7.6 /10 1 Votes
Country United States Series Eden trilogy Publication date 1986 Followed by Return to Eden | 3.8/5 Goodreads Language English Publisher Bantam Books Originally published 1986 Preceded by West of Eden Page count 416 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (hardback & paperback) Genres Science Fiction, Alternate history Similar Works by Harry Harrison, Speculative fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Winter in Eden is a 1986 science fiction novel by American author Harry Harrison, the second in the Eden series.
It tells an alternate history of planet Earth in which the extinction of the dinosaurs never occurred. The story began in West of Eden, which depicts a war between a group of Cro-Magnon-level humans that evolved from New World monkeys and a reptilian race called the Yilanè, who are descended from the prehistoric mosasaur and have become the dominant lifeform on the planet. The central characters from the first book return: Vaintè, an ambitious Yilanè, and Kerrick, a "ustouzou" (the Yilanè word for mammal) who was captured by the Yilanè as a boy, raised as a Yilanè, and eventually escapes to rejoin his own people and burn the Yilanè colony city.
The trilogy continues with Return to Eden.
Plot
In Winter in Eden, Kerrick and Herilak (fellow chieftain) searches the burned Alpèsak and discovers two Yilanè males. Herilak and Armun (wife of Kerrick) go north, while Kerrick stays in the city to learn more about the Yilanè. The reptiloids use their mastery of biology to drive them off and reconquer the city. Meanwhile, Enge, her fellows and an old, grumpy scientist establishes a city in South America. Vaintè allies Lanefenuu, leader of another city. Together they attempt to eradicate humans. After several unsuccessful attempt, they corner Herilak and the tribes in a valley. Kerrick and Armun tries to find each other and finally they end up at the Paramutan (northern whale hunter humanoid). They return and find a safe haven at a small lake with their own child, some humans and the two Yilanè males. Later, Kerrick and Armun travel to the Paramutan again, and with their help Kerrick manages to blackmail Lanefenuu to withdraw Vaintè and make peace. Vaintè initially obeys, but later defies to make peace with the humans, so Lanefenuu banishes her.