After the colonists landed on the uninhabited planet every man was making an aircraft – communicators, but their tools – they disappeared! They couldn’t find even their clothes! This is a fascinating science alien planet riddle from the man writer, critic and Nebula award winner Barry Maltzberg calls "One of the twelve most influential science fiction writers Here is an enthralling science alien planet puzzle from the man writer, critic and Nebula award winner Barry Maltzberg calls "One of the twelve most influential science fiction writers". Eden, the Earth colony, is silent for eleven light years, and doesn’t answer any communications from native planet. That makes the Earth’s government go into panic. What if something terrible happened on a world already proven to have no smart and dangerous lifeforms? Or, maybe colonists do not want to answer and ignore all the messages for some strange and unknown reason? What kind of explanation for the mysterious silence of scientific colony can be found? To find the answer, government asks Extrapolators (called also Es) for help. Extrapolators are men and women with almost supernatural abilities to see the core of any problem. After having agreed to help the Earth’s leaders Extrapolators send Calvin Grey to Eden. If he finds and solves any problems, he will definitely get total admission into the ranks to the Es. Despite the fact that Grey is specially trained, he is still not prepared that well to the dangerous trip to Eden, struck by the nature disaster. Here start his adventures, described by Mark Clifton, who, with his co-author Frank Riley, won the 1955 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel of the year.
The book is full of excitement, mature philosophy and gentle irony. All that combined with really great plot makes an extremely interesting story with unbelievable ending. Despite its intellectually-oriented theme, this is a well-written novel that is not at all difficult going for the reader. Clifton writes with pure clarity and simplicity, so the novel is easy to be understood. The book is full of refined and sophisticated humor that finely interweaves with actions. Every time you read this book, you will definitely find something new, not mentioned previously. "Eight keys to Eden" is full of mysteries and surprises. This novel is basically about perception, about the way people filter all their thoughts, ideas, and words through their already existing experiences. Doing that, they miss real opportunities to process truly new information. Rather philosophical novel, don’t you think so? It will be interesting and useful for the kids and also for their parents. Easy and light, it is to be read at one breath. "Eight keys to Eden" is a classic literature ‘must have’ for everyone, who doesn’t see his life without books. This masterpiece is worth being a part of your home library or mentioning in the list of your favorite books. It totally changes the way you think, despite the fact this is a simple (as it may seem at first sight) science fiction book.