I have to agree with another reviewer - there are moments when you have to put the book down and just stare into space, assimilating. So, if you enjoy artifacts in Science Fiction, this is mandatory reading. However, I would urge you to form your own opinion. Each new discovery leads to a new focus, until the discoveries spiral out of control and the reader is left breathless and stunned.Ī novel as ambitious and complicated as this is bound to draw negative criticism. The focus did shift unexpectedly between characters from time to time, but I felt that this was in tune with the way the novel was constructed. Considering the alternate universes and time-lines being casually tossed about here, that kind of thing shouldn’t even be an issue. It was a challenge to envision what I was reading, but getting there is part of the thrill.ĭespite the dated cold war politics, which seems to be a grievance to some reviewers, this book did not seem dated at all. Another work I was reminded of while reading this was Ringworld ( Larry Niven).

There was a lot about the novel I didn't understand at all, but I was awed.

It embodies what I have come to love about Sci-Fi.

Like the early Uplift novels by David Brin Eon seems to be a bridge between old school and the new as far as Science Fiction is concerned. Then, of course, there is the grand finale, which is really something else. It is therefore no great surprise that the book eventually evolves (or devolves, depending on your point of view) from Hard Science Fiction to a form of Space Opera. The novel then progresses through a number of movements, each more mind-numbing and awe-inspiring than the previous. Eon opens as a near future artifact, or big-dumb-object, tale largely inspired by Rendezvous With Rama. Reading this book was like listening to a complicated symphony. There should be a picture of Eon in the dictionary: right next to “Sense-of-wonder-SF”.

Greg bear eon series