This Other Eden

infobox Book |
name = This Other Eden
title_orig =
translator =


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author = Ben Elton
illustrator =
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country = flagicon|UK United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Environmental Fiction, Dystopian Fiction, Satire
publisher = Sphere Books
release_date = 1993
english_release_date =
media_type = Print
pages =
isbn = ISBN 0747403902

"This Other Eden" is a satirical novel written by Ben Elton.

Plot introduction

The novel is set in the reasonably near future. Earth is being devastated by Mankind's continued exploitation, and it seems obvious that the planet will be devastated sometime in the near future. Rather than adopt a more eco-friendly approach to life, most people have instead invested in a "Claustrosphere", a dome-shaped habitat in which all water, food and air is endlessly recycled in a completely closed environment. A person can therefore survive indefinitely within a claustrosphere no matter what ecological horrors may happen outside.

Plot summary

The bulk of the book focuses on a writer who is attempting to sell an idea for a Claustrosphere commercial to Plastic Tolstoy, owner and chief marketer of the company which builds them. He is killed in the presence of an actor who becomes involved with an eco-terrorist woman who is attempting to murder Tolstoy. Her movement, Mother Earth, detests Claustrospheres as they see owning one as giving up on the Earth's future.

Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science

As with Elton's other early novels, "This Other Eden" is a satire advocating greater environmentalism.