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A review by sjstuart
Eon by Greg Bear
4.0
I really enjoyed the first half of this book. Detailed, realistic speculation about cold-war era exploration of an asteroid / artifact that arrives in our solar system, and the political and military drama that unfolds. Interesting technological speculations. A few mysteries and several interesting characters worth sticking around for. But in the last half of the book I found I had to force myself to pay attention. By then, the action involved a far-future human society with technology too advanced to be interesting, and the interesting human characters had all become pawns that didn’t shape their own destinies any more. The science had turned into mystical pseudoscience mumblings about building arbitrary structures out of space-time, perfect control over gravity and inertial forces, and the ability to jump between alternate universes. Indistinguishable from magic, and therefore just as uninteresting.
I also spent much of the time wondering if it was my fault or the author’s that I didn’t have a good mental image of the scenes being described. For the most part, I appreciated the lack of infodump-style exposition — you’re left to piece together the novel surroundings, experiencing the same confusion and wonder as the characters. But it was frustrating when this lack of information extended to the way things actually looked. I got the feeling that Bear did have a very rich, vivid mental image of the scenery, the technological gadgets, and the layout of the asteroid, the Way and their cities, but just didn’t manage to put enough of it on paper that I could construct an image with much detail at all. Add to this a huge collection of characters — human, alien, post-human “homorph" or “neomorph”; on Earth, on the asteroid, or in the space-time tunnel; American, Chinese or Russian; Naderite or Geshel — and I spent much of the time feeling more lost than I should have been.
The US-Soviet political dynamic certainly dates the novel, and might be a problem for anyone who doesn’t remember the 1980s. But for those who spent any of their formative years under the cloud of cold war politics, it doesn’t take much of a mental shift to put yourself back in that mindset.
I picked this up as a used paperback, based on Goodreads' recommendation and the strength of several of Bear’s other books ([b:Blood Music|340819|Blood Music|Greg Bear|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388694820s/340819.jpg|2563510] and [b:Slant|172742|Slant (Queen of Angels, #4)|Greg Bear|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316131076s/172742.jpg|435602] come to mind). But as I went to shelve it after finishing it, I realized that I already had a copy, and must have read it 15 or 20 years ago. It doesn’t surprise me too much that I don’t remember it a few decades later, and I don’t suppose it has made any more of a permanent impression this time around. It was entertaining, mostly, but never more than diverting. Perhaps when I’m tempted to reread it in another 20 years, this review will help remind me that it’s probably not much more than a reasonably enjoyable way to pass the time.
I also spent much of the time wondering if it was my fault or the author’s that I didn’t have a good mental image of the scenes being described. For the most part, I appreciated the lack of infodump-style exposition — you’re left to piece together the novel surroundings, experiencing the same confusion and wonder as the characters. But it was frustrating when this lack of information extended to the way things actually looked. I got the feeling that Bear did have a very rich, vivid mental image of the scenery, the technological gadgets, and the layout of the asteroid, the Way and their cities, but just didn’t manage to put enough of it on paper that I could construct an image with much detail at all. Add to this a huge collection of characters — human, alien, post-human “homorph" or “neomorph”; on Earth, on the asteroid, or in the space-time tunnel; American, Chinese or Russian; Naderite or Geshel — and I spent much of the time feeling more lost than I should have been.
The US-Soviet political dynamic certainly dates the novel, and might be a problem for anyone who doesn’t remember the 1980s. But for those who spent any of their formative years under the cloud of cold war politics, it doesn’t take much of a mental shift to put yourself back in that mindset.
I picked this up as a used paperback, based on Goodreads' recommendation and the strength of several of Bear’s other books ([b:Blood Music|340819|Blood Music|Greg Bear|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388694820s/340819.jpg|2563510] and [b:Slant|172742|Slant (Queen of Angels, #4)|Greg Bear|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316131076s/172742.jpg|435602] come to mind). But as I went to shelve it after finishing it, I realized that I already had a copy, and must have read it 15 or 20 years ago. It doesn’t surprise me too much that I don’t remember it a few decades later, and I don’t suppose it has made any more of a permanent impression this time around. It was entertaining, mostly, but never more than diverting. Perhaps when I’m tempted to reread it in another 20 years, this review will help remind me that it’s probably not much more than a reasonably enjoyable way to pass the time.