Most avid readers know the basic elements of entertaining fiction. A good story must have strong plot line(s), believable settings, and characters that engage us emotionally. As a reader of science fiction I've always needed something more.
Novels that evoke strong cinematic imagery have always captivated me. Assuming all of the previously mentioned stuff is already in place the imagery is the benchmark by which I judge hard science fiction. It isn't just the scope/size of the settings that grab me. The writer must attend to the hue, shading and texture of those settings. Greg Bear is one of those rare writers who have the ability to consistently immerse the reader, book after book.
Greg Bear published Eon in 1985. It is a testimony to to his skill as a writer of extrapolative fiction that the story holds up so well. In the novel we visit the 'near' future, year 2000. The reader will soon find out that this time frame doesn't really matter since the fabric of space-time will fold itself into a beautiful, terrifying construct called "The Way".
As a large asteroid approaches the Earth advisors at the highest levels of our planet's military and government are on alert. Initially, the Stone, as it is referred to by the Americans, is more an object of curiosity than concern. When the West finds out that the Stone is hollow and is inserting itself into orbit around the Earth the major space-faring nations mount a joint expedition to the asteroid.
Greg Bear introduces us to three of four central characters at this point. Gary Lanier, a retired navy pilot now aerospace engineer and Patricia Vasquez, a gifted post-doc Latina whose specialty is n-spatial mathematical constructs. PLEASE, DEAR READER don't be put off by the job titles. One of Bear's talents is his ability to take these characters with weighty titles and make them into everyday people who have fears, doubts, sexual tensions and above all else a sense of wonder. They will need all of those attributes for what lies ahead.
Next there is Pavel Mirsky, a Russian cosmonaut trainee, soon to be part of a covert assault force that will launch an attack on the Stone. What follows is an attempt by the Russians to wrest control of the Stone from the multinational forces who are overseeing the research teams. That team includes Lanier and Vasquez who have already learned more than they want to know about the Stone's grim origins. The Russian insurgents believe there is tactical value to the Stone and they will bring the Earth to the brink of war to have the high ground.
The Stone's hollow interior is divided into seven vast chambers and the inner walls are lined with oddly familiar landforms, lakes, rivers and a sprawling uninhabited city. All of this is held in place by the Stone's axial spin and machines that the research teams can only begin to understand. In the silent city there lurks a presence that is watchful, waiting. Enter Ser Olmy, an agent of the true inhabitants of the Stone, who is trying to decide what should be done with the interlopers. Olmy is one of the Stone's multitude of citizens who exist as either corporeal or virtual entities who now live in 'The Way' just beyond the Stone's seventh chamber.
As the principle characters are drawn toward the final conflict between Earth's major world governments we learn that the Stone's original inhabitants are the remnant population of Earth's fast approaching apocalypse.
That is just a brief synopsis of the first half of the book. When you view the interior of the Stone through each of the character's eyes you will find yourself rereading sections just to get that "WOW" feeling again. It's that vision thing.
The culture that has evolved during the Stone's interstellar travels is a fascinating extrapolation of technological trends that originated in the eighties and have evolved over the past fifteen years. Bear is still topical. Imagine a political/cultural movement that elevates the philosophy of Ralph Nader to religious doctrine. The Naderites are just a small subset of the Stone's mixed cultures. Greg Bear creates these contrasts between the familiar and the utterly strange. When members of the Earth's research team meet the inhabitants of The Way the contrasts showcase the author's ability to texture the readers visual experience and THAT defines cinematic imagery using the written word.
The Way exists as an interdimensional tunnel, a superstring of sorts, constructed of quantum foam that is tethered to the stern axis of the Stone. Within The Way there are portals to all possible dimensional variations of the universe. The Way also contains alien lifeforms both benign and malevolent. Prepare to meet the Jarts!
When the reader enters The Way the visual emphasis that opened this review gets an exponential boost. Eon is full of human and extrahuman experiences, the comfortably familiar and the strange. There are as many plot twists in this novel as there are worlds in The Way. When you reach the finish of Eon you will want to return to its sequel, Eternity.
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