Eon by Greg Bear

First published in 1985; republished as part of The Eon Series by Open Road Media on May 16, 2017

Eon is the middle novel of a trilogy, although the first to be written. The others are its prequel and sequel. It is an ambitious, challenging novel that many consider to be Greg Bear’s finest work.

The sighting of the Stone, which turns out to be an asteroid containing seven chambers, raises some interest, as it was preceded by the sighting of a supernova in the same line of sight. It soon becomes apparent that there was no supernova. The Russians have also spotted the Stone but they call it the Potato. Humans of all nations eventually wonder whether the Stone Potato is an alien artifact. They investigate, only to determine that the asteroid is familiar, even if its contents are not, and that it seems to have been hollowed out by humans.

Patricia Vasquez is sent to the Stone because she is the world’s leading (and perhaps only) authority on non-gravity bent geodesics. Perhaps she can explain the tunnel that seems to stretch a vast distance from the seventh chamber — a much longer distance than the Stone itself. But more pressing than the puzzle of physics is the puzzle presented by the library, which contains a printed volume from the future recounting a past that seems to coincide with Earth’s present. The scientists are pretty sure the history relates to a different universe, but if it is parallel to Earth’s own, the Earth’s nations will soon annihilate nearly all life on the planet.

Also on the Stone, although unknown to the humans who traveled from Earth to study it, is someone named Olmy who traveled a much longer distance to return to the place he lived as a boy. Some of the novel’s characters meet Olmy on a journey of their own.

A good bit of the novel focuses on political conflict between the United States and Russia, which not only threatens the Earth’s destruction but the Stone’s when Russia decides to invade and occupy it. The conflict becomes a compelling subplot when Russians and Americans realize they don’t have much to fight about any longer, and when some of the mysteries of the Stone are revealed to them. At that point, a rather more complex political struggle emerges, one that doesn’t much involve Americans or Russians, although it will be of great consequence to them.

Politics is also at the heart of the novel’s imagined (alternate) future, in which Ralph Nader became sort of an icon who sparked a movement that coexists, largely in conflict, with other political groups. The humans in the (alternate) future developed a language that relies in part on graphic symbols, suggesting that Bear anticipated the widespread use of emoticons before they became popular. Other notable aspects of the future humans are their ability to download memories and personalities into a central computer, where they enjoy indefinite “life” after using the two natural lifespans in a human body to which they are legally entitled. Most new humans, however, are not created in the customary (fun) way, but by merging personalities in the computer banks and assigning the result to an artificially created body. Again, Bear was a bit ahead of his time, if not a pioneer, in envisioning the role of transhumanism or posthumanism in science fiction.

And I haven’t even mentioned the aliens and the role they play in the (alternate) future political conflicts. The downside of including so many themes and ideas (I’ve only touched on some of the most important) in a single novel is that some of them seem dashed off or thrown away. The novel’s other fault is that Bear’s description of things and events are difficult to visualize while political structures, although central to the novel, are underdeveloped. The science is jargon-heavy, which resolute fans of hard sf seem to appreciate, but members of a general audience who (like me) have academic training in areas other than science might find some of his more esoteric concepts a bit baffling. The story in this lengthy and almost unmanageable novel sometimes bogs down, simply because the universe in which it is set almost becomes overwhelming. Still, Eon is an impressive work, and a testament to Bear’s creativity.

RECOMMENDED

Just Over the Horizon by Greg Bear

Published by Open Road Media on April 26, 2016

Just Over the Horizon collects a number of stories (and a teleplay) written by Greg Bear. The volume showcases Bear’s versatility, mixing science fiction, fantasy, horror, and (in one instance) mainstream fiction. The science fiction is more to my taste than the other stuff, but fantasy fans might enjoy the stories that didn’t appeal to me.

My favorite in the collection is “Just Over the Horizon,” a first contact story that takes place on Mars. Its strength is its recognition that alien life is likely to be completely beyond human understanding, at least at first glimpse. Another entry I enjoyed is “Genius,” an unproduced script written for the 2000 version of The Outer Limits. The teleplay involves scientists/mathematicians who are lured into opening a portal to another dimension where shadow creatures dwell. That’s a standard television plot but I liked the autistic child Bear imagined as a main character, as well as the scientific detail that supports the story.

“Blood Music” is well-known for being the first (or at least the first widely read) story to imagine a version of nanotechnology (biology-based rather than machine-based) that changes the body and redefines what it means to be human. It won a Hugo and a Nebula and Bear later turned it into a novel. “Blood Music” is a good story but I don’t think it has the impact now that it must have had to readers who read it more than 30 years ago.

“Tangents,” another Hugo and Nebula winner, is about a boy who has a talent for visualizing things/places/beings in the fourth dimension. I like the setting and characters more than the story. It probably deserved the attention it got for featuring an Alan Turing stand-in who was persecuted because of his sexual identity. The theme was less common in 1986, when the story was published, than it is today.

