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Eon by Greg Bear
Eon by Greg Bear
Gret Bear has carved out a niche for himself among the "hard science fiction" crowd. I've enjoyed every book by Bear including the Darwin's Children series, Forge of God series and his contribution to Issac Asimov's Foundation series.
Eon seems to be Bear's attempt at Clark's "Rendevous with Rama" or Niven's "Ringworld". A mysterious asteriod comes into Earth's orbit. It turns out to be an artifact from our own future - a huge asteriod with 7 chambers carved out from inside...chambers large enough to hold cities of tens of millions.
The book is a bit schizophrenic. The first half is a "US vs. Russia" space adventure. The book was written in 1985 before the fall of the Berlin Wall. It holds up well...actually kind of fun to remember the days when Russia was our number 1 feared enemy. Then the second half of the book brings in aliens and alternate dimensions and futuristic earth descendants who might as well be aliens.
It's a good read. I hesitate to put this in the hard science category as the "science" is so far out there, IMHO, as to be just "science as prop" rather than "sci fi story with real science underpinnings". Doesn't take away from the story...it's just one more of the many reasons it's hard to put this book into an easy box.
It's a good book, enjoyable but certainly not a "must read".
Lee
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