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_Eon_ by Greg Bear

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Lynn McGuire

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Dec 8, 2017, 4:30:18 PM12/8/17
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_Eon_ by Greg Bear
https://www.amazon.com/Eon-Greg-Bear/dp/0765380498/

Book number one of a three book space opera series. The series is also
apocalyptic (kinda). I read the well printed and excellent paper trade
paperback. I think that I am going to order the next book from Big
River but the $19 price is stopping me. I may order the "new" one on
Big River for $11 + $4 shipping instead. I have over 500 books in my SBR

Authors, stop dating your books ! Do not put hard dates in your books
unless they are over a 100 years out ! This book was first published in
1985 and has the "Little Death" in 1993 and the "Death" in 2005. Both
"deaths" are related to the usage of nuclear weapons on the Earth. I
guess that the book could now be looked as alternate history instead.

The book also talked about the Soviet Union past 1991 which was a little
grating. And tablets are called slates and usb drives are called bulk
memories in the book. Of course, not many people understood in the
1980s how much the internet was going to change things starting around 1995.

Overall, I like that book despite the dating problems and the underseen
technology. The universe is extremely rich and well thought out. The
death of the Earth is stupidly started which is just like real life.
Many of the details of the "potato" / asteroid expansion are not very
well explained that I can understand but that is not important to the story.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars (268 reviews)

Lynn

Lynn McGuire

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Dec 8, 2017, 4:41:14 PM12/8/17
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s/I have over 500 books in my SBR/I have over 500 books in my SBR
(strategic book reserve) that need to be read so I am in no hurry.

Lynn


James Nicoll

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Dec 8, 2017, 9:23:41 PM12/8/17
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In article <p0f098$kcf$1...@dont-email.me>,
Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>_Eon_ by Greg Bear
> https://www.amazon.com/Eon-Greg-Bear/dp/0765380498/
>
>Authors, stop dating your books ! Do not put hard dates in your books
>unless they are over a 100 years out ! This book was first published in
>1985 and has the "Little Death" in 1993 and the "Death" in 2005. Both
>"deaths" are related to the usage of nuclear weapons on the Earth. I
>guess that the book could now be looked as alternate history instead.
>

As I recall, alternate histories are an explicit part of the setting.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

Lynn McGuire

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Dec 8, 2017, 10:21:24 PM12/8/17
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On 12/8/2017 8:23 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
> In article <p0f098$kcf$1...@dont-email.me>,
> Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> _Eon_ by Greg Bear
>> https://www.amazon.com/Eon-Greg-Bear/dp/0765380498/
>>
>> Authors, stop dating your books ! Do not put hard dates in your books
>> unless they are over a 100 years out ! This book was first published in
>> 1985 and has the "Little Death" in 1993 and the "Death" in 2005. Both
>> "deaths" are related to the usage of nuclear weapons on the Earth. I
>> guess that the book could now be looked as alternate history instead.
>>
>
> As I recall, alternate histories are an explicit part of the setting.

Yes, but not the mainline of the story.

Lynn



Lawrence Watt-Evans

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Dec 9, 2017, 2:19:14 AM12/9/17
to
On Fri, 8 Dec 2017 15:30:11 -0600, Lynn McGuire
<lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:

>Authors, stop dating your books ! Do not put hard dates in your books
>unless they are over a 100 years out ! This book was first published in
>1985 and has the "Little Death" in 1993 and the "Death" in 2005. Both
>"deaths" are related to the usage of nuclear weapons on the Earth. I
>guess that the book could now be looked as alternate history instead.

And why should the author care? 90% of sales are usually made in the
first year. If the book looks stupid ten or twenty or thirty years
later, so what?




--
My webpage is at http://www.watt-evans.com
My latest novel is Tom Derringer in the Tunnels of Terror.
See http://www.watt-evans.com/TomDerringerintheTunnelsofTerror.shtml

Bice

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Dec 12, 2017, 4:36:08 PM12/12/17
to
On Fri, 8 Dec 2017 15:30:11 -0600, Lynn McGuire
<lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:

>_Eon_ by Greg Bear
> https://www.amazon.com/Eon-Greg-Bear/dp/0765380498/
>
>Book number one of a three book space opera series. The series is also
>apocalyptic (kinda). I read the well printed and excellent paper trade
>paperback. I think that I am going to order the next book from Big
>River but the $19 price is stopping me. I may order the "new" one on
>Big River for $11 + $4 shipping instead. I have over 500 books in my SBR


<delurk>

I found _Eon_ and the sequel _Eternity_ combined into a single
hardback book at a local used bookstore a couple years ago and took a
chance on them.

Really liked _Eon_. The beginning made me think it was just a
Rendezvous with Rama rip-off, but then he started answering all the
questions that Rama leaves unanswered - where the artifact came from,
who built it, why it's now in Earth orbit, etc.


>Authors, stop dating your books ! Do not put hard dates in your books
>unless they are over a 100 years out ! This book was first published in
>1985 and has the "Little Death" in 1993 and the "Death" in 2005. Both
>"deaths" are related to the usage of nuclear weapons on the Earth. I
>guess that the book could now be looked as alternate history instead.

Yeah, I was a little put off by the "past their sell-by date" aspects
(cold war and nuclear armageddon) too, until it occured to me to look
at the entire story as an alternate universe thing. And hey, the way
politics are currently going, we could be right back in that cold war
with the Russians, fear of nuclear weapons frame of mind again real
soon.

I don't know that I'd categorize the books as "space opera", but maybe
I'm not totally clear on what space opera means.

For what it's worth, I didn't like _Eternity_ nearly as much. SPOILER
WARNING...Bear kills off one of the main characters from _Eon_ right
off the bat in the first chapter, and then has a descendant of that
character take over their "quest", which makes absolutely no sense at
all. Plus the ending was really dark, if I'm remembering correctly.
It's almost like Bear thought "I'm sick of all these characters, how
can I torture them?" and wrote the book based on that.

-- Bob

Moriarty

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Dec 12, 2017, 5:24:41 PM12/12/17
to
On Wednesday, December 13, 2017 at 8:36:08 AM UTC+11, Bice wrote:
> On Fri, 8 Dec 2017 15:30:11 -0600, Lynn McGuire
> <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >_Eon_ by Greg Bear
> > https://www.amazon.com/Eon-Greg-Bear/dp/0765380498/
> >
> >Book number one of a three book space opera series. The series is also
> >apocalyptic (kinda). I read the well printed and excellent paper trade
> >paperback. I think that I am going to order the next book from Big
> >River but the $19 price is stopping me. I may order the "new" one on
> >Big River for $11 + $4 shipping instead. I have over 500 books in my SBR
>
>
> <delurk>

Lurk less.

> I found _Eon_ and the sequel _Eternity_ combined into a single
> hardback book at a local used bookstore a couple years ago and took a
> chance on them.
>
> Really liked _Eon_. The beginning made me think it was just a
> Rendezvous with Rama rip-off, but then he started answering all the
> questions that Rama leaves unanswered - where the artifact came from,
> who built it, why it's now in Earth orbit, etc.

Ditto. The setup and sensawunda were awesome. The payoff followed through. Great book.

> I don't know that I'd categorize the books as "space opera", but maybe
> I'm not totally clear on what space opera means.

I wouldn't call it space opera at all.

> For what it's worth, I didn't like _Eternity_ nearly as much. SPOILER
> WARNING...Bear kills off one of the main characters from _Eon_ right
> off the bat in the first chapter, and then has a descendant of that
> character take over their "quest", which makes absolutely no sense at
> all. Plus the ending was really dark, if I'm remembering correctly.
> It's almost like Bear thought "I'm sick of all these characters, how
> can I torture them?" and wrote the book based on that.

Again, I agree. Eternity was an ok read but a letdown after Eon. Bear's definitely on the list of authors who produce great books with great ideas but whose sequels fall flat. He also did it with The Forge of God (great) and Anvil of the Stars (not so much).

Other authors who do the same:

Dan Simmons: Hyperion --> Fall of Hyperion

Dan Simmons: Ilium --> Olympos

Robert Charles Wilson: Spin --> Axis

-Moriarty

Lynn McGuire

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Dec 13, 2017, 12:38:37 AM12/13/17
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The Space Opera label is a catch-all. Now I am scared to order
_Eternity_.

How about _Legacy_ ?
https://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Novel-Eon-Greg-Bear/dp/0765380501/

Thanks,
Lynn


William Hyde

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Dec 13, 2017, 3:12:08 PM12/13/17
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Legacy is a complete mess. I liked it but have never dared reread it.

It feels as though he had a boatload of ideas for which he couldn't find a novel, and decided to dump a pile of them in Legacy, whether they fit or not.

I recommend the entire series, including Legacy. But then, I liked Brin's second uplift trilogy (well, the first two books) which share something with legacy (i.e. "who cares about the plot, I just had an IDEA"). This is distinctly a minority view.

OTOH it is possible that if I worked harder at it it would all make sense. I don't often create a plot-phase diagram of a novel as I read, anymore. Getting old!

William Hyde

Bice

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Dec 13, 2017, 6:26:57 PM12/13/17
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On Tue, 12 Dec 2017 14:24:36 -0800 (PST), Moriarty
<blu...@ivillage.com> wrote:

>On Wednesday, December 13, 2017 at 8:36:08 AM UTC+11, Bice wrote:
>
>> <delurk>
>
>Lurk less.

I'm mostly a lurker because I read USENET "offline". Each evening I
download all the new messages from the groups I'm subscribed to, save
them to a text file and email it to myself. Then the next day I read
that file at work during lunch (or, pretty much any other time I get
bored or need a break).

I'll see something that I'd like to respond to, make a mental note to
post a follow-up when I get home...and then completely forget about
it.

My other problem with rec.arts.sf.written is that I probably haven't
read a hundredth the number of books most of the regulars here have
read. I thought I was pretty well-read in sci-fi and fantasy until I
started reading this newsgroup. On the plus side, it's given me tons
of suggestions for things I should read.

-- Bob

Bice

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Dec 13, 2017, 6:29:09 PM12/13/17
to
On Tue, 12 Dec 2017 23:38:29 -0600, Lynn McGuire
<lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:

>> For what it's worth, I didn't like _Eternity_ nearly as much.
>>
>
>Now I am scared to order _Eternity_.
>
>How about _Legacy_ ?

The reviews I read of that one were pretty uniformly negative, so I
never made the effort to get a copy.

-- Bob

Daniel Goldsmith

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Dec 14, 2017, 12:23:38 PM12/14/17
to
On 2017-12-12, Moriarty <blu...@ivillage.com> wrote:

> On Wednesday, December 13, 2017 at 8:36:08 AM UTC+11, Bice wrote:
>> On Fri, 8 Dec 2017 15:30:11 -0600, Lynn McGuire
>> <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> >_Eon_ by Greg Bear
>> > https://www.amazon.com/Eon-Greg-Bear/dp/0765380498/
>> >
>> >Book number one of a three book space opera series. The series is also
>> >apocalyptic (kinda). I read the well printed and excellent paper trade
>> >paperback. I think that I am going to order the next book from Big
>> >River but the $19 price is stopping me. I may order the "new" one on
>> >Big River for $11 + $4 shipping instead. I have over 500 books in my SBR
>>
>> Really liked _Eon_. The beginning made me think it was just a
>> Rendezvous with Rama rip-off, but then he started answering all the
>> questions that Rama leaves unanswered - where the artifact came from,
>> who built it, why it's now in Earth orbit, etc.
>
> Ditto. The setup and sensawunda were awesome. The payoff followed through.
> Great book.

I love Eon, particularly the reveal of "The Way". Its handled so well, I
consider it the benchmark for any high-wonder reveal in sf since I read
it some hundreds of years ago. Nothing in the rest of the book quite
matches that process, but it is a good book nonetheless.

> Again, I agree. Eternity was an ok read but a letdown after Eon. Bear's
> definitely on the list of authors who produce great books with great ideas
> but whose sequels fall flat. He also did it with The Forge of God (great)
> and Anvil of the Stars (not so much).

Oh, not just those, he does it over and over again (and, stupidly I forget
this and end up trying again). In addition to your justified list I offer:

Queen of Angels was a superb book, the 'Country of the Mind' conceit was so
well done, the near-future atmosphere was intoxicating, and the Probe/AI
stuff tied it all together in a Big Idea Bow. Slant, otoh, was turgid.

Infinity Concerto was probably my favourite book for a while as a young 'un.
I guess it has much of what would now be seen as YA tropes, but at the time
this mish-mash of Celtic mythos, Portal Fantasy and _literary_ allusion was
incredible to read. The Serpent Mage was a colossal dissapointment, having
none of the charm or intelligence of the first book.

> Other authors who do the same:
>
> Dan Simmons: Hyperion --> Fall of Hyperion

I'm going to stick my head on the block here and say that I love FoHyperion.
Sure, it doesn't have the structure of the first book, but that doesn't make
it a bad book.

> Dan Simmons: Ilium --> Olympos

Sadly, I have to agree. Olympos just lost its way completely. A huge failure.
And that ending <shudder>

> Robert Charles Wilson: Spin --> Axis

Just don't read Vortex. If you thought Axis was bad...

--
dgold

Moriarty

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Dec 14, 2017, 4:08:20 PM12/14/17
to
I actually quite like it too. It was just nowhere as good as Hyperion. I also like the next two.

> > Dan Simmons: Ilium --> Olympos
>
> Sadly, I have to agree. Olympos just lost its way completely. A huge failure.
> And that ending <shudder>
>
> > Robert Charles Wilson: Spin --> Axis
>
> Just don't read Vortex. If you thought Axis was bad...

It's been on my "do not read" list every since I put down Axis. Spin was a great book and well deserved Hugo winner. He managed to combine a great sensawunda about the mysteries of the universe while also being a character driven drama. Axis had no memorable characters at all and a silly plot.

Sometimes books don't need a sequel.

-Moriarty

Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy

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Dec 14, 2017, 4:21:54 PM12/14/17
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Moriarty <blu...@ivillage.com> wrote in
news:bd7a6c84-3932-4d3e...@googlegroups.com:

> Sometimes books don't need a sequel.
>
It's not the books that need a sequql, it's the publisher.

--
Terry Austin

Vacation photos from Iceland:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/QaXQkB

"Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with more asshole."
-- David Bilek

Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.

David DeLaney

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Dec 15, 2017, 1:57:35 AM12/15/17
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On 2017-12-13, William Hyde <wthyd...@gmail.com> wrote:
> OTOH it is possible that if I worked harder at it it would all make sense. I
> don't often create a plot-phase diagram of a novel as I read, anymore.

...

... ...

you have reminded me that there are MANY different ways to enjoy SF, and that
some of them are of course stranger than I can imagine.

Dave, don't worry, I think most of the pieces of my brain have oozed back into
place now
--
\/David DeLaney posting thru EarthLink - "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
my gatekeeper archives are no longer accessible :( / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.
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