Delights of Eden

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

David Harlow, one of the Space Corps' youngest and least experienced officers, has always been the black sheep of senior command. That’s why, when the office of Chief Commander has an unexpected vacancy, he’s more surprised than anyone to find out he’s been nominated. However, he knows this promotion wasn’t offered in good faith. Beneath the glittery façade of this leadership position is a churning underbelly of political strife that could turn deadly at any moment, set against the backdrop of a brutal war that's been tearing the Corps apart for nearly a decade.

Harlow knows he’s been selected in order to do the bidding of the warmongers who put him there, and to take the fall when the consequences of their greed and incompetence inevitably come due. But he only sees one way to secure peace – by accepting their offer.

Further Info:

Delights of Eden is the standalone prequel to the Europa Station Chronicles, anear-future sci-fi epicfeaturing all the suspense and intrigue of Tom Clancy’s cold war-era political thrillers, but with a contemporary space-based reimagining.

Thisdual-timeline narrativefollows the story of Chief Commander Harlow during the war and includes flashbacks to his time as a cadet, with the past providing further context to the action taking place in the present. The early years tell a queer coming-of-age story set in a world held at the mercy of mega-corporations and billionaires, contrasting sharply against the tale of a high-ranking military officer navigating a hostile command environment rife with nepotism and corruption. Narration switches between the two, and both stories unwind simultaneously with common threads linking the past and the present.

Please be aware of thecontent warnings.While this story doesn't feature any graphic depictions of violence, it has occasional profanity, realistic portrayals of war and soldiers (no battlefield scenes), depictions of homophobia, exploration of an unjust legal system, prison, and discussions of assault and suicide (characters talking about events that occurred off-page).

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2024
Author: Christian Lawrence

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 76
Views: 38,378

Chapters(54 total)

Reviews

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Community Reviews(6)

BainshieRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Delights of Eden is a fantastic near-future political thriller, following the mystery of the main character as we unravel the events of their past through two story threads running 10 years apart from each other.
Less Sci-Fi and more near future alternative universe, we follow humanity descending into war as they slowly become a spacefaring species. We follow the mystery of both the main characters' past and the dystopian incompetence that the world has somehow fallen to.
Style: The style is distinctive, painting an interesting picture swapping between different timelines and describing both a dystopian mess and the boredom of such a political situation led by incompetent idiots
The only minor negative is the paragraphs are often too short and should be merged together at times.
Grammar: Grammar is fine, with no major issues.
Story: The story is fantastic. The sudden jump in timelines to “Present day” is a strong choice, and one that I love, providing a fantastic juxtaposition between the more idealistic and “happy” past, and what’s currently going on.
In addition, the world that’s been crafted of an incompetent dystopia is a lot of fun to read and watch the system slowly collapse with a whimper instead of a bang.
Minor negative: At 21 chapters in, I’d like to know a little something about the pre-story world, as there’s something that’s happened to make this absolute mess appear, although the general mystery of the current plot keeps me satisfied.
Characters: Characters are nicely developed and interact well with each other. A strength of the story is the differences between the two timelines, with the character's arcs being clearly shown off and the differences in personality over time creating an interesting juxtaposition.
The secondary strength of the story is the characters, with the relationships that form and break over time and unknown events yet still to be mentioned.
FeynixRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'll kick this off by saying I love sci-fi and read a ton of it. I haven't read anything of this particular genre before.
To kick things off, I'm an ally. This story contains LGBTQ+ relationship material. I'm not typically drawn to that particular sub-genre but holy crap. This writer knows what's up.
Style: I mentioned the relationship. Let's be clear on that. It is not the focus of the story. It's an underlayer that goes much further towards supporting the story and world/character building than just a relationship. It's masterfully woven into the plot. The writer has a way with words. The dialogue is amazing and feels so natural. I'm going to have to take lessons from the author for my own writing.
Story: The story is really fun. There are two time periods happening in the story, and you get to see both as they weave together. You are introduced to cause and effect in a way that feels seamless as the story goes on. I started reading, and before I knew it, I had finished the story, reaching the point where the next chapter button was in the dreaded unclickable state. I definitely want to keep up with this story.
Grammar: No issues here. The author clearly knows how to weave words together.
Character: The author knows how to build a character. Everyone feels unique and individual. The way the characters interact is genuine. Without spoiling anything, there was a particular scene toward the end of what's currently available where some decisions come back to haunt one of the characters, for very legitimate reasons. The interaction between the parties involved was tense and I could feel the tension myself in the words. Becoming emotionally connected to the outcome of a conversation is a great sign that the Author knows how to connect with the readers.
I definitely feel that anyone with interest in sci-fi should check this story out. You'll love it.
ZeflonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Delights of Eden is about a cadet learning the ropes of a military academy. Delights of Eden is about a rapidly promoted General dealing with the worst of military bureacracy and mismanagement. Delights of Eden is about both at the same time, since it has two distinct points of view set in 2065 and 2073.
While I tend to be wary of anachronistic orders, the author does a fine job of keeping things organized and on track. The future plot line informs us about the past plotline, all while painting a picture of a weary soldier who achieved his dreams, just not in the way he wanted to achieve them.
Now, I know there is the word "queer" in the title, but the romance(at least so far) takes a backseat to the military intrigue. There's a meme in queer sci-fi circles called "Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism", about idyllic settings that enable picturesque gay relationships. Despite having "Eden" in the title, this story is not a utopia, folks. While the war tends to be off-screen, tons of soldiers die, explaining why the protagonist is promoted so much and so often. The author paints a shockingly accurate portrait of the worst aspects of the military industrial complex, all while keeping things just bright enough so the reader doesn't abandon the work out of despair.
The dialogue is believable and flows naturally, the style is good, and the grammar is up to snuff. I look forward to the next chapter.
JAAN957Royal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This is an excellent story. It lives on the strength of its characters, particularly its quietly determined protagonist, who remains sympathetic while navigating the cutthroat world of military politics. The supporting cast is equally well-written, with complex motives that make the moments of vicious betrayal (or, occasionally, heartwarming loyalty) believable and impactful.
My only real criticism is the worldbuilding, which is a bit too light-touch for a sci-fi story and makes the setting slightly unclear. However, it doesn’t detract from the quality of the plot and characters, and a light touch is definitely preferable to mountains of dry infodumping.
T.A.L DeasonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
The story here is a lot. It is a sci fi story with what is building up to be an epic universe in a near future alternate timeline. David is the MC and over the first seven chapter we get introduced to him as he joins the academy and begins his journey.
style- this is a sci fi epic that most will be familiar with. The author leans heavy into David’s personal and love life and that might not be for everyone but it is well written nonetheless. There are time jumps and flashback which I think makes the beginning a little convoluded but we get a great start despite that.
story- I felt like there is a great story here. David goes from new recruit to general in the first few chapters and we get an idea of how brutal and massive the war is. The author has a way with descriptions and really allows the reader to fully immerse themselves.
Grammar- I am not the grammar police and the author seems to have no glaring issues. Very crisp and well written through 7 chapter.
characters- David is the MC and victor is his love interest, these two have very different personalities and you can see David completely transforms over the course of several years as the toll of war takes it effect on him. The side characters are well written and everyone has their own personality and is well written.
overall I think this is a solid start to a great book. The time jumps can be a little tough to wrap your head around but the author has created a great story that really draws the attention of the reader.
ys_ogRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This is a story I have been sold on and will continue to read, but feel I have read enough to post a review.
The author has a VERY easy to get into-VERY easy to pick up story going that should be found interesting by anyone following the genre. Here is the trick: I don't even read the LBGTQ+ sub-genre normally yet the author has done that good of a job selling the plot with excellently written characters in a smoothly flowing plot.
Style: Easy to follow, no head-scratchers or confusing viewpoint shifts, and even the time shifts make sense based on the direction of the story and the characters' trajectories.
Grammar: Zero mistakes found.
Story: This is the only single nitpick I can list. I feel as a war story the war should be detailed a bit more early on, even if just a single paragraph, but again that's probably a preference thing as I am an avid sci-fi fan and prefer war based ones. Hence, I'd love more backstory on the war itself so I can better see the world built around them as war is a major theme here. This however does NOT take away from the incredibly immersing story between David and those he interacts with, and you care more about him than the war anyway ^^; I won't spoil, but seeing his future evolve so rapidly based on his tough decisions is what sucked me in regardless of my one complaint.
Character: Nothing to say other than beautifully written characters and their dialogue. Each are well thought out, very unique in their challenges, issues, inner struggles, and the depth of each is revealed steadily as the plot progresses.
Again, I am a sci-fi writer and reader and tend to be picky. This one has me subscribed.