Review of “Atherton - The Dark Planet,” by Patrick Carman
“Atherton - The Dark Planet,” by Patrick Carman, is the stunning conclusion to the Atherton series. Its thoroughly satisfying conclusion reveals the final secrets of Atherton and its enigmatic creator.
Atherton is world created by a scientist named Dr. Harding. Dr. Harding grew up on the Dark Planet, a world ruined by pollution and human greed. As he grew up he envisioned a new, clean world that would orbit the Dark Planet. And so Dr. Harding created the world, using advanced science to grow it from a microscopic seed in a test tube, into a great three tiered world with its own creatures and natural cycles. Dr. Harding named his world Atherton, and populated with people who he reconditioned so that they would forget the Dark Planet and think that they had lived on Atherton for all their life.
There was only one problem. Dr. Harding went mad creating Atherton. He was the only one who could ever think through the complete workings of Atherton, and even the other scientists that helped him had no understanding of how the world operated. In the end Dr. Harding went completely mad, and there was no way that he could explain anything.
Atherton started out with three tiered levels like platforms. The largest was on the bottom of the planet, nearest to the Dark Planet, and the other two levels rose up from the first in a pyramid shape.
At first the people of Atherton were divided into two classes. The middle class lived on the middle tier, and they grew food for an elite upper class that lived on the highest tier of Atherton. The upper class controlled Atherton’s only water source, which trickled down the tiers. If the middle class did not produce food the upper class would cut off the water.
But in “Atherton - The House of Power” the three tiers of Atherton slowly collapsed such that the world was flat. The people from the middle and upper tiers of Atherton were forced to meet for the first time. At the same time they had to fight the Cleaners, a dangerous species of beast that lived on the lowest tier of Atherton. They had two choices. Either they could let the Cleaners kill them all, or they could conquer their own hatred and mistrust of each other and work together to fight the Cleaners. Throughout, the people of Atherton were aided by Edgar, a young boy who had spent his life climbing the cliffs between the levels of Atherton.
This was only the first change of Atherton. In “Atherton - Rivers of Fire,” the world continued to develop, and the middle and upper tiers of Atherton descended into the depths of the planet, flooding so that Atherton had a great lake in the center. Once again, the people of Atherton had to work together. In the second book of the series Edgar and his friends were caught in the descending center of Atherton. To escape certain death they were forced to journey through the depths of Atherton. In the process they came face to face with the frightening forces and dangerous inner workings that keep Atherton alive.
In “Atherton - The Dark Planet” the world of Atherton is now flat, with a great lake in the center. But Edgar still feels an overwhelming urge to climb. In book two he learned that he was made by Dr. Harding, much as the scientist made Atherton itself. Edgar is fundamentally tied to Atherton, and just as the planet itself is designed with hidden secrets, so is Edgar himself.
Dr. Harding designed Edgar with the desire to climb cliffs and the strength and adroitness to do so, but now that Atherton has changed there is only one place left for climbing: the rocky bottom of Atherton, which drops away in a cone shape that points toward the Dark Planet below.
Somewhere far below, at the very bottom of Atherton, lies the docking station. Long ago this station ferried the first people up through space to live on Atherton, but the world’s dramatic changes have blocked off access to the docking station, and now Edgar is the only one who can get there.
It was Dr. Harding’s hope that Atherton could ultimately help the people of The Dark Planet, but to fulfill this part of the plan the people of Atherton must make contact with the Dark Planet again. Edgar must climb over the edge of Atherton, and down to the docking station to fulfill the final intentions of Dr. Harding.
In the end Edgar’s journey will uncover the final secret of the world of Atherton, and its ultimate purpose. Only Edgar and his friends can complete the world of Atherton to finish Dr. Harding’s dream, a dream that will change the Dark Planet forever.
“Atherton - The Dark Planet” is truly amazing. Once again, Patrick Carman has created a rich world full of details that make it stand solid. The innovative thinking behind the Atherton series makes it unique when compared with many other science fiction and dystopian series.
I think that it is fascinating that Patrick Carman has challenged the boundaries by depicting a human creating a world. Dr. Harding is in a way God of his world, as he is its creator. Even though he is unable to handle the mental stress of creating Atherton, he created its creatures, its landscape, and even Edgar. At the same time Dr. Harding is a Christ of sorts, in that he sacrificed his own life and sanity to create Atherton for the humans who had ruined the Dark Planet.
In the end, religious or not, the “Atherton” series is phenomenal for its detailed writing and vivid plot. I highly recommend that you experience Atherton for yourself by reading each book of the series.