“Sisters” is too syrupy for my taste. A girl with unaltered genomes is unhappy that she doesn’t fit in with her pretty high school classmates, despite her computerized therapist’s assurance that she is not a freak. The theme of society’s obsession with the superficial is heavy-handed, and the story relies on an obvious contrivance to make obvious points: “we are all the same underneath” and “everyone is important.” Still, the “I’m special even though the cool kids don’t like me” lesson is one that always plays well with the younger sf fans who are the story’s natural audience.

“Schrodinger’s Plague” turns the “Schrodinger’s Cat” thought experiment into a real experiment, but not one that involves cats. The story is a little to abstract for me to appreciate, but I’ve never been a fan of thought experiments. “Silicon Times E-Book Review” purports to be a robot’s review of a novel written by another robot. It’s an amusing diversion.

“Through Road No Wither” is a quasi-religious, quasi-supernatural “revenge against the Nazis” story. There isn’t much to it. “Dead Run,” about a hitchhiker to Hell who is looking for his dead girlfriend, is a better story with a religious theme, although it didn’t do much for me. The ending takes a twist that explains why the story was filmed as an episode of the revived Twilight Zone series.

Science fiction stories about religion tend to extoll the superiority of scientists as compared to everyone else. “The Visitation” is one of those. I’m not religious but I’m also not a fan of hubris.

“The White Horse Child” is a story about a child who learns to be a storyteller. It has a whiff of the supernatural. Bear says it is one of his most popular stories, but it did nothing for me. I’m also not a fan of urban fantasy, which describes “Sleepside Story,” a “photographic negative” of Beauty and the Beast.

“Webster” is about a middle-aged virgin who conjures a man from the words in a dictionary. “Richie by the Sea” is a horror story about a child with a connection to the water who isn’t what he appears to be. Both stories are well-written but again, not the sort of thing I go out of my way to read.

“Warm Sea” could be subtitled “The Old Man and the Squid.” It isn’t science fiction but it is the most literary effort in the collection. The story proves that Bear can unleash some fine prose when he is of a mind to do so.

On the whole, I liked some of the stories in this collection but was indifferent to the majority of them. Again, fantasy fans might view this more favorably. A good story is a good story in any genre but Bear's brand of fantasy didn't work for me.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Anvil of Stars by Greg Bear

 

First published in 1992

Anvil of Stars is a mildly disappointing sequel to the mildly disappointing The Forge of God.  With the help of friendly aliens, a group of survivors of the cataclysm described in the first novel begin a quest to hunt down the unfriendly aliens who caused that catastrophe.  Most of the novel describes the factions and in-fighting that develop in the ship-bound society of youngsters seeking vengeance (or justice, depending on your point of view), as well as the training they undergo. A lot of it was repetitive and dull.

More interesting was the joining of the Earth ship with the aliens from another ship on the same mission. The aliens were well-conceived. In both physical description and behavior, they seemed truly alien, and therefore credible--as opposed to television aliens who seem like humans with funny hair, or movie aliens who seem like lizards.

The other interesting aspect of the novel concerns the conflict that developed between those who want at all costs to wipe out the species that destroyed the Earth (even in the absence of conclusive evidence of their responsibility) and those who worry they might be destroying innocents--ancestors who did not make the decision to attack the Earth and who may disagree with it, or a different alien race that had nothing to do with the attack. That moral dilemma poses no easy solution, and Bear does a good job of portraying both viewpoints fairly. This would have been a better novel if more emphasis had been placed on that conflict and less on training sessions.  In the end, the dilemma is resolved in a satisfying manner. I would have enjoyed the novel more if it had arrived at that resolution much more quickly.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

The Forge of God by Greg Bear

First published in 1987

Visiting aliens deliver conflicting messages.  An alien emerging from a newly formed mountain in the United States warns that invaders are about to destroy the earth with a process that will harvest raw materials to build ships that will go on to destroy other worlds.  Robots emerging from a newly formed boulder in Australia claim that they are benevolent deliverers of new technologies from which the Earth will benefit.  Scientists attempt to puzzle out the truth, although their efforts soon prove to be unnecessary as the danger to the planet becomes apparent.

I found it interesting to read a novel that departs from a standard science fiction formula: quick thinking humans outsmart nasty aliens who invade or attempt to destroy the Earth. The Forge of God acknowledges that alien technology may well be superior to ours, and that humans may be powerless to stop aliens who are determined to destroy planets.

The technical aspects surrounding the planet's destruction and attempts to evacuate were well done. The story held my interest, but given the drama surrounding the planet's end, I thought the story was less engaging than it could have been. The key human characters (geologists, an astronomer and his family, the president and a Bible thumper) are fairly one dimensional while the aliens (good and bad) are given no characterization at all.

The story's fast pace makes it a quick and easy read. The novel was sufficiently entertaining to earn a recommendation, but there's nothing stellar about this story of interstellar invasion.

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