Birds of Paradise

 Birds of Paradise by Oliver Langmead  297 pages

Summary from Goodreads: American Gods meets The Chronicles of Narnia in this adult fantasy about the Biblical Adam recovering the lost pieces of the Garden of Eden.

Many millennia after the fall of Eden, Adam, the first man in creation, still walks the Earth - exhausted by the endless death and destruction, he is a shadow of his former hope and glory. And he is not the only one. The Garden was deconstructed, its pieces scattered across the world and its inhabitants condemned to live out immortal lives, hiding in plain sight from generations of mankind.

But now pieces of the Garden are turning up on the Earth. After centuries of loneliness, Adam, haunted by the golden time at the beginning of Creation, is determined to save the pieces of his long lost home. With the help of Eden's undying exiles, he must stop Eden becoming the plaything of mankind.

Adam journeys across America and the British Isles with Magpie, Owl, and other animals, gathering the scattered pieces of Paradise. As the country floods once more, Adam must risk it all to rescue his friends and his home - because rebuilding the Garden might be the key to rebuilding his life. 

And here's what I thought:  This is a beautiful, strange, sad story. I haven't read anything this odd since China Mieville's best stories and I really enjoyed this book. The idea of Adam walking the Earth and trying to find the pieces of the Garden is interesting and compelling enough, but the other characters are fantastic. This book has some violence, but it has some really beautiful moments and at times, completely broke my heart.  Definitely adding this one to the list to add to my personal collection so I can re-read it in the future.