A 'parallel world' story where the meteorite which fell to Earth wiping out the dinosaurs
750 million years ago never hit. The reptiles are still the dominant species on
the planet, and a race of sentients - the Yilane - have evolved from them. The Yilane
have a complex, female dominated, society based on the manipulation of
animal genes to create the things they need, rather than the use of inert tools and
machines. The humans, or Tanu, exist in the primitive hunter-gatherer state, with
a number of societies having developed farming skills.
Both races have lived ,until now, ignorant of the existence of the other. The Yilane
dominate Africa, whilst the Tanu exist in the cooler north of America, away from
the carnivorous dinosaurs in the south. The onslaught of another Ice Age has forced
the Yilane (who, like all reptiles, cannot live in a cold climate) to cross the
ocean, seeking new warm lands to grow their cities. They settle on the area which is
now Florida. The worsening winters have driven the Tanu further south than
ever before to hunt the meat needed to get them through the winter.
Vainte is the leader charged with establishing the new Yilane city, Alpeasak, which
her people will migrate too when their current city becomes too cold to live in.
With her, included in her workforce, are the Daughters of Life, a religious sect whose
views have led to them being ejected from their city.
When a small party of Yilane are killed by a Tanu hunting party, Yilane hunters track
down the Tanu, and Vainte leads an attack against them. The Tanu tribe is
wiped out, except for two children. One of them, Kerrick, survives as an object of
scientific curiosity, and begins to learn the Yilane language. He grows up as a
Yilane, becoming a favourite of Vainte, who makes use of him in her political dealings.
Kerrick is rescued by a Tanu, Herilack, and in the escape he stabs Vainte. Kerrick
must learn to be Tanu again. He becomes a respected leader, because he
knows the ways of the Yilane, and how to fight them. He takes a wife, Armun.
The rest of the story centres around the battle for survival between the two species,
and of the personal vendetta Vainte carries out against Kerrick, who betrayed
her. The battles in this volume are based around the city of Alpeasak, which the Tanu
take over in the climactic battle. In this first volume, the cultures of the two
species are introduced, with particular emphasis on the Yilane language and biology,
and their use of genetic engineering. This background was developed by
Harrison with the help of experts in biology and linguistics, and is presented, partly in
fictionalised form, in the appendices.
Dedication: For T.A. Shippey and Jack Cohen, without whose aid this book would
never have been written particular thanks as well to John R. Pierce and
Leon E. Stover.
New York: Bantam, August 1984, 483pp., ISBN: 0-553-05065-6, hbk. Jacket: David Schleinkofer. Illustrated by Bill Sanderson.
London: Granada, September 1984, 578pp., ISBN: 0-246-12002-9, hbk. Jacket: Gino d'Achille. Illustrated by Bill Sanderson. Reprinted 1984.
as: Diesseits von Eden. Munich: Goldmann, 1984, ISBN: 3-442-08409-1, pbk. Translated by Walter Brumm. Cover: Gino d'Achille. [German]
New York: Bantam (Book Club Edition), January 1985, 461pp., hbk. Illustrated by Bill Sanderson.
as: A Oeste Do Eden. Lisbon: Gradiva Publicacoes, September 1986, pbk. Translated by Ann Maria Falcao Bastos. Cover: Gino d'Achille. Illustrated by Bill Sanderson [Portuguese]
New York: Bantam, July 1985, 508pp., ISBN: 0-553-24935-5, pbk. Cover: David Schleinkofer.
as: Al Oeste del Edén. Barcelona: Destino, 1988, 577pp., ISBN: 84-233-1652-1. Illustrated by Bill Sanderson. Translated by Domingo Santos. [Spanish]
as: L'Era Degli Yilanè. Milan: Editrice Nord, February 1989, 468pp., ISBN: 88-429-0396-5. Illustrated by Bill Sanderson. Translated by Gianluigi Zuddas. [Italian]
as: Diesseits von Eden. Munich: Goldmann, 1991, ISBN: 3-442-41089-4, pbk. Illustrated by Bill Sanderson. Translated by Walter Brumm. [German]
as: Ten Westen van Eden. Amsterdam: Meulenhoff, 1991, 559pp., ISBN: 90-2904-249-4. Translated by Annemarie Lodewijk. [Dutch]
as: Na Zápod Od Ráje. Plzeň: Laser, 1995, 575pp., ISBN: 80-7193-009-1. Translated by Martin Janda. Illustrated by Bill Sanderson. [Czech]
as: Libro Primo, in: Il Libro Degli Yilanè. Milan: Editrice Nord, October 1997, ISBN: 88-429-0987-4. Translated by Gianluigi Zuddas. Illustrated by Bill Sanderson. [Italian]
as: Na Zapad ot Raya. Bulgaria: Kameya, 1998. Translated by Vladymir Zarkov. [Bulgarian]
as: Na Zápod Od Ráje. Praha: Straky Na Vrbe, 1999, 575pp., ISBN: 80-902704-0-9. Translated by Martin Janda. Illustrated by Bill Sanderson. [Czech]
New York: Pocket / iBooks, July 2000, 484pp., ISBN: 0-7434-0013-5, tpbk. Cover by Douglas Henderson. Ilustrated by Bill Sanderson. Includes a new introduction by Harry Harrison.
as: Návrat do Ráje. Straky na Vrbĕ, 2000, ISBN: 80-86428-00-1. [Czech]
Bob Shaw, solicited pre-publication review:
"I finished reading
Harry Harrison's West of Eden with a sense of total intellectual
satisfaction. Anybody who thought Shogun was an expedition into
alien ways of thought and far-off times had better fasten his seatbelt
before daring to open this book. In many ways it has to be considered as
the ultimate science fiction novel."
Analog, December 1984, p.145-6. Review by Tom Easton.
"A massive and admirable attempt to transform evolutionary biology and
catastrophism into science fiction. Considered by itself, the fiction is
very nice indeed. The science, however, is another matter, for though
Harrison credits several experts with helping him, he blew it ... for one
thing, he makes his dinosaur-types cold-blooded, despite the case for
hot-blooded dinosaurs ... He tells us that his humans descended from New
World primates, since the Old World primates don't exist (their place in
biological history having been pre-empted by the dinosaurs). However, the
New World primates are themselves descended from the Old World stock ...
There are more gaffes too, in biology, climatology, anthropology, and so on
... If you could care less about biological or scientific plausibility, you
will enjoy West of Eden greatly. If you do care, you will be
endlessly irritated. Either way, you have to applaud Harrison's ambition.
His concept is grand, if flawed, and he executes it very well."
Booklist, 1st June 1984.
The Daily Telegraph, 11th January 1985. Review by
Michael Maxwell Scott.
"A tour-de-force, crying out for a sequel."
The Times Literary Supplement, 7th December 1984
(p.1420a). Review by Colin Greenland.
"Harrison hired consultants on biology and philology, Dr Jack Cohen and
Professor T.A. Shippey, who previously worked on Brian Aldiss's
Heliconia trilogy. Their contributions here are, if anything, even
more decisive and dramatic. Yilanè culture is based not on fire,
because reptiles are cold-blooded, but on genetic manipulation and
bio-engineering. The result is ecologically intact, awesomely advanced and
unpleasantly alien, though Harrison has chosen to provide plenty of
recognisable technology: the organic submarine, rifle, camera. The
Yilanè language is also a highly complex artifact, comprising not
only sounds and intonations but postures too. Many Yilanè never
learn it at all, and remain the lowest caste, cannon fodder. Our human
hero, on the other hand, captured by Vaintè when young, imitates
enough Yilanè speech and behaviour to save his neck, and becomes
only too well integrated into the society of his race's mortal enemy."
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine # 86, Mid-December 1984,
p.186-7. Review by Baird Searles.
"Harrison has created the Yilanè culture in exhaustive detail, but
it is an intellectual creation. The very nature of the sapient descendants
of dinosaurs implies cold-bloodedness and this may be why this created
culture doesn't grab the reader ... But even the human characters and
cultures stir little warmth ... I think it boils down to the fact that
Harrison has always been a rather 'intellectual' writer, not particularly
adept at involving the reader on an emotional or dramatic level. While
West Of Eden is a good deal more substantial than most of his work,
this still applies. However, within those limitations, this is all one
could ask for in the way of an intelligent, action-packed
clash-of-alien-races novel."
Foundation #35, Winter 1985 / 1986, p.76-79. Review by Mary
Gentle.
Fantasy Review, September 1984, p.30. Review "Boy Raised by
Lizard," by Gary K. Wolfe.
"[It] is a fast-moving, well-structured adventure story of the sort
Harrison does well, and that remains its chief virtue ... The archetypal
plot of the orphaned hero reared among strangers permits Harrison to
portray a thoroughly imagined alien culture and to describe endless
escapes, pursuits, and battles, but as extrapolation it raises as many
questions as it answers ... Why intelligent dinosaurs? Why, if dinosaurs
remained so thoroughly dominant, would they need to evolve
intelligence? And why would the Yilane, who have evolved thumbs appropriate
for tool making, have almost no knowledge of mechanical tools but instead
depend entirely on genetic engineering? ... Most important, why a rigid,
class-bound matriarchy rife with vengefulness and jealousy?"
Kirkus Reviews, 15th May 1984.
Library Journal, August 1984. Review by J. Cassada.
Locus #280, May 1984. Review by Don Chow.
Publishers Weekly, 15th June 1984.
The Washington Post (Book World), 29th July 1984,
p.11. Review by Charles Platt.
"It's a good concept, and Harrison develops it with an expert mix of
adventure, suspense, and properly researched science ... Unfortunately, the
last quarter of the novel lacks revelations and plot development, and
cannot be carried by the characters alone - Harrison is literally better at
evoking the personalities of lizards than people. Nor is the ending very
satisfying; it seems contrived to leave room for a sequel, and its lack of
resolution precludes the pacifist message that would have been the natural
conclusion, as it is in much of his other work ... [It] is written with
skill and integrity, and is much more accessible than the pompous
predecessors after which, perhaps, it is patterned: Aldiss'
Helliconia trilogy, Silverberg's Lord Valentine's Castle, and
Herbert's Dune chronicles. Not only is West of Eden more
consistently inventive, it is also more fun."
Science Fiction Chronicle, September 1984. Review by Don
D'Ammassa.
School Library Journal, November 1984. Review by B. Shorb.
Starburst, November 1985, p.40. Review "Stodgy Epic," by David
Langford.
"Conscientiously researched, honestly crafted, containing quite a few good
ideas, West of Eden manages to be a great, grey, stodgy book. It
makes you long for Harrison's old raucus wit. Where's the Stainless Steel
Rat when you need him?"
West of Eden Trilogy