thing this book has going for it is that it's wholly contained within one novel - no long series to see what happens. Overall it was a solid freshman effort, and kudos to Fiona van Dahl.

Prototype video game & psychological thriller

Firstly, the narration is great. I can tell that the author is very close to their characters.

The story has a nice structure to it. There's a clear before, during, after, and conclusion.

The final scene is quite haunting and beautiful. it was very well done.

this is a YA book through and through. lots of drama, relationship troubles, etc. Yet it's also an interesting sci fi premise with some Videodrome style elements. there are some sequences (especially when listened to) that are very effective in conveying classic body horror. there's nothing that I would call straight up "gross" however, so it's also fairly tame.

all in all, it's a great effort that's worth the listen if you're a fan of YA and you identify with being a third wheel, or if you dream about being thrown into a sci-fi scenario that you have no control over.

lots of great psychological themes explored here as well. loss of self, alienation, etc. wouldn't be surprised if the author is interested in Freud or Jung.

Story wise, the book is entertaining enough

This is an odd book.  And that's not just my opinion.  I glanced over several reviews by other people before I chose to read this story (mainly to confirm that it wasn't horror, which I don't willingly read), and I find that most can't really classify it.

As far as I can tell it's not horror, though there are things in it that might horrify some.  It reads kind of like a memoir, a post-apocalyptic dream sequence memoir, written by a panic attacked, female Hemingway.

I like Eden, she's a well written, considerate, thoughtful, "rational" girl.  She's a loner with a love/hate relationship with her best friend Veronica who is very unstable.  Veronica "Ron" has relationship issues.   With men, with drugs, and with herself. Tedrin is her latest boyfriend, and that's when the trouble starts.

Story wise, the book is entertaining enough.  Plot wise, there's too much unexplained for my taste.  Where the monsters are coming from is sort of covered, we learn that they're coming though portals from some wild plains in another dimension. How the portals work or are generated is completely neglected.  Or why it's happening, or who started it.  Maybe horror/adventure stories don't need those things.  I do and I don't care much for the book personally because of that deficit.

The immortality "condition" that the three characters contract is poorly explained at best, the same for the cure.

There is a lot of language, and an apparent sex change and transgender relationship to make things difficult.

The production quality is decent, there are several "shouting" sentences scattered through the book that the EQ or the narrator's distance from the mic audibly changes. No music.

Van Dahl does a very good job of narration.  I liked her voice.  She's passionate, and captures the tone of the book very well.  If I were to nitpick the only thing that slightly distracted me was the ending intonation of a question or two.

To conclude, it's a pretty good story, just not to my taste.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Decent first effort

This gal read her own book. She's a better narrator than she is a writer.

The story starts off a a fast pace and then goes nowhere fast.

Eden Green

Eden Green is a unique and imaginative story, with a dash of dark sarcastic humor in the mix. The novel is refreshingly original and is hard to categorize into a single genre. Sci-fi/horror is likely as close as anyone could get.

The characters and the situations they find themselves in are described with detail without bogging down the fast-paced story. The inner struggle of the title character is the centerpiece in the narrative style of the novel and is maintained expertly throughout.

The novel audiobook version is narrated by van Dahl, who does a decent job of relaying her story, although she tends to rush the narration at some points. I'm not sure if this is intended to convey a sense of excitement or if she was just in a hurry to get some parts read.

Recommended for those who want to read a truly original work where the reader has no idea where the story will lead until the final page. Eden Green is like a thrill ride into the darkness.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast.

Good Sci-Fi, But Emotionally Heavy at Times

Any additional comments?

I love a good sci-fi premise and in this regard, Eden Green delivers. Where the story diverted from my expectations was the spotlight on the deepest emotions of the lead character. Without providing spoilers, there are consistent themes of suicide, violence, dependency and some drug references that I was not expecting going into this story. I found myself fast forwarding through portions of the heaviest emotional content as it was very hard to get through (perhaps because it was so true to reality and explored to such a deep level during numerous events within the book).

Aside from the emotional content of the story, the sci-fi was great and definitely a story that can be built upon in future novels. I'm actually very curious where this story will be going. However, I will probably not be picking up the next installment for fear of the continued deep emotional content.

Fiona Van Dahl narrated her own story here and did a great job carrying the characters through and expressing emotion better then most of the narrators I've listened to. I would have easily given her a 4 star here except the recording quality wasn't professional grade and came across as kind of tinny. If Fiona Van Dahl were to narrate another book I was interested in at professional studio quality, I would not hesitate to pick it up as she was an excellent narrator.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast.

Just "okay," mature-content YA

This book was just okay. On a positive note, the story is pretty original. That being said, I had a hard time sticking with it and contemplated stopping a few times in the first half. I eventually committed to finishing it, but it was not my "cup of tea." I think the narration is animated and fast-paced, but it is a little harsh on the ear. The characters were kind of whiny and I found that I really did not care about them. The book itself, as indicated in the summary, is quite profane, vulgar, horrific, and contains disturbing scenes. Though I could handle this, it does make it a little less enjoyable for me. Because of the content, I think this would be considered an adult/sci-fi/horror. However, I think the characters themselves seem more like they belong in a YA book, which I always have a hard time relating to. If you like sci-fi and horror, and don't mind the YA "drama," this might be a good fit for you, but I don't think I would actively tell anyone I know to read it.