Gela’s Ring
Gela’s Ring is the sequel to Dark Eden. Currently a work in progress, it will be published initially as a serial, over twelve months from Easter 2013 in the new on-line magazine Aethernet. It will be published by Corvus in book form in 2014,
The book is set some two centuries after the events in Dark Eden, and follows Starlight Brooking, a young woman from a small island community founded by Jeff Redlantern, as she encounters the new, powerful, and mutually hostile societies – followers of John Redlantern and followers of David Redlantern – that came into being after the break-up of the original human community in Circle Valley that had called itself simply Family.
At the centre of events is the ring from Earth that was given by her parents to Angela Young - Gela – the woman from whom everyone in Eden is descended, the mother of them all.
November 29th, 2012 at 6:12 pm
Hi Chris, just wanted to say that Dark Eden was a fantastic read. My 16 year old son thought it was the best book he had ever read, and we are both looking forward to the next one.
Best wishes,
Nicki
November 29th, 2012 at 9:26 pm
Thanks very much Nicki. This is all very encouraging when I am working on another one. I’m very pleased your son liked it too. It seems to go down well with readers his age (or the characters’ age!)
December 13th, 2012 at 9:13 am
I caught Dark Eden after seeing a review on the Wertzone, and got the kindle version (no paper version in the US at the time). Glad to see a sequel, I was worried that Dark Eden would be lost under the pile of urban fantasy garbage that seems to dominate the SFF genre these days, and we’d miss out on another look into one of the best imaginary worlds in fiction. Thanks for writing!
December 13th, 2012 at 9:29 am
Many thanks Jon.
December 16th, 2012 at 7:49 pm
Hi Chris
My first SF read in a while, I loved it and will recommend it to readers of all genres. I have found myself ‘swearing’ in Edenish in front of the kids, which shows me the level of a reality you’ve reached ( and stops my kids hearing the f word).
Can’t wait for Gela’s Ring.
Mick
December 16th, 2012 at 8:21 pm
To think I’ve started a new kind of swearing. I can die happy!
Thanks so much for the feedback Mick.
January 3rd, 2013 at 10:03 pm
I have just finished Dark Eden, and feel like I want to start it all over again, because I enjoyed it so much. What an original idea. And I particularly loved the development of the characters, I felt I really got to know each person. Thank you for a brilliant read, I look forward to reading more by you!
January 3rd, 2013 at 10:12 pm
Thanks very much Alison. It is really nice of you to give me this feedback. I can’t tell you how encouraging it is.
January 6th, 2013 at 1:08 am
Best book I have ever read. Thank you.
January 6th, 2013 at 10:32 am
Wow. Thanks Josh. That’s set me up for the day!
January 16th, 2013 at 4:54 pm
It seems you hear this a lot, but also I have to say Dark Eden was one of the best books I’ve ever read. I really sunk into the world and it was hard hard to put the book down (I finished it last night around 4.30 am…)! I especially loved the way the background story of Tommy and Gela became clearer little by little and how the development of the society at Eden seemed so realistic. Also the use of different perspectives on things (sometimes John’s, sometimes Tina’s etc..) was refreshing and a great way to show how people (mis)interpret each other.
Keep up the good work, I’m sure to buy the sequel!
January 17th, 2013 at 10:42 am
Thanks very much Jussi. As I’ve said before, it’s really encouraging to have this feedback. Like having people cheering you on when you’re running in a race or something!
January 22nd, 2013 at 9:14 pm
I keep annoying my girlfriend by referring to sex as ‘having a slip’. I’ve explained that it’s your fault!
January 22nd, 2013 at 9:19 pm
I’m happy to take the blame Ryan!
February 9th, 2013 at 4:52 pm
Hi I’d just like to tell you how much I enjoyed “Dark Eden”. It kept me turning the pages all night. I’m really looking forward to “Gela’s Ring”, I hope you keep this world alive and I hope one day they’ll get in contact with Earth again xx
Much love
Melanie
February 9th, 2013 at 7:56 pm
Thanks very much Melanie. I’m really pleased you enjoyed it. I must say it’s a nice feeling to have invented a world which other people like to inhabit.
February 14th, 2013 at 10:46 pm
Chris, I finally got round to buying Dark Eden this week and simply had to say how much I loved it.
I’d go so far to say that it was good good good, and I am so happy to find out there will be a sequel; particularly when the premise sounds so interesting.
I am intrigued to find out how John – who was so (painfully) aware of his place as an actor in a story – will come to be remembered when he has actually become a legend himself.
The only problem I had with Dark Eden was that I found it too compelling and finished it much too soon! I will have to try and have some better self-control with Gela’s Ring.
February 15th, 2013 at 9:56 am
I’d just turned on my laptop for a day’s writing when I saw your comment, Jack. Thanks very much. You’ve set me up nicely for a day’s work on Gela’s Ring. I’m now about 80% through the first draft. John is indeed remembered as a very major figure in it.
February 20th, 2013 at 1:42 am
Echoing what a good book this is. Cannot wait for the sequel (…trilogy, movie etc !) I’m a teacher and think this would actually be a great addition to the curriculum sitting alongside teachers fave Lord of the Flies. It’s so full of ideas and yet so digestible I think my students would love it.
