Eon: Volume 2

Greg Bear

Apr 2014 · Eon Book 2 · Open Road Media

About this eBook

From the New York Times–bestselling author of War Dogs: A novel that “may be the best constructed hard SF epic yet” (The Washington Post).
 
In a supernova flash, the asteroid arrived and entered Earth’s orbit. Three hundred kilometers in length, it is not solid rock but a series of hollowed-out chambers housing ancient, abandoned cities of human origin, a civilization named Thistledown. The people who lived there survived a nuclear holocaust that nearly rendered humanity extinct—more than a thousand years from now.
 
To prevent this future from coming to pass, theoretical mathematician Patricia Vasquez must explore Thistledown and decipher its secret history. But what she discovers is an even greater mystery, a tunnel that exists beyond the physical dimensions of the asteroid. Called the Way, it leads to the home of humanity’s descendants, and to a conflict greater than the impending war between Earth’s superpowers over the fate of the asteroid, in “the grandest work yet” by Nebula Award–winning author Greg Bear (Locus).
 

Ratings and reviews

Apparently a lot of people like this book. I was hating it nearly from the start and wished I would have given up early. Boring read, most of the plot points and world building seemed arbitrary. Everything is "shrouded in secrecy" so the author can pass off a slow info dump as a story. Gets momentarily interesting before devolving into pseudo-religious fantasy technobabel. This is probably the kind of book where if you read it at the right time on your life, it is mind-blowing. But if you don't love it in the first 50 pages, it ain't getting any better.

There is a great perception of people, politics and technological advancements, all wrapped up in the fun pseudo-mathematics of the Way that is central to the story. It's crying out to become a shared universe...

I read Eon and Eternity some 20 years ago. They have always been two of my favorite sci-fi stories. Recently I decided I would like to read them again. When I looked for Eon on Google Playbooks, what I found was "Eon: Volume 2". So I bought it and read it. Now, it has been about 20 years since I read it the first time, but it seemed to me like the characters were the same but the story was different. I can't really give any examples since it's been so long but it just didn't seem like the same exact story I read back then. So, what is "Volume 2"? Is there a difference between the original I read 20 years ago and what I just read? Or do I just not remember it correctly?

About the author

Greg Bear is the author of over twenty-five books, which have been translated into seventeen languages. He has won science fiction’s highest honors and is considered the natural heir to Arthur C. Clarke. The recipient of two Hugo Awards and four Nebula Awards, Bear has been called “the best working writer of hard science fiction” by the Science Fiction Encyclopedia. Many of his novels, such as Darwin’s Radio, are considered to be classics of his generation. Bear is married to Astrid Anderson—who is the daughter of science fiction great Poul Anderson—and they are the parents of two children, Erik and Alexandria. Bear’s recent publications include the thriller Quantico and its sequel, Mariposa; the epic science fiction novel City at the End of Time; and the generation starship novel Hull Zero Three.