Hundreds of "wombtimes" after the events of Dark Eden, the descendants of two stranded astronauts have multiplied and spread across the face of their sunless world. Civilization is divided into two kingdoms: the followers of John Redlantern, who first broke the rules of Family by leaving Circle Valley; and the followers of David, who hunted John with Eden's first soldiers.
Starlight Brooking lives in Knee Tree Grounds, an island fishing village famed for its boat-making skills. Knee Tree villagers are neither Johnfolk nor Davidfolk, but descendants of Jeff, a friend of John who sought an isolated spot to escape the conflict engulfing Eden. That isolation prompts wanderlust in Starlight. She and a few friends journey to a Davidfolk trading post to sell boats and see "Veekle," the crashed spaceship John Redlantern found at the end of Dark Eden.
There she meets dashing Greenstone Johnson, heir apparent to New Earth, a kingdom of Johnfolk across the ocean called Worldpool. Starlight is seduced by Greenstone's stature and wealth of a strange metal. Greenstone is similarly smitten. He offers Starlight the chance of a lifetime: to travel back across the ocean with him, to become queen of New Earth.
Mother of Eden is a satisfying sequel. Chris Beckett uses the intoxicatingly imaginative world of Eden for the allegorical exploration of issues like class, religion and gender roles. Readers who have already read Dark Eden will enjoy returning to Beckett's bioluminescent world. --Tobias Mutter, freelance reviewer