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The Eden Cycle
Ballantine # 24255. A truly remarkable parable on the issue of free will - its potential, its responsibilities, and its dangers. 232 pages.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
232 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 12, 1974
1 person is currently reading
152 people want to read
About the author
Raymond Z. Gallun
190 books12 followersAka William Callahan, Arthur Allport.
Raymond Zinke Gallun (March 22, 1911 - April 2, 1994) was an early science fiction writer.
Gallun (rhymes with "balloon") was born in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. He lived a drifter's existence, working a multitude of jobs around the world in the years leading up to World War II. He sold many popular stories to pulp magazines in the 1930s. "Old Faithful" (1934) was his first noted story. "The Gentle Brain" was published in "Science Fiction Quarterly" under the pseudonym Arthur Allport. Another of his pseudonyms was William Callahan.
Raymond Zinke Gallun (March 22, 1911 - April 2, 1994) was an early science fiction writer.
Gallun (rhymes with "balloon") was born in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. He lived a drifter's existence, working a multitude of jobs around the world in the years leading up to World War II. He sold many popular stories to pulp magazines in the 1930s. "Old Faithful" (1934) was his first noted story. "The Gentle Brain" was published in "Science Fiction Quarterly" under the pseudonym Arthur Allport. Another of his pseudonyms was William Callahan.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 23, 2024
Raymond Z. Gallun's career in science fiction stretched from the mid-1930's into the mid-1980's. He wrote a number of pulp adventures, but The Eden Cycle is a thoughtful, serious, slow-paced examination of free-will and the nature of reality. As many of the reviews here note, it's something of an early version of The Matrix. It's quite a bit longer than (as well as being quite different from) any of his other works, but it's a thought-provoking and interesting read that has held up a lot better than most of the books from 1974. Also, check out the lovely Kelly Freas cover on the Ballantine edition... which I believe may be the only printing this lost classic ever had.
February 17, 2019
This is another book that falls into the "Lost Classic" category. First, Gallun was a really good writer; while in the humanistic style characteristic of Simak, Pangborn, and Bradbury, Gallun used science and its consequences more clearly, though it is more off-stage in this work than dynamic. It's true that this book is slow-paced, with a good deal of discourse and contemplation, but that ends up being a strength. There is lot worked over here about the nature of humanity, the "meaning of life," the durability of love, and the value of mortality. What a great book for a discussion group!
Something that really surprises me about this book is that it is neither dated nor tainted by senescence. Gallun was writing great stories in the 1930s and 40s, yet shows here that, in his own 60s, he was sympathetic to counter-cultures and social movements, unshocked by recreational drug use, and presciently aware of the implications of computer-based society. This book about immortality through a Matrix-like virtual reality was published in 1974, but reads very fresh today. The direction it takes at the end is something refreshing as well: a compromise rather than all-or-nothing. Let's see Hollywood do that.
Something that really surprises me about this book is that it is neither dated nor tainted by senescence. Gallun was writing great stories in the 1930s and 40s, yet shows here that, in his own 60s, he was sympathetic to counter-cultures and social movements, unshocked by recreational drug use, and presciently aware of the implications of computer-based society. This book about immortality through a Matrix-like virtual reality was published in 1974, but reads very fresh today. The direction it takes at the end is something refreshing as well: a compromise rather than all-or-nothing. Let's see Hollywood do that.
August 2, 2017
The Eden Cycle is a hard novel to describe. The beginning 1/4 of the book is a budding love story that reads well and gets you involved with the characters. Then abruptly you discover that things are not what they seem. Life is a Matrix. The characters are human, but due to a signal from outer space, which was translated, verified and eventually the machinery needed was built, now death has been eradicated, people have become immortal, living multiple lives, however they choose. But none of it is real.
Reality is that the human essence is stored in vaults as little energy orbs. The lives that people live are basically dreams. Albeit never ending. You can live as a sheik with harems, or as explorers to other planets, or just as a bum never working, but moving around. It is all the same. Once that life gets old, switch to another. This part makes up the middle 1/2 of the book. It is also the slowest and most boring part. The reader is told of the countless lives the characters participate in, without going into a lot of details. The characters live as they will, until they get bored, then kill themselves off and begin another. The amount of lives told, indicates that they became bored quite often, this also carried over to me. This part of the novel was slow and tedious reading.
The final 1/4 of the book sees our characters going it on their own, they've had enough of the Matrix-like existence, and they want to be left alone, to live and die as is natural. This part of the novel picks up the pace again. And it ends with the reader caring about the final decision that they must make.
All in all it is a well written novel, which may have been an excellent novella.
Reality is that the human essence is stored in vaults as little energy orbs. The lives that people live are basically dreams. Albeit never ending. You can live as a sheik with harems, or as explorers to other planets, or just as a bum never working, but moving around. It is all the same. Once that life gets old, switch to another. This part makes up the middle 1/2 of the book. It is also the slowest and most boring part. The reader is told of the countless lives the characters participate in, without going into a lot of details. The characters live as they will, until they get bored, then kill themselves off and begin another. The amount of lives told, indicates that they became bored quite often, this also carried over to me. This part of the novel was slow and tedious reading.
The final 1/4 of the book sees our characters going it on their own, they've had enough of the Matrix-like existence, and they want to be left alone, to live and die as is natural. This part of the novel picks up the pace again. And it ends with the reader caring about the final decision that they must make.
All in all it is a well written novel, which may have been an excellent novella.
February 17, 2010
A science fiction approach to the concept that "we make our own reality" and what that looks like, lifetime after lifetime, for the main characters. Good one for book clubs, as it leads to some really interesting discussions. It's a very fast read - one sitting.
I enjoyed the premise of this book (not the first time for this topic, but a quick little fun read), and the things it makes you think about -- if I had total control over my life, what things would be most important to me? How would I choose to live, and if given the chance to live over and over, how would I choose to do it? Would I want to know that I had control, or would that spoil the fun of living?
I enjoyed the premise of this book (not the first time for this topic, but a quick little fun read), and the things it makes you think about -- if I had total control over my life, what things would be most important to me? How would I choose to live, and if given the chance to live over and over, how would I choose to do it? Would I want to know that I had control, or would that spoil the fun of living?
March 15, 2020
Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
"Raymond Z. Gallun is best known for his pulp sci-fi from the 1930s-50s. From the 50s onward he wrote a handful of novels of varying quality. The Eden Cycle (1974), probably his single best science fiction work, is a successful integration of pulp ideas and lush environments with a poignant and often haunting depiction of the social ramifications of a future world where everyone, “blessed” with immortality, can “live” in any virtual [...]"
"Raymond Z. Gallun is best known for his pulp sci-fi from the 1930s-50s. From the 50s onward he wrote a handful of novels of varying quality. The Eden Cycle (1974), probably his single best science fiction work, is a successful integration of pulp ideas and lush environments with a poignant and often haunting depiction of the social ramifications of a future world where everyone, “blessed” with immortality, can “live” in any virtual [...]"
September 13, 2023
The two protagonists are midwestern American children of the last century. But they are also winged angels sneaking into bowers to join in chaste positions... and a middle-class Egyptian couple in the 18th dynasty, not to mention a wild hippy couple of the '60s, a pair of space explorers making first contact...
Suppose the Matrix was designed for your fun, and did not keep itself as a secret reality, instead let YOU design existence as YOU want for today. Who would ever rebel? Long live our AI overlords, if they are going to be so accommodating. The Eden Cycle captures the potential for fun, excitement, sorrow, wonder, exploration, self-reflection, and yes, sexual gratification that would be yours to command.
But remember the Matrix's Agent Smith's casual mention how they'd tried earlier matrix versions that made people happy? And it just didn't seem real to humanity.
Seems that's the flaw in every Eden.
'The Eden Cycle' was written before the internet, before VR headsets and the Matrix franchise. But it deftly captures all the fun and the failure of realities that are only sound and light, pixel and sensation.
Too good a story to just label it 'thought experiment'. But definitely a story worthy of thought.
Suppose the Matrix was designed for your fun, and did not keep itself as a secret reality, instead let YOU design existence as YOU want for today. Who would ever rebel? Long live our AI overlords, if they are going to be so accommodating. The Eden Cycle captures the potential for fun, excitement, sorrow, wonder, exploration, self-reflection, and yes, sexual gratification that would be yours to command.
But remember the Matrix's Agent Smith's casual mention how they'd tried earlier matrix versions that made people happy? And it just didn't seem real to humanity.
Seems that's the flaw in every Eden.
'The Eden Cycle' was written before the internet, before VR headsets and the Matrix franchise. But it deftly captures all the fun and the failure of realities that are only sound and light, pixel and sensation.
Too good a story to just label it 'thought experiment'. But definitely a story worthy of thought.
October 1, 2017
Nothing much happens in this book. Sure, the two main characters live through a lot of adventures (as well as all kinds of weird stuff I can't imagine anyone choosing to go through), but they know none of it is real, so they don't take it seriously. As a result, neither did I.
What was the point of it all? By listening to the characters whine, you'd think it was all about fighting the "oppressive" aliens and discovering that only a free life is worth living. But the real problem facing them was obviously the old canard that eternal life eventually makes you bored and jaded once you've lived through every possible scenario. I suppose that's true for adrenaline addicts like these characters.
What was the point of it all? By listening to the characters whine, you'd think it was all about fighting the "oppressive" aliens and discovering that only a free life is worth living. But the real problem facing them was obviously the old canard that eternal life eventually makes you bored and jaded once you've lived through every possible scenario. I suppose that's true for adrenaline addicts like these characters.
January 18, 2021
Rating Scott's Sesame Rating R2.1. Benevolent Super Aliens give Earth people everything they want including immortality but they can give no meaning to life - no conclusion except maybe to keep on trying.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 12, 2021
I haven’t finished the book but I’d like to note that by page twenty or so, the Capgras delusion manifests. Joe decides that Jeannie is a bland copy of the “real” Jeannie.
OK, I’m at the halfway point and I’ve had enough of this nonsense. There is no plot. It’s an overlong fantasy.
OK, I’m at the halfway point and I’ve had enough of this nonsense. There is no plot. It’s an overlong fantasy.
April 10, 2022
My favorite sci-fi hidden gem. Free will gone sideways. Seeds for ideas about tech enabled consciousness planted here in this book in 1978. A love story that spans many liketimes, and an ending that inspires to continue to the sequel (of which, there isn't one).
June 11, 2021
Interesting take on the ennui of eternal life. What do you do for kicks if you can do almost anything but nothing is real?
May 30, 2023
My all time favorite book. Reality is but a woven blanket and time is just one running thread in the masterpiece of the entire textile. Just read it.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews