Eon

Greg Bear

A large asteroid appears in the sky and settles into an orbit around Earth. It's not an asteroid, though. It's hollow. And it appears as if someone or something is in living in it. The NATO forces send the first explorers.

Within the next five years these scientists discover that no one lives on the Stone any longer. But they did. They are connected with human beings. The scientists on the Stone increase in number but are still carefully monitored and allowed entry. Even those inside the Stone have limited rights of exploration. Some people, usually the military force, are only allowed in the first chamber. There are seven chambers. It's hard to say whether the seventh or the third chamber is the most disturbing.

It is now 2005. Patricia Valequez is a genius with a twist in her mind that allows her to grasp mathematics that even other geniuses can't understand. She's not told where she's going until she is on her way. Her family and fiance don't know where she is going, although he can guess. There is a specific reason she has been brought up to the Stone. She might be able to solve the mystery of the prior inhabitants of the Stone and prevent the destruction of Earth. When she starts learning the secrets, she throws herself into finding a solution.

Greg Bear wrote this in 1985. Eon has been sitting on Mt. Bookpile for around 10 years. The tensions were still extremely high between the Soviet Union and the United States. Bear didn't predict the fall of the Iron Curtain but instead posits two nuclear wars within the next 20 years - the Little Death and the one that creates a radioactive winter, the Death.

The man's imagination is fascinating. Bear has posited environments that would never have come to my mind. He uses sound mathematics as the basis of his ideas, then leaps into creative mathematics. I am not conversant enough to know if the new ideas are feasible or not.

The novel is long and dense. Math and hard science fiction are the basis of Bear's ideas. The story is average - in fact I fell asleep during some of the denser parts (of course if I slept longer at night...). There are ideas and characters interesting to meet. I can't recommend this highly unless you have an interest in hard science fiction and mathematics. book review