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Freeing Eden
All trader Zara wanted was to help Kell, a clone, retrieve his maker’s memories and discover who he really is. The conflict-torn planet Eden was supposed to be just a stop en route, but Kell begins recalling fragments of memories from Swifthammer, Eden’s now-deceased resistance leader. Despite Zara’s misgivings, Kell assumes Swifthammer’s role, opposing the planet’s foreign warlord Reuel.
- GenresScience FictionRomance
353 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 29, 2019
18 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
G.S. Kenney
7 books17 followersAuthor G. S. Kenney (Ginger) started reading early, and never stopped. In kindergarten, drawn in by an interesting book with a picture of three witches at a cauldron, she learned to read by starting with Macbeth. Now she writes speculative fiction. Her science-fiction romance novel Freeing Eden, published by Soul Mate Publishing in May, 2019, was a 2018 finalist in the Golden Heart® contest of the Romance Writers of America. The Last Lord of Eden, the second novel in the Ascent of Eden series, is also published by Soul Mate.
Interested in many fields, Ginger studied the “Great Books” at St. John’s College, architecture at Harvard, and financial planning at Boston University. She has also conducted post-doctoral research in psychology at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina, and developed software systems. In addition to writing fiction, Ginger is an avid photographer. She has traveled to six of the seven continents, and has the photographs to prove it. You can see her travelogues and photography on her website at www.gskenney.com.
After years of cold winters in Massachusetts, Ginger and her husband followed their children west in 2014, realizing their dream of moving to the milder climate of northern California. In an effort to walk 10,000 steps a day, she treks up and down the foothills of Mt. Tamalpais, and is thankful every day for her good fortune to live in such a beautiful place.
Interested in many fields, Ginger studied the “Great Books” at St. John’s College, architecture at Harvard, and financial planning at Boston University. She has also conducted post-doctoral research in psychology at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina, and developed software systems. In addition to writing fiction, Ginger is an avid photographer. She has traveled to six of the seven continents, and has the photographs to prove it. You can see her travelogues and photography on her website at www.gskenney.com.
After years of cold winters in Massachusetts, Ginger and her husband followed their children west in 2014, realizing their dream of moving to the milder climate of northern California. In an effort to walk 10,000 steps a day, she treks up and down the foothills of Mt. Tamalpais, and is thankful every day for her good fortune to live in such a beautiful place.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
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September 12, 2019What an unusual book!
It starts out reading like a SFnal romance, with our heroine, a trader named Zara, going to a brothel to talk to a clone who is so braindead he can't answer or respond. (Which I found very disturbing.) But it swiftly turns into a romance meet-cute as this clone begins to reveal that he is not braindead at all!
Zara badgers the brothel owner into selling the clone to her, then she sneaks him into space. When she takes him to a station, they are nearly caught by what at first seems to be your standard Lord Evil, science fiction version--and so Zara and Kell zoom off to the one planet they shouldn't go to. . . Eden, with its mysterious anomalies.
Here, they meet up with what seems at first the downtrodden but good-hearted non-violent peasantry, who are being harassed, maltreated, and even killed by Lord Evil. Meanwhile Kell is recovering memories.
Brain scans are a thing in SF today--I really enjoyed Arkady Martine's book, also out this year, that centers around brain scans. This novel takes a hard left turn when Kell and Zara investigate Lord Evil's castle for plot reasons, and get captured.
Everything becomes exponentially more complicated, and intense, from that point. I thought I could predict exactly where this was going, but I hadn't a clue. There's some rough edges, and copyediting glitches, but whoa, what a wild, interesting ride! I ended up reading way late into the night.
Copy provided by publisher
It starts out reading like a SFnal romance, with our heroine, a trader named Zara, going to a brothel to talk to a clone who is so braindead he can't answer or respond. (Which I found very disturbing.) But it swiftly turns into a romance meet-cute as this clone begins to reveal that he is not braindead at all!
Zara badgers the brothel owner into selling the clone to her, then she sneaks him into space. When she takes him to a station, they are nearly caught by what at first seems to be your standard Lord Evil, science fiction version--and so Zara and Kell zoom off to the one planet they shouldn't go to. . . Eden, with its mysterious anomalies.
Here, they meet up with what seems at first the downtrodden but good-hearted non-violent peasantry, who are being harassed, maltreated, and even killed by Lord Evil. Meanwhile Kell is recovering memories.
Brain scans are a thing in SF today--I really enjoyed Arkady Martine's book, also out this year, that centers around brain scans. This novel takes a hard left turn when Kell and Zara investigate Lord Evil's castle for plot reasons, and get captured.
Everything becomes exponentially more complicated, and intense, from that point. I thought I could predict exactly where this was going, but I hadn't a clue. There's some rough edges, and copyediting glitches, but whoa, what a wild, interesting ride! I ended up reading way late into the night.
Copy provided by publisher
October 7, 2019
Nevertheless, this well written novel will appeal to readers who love world-saving heroes.
Read full review in the 2019 October issue of InD'tale Magazine.
Read full review in the 2019 October issue of InD'tale Magazine.
