I purchased and read this book years and years ago, remembering it quite fondly. But my memory of the actual story faded in the 15+ years since I read the book. Particularly for the last half of the book. For the first few chapters, I kept on running into parts that jogged my memory but later in the book that no longer held.
The premise for Harry Harrison’s novel is a what-if scenario. What if the cataclysm that destroyed the dinosaurs never happened and reptiles were the basis for the dominant sentient species on earth? Harrison doesn’t eliminate humans (or something that approximates them), they are just reduced to a Cro-Magnon state of technology on the edge of North America. The basis for the story is that an encroaching ice age combined with overpopulation of Africa where most of the Yilanè (the reptile species) live forces the establishment of a new Yilanè city in North America, putting them in conflict with the Tanu (humans) who form a hunter-gatherer society there.
The characters involved are primarily Kerrick and Vaintè. Kerrick is a human boy captured and raised by the Yilanè. The Yilanè view him as ustuzou (vermin) but find him both useful and pet-like. Kerrick learns the Yilanè language and comes to view himself as Yilanè over the years. He knows no different, because his memories of his Tanu life fade. Vaintè is the Eistaa (ruler) of Alpeasak, the Yilanè city under construction.
Both Yilanè and Tanu are built/raised with an overarching hatred of the other species. For most of the book, they engage in a low-grade war for supremacy. That balance is tipped in favor of the Tanu when his former clan frees him, and he slowly becomes the leader of the Tanu against the Yilanè. His superior knowledge of Yilanè tactics allows them to even the odds and sometimes even gain the upper hand.
The book is extremely well-written. The cover proclaims a similarity between West of Eden and Frank Herbert’s Dune. My opinion is that Dune did a lot more than world-building, and West of Eden is primarily about world-building. But still, Harrison does a great job of building a completely world. The Tanu aren’t difficult of course. They are simply Cro-Magnon. The Yilanè are more involved though. Harrison extrapolates from the reptilian ancestry a need for the Yilanè to have continuity. While adding new things, the culture rarely discards the old. Consequently it evolves very slowly. In addition, Yilanè do without fire and build their technology biologically. They are masters of genetic engineering. In addition, much of what they use is provided by live animals. Cloaks to keep them warm are actually thin flat animals. Dart-guns are poisonous animals bred to have no feet; they expel darts through gaseous expulsions, coating the darts with their poison.
Harrison also writes the characters reasonably well. Though it does result in some extraneous material, he takes the time to build Kerrick’s character from a human to a Yilanè and back again. There are no abrupt transitions psychologically. For a period of time after his captivity begins, Kerrick fears and hates the Yilanè, attacking them and attempting escapes. But he gradually acclimates to the new life in a form of Stockholm syndrome. And when the Tanu eventually free him, he retains an ambivalence toward the Yilanè in the face of the Tanu hatred. Nevertheless, he comes to see the need for Yilanè destruction.
Definitely a book I’d recommend.
Title: West of Eden
Author: Harry Harrison
Illustrator: Bill Sanderson
Cover artist: David Schleinkofer
Series: Eden book 1
Imprint / publisher: Spectra / Bantam
Format: Mass market paperback
Length: 508 p.
Publication date: July 1985
ISBN-10: 0-553-26551-2
LC classification: PS3558.A667W4 1984
2 Comments
Ooh, I loved this book. Have you read the other books in the series (Winter in Eden, Return to Eden), or other stuff by Harry Harrison?
I’ve read Winter in Eden, but not Return to Eden. However, I just picked up Return to Eden, thus getting me to re-read this one (and soon, Winter in Eden) first.