February 20th, 2013 at 9:58 am
Thanks very much Ryan. I read Lord of the Flies at school when I was 13, and it made a big impression on me. I think it was the first time I really understood that a book could be a way of thinking about life, rather than simply an entertainment. Unlike L of F this book wasn’t written with young people specifically in mind, but of course I’m delighted that young people seem to enjoy and relate to it. And I’d be very pleased if it turned out to be useful in the way you suggest.
March 8th, 2013 at 5:40 pm
I somehow stumbled upon your book Dark Eden and it got its claws into me right away. The 2013 Burning Man theme this year is going to be Cargo Cult and your book gave me some great ideas for that. Glad to hear there will be a sequel. Keep up the great work.
March 8th, 2013 at 6:28 pm
Oh thanks Marc. It is a cargo cult they’re getting into isn’t it? I didn’t think of it as exactly that, but it is. I’m glad it gave you some ideas.
April 7th, 2013 at 6:00 pm
Hi, just wanted to say that I really enjoyed Dark Eden, it was a pleasure to see some well thought out world-building for once, and Eden is a place made with a lot of imagination. I am 27, so not a YA but I thought it was great, and appealing to range of ages. I do have one question though… What is a Stronry? Its the one thing I couldn’t work out! I loved the twisting of historical facts, and the different point of view chapters, as I think a lot of information was conveyed without info-dumping. I very much look forward to your next novel
April 8th, 2013 at 8:30 am
Thanks very much Holly. I’m glad you enjoyed it and appreciate you letting me know. I didn’t write it particularly with YAs in mind, and am very pleased that it seems to appeal to people of most ages, including YAs and Middle-Aged As like myself.
Lots of people are puzzled about Strornry. It comes from Extraordinary, as in Extraordinary Meeting!
April 9th, 2013 at 11:22 am
Michael’s dick I enjoyed this book. Love their use of language and the thinking that must have gone into it, can’t wait to read Gela’s Ring
April 9th, 2013 at 11:24 am
Thanks Neil. Great that you liked it so much. I’m pleased pleased!
April 9th, 2013 at 3:23 pm
I am curious about the fact that this will initially be available in a monthly magazine. May I ask did writing for the magazine modify in any way your writing style i.e. were you aware of the more urgent need to insert cliffhanger type scenarios in the novel as it would be reproduced initially in a format that wanted to deliver that kind of “until the next episode” feeling with the reader left in a kind of eager suspense of what will happen next. Were you conscious of the need to cater for that kind of audience just as for example a tv series like 24 must keep the audience hanging on with a crisis or moment of uncertainty at the end of each hour?
Or perhaps you just wrote this novel as you would any other and the montly installment thing didn’t play on your mind at all?
April 9th, 2013 at 4:51 pm
I made some effect to finish each episode with something that would whet the reader’s appetite for more, Nathan, though not necessarily cliff-hangers. The other thing that was different was that I had to settle at the outset for a predetermined length for the book.
Curiously the book has the potential now to take two different forms. Once an episode has been published, I can’t go back and change it, and the rest of the book has to be consistent with what I’ve already committed myself too. However the book version, not yet delivered to the publisher, isn’t subject to the same constraints, and I’ll be working with a different editor in either case.
April 25th, 2013 at 10:57 pm
Hi Chris,
Just wanted to add to the praise above. I’ve just finished “Dark Eden”, and have no hesitation in describing it as one of the best novels I’ve ever read. Wonderful work on so many levels. I couldn’t put it down.
Tony
April 26th, 2013 at 6:27 pm
Wow, that’s high praise indeed. Thanks so much Tony.
May 8th, 2013 at 8:51 pm
I downloaded Dark Eden for the Kindle a few days ago, after a friend recommended it, and I must say I’ve not been as gripped by a story since Stephen King’s “The Stand”. A very unputdownable read, and looking forward to the sequel. Excellent work Chris!
May 9th, 2013 at 7:56 am
Thanks very much Dan.
May 11th, 2013 at 12:55 pm
Dear Chris
I enjoyed the original short story of Dark Eden so much that avoided the novel. I finally succumbed a few weeks back and was gripped from the very first page. Being an East Londoner the vernacular you created was spot on and cracked me up, and I find myself exclaiming “Tom’s dick” frequently.
Can’t wait to see how you develope that in the sequel.
I smiled or LOLd the whole way through, and had a – shoosh- teary moment once or twice.
The genius moment for me was how you related the original story in pantomime form, and the resonance of the kid’s voices across time. Nice one.
Up the with The Chrysalids!
All the best
Rudy
Ps Holy Machine is brilliant and Our Land very very clever (send a copy to Noam Chomsky
May 11th, 2013 at 11:16 pm
Just finished reading Dark Eden. Outstanding novel, Chris. You created a vivid, believable world; inhabited it with psychologically rich characters and my word, do you know how to whip up some serious, nerve shredding tension. Thank you for writing it, I’ve been pushing it onto everyone I know.
May 12th, 2013 at 7:08 pm
Thanks Rudy. The voices back and forth across time was the part I personally particiular enjoyed writing.
May 12th, 2013 at 7:09 pm
Many thanks Anthony.