August 7, 2019
What an innovative sci-fi romance! I loved the premise of a clone learning their identity and the plot twists and turns kept me reading. I highly recommend this story.
August 20, 2019
Captivating (and super sexy) characters and unique world-building kept me intrigued with this story. The action and twists were obviously an added treat. I'm definitely looking forward to the next book from Kenney.
January 12, 2020
Wow! What a book. I went into this expecting a standard sci-fi romance, by which I mean a standard romance thinly reskinned with spaceships instead of castles and rogue pilots instead of Dukes. Most sci-fi romances are terrible but occasionally some are fun and as someone who likes both genres I was hopeful that this would be one of the better ones.
And it started out quite well! Decent main characters, a more-complex-than expected worldbuilding, and what looked like a fairly classic "overthrow the bad guy" plotline. If that's all it had stayed, I would have been perfectly happy with it.
BUT about halfway through this book has a huge twist and I'm still marveling over the audacity of what G.S. Kenney did. To say more would be to ruin it but suffice to say that I was also warned (through other non-spoiler reviews) that there would be a twist and blithely thought I had a good idea what it would be. But I WAS WRONG. Now that I've finished it, reading reviews with spoilers, I think this is a common experience.
I love books that can surprise me like this.
***vague spoilers ahead***
I'm always a huge fan of putting characters in difficult moral situations, and even more a fan of characters being called out on being narrow-minded or making assumptions. This book does this a lot, and I enjoyed it immensely.
I also love it when smart characters are actually smart and the book goes into their process of trying to outwit each other. This book had a lot of that, which was great. I really hate it when supposedly smart characters are stupid, and in this book generally avoided that, certainly a lot more than most romances do.
Really my only complaint is that if one is going to bill this as a romance, I wish that there had been more time with Kel and Zara together. As it is, they spend a lot of the book apart. For very good reasons, but still, it was sad not to see their relationship play out as much. Given how things ended, I am very hopeful that the sequel will restore that balance.
And it started out quite well! Decent main characters, a more-complex-than expected worldbuilding, and what looked like a fairly classic "overthrow the bad guy" plotline. If that's all it had stayed, I would have been perfectly happy with it.
BUT about halfway through this book has a huge twist and I'm still marveling over the audacity of what G.S. Kenney did. To say more would be to ruin it but suffice to say that I was also warned (through other non-spoiler reviews) that there would be a twist and blithely thought I had a good idea what it would be. But I WAS WRONG. Now that I've finished it, reading reviews with spoilers, I think this is a common experience.
I love books that can surprise me like this.
***vague spoilers ahead***
I'm always a huge fan of putting characters in difficult moral situations, and even more a fan of characters being called out on being narrow-minded or making assumptions. This book does this a lot, and I enjoyed it immensely.
I also love it when smart characters are actually smart and the book goes into their process of trying to outwit each other. This book had a lot of that, which was great. I really hate it when supposedly smart characters are stupid, and in this book generally avoided that, certainly a lot more than most romances do.
Really my only complaint is that if one is going to bill this as a romance, I wish that there had been more time with Kel and Zara together. As it is, they spend a lot of the book apart. For very good reasons, but still, it was sad not to see their relationship play out as much. Given how things ended, I am very hopeful that the sequel will restore that balance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 25, 2019
Wow!
This story was not what I expected. It is a love story with a bizarre twist (and no it is not the twist you are thinking of!). I read it in one sitting and then went back a week later and read it again, just to enjoy the detailed story and intense characters again.
This story was not what I expected. It is a love story with a bizarre twist (and no it is not the twist you are thinking of!). I read it in one sitting and then went back a week later and read it again, just to enjoy the detailed story and intense characters again.
February 26, 2022
Freeing Eden is a captivating in depth story encased within intricate world building populated by a cast of extraordinarily crafted characters who are immersed within a narrative of subterfuge, genetic engineering and a people struggling to free themselves from oppressive rule.
Trader Zara is pulled into this complex state of affairs while planet side and meets what she believes to be a baseclone, Kell. Zara soon discovers Kell is much more than he seems, and their adventure together soon becomes a hypnotic engaging read with all roads leading back to the planet of Eden.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Trader Zara is pulled into this complex state of affairs while planet side and meets what she believes to be a baseclone, Kell. Zara soon discovers Kell is much more than he seems, and their adventure together soon becomes a hypnotic engaging read with all roads leading back to the planet of Eden.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
January 15, 2025
Solid 3,8 interesting premise about what makes us individual humans and what is freedom. I enjoyed the MCs but wish we had seen a little more of Zara as we think this is her story but it really isn't. I received this book from Booksirens and am happy to leave this review.
April 2, 2020
I more skimmed than read. Author killed her own tension on and off. Some amazing ideas in this book that she could have done more with.
June 18, 2023
A dual personality clone tries to bring peace to his home planet. Very interesting sci-fi with excellent characters. I’ll be back for more
September 5, 2022
This book was really out of my comfort zone and although I try to try each book at least once, I'm just not sure what to think.
I do know I found the book intriguing and action packed.
Will I read again? Not sure but probably.
I do know I found the book intriguing and action packed.
Will I read again? Not sure but probably.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews