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Eon

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Eon

By: Greg Bear
Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
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About this listen

Perhaps it wasn't from our time, perhaps it wasn't even from our universe, but the arrival of the 300-kilometer long stone was the answer to humanity's desperate plea to end the threat of nuclear war. Inside the deep recesses of the stone lies Thistledown: the remnants of a human society, versed in English, Russian and Chinese. The artifacts of this familiar people foretell a great Death caused by the ravages of war, but the government and scientists are unable to decide how to use this knowledge. Deeper still within the stone is the Way. For some the Way means salvation from death, for others it is a parallel world where loved ones live again. But, unlike Thistledown, the Way is not entirely dead, and the inhabitants hold the knowledge of a present war, over a million miles away, using weapons far more deadly than any that mankind has ever conceived.

©1985 Greg Bear (P)2012 Audible, Inc. Adventure Science Fiction Fiction War Russia Mind-bending Imperial Japan

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All stars
Most relevant  
Was great to have this read to me loved it so long ago carried on listening even after it got me through my day at work

So love this book

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Greg Bear always excels in projecting big ideas, particularly in the first quarter of the book, that leaves you simply awe struck that someone has the ability to even conceptualise such visions - Eon is no different and fully deserves it’s SF Masterwork status. Such grandiose sci-fi concepts make it very easy to forgive his sometimes confusing characters inhabiting then, and a habit of jumping around in a way that leaves you a little lost at times. Though in this case the narrater does an excellent job of keeping the listener engaged through clarity and pace making it a story that is easier to listen to than read.

Typical Bear - mind blowing concepts let down slightly by characterisation

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Fabulous. Really enjoyed it, narrator is fabulous, great novel which I have been meaning to reread.

Great

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Excellent read or should I say listen. I couldn't wait to hear each instalment, now I have finished there is a blank in my journey home.....

Excellent story

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In many ways this is an interesting book. The parallels with Rendezvous With Rama are obvious, and Bear's writing is fairly reminiscent of Clark. As has been pointed out elsewhere, the scope of that ideas here is far greater than Rama, and in many ways this is a more sophisticated novel.

Interestingly, what really dates this is that it's so very rooted in the Cold War, clash of great powers mentality of the mid 80s. We see a 21st century Soviet Union and the threat of global war in a way which seems ironic given the changes that would occur just 4 years after this book's publication.

It's also a child of ours time in other ways. After the hard science fiction of the opening chapters, it gives way to more conventional thriller territory and you can see the influence of the emerging 80s on thriller genre.

Ultimately I found this unsatisfying. Once we establish what's actually going on in the stone the matador shifts to a fairly uninspired political thriller where the supposedly advanced future civilisation reveals itself to be easily fooled and out-thought in ways that don't seem plausible. The entire second half of the plot feels like it's lifted from a different, inferior, novel and the denouement falls to engage.

It feels a little as if a shorter, better novel was edited and passed out into something which the publisher thought would sell better, losing its punch on the way.

drags a bit

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this started most promising, but then for me dissipated its focus across too many parallel and largely unlinked plotlines. I struggled to care about all of them.
So, credible and consistent universe(s), good ideas. Worth the read but I hope the series regains focus.

Started awesome, dissipated a bit...

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A great story. having Chapter Titles would have been an advantage. i hope the next in series will define the period and place better

A Syruggle but got there in the end.

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Stefan Rudnicki does great justice to the wordscape crafted in the first of the Eon series. With a complicated and winding story line, I found the reading engaging and easy to follow. The many characters, and fair amount of unusual language, used in the story are conveyed clearly and faithfully to the text.



If you've never read the books, this is the place to start - a graphic and compelling story, and a must-read/listen for any sci-fi fan.

Entertaining reading of great epic sci-fi

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I loved this, but then I knew I would, Eon is the best novel I've ever read. I have probably read this once a year since I discovered in back in the late 90's.
And despite thinking I knew the story inside out, this performance of it did bring a new depth to the story. Yes in my head I've had pictures of what Patricia, Mirsky, Olmy and Gary look like, but until now they never had there own voices, it was always my voice I heard while reading them. Now after Stefan Rudnicki's excellent performance they all have proper, distinct voices to me.
As normal the scenes describing the death and it's aftermath got to me, gave me the shivers and made my cry (slightly embarrassing when sitting on the bus listening to the story, but I do like to 'feel' the stories I read). And listening to the words did give me a chance to build clearer pictures of the strange worlds and beings described.
Overall I can't recommend this highly enough, it is the best story I've ever read, preformed in a way which made it come live in new ways inside my head.

My all time favourite novel heard in a new light

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Great, stars like Rama, but then it veers off and is fantastic. Well read, a few strange pronunciations, but a great listen.

brilliant

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